Journey Towards Our New Home

[muska1119 1]

Your Reno has not yet complete? Started be4 cny I remembered?

[keyswz 0]

After the painting of the house was done, the next stage was with regards to the installation of the electrical components. This was the electrician's fourth visit to the house: the first was to remove the original casings for the plastering of the walls; while the second and third was to install the electrical casings, sockets and lights. Well, as there were some disputes with regards to his choice of placement of the sockets, his fourth visit would be one when one of the owners was around. This time, he installed all the lights in all rooms and completed the sockets in the kitchen. He also made the changes which I requested to some of the electrical sockets, though quite unwillingly.

The gap which I did not want:

The switches of our house:

Maybe because of the disputes during his third visit, he seemed very aloof and did not want to talk to me when I first saw him during his fourth visit. Perhaps the other workers were too chatty such that in comparison, he seemed so distant. Hmm, maybe that's his personality.

Anyway, the lights:

[keyswz 0]

[keyswz 0]

Actually the installation of the kitchen cabinet started in the middle of the installation of the lights, but I guess it makes more sense to talk about them in their respective categories.

Much of the work was done at the factories out of our sight, where the cabinets and cabinets door were fabricated. This took quite a number of days and added to our frustrations as the progress was not visible and we were irritated by the poor coordination by our contractor. However, once the fabrication was completed, the installation of the cabinets were rather quick. In fact, the carpentry workers only came twice and they needed to come a third time because there was a mistake with the colour of one of the laminate for the worktop. The workers were also very friendly and chatty. My fiancee was amazed by their skill of cutting the wood without precise measurements and yet that piece of wood was able to fit nicely into its designated place.

Anyway, let the pictures show you the transformation.

Day 1:

[keyswz 0]

Day 2:

Quite like the end finishing...

[keyswz 0]

Yes bought as many as I could from him.. Cheapest in town.. Heh

I first ordered a 3m sofa then change to 2.4 .. And similarly dining table reduced fr 6 chair to 4 chair... Really cannot fit..

Now I'm having prob w my king size bed frame again.. Overestimated my MBR size..

you are one fast replyer... i almost did not realise u replied...

what did you buy from him? I only bought stove, hob, hood and water heater... ya my 6 seater dining table like fighting for space with my sofa...

if your layout is similar to mine, then the bedroom should be quite small? mine onli a queen size... hope ur bed issue can be resolved...

Your Reno has not yet complete? Started be4 cny I remembered?

think more or less done... hacking started b4 cny... the rest after... but the posts shall not be so fast... =P otherwise so fast end of story no kick... lol...

[renotm 0]

Welcome back to renotalk! I have been patiently waiting for your updates since mid Feb. haha.

The plastering and painting work looks good. And the kitchen cabinets looking really nice!

I am also getting quite a number of things from zero. So far confirmed hob/hood, toilet ventilation fans, fridge and washer. Other stuffs still sourcing for brand/model before I ask him. heehee.

So how's your final verdict for your contractor? I am going to meet her later this week to confirm the renovation work.

It doesn't sound like she did a good job for u. Any more tips or advice you can give me?

Please keep posting.

Thanks.

[muska1119 1]

On top the items you've got, I'm also getting hoekee blanco sink,ceiling fan..

You are spending a big sum for the kitchen!

I already cannot take the amt of a L shape kitchen.. You r having u shape..!

Pls post faster so that we can see the final result

[keyswz 0]

Welcome back to renotalk! I have been patiently waiting for your updates since mid Feb. haha.

The plastering and painting work looks good. And the kitchen cabinets looking really nice!

I am also getting quite a number of things from zero. So far confirmed hob/hood, toilet ventilation fans, fridge and washer. Other stuffs still sourcing for brand/model before I ask him. heehee.

So how's your final verdict for your contractor? I am going to meet her later this week to confirm the renovation work.

It doesn't sound like she did a good job for u. Any more tips or advice you can give me?

Please keep posting.

Thanks.

hmm... to be honest I have mixed feelings...

