zullin 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 Decided to share our experience on our journey to renovate an 18 year old flat in Pasir Ris. We went house hunting by ourselves for 5 months and after viewing over 30 units in the estate, we found our perfect home. Yes, we were fussy buyers. Very fussy. So after all the OTP, inspection, handing over, etc, we finally got our keys and stepped into the house on 21 Dec 2010. The house was, as expected, dusty and much renovation needed to be done. Off we went the following weekends hunting for IDs, contractors and magazines. All those that we called up were recommended by fellow forumers on renotalk. That is when we find all the quirky, weird and even the smelly. After much heartbreaking moments with various designers and contractors we finally made our decision. We didn't scout for many, unlike our house hunting, we only called for 5. Which we narrowed down to 2 and finally confirmed with one of them. The initial cutoff was rather easy as I'm a rather impatient person. The one who doesn't stick to his word gets booted off. Simple as that. haha! Especially to this particular "lifestyle planner" from a recommended ID from renotalk which is what we would call a NATO. He promised the sky, the sea and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. But as expected, its all just a myth. Perhaps it was just him, the rest of the team hopefully are better. From the final 2, the deciding factor would be based on price. Which was a clear cut winner, as that particular company does not charge GST (over $2k man!!). Although both were very easy to talk to but it all boils down to price. Doesn't it always... So without further ado here is the original floor plan. I'll try to upload the "before" pics and floor plan when im free. Tmr hacking start liao! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 Reserved for "before" pics Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 (edited) What we wanted in terms of design for our house is "practicality", "future-proof" and "simple". It was a very difficult task having to sift out the needs and wants. We do not intend to sell the house for a profit unnecessarily. We are looking for long term usage. Here are some of our own definitions: Practicality - it has to work and be used often. no point having something nice which does not serve its purpose nor be used once a year. Future-proof - the ability to make subtle changes to color, location, etc and it'll give the affected area a new look. Simple - no clutter with minimal furniture. less is more. the less storage space we have, the less unnecessary things we'll keep. We are getting married next month and afterwhich, her parents might be shifting in with us. It'll just be a matter of when, as the current house they are staying is a mansionette, which is too big imho. This is our first design. This design gives us plenty of space in the masterbedroom to roll around on the floor. Initially we wanted a WIW but our budget doesn't allow for one, which we both think is unnecessary expenditure. So instead of a WIW, we just create a partition/separation from the wardrobe by using the bedframe. We can even have our own reading corner and study area, all in one bedroom. We also expanded the kitchen door to let more light in as it was rather dark with such a small window. The only thing we didn't like about the house was the location of the mbdrm entrance, which is beside the kitchen. That definitely has to be relocated. This is our second design. This layout, although does not have the fancy WIW, it does allow us to make use of the adjacent room in the future to perhaps convert it to a study area. The rest of the floor plan is the same as the previous design. Some might say we have a dead space in front of the center bdrm but i'm planning to hang my bicycle on the wall and have a small showcase cupboard. Since the bdrm is just a study area, we can sacrifice a bit of space. By doing the layout as shown shifts the mbdrm entrance away from the kitchen. This design allows for more development than the first. We initially submitted the first design to HDB for approval but after some last minute thoughts we changed our minds and resubmitted based on the second design. Second design FTW!! Hopefully everything fits nicely into place. Edited January 18, 2011 by zullin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lazybum9 1 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 we just started on sourcing for contractors too...only contractors as we know what to do and what we want plus the new place is pretty much done up le...good luck on ur reno...looking forward to ur pictures... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
edenstrauss 3 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 Your flat looks huge. I reckon that this is an E flat or a 5 roomer? No odd angles or corners sticking out, I think it's easy to furnish the place... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 18, 2011 Your flat looks huge. I reckon that this is an E flat or a 5 roomer? No odd angles or corners sticking out, I think it's easy to furnish the place... thats what i thought too when i first saw the floor plan. but its not really that big. the floor plan just makes it look huge. dunno why. haha. but yah it is a 5I, 123sqm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 20, 2011 Even before our renovation started we already made some major purchases with a washer dryer combi, fridge and tv over the weekend at Gain City Expo Sale. Expected delivery in april. Got ourselves a Sealy Mayfair mattress with storage bedframe and the following items Samsung WD8804 Samsung RT50EBPN with $100 NTUC voucher Sony 40" EX600 with free HDMI cable & USB wireless dongle no more money at the end of april. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2011 Some pics of the demolition. Like all hackings, the place was in a mess and filled with dust. Balcony hack Living room & bathroom hack Living room & kitchen hack Common bathroom hack Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2011 (edited) Tile selection over the weekend. We were spoilt for choice. Didn't know where to begin. Didn't know what colors to pick. Which pattern to select. But eventually came out with these. Common bathroom Master bathroom Kitchen floor (the dark grey at the bottom) Didnt take pics for the living & balcony floor though. Edited January 24, 2011 by zullin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 24, 2011 just a question to ask. if im not retiling the kitchen wall but installing a new set of cabinets, is it recommended to jus hack the existing tiles that will be behind the new cabinet? or let it be? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steelze 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2011 if u not hacking the kitchen wall tiles, then dun bother hack away the tiles behind the cabinets bah. dun make sense to hack away something which eventually will be covered up. waste $$$ to hack. furthermore, if in future u wanna remove the cabinets, then the affected wall areas will be botak. very ugly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zer061zer0 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2011 (edited) Gosh, I spot some similarities between yourself and me! 1. Your house layout is exactly like my parent's place (where I am staying now), 2. Your submitted layout is similar to what my hubby and I submitted to HDB for our own flat! We spent close to two months thinking what to do, and finally decided that was the best layout possible. 3. We bought the exact same model of washer/dryer 4. Even the placement of sink, hob and fridge are the same in the kitchen! LOL.. GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE! Is your place around 400+ in Tampines? Edited January 25, 2011 by zer061zer0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zullin 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2011 hi zer061zer0, nope our place is in pasir ris. but im staying in 400+ tampines with my parents till the house is ready. but yah upon deeper thought, having such a big master is not "future-proof" should there be any expansion. who knows we might want to have 4-5 kids LOL. furthermore, we really like the place and intend to stay for long. so quite a lot things to consider. actually it took us 5 months, 80+ phone calls to sellers and 30+ viewings before we found this unit. almost felt like giving up a few times if not for my partner's patience, we might have settled for something less. of coz we had the luxury of time to search for the perfect one. any pics of your place? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zer061zer0 0 Report post Posted January 25, 2011 hi zer061zer0, nope our place is in pasir ris. but im staying in 400+ tampines with my parents till the house is ready. but yah upon deeper thought, having such a big master is not "future-proof" should there be any expansion. who knows we might want to have 4-5 kids LOL. furthermore, we really like the place and intend to stay for long. so quite a lot things to consider. actually it took us 5 months, 80+ phone calls to sellers and 30+ viewings before we found this unit. almost felt like giving up a few times if not for my partner's patience, we might have settled for something less. of coz we had the luxury of time to search for the perfect one. any pics of your place? my reno will only start after CNY.. My parent's place is in Tampines 400+ too! and my new home is also there, just the next carpark entrance away. hahaha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaijia 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2011 my reno will only start after CNY.. My parent's place is in Tampines 400+ too! and my new home is also there, just the next carpark entrance away. hahaha hi fellow Pasir Ris Neighbour! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
