Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 1, 2011 Will be sharing my reno process in this reno, for better or worse Recap -2009 - planning to buy flat, been monitoring the New Flat2010 - no luck in ballot, so decided to invest in RESALE HDB Flat, viewed a coupled ,no luck too2011 - Fainted, property price like shares price, however, no down but up up upApr 2011 - after alot of viewing, very tiring and @$@#$@%%, finally saw one and two potential but tight budgetJun 2011 - found one in JW, damage COV 30K , now v. broke, double v. broke = whole house need to renoJul - Sept 2011 - lurking around renotalk for lobang and lessons to be learnedSept 2011 - 1st apptOct 2011 - 2nd apptEnclosed my floor plan:- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 1, 2011 Part 1: Feng Shui Having a FS Master to audit for my house is for one reason = home business = Prosperity - engaged Master Chang, - overall audit experience was pleasant- audit while tenants were inside the house- not much changed, only a few pointers to take noteThe challenge: -i) Hob, kitchen sink, washing machine layoutii) my spouse chinese zodiac Fan Tai Sui 犯太岁 = cannot involve in renoSo I one-man-show bao ka liao Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 1, 2011 (edited) Part 2 Handover key = Never see so dirty empty house in my life (at this moment)When bringing our id to view the flat before 2nd appt, i had been notified by my agent that the tenants had moved out.With a auspisious date & time, we opened the door.Dirty dirty (alot)cockroach + 1 lizardWell... why... coz we buy from Indian PR rented out to 10 indian male tenants FW, please note i am not racist toward them , as i am expected the house to be dirty but not that 100% dirty with many cockroaches and their droppingsA few died on the floor at the bdroom, living area, alot inside the cabinet..My luck i think.Tmr Update: Part 3 - Selection of Id/Contractor, Part 4 - Pestering Town Council Officer Edited November 1, 2011 by Nellynutt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 2, 2011 Part 3: Selection of Id/Contractor (Very headache n burn out task)Not easy if you are on budget budget with 20K to spareAfter meeting several ID/contractor, my ideal design cannot be done within 20K, therefore, slash here, remove that, postpone later to purchase.Summary of the Id/contractor (full name will not be listed here to be fair to them)1. Mr W (current fav in the forum): Very nice guy, called to my mobile to discuss over phone, Quotation given within days. My initial first choice & love to give him the job but budget constraint. To be fair for him and my budget, i hate to say i had to drop him. 2. Mr J (another fav in the forum): Straight forward and also very nice guy. Meet up and given quotation. Quote 37K. Too ex, so i hate to say i need to drop him too.3. Ms N : Click immediate, bold and daring in design, n I love it. well.. again not within my budget. 4. L Company: quote without meeting only via email. able to quote me exactly what I wanted. Wow, look like we got chemistry. However, bad new = he left the company before we can meet up. 5. Fren's lobang, Contractor Uncle K: very nice and humble. Meet up with his wife too. talked and discussion went very smoothly, however, he never reply us with a quotation. called him, never pick up, left voice msg wife responds say another few days. Never happen. So we drop him after three weeks of waiting. Heard from fren later , he got big issue, maybe that's why.6. Email to the forum fav contractor Mr A. Called him and he say he will review but no reply.7. Email G company in Tradehub. No replyWell... tough right not smooth after all.So one day I decided to walk in any shop that I saw first to get the quotation for comparison to see if 30K is the market rate.8. Mr N in JE area - very straightforward, nice uncle. He listened to what I requested and say he will quote me within days. I received the quotation within 3 days and the price quote 20K. After several meeting and discussion, our final price tag is 23K w/o electricity Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) Part 4: Pestering Town Council Technical OfficerOur kitchen has a white wooden rubbish chute access paneland the air pipe is terribly burstAll have to be changed.Mr N advised us to look for town council as it would be FOC... and the story started- called town council for information, they say HDB branch in-charged- so called HDB branch, they say town council in-charged - told the HDB branch, the town council say is not their responsibilities, and I felt like a ping & pong ball- the HDB lady was nice to take down my number and pass to their PM officer- the PM officer Ms C called within 15 minutes, and she explained that the day I called is on Friday, she may need time to check, verify and call me next monday- True enough, Ms C gave me a call on Monday, and say Mr D from Town Council will contact me, and she mentioned that Mr D told her out of good gesture replacement will be FOC.- 2 weeks passed, no call from Mr D, I checked the website, got his number, and called him.- Mr D answered the call, mentioned that he does not recall the issue, I explained and he mentioned he needed to come up to the resale flat for a viewing.- However, Mr D mentioned when the flat is in the process of reno, we had to make an appt with him for the viewing.- Few days later, my spouse called Mr D for an appt BUT he gave us all sort of excuses like no time, must ask boss, replacement not free, and put down the phone.- called Ms C again to verify, and she advise me to write Mr D an email and cc to their common email.- Gosh... so I wrote him a "love" email, and cc to Town council common email with my two-above mentioned pictures- gave Mr D a call that I am going to send him an email with pictures for his convenient so he does not need to come to the flat to check - Email sent; gave Mr D a call on the very next morning, Mr D with an impatient tone say why i kept calling him and he had received the email, will discuss with his superior.