Her good points:

1. she is understanding and flexible, basically a warm person who wants to build a good home;

2. she takes pride in her workmanship, especially the toilets (she has her personal team of workers for tiling i think);

3. she is fairly easily contactable and she will try to settle any problems regarding the reno asap (after reading about the horrors of contractors from the forum, she's very good already);

4. she gives good advice on how to take care or clean the house;

5. her costing is very transparent so no hidden costs

Her not so good points:

1. she can be quite forgetful and need quite a number of reminders (this can be frustrating);

2. last minute changes (like 1-2 days before) may not be conveyed effectively;

3. her expected date of completion may be extended (cos ours was delayed by 2-3 weeks but 80-90% of the work was already done by the deadline, just the remaining small little lingering part that is irritating);

4. when there are changes/delays to the original plan/progress schedule, she sometimes may not inform you (either that or her workers did not turn up as mentioned/promised)

Maybe our expectations were high cos i went to inspect the place almost everyday (very tiring also) and we were like anticipating progress everyday... perhaps that's why we were slightly disappointed on some days... but the end result is good as we both love it... so i guess ultimately the decision lies on whether you can click with the contractor or if you are comfortable with him/her?

[keyswz 0]

On top the items you've got, I'm also getting hoekee blanco sink,ceiling fan..

You are spending a big sum for the kitchen!

I already cannot take the amt of a L shape kitchen.. You r having u shape..!

Pls post faster so that we can see the final result

ya quite a large porportion of the total cost on kitchen...

I also hope I dun regret the kitchen design cos lesser floor space now... like what my fiancee said, I can wash the dishes while watching tv... I've got a feeling that it is a guy's thing that the sink need to face some view... cos saw similar trends in t-blogs by guys... lol...

[keyswz 0]

The plumber came again for the last time to fix up the sink and the shower taps. He also came down to fix up the bathroom accessories. This time round, my fiancee was the main person supervising and directing the plumber as I was busy with work. And as what she said, it turned out very nice.

The kitchen tap:

Common toilet:

MBR toilet:

[keyswz 0]

Probably this shall be one of the last update on our renovation for it can be said to be finally done.

During the first visit, the carpentry workers completed the lamination of the extra worktop. They could have finished the installation but they realised the support for the worktop was insufficient, thus they came back on another day. Anyway, they had to replace one of the cabinet doors for the lamination was budging for that door. I was rather unsatisfied with one portion of the worktop but I guess I eventually gave in for any delays in the completion was tiring for us.

During the second visit, the extra worktop was installed and the legendary backsplash was up as well. It turned out to be very nice as I was not expecting it to be one piece. Some how in my mind, I was thinking that it will be 3 pieces combined together.

Extra worktop:

Backsplash:

Next update will be how the house will look like with the furnitures =)

[muska1119 1]

The plumber came again for the last time to fix up the sink and the shower taps. He also came down to fix up the bathroom accessories. This time round, my fiancee was the main person supervising and directing the plumber as I was busy with work. And as what she said, it turned out very nice.

The kitchen tap:

Common toilet:

MBR toilet:

I hv the exact same prob for mbr as you above the sink is the toilet lourver.. Not much space for mirror or may need to bend a bit to use the mirror.. Now I need to put a rack to place toiletries.. So even worst for mirror

[keyswz 0]

I hv the exact same prob for mbr as you above the sink is the toilet lourver.. Not much space for mirror or may need to bend a bit to use the mirror.. Now I need to put a rack to place toiletries.. So even worst for mirror

Sorry for the late reply. So in the end, your mirror is lower? Or you did not care about the windows?

[keyswz 0]

There are two portions to our furnitures: the ready made ones and the diy ones. I shall talk about the former first.

Prior to the arrival of the furnitures, I was still comtemplating whether it is a wise choice choice getting all (well, almost all) the furniture to reach our place on the same day. This thought was further strengthened when the various companies called me on the previous day to confirm that their timings will be from 2 to 4 pm. But after seeing the end result, I guess the choice made was indeed wonderful though it was really by a stroke of luck, rather many strokes of luck, that they do not come all at the same time as they need the space and time to install the furnitures.

The tv console came first at 10+ am, and this was followed by Ikea at 11+ am. We quickly took a lunch break and repaired the lock of our letterbox as it previously could not lock properly. While waiting for the other furniture to come, we started with the assembly of the chairs. I took the more complex portion of chairs, which I took quite a while to understand and orchestrated. My fiancee assembled the simpler but higher quantity portion of chairs. The coffee table came at 3 pm, and the dining table came in a short while after. This was to be followed closely by the sofa, the wardrobe and finally the bed frame with its side table. Though a better flow would be the bedroom items followed by the living room items, we really could not ask for more. It was smooth enough for us.

After one day of hard work (by the workers and us) and bigger openings of our pockets, let's savour the view of our new house.