Havelock View 5 Roomer

[kirovski 2]

Hi all,

decided to start a t-blog even though my reno is almost half way thru.

been busy juggling work and meeting up with contractors and buying stuff, finally got some time now to share my experience thus far.

been a really tiring but yet exciting and fulfilling experience renovating my first house.

can someone teach me how to insert photos on the post?

thanks

[heavenlyn 0]

Hi welcome! You would have to upload your photos first, like on photobucket etc. Then copy the html and paste it here.

[kirovski 2]

thanks, now i know how to upload pics. lol.

first let me put the floor plan of my unit.

Edited July 9, 2012 by kirovski

[kirovski 2]

So there goes the journey of renovating the new apartment.

Being totally clueless initially, we did what many people would have done, that is to go for some reno fair at the expo. I thought i will just go there and take a look but ended up spending 20-30 mins being pushed packages by 'IDs' of various companies and at the same time they will do some space planning for us. But the problem was that we did not know what we wanted to do with the flat yet. So at the end of the excursion, we roughly found out what most ID proposed were very similar, eg. feature walls for the TV, false ceiling, built in wardrobes etc.

I also find most of the portfolio of the IDs similar in a way in that they were all very contemporary style, with glossy surfaces, glass/mirrors used.

My wife and I decided that that is not the kind of style we wanted.

So we left expo not knowing what we want but more of what we did not want.

[casa 0]

Welcome to RT

Take your time don't rush go thru few quotes and workmanship

Lastly if u can click with your ID/contractor lagi best

C yourv reno pics soon

[kirovski 2]

at last i found some time to post my renovation process, its been almost a year since i started.

first thing we did was to hack off the kitchen wall linking to the dining area to make more space for the kitchen and to make it brighter.

[kirovski 2]

holes being made in the living room wall to prepare for the feature wall.

[kirovski 2]

next got hdb to do cement screeding for the whole house.was torn between getting our own contractor to do it as heard a lot of negative feedback of HDB workmanship. eventually decided on hdb as it FOC vs 3k+. but i make sure i was present

when the hdb contractor was doing it.

as i was in my new flat waiting for the hdb guys to come, 2 of the workers came first, not sure where they are from but they speak little english. they ignored me and jus went about eating their breakfast and changing into their work clothes, and then as they start to prepare to start work they started giving me instructions to prepare too as they thought i was a worker too. haha. then the chinese supervisor came and we all had a good laugh.

this is chinese contrator, a really nice chap. bought he and the workers lunch and drinks and had a good chat with him. realised the he is a sub contractor who gets his work from the main contractor who in turn got the contract from hdb. so he tells him his margin is very low. he has to complete his work in a day is not he will lose money as he needs to pay the workers daily.

[Bengologist 1]

Hey! Welcome back to RT!

Hope you're living comfortably in your renovated house.

Thanks for sharing your experience with newbies like us!

Cheers!

[kirovski 2]

Hey! Welcome back to RT!

Hope you're living comfortably in your renovated house.

Thanks for sharing your experience with newbies like us!

Cheers!

hey, haha haven't move in yet. maybe in a week's time.

i am also newbie, went thru a lot of knocks too, learnt a lot from other's postings here

[Bengologist 1]

hey, haha haven't move in yet. maybe in a week's time.

i am also newbie, went thru a lot of knocks too, learnt a lot from other's postings here

Wow! Really haven't moved in? I saw above that your renovation started a year ago, so I thought you might have been staying in your new place for at least half a year. Haha!

It's okay. Hope everything's fine when you shift in.

Cheers!