My Reno Journey Of 20 Year Old Flat

[jackio1917 0]

Been browsing renotalk for a long time and now it is finally my turn to start work on my place.

So decide to start a t-blog to keep track of the ideas and renovation that i have.

My HDB Apartment ( 4 room HDB , 103 sq meter 4A)

This is a 20 year old resale flat in its orginal condition which commanded a premium price .(due to location and proximity to good school).

Bought this 4A resale unit from my friend. Save on agent fee and did the HDB transaction on my own, just collected the key early this month.

Despite this being my 3rd home in 10 years (Yes,i move a lot). I foresee this renovation to be the most complex as the previous 2 homes are new flats with minimum renovation required. For this unit however, we are expecting a major overhaul due to the age of the house. Although the owner did some minor touch up for the house along the way and are very clean folks who take great care of the house, it is still 20 years old design and condition so we are planning to redo the whole house except the ceramic flooring for the living room which is still in good condition.

Will try to post photo of the current condition later.

Edited January 31, 2012 by jackio1917

[May_dream1 14]

Congrats in getting your keys to your new flat and starting your own tblog. I am sure your reno journey will be very interesting as you have more things to renovate and play with, looking at your layout.

I also have a 4A, with 103sqm. You mentioned good location, does it mean somewhere in Bishan?

[potatoes 0]

Congrats! Most homes that r above 20yrs generally needs major overhaul. Mine is 26 yrs old and pevious owner didn't do any touch up. How much did u budget?

[mummymantras 0]

Very nice!

So, what exactly are you planning to do to the place?

[designez 0]

Our 4-room flat was even older (35 year!). No worries after reno everything will look great

Check out my blog:

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=46594

[jackio1917 0]

Just some photo of the house

Main Entrance

Kitchen

Common Toilet

[jackio1917 0]

Congrats in getting your keys to your new flat and starting your own tblog. I am sure your reno journey will be very interesting as you have more things to renovate and play with, looking at your layout.

I also have a 4A, with 103sqm. You mentioned good location, does it mean somewhere in Bishan?

Hi May-dream1, yes Bishan.

Edited January 31, 2012 by jackio1917

[jackio1917 0]

There seems to be a lot of work to be done

Renovation work will include

- Rewire / paint whole unit

- Plaster the whole house rockstone wall/ceiling (Just realise that it cost $2-3k to plaster the whole unit, faint.... ..

- Change all doors ( main entrance+ 3 bedroom)

- Change all window and grills

- Laminate flooring for 3 rooms

- Redo Kitchen with new floor and wall tiles (Hubby cannot tahan the blue tiles)

- Redo both toilets with new floor and wall tiles and shower screen.

- Custom made loft bed for my son room

- Sliding wardrobe for master and parent room

- Others to be decided

Yet to settle on renovation Budget. my mind tells me must control not more than $35k, heart say i wan this, i wan that. Haiz.

[jackio1917 0]

Congrats in getting your keys to your new flat and starting your own tblog. I am sure your reno journey will be very interesting as you have more things to renovate and play with, looking at your layout.

I also have a 4A, with 103sqm. You mentioned good location, does it mean somewhere in Bishan?

Hi May_dream1, just visited your blog and realise that your place is in Boon Keng. I was staying nearby (close to City Sq Mall) before i bought my current Bishan unit.

[designez 0]

- Plaster the whole house rockstone wall/ceiling (Just realise that it cost $2-3k to plaster the whole unit, faint.... ..

Yes, the plastering of our entire flat cost around S$2,700. Seems like the normal price for this sort of thing... However, your walls & ceiling look to be in pretty good condition! Check with your ID/contractor if plastering is really needed.

[May_dream1 14]

Hi May-dream1, yes Bishan.

i am smart, huh? you said near good school, and i alraedy knew its bishan. hahahaah....

Hi May_dream1, just visited your blog and realise that your place is in Boon Keng. I was staying nearby (close to City Sq Mall) before i bought my current Bishan unit.

yup, i am staying at boon keng, very near to your current place. but i guess you haven't move in yet so still very near to me. I think yr budget is do-able lah..... since you are doing laminate flooring which would be cheaper than tiles. but doors and windows are quite ex and plastering also costs a lot. mine plastering also quite a lot cos it was rock-stoned. but no choice.... have to do it.

[jackio1917 0]

i am smart, huh? you said near good school, and i alraedy knew its bishan. hahahaah....

yup, i am staying at boon keng, very near to your current place. but i guess you haven't move in yet so still very near to me. I think yr budget is do-able lah..... since you are doing laminate flooring which would be cheaper than tiles. but doors and windows are quite ex and plastering also costs a lot. mine plastering also quite a lot cos it was rock-stoned. but no choice.... have to do it.

Hi May_dream1, yup smart guess. I think Bishan is really known for its high price and good school. School anyway, is the main reason i decide to shift.

My boy is studying there(Hubby - old boy from the school)and in P4 this year. When we bought our previous place,we naively think that it is quite near to Bishan (which is true cos by car it is ony 15 mins). However, school bus takes more than 1 hour so he has to wake up at 5.30am every morning and back home after 3pm. After 3 years of heartpain and nagging every morning ( to wake him up) we decided it is enough.

Actually i have already sold my place last year and staying in Bishan now (rental unit). Missed my old place a lot as it is very convienent and somehow rental is alway different. Really looking forward to my new place.

The good thing is that my current rental unit is exactly the same as my resale HDB,just 2 blocks away and mirror image in terms of layout.So i already have a brief idea of what i want to do and the good and not so good of this type of layout.

The one thing that bothers me is the living room layout with a low beam across middle. Currently, the sofa is place under the beam. Understand that according to Fengshui, it is not very good. Also only 1/2 the hall is utilised so seems to be a waste of space. Any good suggestion on how the place the furniture will be welcome.

[potatoes 0]

I think that Plastering should be 2 to 2.5k for a 4A flat. My EM is already 3.4k which includes all walls and ceilings and staging was needed.

Don't worry Jackio, after plastering, everything will be smooth

[jackio1917 0]

I think that Plastering should be 2 to 2.5k for a 4A flat. My EM is already 3.4k which includes all walls and ceilings and staging was needed.

Don't worry Jackio, after plastering, everything will be smooth

Hi Potatoes, thanks for the information. Yup, mine also need to plaster everything include ceiling. Never realise the cost till i read renotalk. Got a shock and then contemplated to keeping it (save $$$$)but need to knock off some display area on the wall, then the lobang how? So in the end decided to just pain pain one time plaster the whole unit.

There is also 2 Roman column decoration that strecth from floor to ceiling in the living room, intend to remove them as well but the flooring....... Hmm.......

[May_dream1 14]

I think that Plastering should be 2 to 2.5k for a 4A flat. My EM is already 3.4k which includes all walls and ceilings and staging was needed.

Don't worry Jackio, after plastering, everything will be smooth

depends on the condition of the walls and ceilings too. if rock stoned, then they might charge more. but plastering really quite necessary to have a nice smooth wall....

as for your beam, what you can do is do false ceiling.. or else, do steps-ceiling..... i think i talked abt it in my blog.... but i am not sure what page. Sorry, my blog super long... heheheeh...