Soichiro 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Quick Updates! KNS... called up the HDB officer in the morning just now... realised it's a "her" not "him"... LOL... anyway, after she read my email, she understood what I meant, and she said that the hacking should be approved, however, in my contractor's application, several items were unclear; hence they did not approve it. then i called up my contractor and told him that it was not approved as their submission was unclear... and he denied it... saying that it was clearly highlighted in their submission... then i reminded him that for the bathroom area, i would like to do a drop for the shower area, instead of doing a shower kerb. he told me, it's only for the new HDB flats; and HDB won't approve. *faint* lor... he said... if really want to do, it's illegal, and that i better check with the HDB officer myself... i see so many people (esp EM owners) doing it also lor... bro Soichiro, also did it wat... called up the HDB officer again... but she's going out for inspection liao... so told me she will open up my case in the afternoon and communicate with me over the phone. why did i not get my uncle to help me do my renovation instead...??? *ARGH* (at least for the wet works and tiling portion) Relax relax, only first few days of reno leh, no need to get so uptight! I think it is common for contractors to tell u that some things cannot do, without actually confirming so. Convenient answer mah. I went thru several rounds to get my WC converted to toilet also. The drop for my shower was very very short, 1 or 2cm only, not like the type of drop u see in kitchens, up to 10cm in some cases. Maybe your contractor was expecting a big drop? Did you tell him how deep a drop u wanted? Actually many things may not be approved by HDB, many eyes are closed. But *some* rules were made for a reason, so good to check with HDB again bah. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LADY_R 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 I know how you feel.... the same for me too when my application to hack my bedroom was not approved. Just keep on calling the officer loh.... ask your wife to call, maybe a woman speaking to the officer will make him move his butt?? LOL! true laa..usually when we woman call..it meant business liao..thats why, my husband always passed me this job. heee..just yesterday infront of me he call courts ppl regards his tv bracket..and was told he need to pay (by right its foc plus installation 3mths from the date purchased) bcos 3 mths have passed so he need to pay. Hearing that, he passed the call to me to settle with the lady..at last he got his bracket plus installation free in early may.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Relax relax, only first few days of reno leh, no need to get so uptight! I think it is common for contractors to tell u that some things cannot do, without actually confirming so. Convenient answer mah. I went thru several rounds to get my WC converted to toilet also. The drop for my shower was very very short, 1 or 2cm only, not like the type of drop u see in kitchens, up to 10cm in some cases. Maybe your contractor was expecting a big drop? Did you tell him how deep a drop u wanted? Actually many things may not be approved by HDB, many eyes are closed. But *some* rules were made for a reason, so good to check with HDB again bah. Yes... i've emailed the HDB officer IC again... my contractor told me not to ask the HDB officer so much questions... if not, later they come and check, even more "problems" might surface... I'm not expecting a 10cm drop.. maybe 2-3cm drop lor... ok lah... maybe it's really not very possible... but then again, i saw it at other people's place leh... i think should be possible la... except maybe more work for the contractor... oh well... *puke blood* it's mentioned in HDB website (http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/...ow?OpenDocument) Renovation works not allowed: "Raising of floor level exceeding the allowable thickness of 50mm (inclusive of floor tiles) using concrete." but if this is the case... then how can people level their balcony (100mm drop) or kitchen (also 100mm drop) with the living room? hmmm... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LADY_R 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Quick Updates! KNS... called up the HDB officer in the morning just now... realised it's a "her" not "him"... LOL... anyway, after she read my email, she understood what I meant, and she said that the hacking should be approved, however, in my contractor's application, several items were unclear; hence they did not approve it. Csingeu, is ur officer Ms Lee? if she is the officer, then same as mine.. She nice and easy to talk to, just that you need to explain to her more on technical terms. If you want to get hold of her, try to call her after 2pm, usually morning they went for site visit. then i reminded him that for the bathroom area, i would like to do a drop for the shower area, instead of doing a shower kerb. he told me, it's only for the new HDB flats; and HDB won't approve. *faint* lor... he said... if really want to do, it's illegal, and that i better check with the HDB officer myself... i see so many people (esp EM owners) doing it also lor... bro Soichiro, also did it wat... yup like patricia toilet right. My contractor also suggest to me just a drop and no kerb, bcos as he say it look so old fashion.. And from my conversation with him..no permit is needed.