1 Roof, 3 Generations

[OnTheRoad 0]

Although the upcoming place will be our 3rd home, this is our first major renovation experience.

Our first apartment: just the 2 of us. We renovated only the MBRM toilet & kena chopped with $10K bill. We were young, had little savings, and even less "reno-saavy".

Our current Lovely Estate: Already a 3 generation household including a dog & a toddler, we moved in with only our mattresses & our possessions. This place back then was recently & extensively renovated.

Our Dream House: With a 9th member on the way, we needed a bigger place...after more than 6 months of looking, we took a leap of faith & bought this simple original inter-terrace. This is where we'll be Here To Stay... for 10 years, or more.

I started following this forum and - like many others - gained much insight from everyone's sharings. So now, in between nursing my newborn & playing with my 3 yr old, I've finally found time to start this blog in the hope of documenting some learnings I gained along the way....

[OnTheRoad 0]

Floorplan you say?

Obtaining the floorplan

- Asked the seller's agent for floorplan. He gave me some rubbish about needing the architect or builder to apply, etc.

- Called up BCA. Had to apply & pay the small search fee online first.

- After about a week, called to follow up on status. Told to go down in morning to receive.

- Was the 1st person at the BCA office next morning. Officer produced a box of film rolls, we went to the room to go thru the images & identify which unit is mine.

- After choosing the images, went to the printing room nearby to print out the plans on A0 sized paper. Had the images shrunk into A4 size but most people I gave the plans to said they cannot see the dimensions.

So... this is my floor plan story.

[OnTheRoad 0]

One of my favourite parts: Choosing Tiles

I thoroughly enjoyed this process because it is like shopping, only the choices I make are ultimately non-refundable & no turning back. In other words, Here To Stay for as long as we live in the Dream House.

My hub & I had already recced Harfary 2-3 times before selection day with our ID & shortlisted a few. End of selection day 1, our tiles were totally different from the ones we shortlisted. After ID came back with additional amounts for some of the more luxurious tiles, we arranged a 2nd round of selection to make it within budget. This time, everyone was satisfied. The aesthetic people, the budget people, most of all Harfary I would think.

Here are the final choices:

Living/Dining + Dry Kitchen (sorry it's upside down). The dry kitchen tile is a wood-plank sort 15x60cm in distressed wood colour (which I love) & less slippery in a food prep area.

Backyard/Wet Kitchen + Wet Kitchen Countertop. My wet kitchen is an L-shape concrete sink & stove support to be overlaid with the black glossy tiles. For backyard, I love the grey-toned tiles in running tones..

MBRM Toilet. The first tile is a bigger than usual size (hence the bigger than usual price) that mimics the travertine marble complete with small potholes. Harfary's is the most natural looking compared to LSH's & HK's. This will be used for the walls at my basin & shower head. The mid tile is a cheap matt tile of lighter tone for the rest of the walls as well as my vanity counter. The tile at the back is my floor tile. Btw I'm using concrete & tiles as vanity counter instead of solid surface with cabinets below because I've a phobia of water leaking into rotting wood cabinets. *shudder*.

2nd Floor Common Toilet. I love the subway tiles seen in so many ang moh websites like Apartment Therapy & Desire to Inspire. It might seem like a trend now but I do think it's quite evergreen cos many of those ang moh houses are not new or having a modern theme. The blue mosaic-copy tiles are a happy find - pretty without the cost of mosaic (like $18 psf npt including labour?? *Faint*)..they'll be laid in my shower cubicle. I'm matching this combi with a white shade floor tile with sparks. Hope it turns out bright & nice!

Ground Floor Common Toilet, too nice too be just maid's bath! The grey tile for shower, beige tile for the rest, & black tile for floor. These tiles caught my eye & i just couldn't bear to give them up. Must fit them somewhere in my house! ok la, maid's toilet!! The 2 wall tiles are from same series & in running tones. I love running tones.

I am pretty much 100% satisfied with my tiles & can't wait to see them in their full glory!

Next up, demolition derby pics....

