waiya 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) Here, a little tale … It started with much excitement and it is still exciting. In summary, house and renovation hunting are both equally tiring and time consuming. To get the best deal in this money stricken world, house owners must commit their time, heart and soul! Needless to say, close monitoring of threads at Renotalk.com / reno-tblog chat is a must! After much hunting, we stumbled upon a nest at Kim Keat Avenue, 37 years old 3I flat, 66sqm. As it meets our budget, we are easy with the low floor and zooming vehicles . Nothing comes cheap and good anyway! The home needs a thorough renovation though. Gosh...money money! Edited March 6, 2011 by waiya Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) Renovation hunting While waiting for completion on 18 Feb, we visited about 10 interior designers spread all over Singapore (Kiasu or normal!). Island wide search at Toa Payoh, IMM, Trade Hub 21 (good to window shop for IDs, furniture and home accessories), Tanjong Katong Complex and Singapore Expo. Looking at a budget of 30k. We had mix experiences but finally decide to go with a home based ID who recently branched out on her own. Recommended by a friend who had his home done at Pinnacle@Duxton. Workmanship seems alrite, interesting ideas and reasonable price. After umpteen punching of the calculator buttons and cutting down on good to do renovation ideas, we closed the deal with the home based ID, at about 31k.The most competitive price quoted among all companies. Edited March 6, 2011 by waiya Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
photog 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2011 Renovation hunting Visited about 10 interior designers spread all over Singapore (Kiasu or this is normal??!!). Island wide search at Toa Payoh, IMM, Trade Hub 21 (good to window shop for IDs, furniture and home accessories), Tanjong Katong Complex and Singapore Expo. Looking at a budget of 30k. Pretty major renovation work. Mix experiences: - Quotation from a company that does lots of charitable renovation work. Exceeds budget sounds like Las VEGA... hahaha. If so, they OVER quote for mine too... so SKIPPED! good luck in your reno, do put up before and after pics! better still, T-blog it! hahaha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 6, 2011 (edited) Here is our floor plan : http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...Floorplan-1.jpg Thank you all for the well wishes . Will upload more details later. Edited March 7, 2011 by waiya Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CoffeeMan 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) Congrats! Wishing you a smooth renovation journey Edited March 7, 2011 by CoffeeMan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 Congrats! Wishing you a smooth renovation journey Hi Coffeeman, thank you Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 The Old and Retro Home Seen in the attachments are retro fittings in the home. We decided to make do without all of them! Switches http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/waiya1/switches.jpg Floor tiles & Rubber mats Check out the unique mosaic tiles at the wall between both bedrooms. Thought of keeping them but difficult to retain since we are changing the doors frame. So of they go! http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...srubbermats.jpg Living Room Don’t like the pillar on the ceiling. Will hack the wall between kitchen entrance and living room. Will be replaced with clear tampered glass panel and glass door. http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/waiya1/Living.jpg Kitchen Just stove support and kitchen sink .Check out the pipes, thrown all over the place. Very challenging to fit the kitchen cabinet. Need to flush the wall and box up pipes. Meter gas Will position it nearer to the kitchen sink. http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/waiya1/Kitchen.jpg Bathroom and WC Upgraded in 2006, but condition bad due to little maintanence. Contractor will construct extra aluminium frame to level up the entrances . http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...throomandWC.jpg ID will construct a vanity top with washing sink between bathroom and WC wall. The mirror will be sandwich by mosaic tiles... but modern ones!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
May_dream1 14 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 Welcome to RT!! Hope that you will enjoy the reno process and get to do your house as you dream of. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 The Tale begins Renovation works start on 28 Feb. Handing over 9 Apr. Color Concept: Living and Kitchen - Earth tone colors with tinge of red Bedroom 1 - White and Blue Bedroom 2 - White and lollipop pink Here are some of the perspective drawings. Non colored but good enough for us to visualize. Excited to see the transformation! 5 ft TV Feature wall and console This will be a stand alone fixture. The feature wall height will be constructed to half the window height. This will give privacy and at the same time allow light and wind to enter. The console will be extended to the floor, allow more room for storage and sturdiness. http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...5KimKeat001.jpg Porch - There will be about 2.5 ft wide area when we enter the flat, between the TV feature wall and window. 28.5 ft top and bottom kitchen cabinet Include boxing up of all pipes, box up of rubbish chute area, 2 ft full height cabinet for ovens, glass panel between top and bottom cabinet area. Complimentary kitchen sink, tap, cooker hob and hood. http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...5KimKeat003.jpg 10 ft wardrobe Full height L shaped wardrobe creates a division between the dressing and sleeping area. Entrance to the room will be greeted with a full height mirror and sliding wardrobe. http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...5KimKeat002.jpg Vanity mosaic tiles http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/waiya1/mosaic.jpg Watch out for the transformation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 Welcome to RT!! Hope that you will enjoy the reno process and get to do your house as you dream of. Hi May Dream, thanx . We are certainly enjoying the process and it is certainly a joy to see the home transforming slowly. But it is sooooo tiring .. im sure you agree with me ! U enjoy your reno process too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 (edited) The Tiles tale ID brought us to Soon Bee Huat Trading Pte Ltd at Toh Guan East. Pretty impressive range of tiles and mock up showroom on the 2nd floor. Our supposedly price range: Homogenous floor tiles for living room 60 x 60 cm Up to $3.50 p/ft Homogenous floor tiles for kitchen 30 x 60 cm Up to $3.00 p/ft Homogenous floor tiles for bathroom & WC [/in30 x 30 cm Up to $3.00 p/ft Ceramic wall tiles for kitchen,bathroom & WC - Up to $3.00 p/ft Kitchen, bathrooms We made some selection of tiles that cost $4.20 per/ft and mosaic sheets (for vanity area) at $11 p/ft. ID was not calculative and absorbed extra cost of tiles. She also gave brilliant suggestions, without which we won’t be able to visualize. Kudos ID! http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/w...esselection.jpg Last entry for today ... So tired liao ! Edited March 7, 2011 by waiya Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
photog 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 The Old and Retro Home Seen in the attachments are retro fittings in the home. We decided to make do without all of them! Switches http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/waiya1/switches.jpg Living Room Don’t like the pillar on the ceiling. Will hack the wall between kitchen entrance and living room. Will be replaced with clear tampered glass panel and glass door. http://i1102.photobucket.com/albums/g458/waiya1/Living.jpg those switches! classic! dun think can find them easily nowadays! oh, those r not pillars but beams beams can hack one meh? good luck in your reno~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waiya 0 Report post Posted March 7, 2011 those switches! classic! dun think can find them easily nowadays! oh, those r not pillars but beams beams can hack one meh? good luck in your reno~ wahahah ... salah liao! beam cannot hack lor .. so make do ! Cant understand old infrastructure . ya .. that's why we keep the switches. Flat older than our age .. so kampong! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CoffeeMan 0 Report post Posted March 8, 2011 (edited) wahahah ... salah liao! beam cannot hack lor .. so make do ! Cant understand old infrastructure . ya .. that's why we keep the switches. Flat older than our age .. so kampong! If you wanna hack the overhead beam, you must engage a civil and structural engineer to certify it fit-for-hacking. It will then be easier to get approval from HDB Edited March 8, 2011 by CoffeeMan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
froggy 0 Report post Posted March 8, 2011 wahahah ... salah liao! beam cannot hack lor .. so make do ! Cant understand old infrastructure . ya .. that's why we keep the switches. Flat older than our age .. so kampong! hi waiya new house also the same - I got a ugly beam running across the kitchen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
