To Renovate An Executive Mansionette

[alvin11 0]

Hi Alvin11, congrats on becoming a new EM owner:) your EM size of 165sqm is unusual and it certainly look huge. The layout is also very unique as it is different from the normal EM layout. Where is your place?

thanks! the unit is a 15 year old flat in bukit batok and i think there are just 50 such units in the estate....which the seller promptly used to make me pay an above average COV :@

[alvin11 0]

Is this at Bt Batok? Think I saw this on propertyguru a few months ago.

Congrats on your new home and good luck with your reno. How about locating the maid's room at the staircase area? I see a couple of beams criss-crossing overhead and it may not be comfy to sit under beams if you locate your living room there.

Yeah, I think HDB does't allow relocation of kitchen/stove. You can try applying, but best to make sure your IDs know the rules well. I like the double spaced atrium. Gives a very unique sense of space upon entry.

Yup its at bukit batok yeah thats the biggest problem with this place, the space is not easily compartmentalized and there are beams all over. Maids room at the staircase area is quite good! i'll try to play around with the floorplanner and see what comes up.

btw awesome renovation with your place!

[alvin11 0]

[adidaem 6]

Yup its at bukit batok yeah thats the biggest problem with this place, the space is not easily compartmentalized and there are beams all over. Maids room at the staircase area is quite good! i'll try to play around with the floorplanner and see what comes up.

btw awesome renovation with your place!

Thanks. We used IDs, so I think their sense of design/spatial/lighting awareness shows in the end results.

You may want to take note of the beams location in planning for the areas. E.g. if you make the kitchen squarish, the overhang from the 2nd floor may 'cut' across the counter, which may not be good. Depending on where you and your family spends most of your time, you may want to make the living room at the end where it seems (from the floor plan) to have good ventilation. For my reno, the location of the existing pipes played a big role too.

Yeah, I prefer the maid's room at the stairs cos it's an awkward corner anyway, and getting ventilation from the balcony is nice... I always pity maids who sleep in windowless rooms with poor ventilation. I'll probably go mad if I am cooped up all day in a dinky stuffy room.

For the 'Mahjong room', normal glass may not be good enough to muffle the noise. My friend who renovated her place and replaced her wooden toilet door with glass ones regrets it cos of the noise. She mentioned that wooden doors are far better. Unless you are willing to do the double glass doors/walls like those used in my office's meeting rooms. The sound-proofing effect is quite good for double-walled glass.

[adidaem 6]

Shot at 2012-03-03

Area below the staircase, would it be weird to put the TV here? the store will be hacked off (hopefully it can be done)

Hey, you mentioned hacking off the store, why do you want to do that? It can be done, but then do you plan to construct another store? Actually one major drawback of maisonette is that the storeroom is woefully inadequate. From my current experience staying in a maisonette, you need a place to store all your cleaning equipment like mops, pails, vacuum cleaner. Also your luggage, MJ table, ladder and all the usual rubbish that ends up in a storeroom. Without planned space for these items, you'll probably end up cluttering your space (like me!) which means eyesores around the house. In fact, if you don't need a maid's room, the area under the stairs would be ideal. If not, perhaps the service yard?

In the service yard, noticed that you still left the stove there. My understanding from my reno was that the stove MUST be located in the kitchen area. You can move it anywhere within the kitchen area, but not out of the kitchen. Initially I'd plan to relocate my kitchen too, but that 'dream' was quickly dashed. Even my FSM told me during the reading that it's not possible based on his experience FS-ing HDB apartments.

You can refer to the HDB rules here: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeRenoGuidelinesBuilding?OpenDocument#Kitchen

Construction of cooking stove and/or cooking are not allowed in the original service balcony area

I like the TV location in the new plan cos you can use the false wall to hide all your cables and wires. You probably need good curtains or blinds at the balcony in case you watch TV in the day tho. Could be too bright?

You blocked up the guest toilet? Perhaps you can shift the toilet entrance (depending on where the pipes are) if you don't like the current entrance facing.

Do also plan for a decent sized shoe rack.

Edited March 4, 2012 by adidaem

[alvin11 0]

Hey, you mentioned hacking off the store, why do you want to do that? It can be done, but then do you plan to construct another store? Actually one major drawback of maisonette is that the storeroom is woefully inadequate. From my current experience staying in a maisonette, you need a place to store all your cleaning equipment like mops, pails, vacuum cleaner. Also your luggage, MJ table, ladder and all the usual rubbish that ends up in a storeroom. Without planned space for these items, you'll probably end up cluttering your space (like me!) which means eyesores around the house. In fact, if you don't need a maid's room, the area under the stairs would be ideal. If not, perhaps the service yard?

In the service yard, noticed that you still left the stove there. My understanding from my reno was that the stove MUST be located in the kitchen area. You can move it anywhere within the kitchen area, but not out of the kitchen. Initially I'd plan to relocate my kitchen too, but that 'dream' was quickly dashed. Even my FSM told me during the reading that it's not possible based on his experience FS-ing HDB apartments.

You can refer to the HDB rules here: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeRenoGuidelinesBuilding?OpenDocument#Kitchen

I like the TV location in the new plan cos you can use the false wall to hide all your cables and wires. You probably need good curtains or blinds at the balcony in case you watch TV in the day tho. Could be too bright?

i think i'll probably have to shift the stove back into the kitchen actually the current owner does their cooking in the service balcony area...just that they cannot run gas pipes there! I planned to construct shelves in the serviced balcony area to take advantage of the double height as storage. But since im using the stairs area for maids room i guess i won't have to knock it off! the toilet's entrance will be relocated to the service balcony in between 2 sets of large pipes. Thanks alot for your insights adidaem!