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Quick Updates! KNS... called up the HDB officer in the morning just now... realised it's a "her" not "him"... LOL... anyway, after she read my email, she understood what I meant, and she said that the hacking should be approved, however, in my contractor's application, several items were unclear; hence they did not approve it. then i called up my contractor and told him that it was not approved as their submission was unclear... and he denied it... saying that it was clearly highlighted in their submission... then i reminded him that for the bathroom area, i would like to do a drop for the shower area, instead of doing a shower kerb. he told me, it's only for the new HDB flats; and HDB won't approve. *faint* lor... he said... if really want to do, it's illegal, and that i better check with the HDB officer myself... i see so many people (esp EM owners) doing it also lor... bro Soichiro, also did it wat... called up the HDB officer again... but she's going out for inspection liao... so told me she will open up my case in the afternoon and communicate with me over the phone. why did i not get my uncle to help me do my renovation instead...??? *ARGH* (at least for the wet works and tiling portion) That is the same as what happened to me!!! The officer says the contractor didn't specify properly what is to hack..... so i have to use what i draw on floorplanner and send to my contractor so that when they submit, to submit what i drawn too so that the officer can see properly what was my plan. it was ding dong here and there..... but i don't care lah. As long as it gets approved in the end.... cool down and no point getting upset with your contractor. Most importantly, settle the issue, not get upset and start blaming yourself or the contractor. LOL! true laa..usually when we woman call..it meant business liao..thats why, my husband always passed me this job. heee..just yesterday infront of me he call courts ppl regards his tv bracket..and was told he need to pay (by right its foc plus installation 3mths from the date purchased) bcos 3 mths have passed so he need to pay. Hearing that, he passed the call to me to settle with the lady..at last he got his bracket plus installation free in early may.. and also, women speaking to men/women, usually can get things done. don't know why... hahaha... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 (edited) Csingeu, is ur officer Ms Lee? if she is the officer, then same as mine.. She nice and easy to talk to, just that you need to explain to her more on technical terms. If you want to get hold of her, try to call her after 2pm, usually morning they went for site visit. yeah... i think it's the same officer for our area. yes... talked to her over the phone; seems quite ok... lucky my email to her ytd didn't sound very nasty... yup like patricia toilet right. My contractor also suggest to me just a drop and no kerb, bcos as he say it look so old fashion.. And from my conversation with him..no permit is needed.. YA LOR... even my own uncle (he's more of a tiler)... also told me to do drop... and he said... very common one... nobody really do shower kerbs nowadays, coz it looks quite old fashioned (as mentioned by u)... but like i said, i think he's not keen to do the drop... coz it's more troublesome... as he will need to raise and level the rest of the bathroom, and still do the gradual slope for the floor trap... and for the other floor trap in the shower area... he will have more challenges to conceal the drainage pipes... SIGH... Edited April 5, 2011 by csingeu Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JCase 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 yeah... i think it's the same officer for our area. yes... talked to her over the phone; seems quite ok... lucky my email to her ytd didn't sound very nasty... YA LOR... even my own uncle (he's more of a tiler)... also told me to do drop... and he said... very common one... nobody really do shower kerbs nowadays, coz it looks quite old fashioned (as mentioned by u)... but like i said, i think he's not keen to do the drop... coz it's more troublesome... as he will need to raise and level the rest of the bathroom, and still do the gradual slope for the floor trap... and for the other floor trap in the shower area... he will have more challenges to conceal the drainage pipes... SIGH... Wah, your contractor one kind man. This is relatively simple work to do. Wack my ID on his head 2 x if he cannot do mine later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Csingeu, is ur officer Ms Lee? if she is the officer, then same as mine.. She nice and easy to talk to, just that you need to explain to her more on technical terms. If you want to get hold of her, try to call her after 2pm, usually morning they went for site visit. yup like patricia toilet right. My contractor also suggest to me just a drop and no kerb, bcos as he say it look so old fashion.. And from my conversation with him..no permit is needed.. mine also a drop.... don't like a kerb... and nothing is needed to do that..