Documenting The Construction Journey

[SiSi 0]

my builder says my place will TOP end august although on the white board outside my house, official TOP = 31st Oct. So next monday will be 1st August and they still do not have the following done :

1) parquet to all rooms and staircase

2) staircase railing

3) lay marble flooring

4) lay carporch tiles

5) no gate

6) no letter box build up yet

7) no floor to ceiling folding window to my living room

8) no doors to everywhere

9) no lights (i haven't even buy)

10) no toilet bowl (i haven't buy)

11) no sink (i haven't buy)

12) no shower screens

Will all the above magically appear in 4weeks?

[SiSi 0]

Lol ... My builder told me the same thing too. End of Aug !!! We seem to have the similar extensive 'yet-to-be-done' list, To add to that, I am still roofless etc. I am praying for good weather n miracles everyday. Cheers to our 'end-of-August' Dream n Delivery ;D

[pantieileen 2]

Floors appeared today on the 3rd floor! Made me so kan cheong, i rushed to buy lights and looks like it's quite possible for them to finish until i receive a letter from PUB, apparently they haven't lay the electricity and water connections...erm...so i start to wonder if stat boards will work so fast like complete everything in 1 week ? (i very kind, i give PUB 1 week to perform magic!)

It was raining today but they were quite smart to create a tent, working to on carporch!

So 3weeks to go...do i have to be in town for BCA or URA or whatever stat board to do TOP?

[petunialee 4]

Floors appeared today on the 3rd floor! Made me so kan cheong, i rushed to buy lights and looks like it's quite possible for them to finish until i receive a letter from PUB, apparently they haven't lay the electricity and water connections...erm...so i start to wonder if stat boards will work so fast like complete everything in 1 week ? (i very kind, i give PUB 1 week to perform magic!)

It was raining today but they were quite smart to create a tent, working to on carporch!

So 3weeks to go...do i have to be in town for BCA or URA or whatever stat board to do TOP?

If they need to open up the road to lay a heavier duty cable than the one they laid 30 years ago, it takes 3 weeks to 1 month (sometimes more) from the day you pay up the connection fee to Powergrid. Powergrid needs to seek permission for their works from NEA, NParks, LTA. Prior to that, it takes 2 weeks from the time your electrician makes an application for a connection to the day you get your quote.

[leechaorui 2]

If they need to open up the road to lay a heavier duty cable than the one they laid 30 years ago, it takes 3 weeks to 1 month (sometimes more) from the day you pay up the connection fee to Powergrid. Powergrid needs to seek permission for their works from NEA, NParks, LTA. Prior to that, it takes 2 weeks from the time your electrician makes an application for a connection to the day you get your quote.

Good to know that you are generally satisfied with your house construction.

To lay the 3 phase power cable, it took Powergrid up to 4 months to do it for me. I applied for the cable laying after the piling works and foundation has been laid. To help speed things up, you may need to write to Powergrid to ask them to expedite. After the power cables had been in place, I got SingTel and StarHub to lay their cables, redo the drainage outside my house, redo the garden strips outside and then got LTA to repaved the road. All in, it took about 6 more months to complete, without which CSC will not be issued.

If there is extensive external works such as re-ordering of the external pavement walkway, reconstruction of external drainage, etc..., you will have to start early to simultaneously do and complete the external works and apply for the necessary approvals as the bureacracy can take some time. I needed to do the external works because I designed my house such that there is no drains and water can flow out to a culvet (leading to a bigger covered drain) which is a short distance away from my house.

[citygirl 1]

Good to know that you are generally satisfied with your house construction.

To lay the 3 phase power cable, it took Powergrid up to 4 months to do it for me. I applied for the cable laying after the piling works and foundation has been laid. To help speed things up, you may need to write to Powergrid to ask them to expedite. After the power cables had been in place, I got SingTel and StarHub to lay their cables, redo the drainage outside my house, redo the garden strips outside and then got LTA to repaved the road. All in, it took about 6 more months to complete, without which CSC will not be issued.

