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csingeu

Our Lil Paradise

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kitchen_bottom_cabinet_tiles_5.JPG

kitchen_bottom_cabinet_tiles_6.JPG

hmmm Flannel Cherry looks good.. it will actually outstand and bringten up the area. colour not so dark and not so dull :)

btw, if my dad sees your perspective drawings, he will say nowadays, not many pple can do this kind of drawings by hand liao... haha :lol:

heee...only old timer can do this type of hand drawings...ID nowadays need software to visualise what we want. So old timer are much more hands on :good:

 

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Hiya,

Didn't realise you had started your own. Unfortunately I cannot view the pictures from work which sort of ruins the experience :). I can always check from home though.

Congrats on the EM. Plenty of room for future children ;).

i think we are too nice...

Yeah, having met you I think that is most likely the case :D . I am the same but TBH when it comes to money and what I want I have to give myself a kick to make sure I get what I want rather than what someone wants to give me as it is easier / more profitable for them. It is not an easy thing to do if you are not naturally disposed to being cut-throat and hard lined but sometimes it is needed IMO.

Bit late but as for the shower drop, I have sort of got lost with all the back and forth.

As I understand it (comments in brackets).

1. Contractor submit approval request to HDB

2. HDB reject as unclear

3. Contractor state not unclear (HDB or Contractor not being honest or more likely not clear to HDB officer but clear to Contractor so contractor not understand what HDB officer needs. Seems not so experienced on one side or the other).

4. Contractor state shower drop only allowed in newer blocks (I have shower drops in both my current EM and my old 3-room. Both were over 20 years old. The 3 room was inspected before sale with no issues reported by the HDB officer).

5. Contractor suggests not asking HDB so many questions for fear of inspection (what is he afraid of if he insists on following HDB rules).

6. You confirm cannot raise floor by more than 50mm (30mm screed burying 1" pipes for waste, 10mm screed for areas apart from shower lower area, 10mm tile thickness. I also believe that 50mm is a guideline and as long as there is a drop between the next room and the toilet area HDB are pretty ok with it. Lets face it, how are HDB going to determine how deep the screed is without breaking in to it).

7. HDB confirm to Contractor that he can do drop but Contractor state he cannot without laying more than 50mm floor finishing (seems to be a pretty strong indicator of your contractors belief in his workers ability).

8. Contractor suggest water from shower trap may have problems (not if the tilers / plumbers have any ability. We have never seen any issues with this. Water flow is strong enough to wash away without issues).

9. "the shower screen will have "lobang", so the floor tiles would be laid in such a way, the water running for the rest of the bathrooms will have problems" (no idea what he means by this. Why would the shower screen affect other toilets).

10. You have confirmed HDB rules on topup of floor.

11. Contractor claims he has 2 units need to redo floor due to 50mm limit (how did HDB confirm the limit was broached unless it was so badly broached it was obvious like being level or higher floor than the next room).

12. Contractor is demanding HDB approval for a job that HDB guidelines state do not need approval.

13. Contractor stating you should not contact HDB asking questions too often (so he wants you to apply for something that is not needed whilst telling you not to contact HDB too often. Trying to give you a task before he will start and trying to make the task unappealing).

14. HDB state that the contractor seemed quite experienced when the officer spoke to him (May I believe stated that the officer is nice but not so technical which seems to be fairly clear as she is just quoting the official rules to you from their website. Would take her opinion of contractors skill with pinch of salt. If she is hampered by lack of technical knowledge so is only flying with one eye open to start with, how easy for the contractor to talk nice and pull the wool over the other eye :) ).

15. The HDB officer states from personal experience that using EPF may not be good due to leaking (the waterproof layer is meant to be under the EPF so leaking will be restricted to the toilet area anyway, putting an inflexible material over a flexible material sounds like a silly idea anyway).

If this is how it stands then I personally would source for someone else to do the toilet areas as your contractor is clearly not happy with doing it the way you want and many others have had it done. He is clearly not being completely honest with you about it and I would ask HDB to do a site inspection which he clearly doesn't want done just to make sure there are not anything else he is cutting corners on but has not told you. It could well be he is not happy to do the drop as he doesn't want too and is just using HDB inspection to pressure you. Surely if he is doing his job then the HDB inspection should turn up nothing. Maybe ask him what he has done that makes him so worried about the inspection. You could also ask to speak to the HDB technical officer who will have a better idea.

Our ID was going to give us a curb but I luckily caught it before the work was started.

The way it was done for us (AFAIK - i.e. I did not measure at the time);

Cement screed (used to flatten floor after hacking)

Waterproofing

Cement screed around 30mm for burying in pipes for sink and shower to main waste pipes from floor traps.