Edited March 4, 2012 by alvin11

[potatoes 0]

Ypur current EM condition looks quite well maintained. Your reno seems rather massive which requires a deep pocket. I always feel that the rno ID or contractors tend to quote high for EM cos of the size.

Hope you have a smooth reno.

[beluga 1]

Ypur current EM condition looks quite well maintained. Your reno seems rather massive which requires a deep pocket. I always feel that the rno ID or contractors tend to quote high for EM cos of the size.

Hope you have a smooth reno.

Yea..... 100K reno for EM is common....

[adidaem 6]

i think i'll probably have to shift the stove back into the kitchen actually the current owner does their cooking in the service balcony area...just that they cannot run gas pipes there! I planned to construct shelves in the serviced balcony area to take advantage of the double height as storage. But since im using the stairs area for maids room i guess i won't have to knock it off! the toilet's entrance will be relocated to the service balcony in between 2 sets of large pipes. Thanks alot for your insights adidaem!

Welcome. Just being kaypoh. And I do enjoy seeing unusual layouts.

Hope your maid doesn't mind her 'Harry Potter' room...

Remember to plan how to move in the bed and furniture in cos the space looks quite tight. Hope you can plan for a small writing desk (perhaps a fold down panel? and electrical points in the little room. And perhaps a fan for warm nights?

Do you plan for your guests to use the toilet on the 1st floor? If you move the toilet to the service balcony where you plan to convert to storage, not so nice for guests to go past your storage stuff ya? Perhaps relocate the door to the other wall instead? Then you can sort of enclose off the enclave to the toilet vs the kitchen. Ok, my neurosis in separating the loo and kitchen acting up again...

But seriously, I think it's quite important to have a nice overall 'toilet experience' for guests. After all, whichever is the designated guest toilet will probably be the only toilet your guests will see/use.

Btw, Boyblunder mentioned before in his blog that you can relocate the pipes on the 1st floor since the loo affected is the one on the 2nd floor. I.e. to relocate the toilet bowl on the 2nd floor. Thought to bring it up cos your 2nd toilet's layout seems not conducive for a 'dry' toilet. IMO would be better if the shower area is at the end where the toilet bowl is now located.

Yea..... 100K reno for EM is common....

Erm, like mine?

You mentioned re-doing all the floors, what material is the current flooring? Doing new parquet will cost a fair bit, not to mention time required for the parquet to dry properly. No way to salvage any of the current flooring?

[Bento28 0]

Hi,

Very huge place u had!! jus got my EM at Tampines area.

Went to a few contractors n pending the quotation reply. Have my own design so hopefully can save abit on the ID department

Cheers!!

[beluga 1]

Erm, like mine?

You mentioned re-doing all the floors, what material is the current flooring? Doing new parquet will cost a fair bit, not to mention time required for the parquet to dry properly. No way to salvage any of the current flooring?

Are you talking about my flooring? I gave up parquet flooring but changed to laminate due to

- cost. The current marble really cannot make it. I know it can be polished but we didn't like the design. Moreover, some rooms are broken marble, some are slab. Initially we thought of just laminating the room but finally decide to do whole house except kitchen and service yard.

- lack of time. We only have like 40+ day to do renovation.

- maintenance. tougher to maintain compared to laminate

[cleong 1]

You have a very tight timeline and a lot to get done. You'll probably need to get your ID to give you a schedule and most importantly to slavedrive/whip them to stay on track. I personally find your downstairs flooring OK but I guess everyone has their preferences. In my case, a good cut and polish brought it back to a nice like-new shine, but of course we had to accept that some deep chips and gouges could not be patched. You can see my TBlog for the before and after.

I would personally forgo the study room and have it changed to a maid's room or day room to be used for mahjong sessions, perhaps an Ikea sofa bed that she can pull out at night.

[adidaem 6]

If my place had salvageable marble flooring, I would have tried my best to save the flooring I think. It's a 5 fig savings. Agreed with cleong.

Learning from my experience, hacking walls may not sound like they cost a lot, but then you have to construct new ones, perhaps get PE endorsement, etc etc... it all adds up. Do you need a much bigger kitchen? If not, then perhaps just keep the study room as it is. You can build cabinets on the wall for more storage.

As for the kitchen, I think the smaller space can be better planned for more storage. E.g. floor to ceiling cabinets instead of just upper and lower ones. Again from experience, plan for niche for microwave, rice cooker, coffee maker, bread bin, etc to keep clutter from kitchen tops.

Somehow I feel that the service balcony's double height space is a bit of waste... plus if you put your storeroom there, coupled with glass windows can people see your storeroom? Just things to consider if you haven't thought about it... if you can, the service yard can also be the maids room, and the area under the stairs the storeroom.

But whatever we say, most importantly just go ahead and do what makes you happy. It is your place after all. You will stay in it so you should know what you want/need best. Hope you have a happy reno journey. Don't forget to snap more pics now so that you can do a before-and-after ya?

[aqua 1]

Laminate floor is more affordable, i also redo, usin ac4 ats 3.20 psf, quality nt bad

[aqua 1]

Marble is classic, if u can polish , it will lok as gd as new

If i hav $, i sure use marble or granite. Rem em flat usu reno also more costly, cobtractor or id will chop us