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 then i reminded him that for the bathroom area, i would like to do a drop for the shower area, instead of doing a shower kerb. he told me, it's only for the new HDB flats; and HDB won't approve. *faint* lor... he said... if really want to do, it's illegal, and that i better check with the HDB officer myself... i see so many people (esp EM owners) doing it also lor... bro Soichiro, also did it wat... called up the HDB officer again... but she's going out for inspection liao... so told me she will open up my case in the afternoon and communicate with me over the phone. why did i not get my uncle to help me do my renovation instead...??? *ARGH* (at least for the wet works and tiling portion) cool down and no point getting upset with your contractor. Most importantly, settle the issue, not get upset and start blaming yourself or the contractor. i didn't know drop down cannot do? so many pple are doing... never read this in HDB guideline wor... my contractor also suggested to do drop-down but we were the one that wanted the kerb in the end. Tiler said drop-down needs more skill to do, dunno whether true or not anyway, better check with HDB since she is gonna talk to you anyway~ maybe your contractor scared that the more you find out from HDB, the more things you want him to do LOL but agree with what May said, don't start blaming yourself or contractor... this is important if you really want it, don't give in and make sure your contractor do for you~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Soichiro 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 don't start blaming yourself or contractor... this is important if you really want it, don't give in and make sure your contractor do for you~ Golden words for the day! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 i didn't know drop down cannot do? so many pple are doing... never read this in HDB guideline wor... my contractor also suggested to do drop-down but we were the one that wanted the kerb in the end. Tiler said drop-down needs more skill to do, dunno whether true or not anyway, better check with HDB since she is gonna talk to you anyway~ maybe your contractor scared that the more you find out from HDB, the more things you want him to do LOL but agree with what May said, don't start blaming yourself or contractor... this is important if you really want it, don't give in and make sure your contractor do for you~ i think my contractor scared his batch of workers no skill to do the "drop" properly... my uncle warned me to tell my contractor not to use chinese (PRC) workers... coz their tiling skills CMI plus no QC one... he told me at least get m'sian workers... hmmm... *headache* ah... but think they progressing very fast... my contractor told me that he's getting the tile materials this morning le... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marshmallow 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Golden words for the day! i think my contractor scared his batch of workers no skill to do the "drop" properly... my uncle warned me to tell my contractor not to use chinese (PRC) workers... coz their tiling skills CMI plus no QC one... he told me at least get m'sian workers... hmmm... *headache* ah... but think they progressing very fast... my contractor told me that he's getting the tile materials this morning le... haha the golden words came from May_dream~ whether PRC/Indian/Malaysian/local, still very much depend on the workers themselves... there are not-so-good Malaysian and local workers also (for e.g., my plumber..... argh.) you can drop by once tiling starts to judge the quality of work.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 haha the golden words came from May_dream~ whether PRC/Indian/Malaysian/local, still very much depend on the workers themselves... there are not-so-good Malaysian and local workers also (for e.g., my plumber..... argh.) you can drop by once tiling starts to judge the quality of work.... hahahaha... thanks thanks.... i agree with marshy. My tiler is from china and his work is really good... he did the drop without any problem and he managed to do the shelf for my seater in very smooth and good quality. Its not easy as tiles can crack easily when its cut in odd shaped.... and if you look closely to the floor tiles in both toilet, the tiles covering the piping are done so rounded and well!!! So, its the quality of the workers, not the nationality!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
csingeu 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 Sian... My contractor just called. He said the HDB officer says can do the shower drop, but cannot exceed 50mm height. My contractor said quite impossible not to exceed the 50mm as he still needs to connect the 2nd floor trap to the main one. He said even if he applies HDB will not approve. He also said, he told me not to ask HDB so much qns, if not, they sure come and check one... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
friends78 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2011 (edited) Sian... My contractor just called. He said the HDB officer says can do the shower drop, but cannot exceed 50mm height. My contractor said quite impossible not to exceed the 50mm as he still needs to connect the 2nd floor trap to the main one. He said even if he applies HDB will not approve. He also said, he told me not to ask HDB so much qns, if not, they sure come and check one... I also did the drop but ours not EM like yours so don't know whether it is true about the exceeding 50mm to connect the 2nd floor trap. Yes, contractors are very scared about we, owners finding trouble with HDB on reno thingy...Cos Henry also mentioned that HDB might want to check those units... Edited April 6, 2011 by friends78 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