If there is extensive external works such as re-ordering of the external pavement walkway, reconstruction of external drainage, etc..., you will have to start early to simultaneously do and complete the external works and apply for the necessary approvals as the bureacracy can take some time. I needed to do the external works because I designed my house such that there is no drains and water can flow out to a culvet (leading to a bigger covered drain) which is a short distance away from my house.

What a fantastic idea. No drains in the house means fewer rodents. I am SO going to do that too!

[citygirl 1]

Congrats! I am glad you are comfy with your team and you have a good archi. I'll PM you for his contact so that I'll use him the next time (if ever) I build a house. Do update on how your archi is at the end of your building process eh?

I don't suppose any prizes go to the house that gets completed first so I guess if this is the time you need to conceptualize and refine your house design then the time is well spent. It isn't how you start I guess, it's how you end.

Mistake 1

I should have specified a 10% buffer for my household shelter. Mistakes can happen when casting concrete and we casted a little smaller than specified and had to rework. With a 10% buffer, a little smaller or bigger would still be within regulations.

Mistake 2

I should have built up to maximum i.e., 6000 sqft.

Mistake 3

Use a flat concrete roof. I was afraid of flat roofs and the heat that radiates down from them, so I chose a metal roof with double density + cement board insulation (which is very cooling) but my archi gave me a very good insulation system for the little bit of flat roof that I have... which is quite cooling too.

Mistake 4

Use an open out gate instead of sliding gate. Most people have their gates open out and this saves driveway space.

Mistake 5

Design a higher ceiling for 2nd storey. High ceilings are very pleasant indeed.

Mistake 6

Don't underestimate how small shower space can be at 1.2m. I should have designed larger bathrooms.

Mistake 7

Have big huge windows in bathroom (with frosted glass and plant screens). I did manage to get these though... because I wanted them so much.

Mistake 8

Should have designed an open concept bathroom with access to outdoors... and half open to elements.

Overall, I do like my house a lot. When I talked of selling, it was to make money but I don't think the market is gonna rise up very much in the next 2 years so that plan is shelved. Haha.

Thank you so much! When work starts on my house, I hope to share its progress as well.

[pantieileen 2]

Overall, I do like my house a lot. When I talked of selling, it was to make money but I don't think the market is gonna rise up very much in the next 2 years so that plan is shelved. Haha.

Same..i got offers from 3M - 3.2M tempting. Can use this and move to a bigger place but guess i'll stay put

[petunialee 4]

Some things I learnt when waterproofing the bathrooms... http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/08/waterproofing-your-bathroom.html

[pantieileen 2]

my builder says my place will TOP end august although on the white board outside my house, official TOP = 31st Oct. So next monday will be 1st August and they still do not have the following done :

1) parquet to all rooms and staircase

2) staircase railing

3) lay marble flooring

4) lay carporch tiles

5) no gate

6) no letter box build up yet

7) no floor to ceiling folding window to my living room

8) no doors to everywhere

9) no lights (i haven't even buy)

10) no toilet bowl (i haven't buy)

11) no sink (i haven't buy)

12) no shower screens

Will all the above magically appear in 4weeks?

So part magic did happen since 27August

1) Parquet done

2) Marble done

3) Letterbox built

4) Front boundary walls built

Next week installing

5) toilet bowls

6) shower screens

7) sinks (provided i buy them this weekend)

8) lights

only missing gate,carporch tiles (no stock), doors and it's only 18August today. Heng i didn't bet a chilli crab with them.

[Littlei 0]

Hi Petunia, have you gotten your TOP? Wondering how long the process takes from the start of application.

[petunialee 4]

Yes... I have my TOP. I can't remember how long it took though... Here is a new blogpost on my construction journey.

http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/11/reliable-contractors-1-elite-deco-pte.html

[petunialee 4]

Mongrel puppies are more resilient than pure breeds. They are loving, loyal and protective of the home. Please someone... adopt these 3. http://www.petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/12/fatty-puppy-friendly-puppy-frightened.html

[petetherock 13]

Thumbs up for all your posts. It will certainly be handy for my future works. Cheers

[petunialee 4]

Owner Developers - If you don't make sure you have stiffeners, no one will.

http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2012/04/stiffeners.html

Edited April 2, 2012 by petunialee