- Less than two hours plumber and the town council contractor contacted me to fix an appt to change the following items which inclusive of toilet big pipe, price = FOCThe moral of the story - Do not give up, find the correct channel and be persistent = Save $$$ too Edited November 2, 2011 by Nellynutt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 2, 2011 (edited) Part 5: My dream Design layout After we had exercised the OTP, I started to surf and browsed for ideas for design especially D'KitchenMy Fav 01:either Fav 02orFav 3 However, after FS audit .....Fav 1 No space no red Fav 2 No Space neither way Fav 3: No space neither way 2 therefore, my kitchen design layout will be straight retangular shape no exciting shape Boring rite versus the colorful designs?!? Edited November 5, 2011 by Nellynutt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lobo76 0 Report post Posted November 2, 2011 The moral of the story - Do not give up, find the correct channel and be persistent = Save $$$ toomoral of the story part II, is do black and white, even if it is email. Phone call equal no proof equal no action Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
renoseeker 0 Report post Posted November 2, 2011 Isn't email already black and white? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Terencetcw 0 Report post Posted November 2, 2011 wow....by reading your thread...i can see u very frustrating dont worry...things will be smooth when everything sorted out~ be Reno never come easy... Pls post up more reno pictures yeah~ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2011 (edited) Today is my flat hacking day... met my first challenge:- Demolition of wall between the Kitchen and living areaCurrentEx-owner hacked away the wall (red slash line) between the kitchen and the dining area, and built a wall (blue block) at the kitchen entranceOur Conceptas there is no dark black block indicated on the floor plan, we planned to hack the built wall to have an open conceptThe First challenge:-During hacking we found out that there is a concrete pillar beam = now cannot hack, Edited November 5, 2011 by Nellynutt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2011 (edited) well.. regarding my first challenge D' BEAM as mentioned above,we decided to keep the wall + the lovely beam, y? 1. Save trouble of hacking 2. budget = later purchase = hood not purchased mean less oily to the living area3. Why make myself so frustrated and worry ,as 关关难闯关关闯，年年难过年年过, 船到桥头自然直 4. Save $$$ , hacking wall not free = cost hundred buck Edited November 5, 2011 by Nellynutt Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zorae 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2011 The challenge: -i) Hob, kitchen sink, washing machine layoutii) my spouse chinese zodiac Fan Tai Sui 犯太岁 = cannot involve in renoSo I one-man-show bao ka liao Jia you! My man wasn't very involved in the planning/designing stage so I can empathise with u. As always, renotalk will be there for u Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2011 Jia you! My man wasn't very involved in the planning/designing stage so I can empathise with u. As always, renotalk will be there for u Thank U your moral support is appreciated Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sarvakti 0 Report post Posted November 3, 2011 Dear Friend, Me too looking to renovate my 4m flat. I would greatly appreciate if you can pm your contractors to me at 92455242. I would love to talk to you. Could you please send across your mobile number please ? I would greatly appreciate talking to you. Please do text me without fail.Best Regards,Sarva.Part 4: Pestering Town Council Technical OfficerOur kitchen has a white wooden rubbish chute access paneland the air pipe is terribly burstAll have to be changed.Mr N advised us to look for town council as it would be FOC... and the story started- called town council for information, they say HDB branch in-charged- so called HDB branch, they say town council in-charged - told the HDB branch, the town council say is not their responsibilities, and I felt like a ping & pong ball- the HDB lady was nice to take down my number and pass to their PM officer- the PM officer Ms C called within 15 minutes, and she explained that the day I called is on Friday, she may need time to check, verify and call me next monday- True enough, Ms C gave me a call on Monday, and say Mr D from Town Council will contact me, and she mentioned that Mr D told her out of good gesture replacement will be FOC.- 2 weeks passed, no call from Mr D, I checked the website, got his number, and called him.- Mr D answered the call, mentioned that he does not recall the issue, I explained and he mentioned he needed to come up to the resale flat for a viewing.- However, Mr D mentioned when the flat is in the process of reno, we had to make an appt with him for the viewing.- Few days later, my spouse called Mr D for an appt BUT he gave us all sort of excuses like no time, must ask boss, replacement not free, and put down the phone.- called Ms C again to verify, and she advise me to write Mr D an email and cc to their common email.- Gosh... so I wrote him a "love" email, and cc to Town council common email with my two-above mentioned pictures- gave Mr D a call that I am going to send him an email with pictures for his convenient so he does not need to come to the flat to check - Email sent; gave Mr D a call on the very next morning, Mr D with an impatient tone say why i kept calling him and he had received the email, will discuss with his superior.- Less than two hours plumber and the town council contractor contacted me to fix an appt to change the following items which inclusive of toilet big pipe, price = FOCThe moral of the story - Do not give up, find the correct channel and be persistent = Save $$$ too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nellynutt 0 Report post Posted November 4, 2011 Dear Friend, Me too looking to renovate my 4m flat. I would greatly appreciate if you can pm your contractors to me at 92455242. I would love to talk to you. Could you please send across your mobile number please ? I would greatly appreciate talking to you. Please do text me without fail.Best Regards,Sarva.pm you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