Cement screed around 10mm with only a light covering in the shower area creating the recess.

Tiling.

Curbs are more dangerous due to the ability to trip up on them. Maybe not an issue for you but elderly relatives staying or young children in the future. Something to think about ?

RB

 

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Our ID was going to give us a curb but I luckily caught it before the work was started.

The way it was done for us (AFAIK - i.e. I did not measure at the time);

Cement screed (used to flatten floor after hacking)

Waterproofing

Cement screed around 30mm for burying in pipes for sink and shower to main waste pipes from floor traps.

Cement screed around 10mm with only a light covering in the shower area creating the recess.

Tiling.

Curbs are more dangerous due to the ability to trip up on them. Maybe not an issue for you but elderly relatives staying or young children in the future. Something to think about ?

The pt of kerb being dangerous (due to ability to trip over them) was part of our main reason to pursue the matter initially; not so much that it might be aesthetically more pleasing too.

I have come to the conclusion that:

1. my contractor's tiler is probably not as skillful to perform the task required.

2. he's too "follow the law" kind

3. he probably didn't hack the floor deep enough (i'm not too sure if a 12cm drop from bedroom to toilet (before any cement screed or tiling is done) is "deep enough"

I recall him mentioning that he's using 40mm water pipes... and that 1/2 inch allowance is needed to create the gradient for water running.

He did mentioned that he can do, but the end result would be that the drop from the bathroom area to the shower area will only be 1 tile difference (which is like 5mm), which is like :bangwall:

a 5-mm drop?... it's as gd as no drop... i think a 2-3cm drop would be more useful... but not even a 1-cm drop?

anyway, i've requested that the kerb be 30mm instead of 50mm... hopefully it's not too high... nevertheless, i think 30mm or 50mm not much difference... if it's going to be a kerb, there's a chance of tripping over it... oh well... :bangwall:

 

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The pt of kerb being dangerous (due to ability to trip over them) was part of our main reason to pursue the matter initially; not so much that it might be aesthetically more pleasing too.

I have come to the conclusion that:

1. my contractor's tiler is probably not as skillful to perform the task required.

2. he's too "follow the law" kind

3. he probably didn't hack the floor deep enough (i'm not too sure if a 12cm drop from bedroom to toilet (before any cement screed or tiling is done) is "deep enough"

If 3 is not done then he is breaking HDB rules of having to hack away all the old screed before starting afresh.

I recall him mentioning that he's using 40mm water pipes... and that 1/2 inch allowance is needed to create the gradient for water running.

He did mentioned that he can do, but the end result would be that the drop from the bathroom area to the shower area will only be 1 tile difference (which is like 5mm), which is like :bangwall:

a 5-mm drop?... it's as gd as no drop... i think a 2-3cm drop would be more useful... but not even a 1-cm drop?

anyway, i've requested that the kerb be 30mm instead of 50mm... hopefully it's not too high... nevertheless, i think 30mm or 50mm not much difference... if it's going to be a kerb, there's a chance of tripping over it... oh well... :bangwall:

So combo him. 1/2" drop and 1" curb. Gives 1 1/2" protection with minimal curb :). Left, right, left, left , square, triangle, triangle. Fatality ;) (you have to be of a certain mind to understand the last bit).

RB

 

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14. HDB state that the contractor seemed quite experienced when the officer spoke to him (May I believe stated that the officer is nice but not so technical which seems to be fairly clear as she is just quoting the official rules to you from their website. Would take her opinion of contractors skill with pinch of salt. If she is hampered by lack of technical knowledge so is only flying with one eye open to start with, how easy for the contractor to talk nice and pull the wool over the other eye :) ).

RB, I totally agree with you.

I have a few conversation & meet the same officer as csingeu. From what I can see, yes, she is a nice officer BUT somehow she lack of technical knowledge. When I apply for a permit to hack part of my toilet walls, I have to keep on arguing and make sense with her regards my new layout. Example, if a top hung ventilation located on top of the door is not allowed, definately a share ventilation (an opening on top of wall) shouldn't be a problem. After a series of explanation to her how the things should work, finally its approved. :)

 

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Any updates on your reno Bro ?

too busy with sch assignment deadlines, office project deadlines, handing over of duties to covering officer (coz i'm going on long exam leave; ~2+ weeks), and preparing for my exams soon... :(

will try to update on this weekend on:

1. yellow spots found on MBR bathroom ceiling & ceiling of staircase area... and some "bad blood" history...

2. cock-up by aircon guys (my fault though)

3. cock-up by window guys (their fault though)

4. wall tiling work-in-progress for kitchen & bathrooms.