Edited May 14, 2012 by OnTheRoad

[OnTheRoad 0]

Oh before that, there is this niggling thing:

Pest Control (aka Termites Terminator!)

For landed, I was told anti-termite treatment is a must, & doing it during my heavy reno is the best time. This is because the treatment involves drilling a small 1-2cm diameter hole every feet or so in the perimeter of my house, pumping in the chemicals, & sealing up with cement.

I called up at least 4 companies for quotations:

1. Aardwolfe - was told they do not do inter-terrace because we share walls with 2 neighbours & so they cannot guarantee the termites will not crawl over the walls... so only bungalows & semi-Ds for them. Alrightz.

2. Killem - Asked for floorplan, told them you wont be able to see the dimensions but I can give you the perimeter. Came back to me more than 3 days later with a quote only 300 cheaper than Rentokil.

3. Rentokil - Salesperson Alan responsive & knows his stuff. After the promo, very competitive price for an established company.

4. Origin - quoted cheapest but using another chemical, which I can seem to find much info on when I googled.

Decided to go with the well-known terminators. Dowan to play play with these pests thingies.

On Day 1 of reno, the inspection technician indeed found some termites in the cabinet underneath the kitchen sink. He did the spot treatment.

Some mudtrails were found at the MBRM wardrobe carcass but his termite tracking device indicates no signs. Dead trails... thank God!

The Rentokil contract comes with 5 years warranty & annual inspections, which appear to be pretty standard in the industry. Alan says I can call them anytime I suspect activity & they'll come check it out FOC. Yes, I like. If only there's such a package for roaches.

Rentokil technician terminating.

[Valerie Low 0]

One of my favourite parts: Choosing Tiles

Living/Dining + Dry Kitchen (sorry it's upside down). The dry kitchen tile is a wood-plank sort 15x60cm in distressed wood colour (which I love) & less slippery in a food prep area.

Congrats OnTheRoad! I recognise your dry kitchen wood-plank tile, as I shortlisted that for my kitchen previously but couldn't make use of it as it doesn't match my kitchen backsplash. And yes, this wood plank tile is really lovely!

Looking forward to your reno! Post your floor plan if can.

[brandonlky 0]

Hi OntheRoad, Congrats on your new house.

[OnTheRoad 0]

Hi Valerie, urs is the cement tiles that I like right?

Oki oki will see if taking a pic of the floor plan will work.

Thanks brandonlky.

[denimart 0]

Hi, wish u a smooth Reno

[OnTheRoad 0]

Hi, wish u a smooth Reno

Thanks denimart. Already there has been some "surprises", but still manageable...

[Hin 0]

Congrats! Looking forward to the transformation.

[OnTheRoad 0]

Thanks Hin! Mine won't be as classy as yours le, much of the budget is used for wetworks as mine is a 20 yr old house in original condition. The false ceiling frames are wood, not aluminium, the bathrooms are pink coloured.... you get the idea.

There are some good things about the house though, like doors are solid nyatoh (according to my contractor), & well, I guess having to do extensive reno means we can plan the space to our needs.

[OnTheRoad 0]

These are taken with my phone. My unit is in the center. The backyard & front car porch are out of frame.

Ground floor

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-15

- Decking to cover front terrace

- Wall between dining & kitchen hacked, for open concept living/dining/dry kitchen

- Utility / granny's room split into maid's room with entrace from backyard & playroom with no doors

- Toilet at back extended to include shower area

- Back terrace to build L shaped wet kitchen counter

- Backyard is quite spacious, it'll be tiled over so greenery will remain only in front yard turfing.

2nd floor

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-15

- Not much changes, the MBRM will be extended into the balcony for additional space.

We're considering if we should convert the roof area into a balcony by hacking a door opening in bedroom 1 & decking & fencing the area up.... still holding back cos we want to uncover all the "surprises" first before confirming our budget will allow. Hub asks me how often we will actually use the space since it faces the back of another terrace house, will kena the noon sun, and will house our condensers....so, still considering.

Edited May 15, 2012 by OnTheRoad

[OnTheRoad 0]

On day of completion, the lawyer handed me a retro pouch (the kind that coffeeshop uncles tuck under their armpits) & told me "these 2 keys are for the front door & front gate. All the rest of the keys, well you gotta go try it one by one"...

