Love Nest @ Casa

[getzski 1]

Carpentry

We are still eagerly waiting for our carpentry to be ready, and everything has come to a standstill. Air-con would be installed next week, and we're hoping that carpentry would come within the next 2 weeks.

We've quite abit of carpentry works, and most of it were communicated through drawings I did on graph paper and drawn to scale. I suppose that most of our carpentry works are quite standard - how different can wardrobes and kitchens look?

Our kitchen is pure white. The only slightly different thing we're doing is the wood-planks effect feature wall and shoe cabinet in the living room. My baby is the design of the makeup area cum accessories storage at the side of our wardrobe. A lot more thought was put into that design.

I've a pathetic 6ft wardrobe which I have to share with the husband..*cries. I don't quite understand why he demands an equal space when I obviously have more clothes than him. He likes to hang his clothes, everything including tee-shirts. I like to have shelves where I can stack my clothes, because I've a lot of clothes and folding them maximizes the space.

The special design of our wardrobe is this side compartment, casement on the side. For a long time, I was sad that I couldn't have space to add a make-up table in the MBR after fitting in the king size bed and side tables. I also can't think of where to put the mirror as mirror facing the bed is very bad fengshui, something which I'm not comfortable with. Till he suggested having this casement at the side, with the mirror inside! I went into full steam, designing this area for make-up and accessories storage. I went to measure things like mascara and eye-liner height and other make-up items to do up the dimensions.

Our bookshelf is relatively simple. I wasn't that keen about having open shelvings, though I've to admit that they look beautiful. I end up having open shelvings just at the middle. We'll be having an L-shaped bookshelf behind the MBR wardrobe.

The shoe-cabinet with wooden-planks door. We added drawers for socks and a compartment for umbrellas.

And this is the feature wall at the recessed wall in the middle of the living room.

Kitchen and vanity designs are simple, just that we left a space under the solid-top for laundry basket in the huge common bathroom.

I'm really really looking forward to the carpentry works to complete the whole look and renovation. Even then, it will take weeks and months to slowing decorate the place and fill it with things that define us.

I've issues with all the things I've bought for the new place. My room is like a storeroom now, full of boxes and huge shopping bags filled with things like quilt, bedsheets, pots and pans, kitchen utensils etc. I need the house to be ready so that I can move these things over!!!!

agree with your hubby......Tshirts are meant to be hung!

[theitsybits 0]

agree with your hubby......Tshirts are meant to be hung!

you must be a male! unless there's ample space in a WIW, how to hang everything!

[getzski 1]

you must be a male! unless there's ample space in a WIW, how to hang everything!

lol....maybe dedicate a small wall section in the study for him to hang (Tshirts), then you can have the WIW in entire.

[BoBochacha 0]

agree with your hubby......Tshirts are meant to be hung!

this is a very interesting conversation ! Tshirts meant to be hung ! LOL

[theitsybits 0]

Hi theitsybits, wah! Your place is looking good , Can you come and do mine too? Our thinking on the bathroom doors are quite similar! I was thinking of white louvre sliding doors and sliding glass doors and was surfing for some door designs online. Yea, the pd louvre doors might feel flimsy. I'm just worried abt the sliding mechanism by yr 3 and after...

Hey!

I realized I missed your msg..

My wooden sliding door and the wooden 2-leave door are very solid..they were painted white (waterproof paint), so it should last..even if the sliding mechanism breaks down, it should be easy to fix..

The other toilet door has to be bi-fold, and I suppose that they are less durable, especially the lock mechanism..guess just got to change them when it wears out..Louvre doors are more expensive but looks alot better than normal aluminium/pvc bi-folds.. =p

[theitsybits 0]

lol....maybe dedicate a small wall section in the study for him to hang (Tshirts), then you can have the WIW in entire.

i don't think my husband will be too happy abt making him hang clothes in the study..haha..

this is a very interesting conversation ! Tshirts meant to be hung ! LOL

Yar lo..I never hang my tees before..else one full room WIW also not enough.. =p

[rachxs 0]

Hi hi, could you PM me your contractor's contact and renovation costs?

Thanks!

[mrmerry 2]

waaa... love the doors! got 2 doorers and sliding doors! getting abit Manhattan apartment feel!

on a side note.. u are doing your carpentary AFTER u did everything else? would tt like maybe increase the chances of damage during installation?

Edited July 21, 2012 by mrmerry

[theitsybits 0]

Haha manhattan apartment? I thought its abit country..oh well we love them..

Yes our carpentry is after everything else except lights and plumbing..mainly cuz carpenter is different guy and we're having alot of issues and delays..lights and fans will be up after carpentry since i've lots of pendant lights and a haiku fan..contractor worriesd that carpentry workers hit them..

But I suppose flooring has to be done before carpentry?

[theitsybits 0]

We are really coming to the end of our renovation as chemical cleaning was done, with toilet doors and windows installed too. There's nothing much K could do till carpentry comes in, so that he can install lights and plumbing works.

About my contractor, Mr K:

Many people are asking me, how's K and his workmanship? I shall attempt to share my experience with him and try to include the questions I get from others.