5. search for WCs (think it's time to get my WCs soon)

will be on 2-weeks exam leave starting next Mon (18 Apr) to Tue (3 May)...

enough time for me to check out the progress for my renovation... hopefully, no more major issues... argh...

:bangwall:

 

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What you mean by bad blood?? You too busy with exams, that's why no time to monitor for Reno.

Very stressful period for you indeed. You want to go homeplus? I am going to pay for my remaining $$ before delivery next week.

 

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too busy with sch assignment deadlines, office project deadlines, handing over of duties to covering officer (coz i'm going on long exam leave; ~2+ weeks), and preparing for my exams soon... :(

Okok bro, study hard for your exams first... the others can rectify later :)

 

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too busy with sch assignment deadlines, office project deadlines, handing over of duties to covering officer (coz i'm going on long exam leave; ~2+ weeks), and preparing for my exams soon... :(

will try to update on this weekend on:

1. yellow spots found on MBR bathroom ceiling & ceiling of staircase area... and some "bad blood" history...

2. cock-up by aircon guys (my fault though)

3. cock-up by window guys (their fault though)

4. wall tiling work-in-progress for kitchen & bathrooms.

5. search for WCs (think it's time to get my WCs soon)

will be on 2-weeks exam leave starting next Mon (18 Apr) to Tue (3 May)...

enough time for me to check out the progress for my renovation... hopefully, no more major issues... argh...

:bangwall:

yea study for your exam first... though i know it's difficult to focus now with all the reno stuff going on... jiayou~!

 

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too busy with sch assignment deadlines, office project deadlines, handing over of duties to covering officer (coz i'm going on long exam leave; ~2+ weeks), and preparing for my exams soon... :(

will try to update on this weekend on:

1. yellow spots found on MBR bathroom ceiling & ceiling of staircase area... and some "bad blood" history...

2. cock-up by aircon guys (my fault though)

3. cock-up by window guys (their fault though)

4. wall tiling work-in-progress for kitchen & bathrooms.

5. search for WCs (think it's time to get my WCs soon)

will be on 2-weeks exam leave starting next Mon (18 Apr) to Tue (3 May)...

enough time for me to check out the progress for my renovation... hopefully, no more major issues... argh...

:bangwall:

Can try asking your contractor to stop work temporary during your exam period so that you do not worry about renovation during exam time?

 

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REPOST

Great Location of your new home! very near my current place and my eldest son's pri school...

There are lotsa nice food too within walking distance!!

Welcome to Jurong!! :P

 

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REPOST

Great Location of your new home! very near my current place and my eldest son's pri school...

There are lotsa nice food too within walking distance!!

Welcome to Jurong!! :P

Hey Wenx!

Thanks for visiting my t-blog.

very near your current place? as in your current staying place or your new resale EA unit? :P

your eldest son's pri school is Shuqun Primary or Rulang Primary?

it's very near my parents' place (where i'm currently staying at now) too...

i'm on leave these 2 weeks to study for my exams... and every day i'll cycle over to check on the work-in-progress twice... it's abt a 5-min cycle... hehehe...

yah... technically i'm not new to Jurong... been here for > 20 years liao... hahaha :D

my wife will be new to Jurong... :P

 

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D-a-m-n stupid one...

HDB officer just called me and informed that they will be going over to my unit to investigate on the water leaking issues from my MBR bathroom ceiling...

the problem is... the worker has already plastered over the ceiling and all the yellow-stained wet spots... :bangwall:

HDB officer said... anyyway, they got the pics I've sent them earlier on... they will just assess onsite lor... and if they are satisfied enough, they will go upstairs to request the upstair neighbours to do a water test...

zz

anyway, with the ceiling plastered up... i don't think we'll see much "water damage" so soon... but i got a feeling it will still leak in the future... just dun know when... it's like a timebomb

OH WELL...

 

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D-a-m-n stupid one...

HDB officer just called me and informed that they will be going over to my unit to investigate on the water leaking issues from my MBR bathroom ceiling...

the problem is... the worker has already plastered over the ceiling and all the yellow-stained wet spots... :bangwall:

HDB officer said... anyyway, they got the pics I've sent them earlier on... they will just assess onsite lor... and if they are satisfied enough, they will go upstairs to request the upstair neighbours to do a water test...

zz

anyway, with the ceiling plastered up... i don't think we'll see much "water damage" so soon... but i got a feeling it will still leak in the future... just dun know when... it's like a timebomb

OH WELL...

They took that long? That time I called HDB, the officer called me back within a few hours and arranged to do a site check the next day.

But he also said they need to see water dripping or yellow stains in order to convince the neighbour upstairs....

 

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