I opened the pouch &....

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-15

When my contractor came, we were still trying to find the key to unlock the backyard grill....so hub said "this one can just dismantle like that?"... & of course, it was easily done. Together with all the century old built-in solid nyatoh wood furniture, etc...

We're still keeping the 30+ keys just in case.

Edited May 15, 2012 by OnTheRoad

[OnTheRoad 0]

The ID / Contractor selection

Before the "demolition derby" pics, would like to share alittle on my contractor / id selection experience.

We started pretty early, even before I could get my floor plans. I could only offer the prospectives a visit to the site, which was also not convenient as the previous owners were 2 elderly folks who value their peace & quiet.

1st party: a contractor doing reno for a unit down the street with mirror image layout. Before we bought our unit, we "interviewed" the foreman & the worker about how windy / hot it is, the neighbours, & of course the extent of renovation & cost & time taken. After we signed the option for our house & met with the boss himself, he gave us a significantly higher estimate for the reno being done. Still, we wanted to give him a try as he's extremely familiar with the houses in that street (having done 2 others).

In the end, his first quote is exactly the same works as the unit he's working on, he didn't include the other things we want done (eg extension of toilet, front decking). For carpentry, he introduced us to his colleague who tried to chop us on the carpentry quotes. I dislike it because these people assume our stupidity. Although a contractor, his quotation were not the cheapest.

2nd party: an ID that is well-spoken of in this forum. they were responsive & agreed to visit the site even at late notice.

3rd party: an ID highly recommended by my good friend. He seem quite easy going & experienced in renovating landed.

4th parties: By this time I got my floor plan already & sent to 2 contractors who advertised on the forum. No response after 2 weeks. I followed up & 1 of them responded. By the time the quote came, I had already given birth & was having my confinement. The quote looked odd in some areas as the charges were significantly lower or more expensive than the rest. By this time we were tired of repeating our to dos & clarifying & waiting for quotation amendments. This contractor had also visited the site but his quote is so out of place, decided to forget it. The other contractor never reverted with a quote at all despite my follow up & despite his reply that he'll ask his people to expedite, blah blah.

In the end it boiled down to 2 IDs whose prices were similar & it was a tough choice but we decided to go with the IDs we had more chemistry with & whose track record is well spoken of in this forum. Furthermore it's not as easy to work with friend's recommendations because if it doesnt work out I'll still have to consider my good friend's relationship with the ID.

So my learnings:

- better not to work with friend's friends for this kind of things. Will still feel paisay somehow if want to ask for more or want to ask "eh what's up why like that?".

- Contractors are not necessarily cheaper than IDs in my case.

- Although I am quite clear on what I want, it still helps to have the ID's input as it's a fresh perspective. Of course thankfully my ID is more exposed to ang moh type of designs & not so cheena in his design suggestions.

- In the process of reno I realised the IDs' good working relationship with the subcons help to move the process along too. They know one another's style of work & reliability. I believe this is partly because my IDs have a regular stream of jobs in their pipeline so they use these subcons often & its a you do good I can give you more business kind of relationship. If I were to project manage myself, no matter how good my project management skills are, I will not be able to offer longterm business for the subcons or manage the people as well as my IDs.

So far, my IDs and us are doing pretty well. Will reveal their names upon reno completion if everything is swee swee.

[OnTheRoad 0]

Did I mention my timeline is very tight?

We only have 6 weeks to renovate our 2-storey terrace...

On the 1st day we stepped into the house as new owners, there were no less than 5 parties to come take measurements for windows / decking / air con / electrical / awnings. My hub & I had to split jobs, & while taking them around, the workers started to dismantle the stuff! It was a very hectic day for us. Like my 1st exercise after confinement...

Excavating the backyard

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-16

Dismal state of the kitchen

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-16

A view from the front door, walls hacked away to "tong fong"

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-16

The good wood that I couldn't recycle...

By gerontheroad at 2012-05-16

Dismantling / hacking took about 4 days.