Honestly, I have no complaints. Working with him was a breeze for us and he didn't need any chasing. In fact, we worked faster than we could get our things ready and he's the one who keep calling us up.

Pre-renovation

We met up with him mid-May, after meeting with countless IDs and a few contractors. He was early for our appointment (I like that). He came with a measuring tape and a small notebook but never did open it nor wrote anything down. We went around the house and went through all the works we wanted to be done. It took about an hour and it was apparent that he was very experienced. He was quick and gave us some suggestions, told us what could and could not be done. He left and promised to give a rough quotation soon with a detailed quotation later, in about a week.

We got a rough quotation within a few days. It wasn't that cheap, slightly above budget but reasonable. IDs quoted about 45-60k, some excluding electrical and hacking while his all-in quote was alot cheaper. We met up with him again about 2 weeks later and made some amendments to the works required in an attempt to cut cost but end up adding a few things too. Initial quote included carpentry which we later took out and let a relative do it instead. He was really understanding about it and we met up to finalize the contract again last week of May. He met us at our place and went through all the works again before signing the contract.

Renovation Process

We signed the contract on a Saturday, and got the permit by Wednesday. Renovations started officially on the following Monday. Meanwhile we have confirmed tiles (same wooden-grain tiles for the whole house). Hacking was done on Monday, with all sand and materials arriving in my house.

I've been updating the progress almost daily initially, so it's apparent that things were pretty quick and smooth. All major works were completed by Week 4, painting in week 5, doors and windows up in week 6.

Working style

He's chinese/malay speaking. He's a contractor, not ID. He does give suggestions after you let him know what you want done, but don't expect him to do space planning and services which IDs provide. We had no 3D drawings (you can probably pay for it), and there was no written schedule. All I knew was that my renovation will take 6-8 weeks, starting with hacking and electrical. He updates progress with pictures through wadsapp whenever something is done. He also visits our site almost daily and is very responsive with wadsapp. We do ask him what will be done next often, and he lets us know what works follows.

Workmanship

I would say that the workmanship is generally pretty good. He works with a good network of sub-contractors and seemed close with them. My tiling were all done neatly, and some who visited our place commented that we have very neat flooring with small grouts (as requested). The only complaint is the edges and corners, which wasn't done as well. My husband checked the ceiling and floor corner of the mosaic and last piece weren't as straight. I was alright with that since it's an half-inch mosaic and I don't really go see the corners. Plastering, false-ceiling and other works were done nicely too.

HDB License

K's company is not HDB approved, and there are a few who were concerned about this. I did a quick check before signing the contract, but still went ahead with him despite knowing that he does not have a HDB license. My renovation permit is under the hacking contractor permit, whom he works with closely. I did ask him about it, but he felt that it was not necessary and troublesome. He said that he has done hundreds of homes and there were no problems. And if people don't trust them with their homes, it doesn't matter that he has a permit or not. Most of his jobs are all through word of mouth, no advertising and I guess he has enough projects to make a living. I'm not very sure what additional benefits does HDB Licensed contractors have, only heard about the waterproofing. I suppose that new flats do not even have to worry about this.

Anyway, on hindsight, it obviously wasn't a problem since everything was done smoothly. And even HDB licensed contractors can have bad workmanship or drag your renovation, yet nothing much can be done. I hate it when I have to pay people to do things, yet have to keep chasing them. So, communication and being able to trust the contractor to do a good job to achieve our dream home took precedence over this. We felt that he's trustable, on-the-ball, and able to achieve the look we want. But for people who are worried, perhaps it's better to go to licensed firms.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with the whole renovation process, which was really smooth. It makes me really thankful when I hear/read horror stories about how contractors/IDs delay jobs or do a horrible job. I don't think K is that cheap, but the price is really reasonable given that he delivers everything nicely on time without having to chase him at all..

I can't say the same for my carpentry though. still, no confirmation about when carpentry can be up. it's been a month since we informed them to come take measurement for carpentry.

[eekenji 3]

We are really coming to the end of our renovation as chemical cleaning was done, with toilet doors and windows installed too. There's nothing much K could do till carpentry comes in, so that he can install lights and plumbing works.

......

I can't say the same for my carpentry though. still, no confirmation about when carpentry can be up. it's been a month since we informed them to come take measurement for carpentry.

Hi theitsybits, I love your T-blog ... I love scandi and white swedish style.

Tried to pm you but not successful, can you pm me your contractor contact? Thanks for your sharing btw ..

[theitsybits 0]

Hello! Great to have someone sharing the same taste..I've dropped u a pm.. =)

[xiaop 1]

love the wood tiles flooring! look so natural

and it's easy to take care

can i have the contractor number? thx~

[KNQ 0]

love the wood tiles flooring! look so natural

and it's easy to take care

can i have the contractor number? thx~

Please send me the contact number of K , tks

[theitsybits 0]

love the wood tiles flooring! look so natural

and it's easy to take care

can i have the contractor number? thx~

Please send me the contact number of K , tks

hello! pm-ed. =)