cutebaby20 0 Report post Posted October 30, 2012 Hi hope u will share more picture. Your design same as mine is only that you have 2 toilet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) Went to have our inspection yesterday. Excited! Photos (from iPhone)hallMBR Edited November 5, 2012 by mandj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 5, 2012 (edited) tiny MBR toiletkitchen & store room - actually really love the mosaic tiles and the colour. Don't think they can be salvaged though ):common toilet.we start hacking tomorrow. Edited November 5, 2012 by mandj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joyceching 1 Report post Posted November 6, 2012 Hi! I'm looking forward to seeing your reno! We are getting our keys soon(resale) and we have the same kind of flooring, those green floor! have been racking our brains as to how we can have a theme with them. good luck!cheers! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 12, 2012 (edited) Leveling of floors issueHi forummers, we have finished hacking the storeroom, toilets and floors but have encountered a major problem. HDB no longer allows leveling of floors using EPF foam as its apparently very hazardous when set on fire.. Ugh. And it's a very recent ruling too!!As a result our Reno has been stalled while we apply to Hdb. Our contractor has suggested using a wooden platform to raise the floor and tiling over it and this is what we applied for. However we have concerns over hollow sound and long term wear. Also, another forummer has told us that their application to Hdb to raise floor level by this method has been rejected! Anyone has any ideas or is also encountering this problem??? Help please! This would also greatly benefit any other forummers thinking of leveling floors... Edited November 12, 2012 by mandj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tweetie74 0 Report post Posted November 12, 2012 Wow I have similar layout as yours but you have that extra utility area that I like. Hi All! I've been one of those silent lurker types but have always thought of starting a reno-log thing; we're finally getting our keys in less than 2 weeks and I thought it's now or never. There are so many helpful forummers and t-blogs so I thought I should share/ exchange info and keep a log of the process to our new home - have been pretty obsessed about haus related stuff and my hubs is always reminding me that the house is not important, the relationships and people who live in it will be! Here's to hoping that we'll be able to create a lovely home where friends can come and many relationships can grow (:Anyway, floorplan:Yes one of the rare superlong corner 3-room units!We're not going with an ID cos their quotes were all ): and we've already engaged a contractor - so far they've been really great. Went down to the flat to give us a more accurate quote and was indeed lower than the rest - can still suggest ways to help us save $$ (my hubs fav). They were recommended to us by a friend so we know their workmanship is good, and so far v responsive.. can tell me what I can/ can not do and recommend some stuff. Just cannot give design advice - but that's ok.The main difficulties with our reno planning are:1. **** long and narrow space layout. credit to yuene from renotalk (who kindly invited us over, incidentally she knows the husband - small world!) who showed us how it can be done! However, we want to use as much of the space as possible - so headache.2. BUDGET lah. Since it's a 3RM we don't know how long we will be able to stay here before moving so not very willing to sink in too much $$. (We tried looking for 4RM in the area, but *ahem* way over budget liao, and COV all super unreasonable. Anyway.)Eh, on the title of this t-blog - I really dunno how to give a name to my house and since it's top floor so attic lor. (: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2012 (edited) super happy - today got an SMS from my contractor telling us our application to HDB has been approved! reno has been on hold since and we've really been quite stressed out by this leveling of floors issue. background info - hdb has a new ruling that doesn't allow use of EPF foam to level floors. since the beginning of time everyone has been using epf (or at least my contractor says so) so we were really very stressed and worried that we may not be able to level the floors and may have to change layout altogether. really quite thankful that my contractor has been so helpful in suggesting alternatives and other ideas and helping us to apply for things - last friday, we made a concurrent application for leveling the floors using 1. wooden platform with tiles overlay and 2. this material suggested by my contractor - they said it's a type of lightweight brick. and HDB has approved option 2!!!!!!!!! happy. so to all forummers tearing hair out over this issue, fret not, apply for celcon. i'm so pleased with my contractors. really hope reno can go full steam ahead now so we can move in before christmas and have christmas dinner at my place! fingers crossed. last week not much has happened except a bit of toilet tiling and installation of aircons. think they were waiting to hear what to do about the floors. here are some pics taken last week - nothing much changed since then except the debris is gone, haha.master toilet wall + floor hacked to be enlarged - still looks so small though! sobs.hacked the WIW door hall, with remains of the old kitchen cabinetskitchen with everything hacked - looks so long now. you can see the ridiculous 2 step drop - don't know what i would have done if the approval didn't go through man. Edited November 20, 2012 by mandj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 17, 2012 more updates- decided that i can't really live with the exposed t5 tubes after all. also, the wiring points were super messy - previous owner added sockets randomly in the MIDDLE of the wall and next to switches (- why???) and there was new wiring on top of old wiring. so we decided to majorly change all the wiring casings etc, remove all the cornices and while we are at it, replace the lights. we are also going to do a very long x-box and some down-lights for the living / dining area, track lights for the bedroom and stick with t5 tubes for study. feel much more at ease with this decision; think lighting really does make a super big difference to the way a house looks. it's one of those subtle & small things that have big impact - like haircuts. lol.- bought a lamp from taobao.com - anyone know if i need an adaptor and what type/where to get one? think the voltage might be different. fingers crossed it arrives in one piece AND looks like the photo. haha.- our aircon is not straight. it has been mounted slanting downwards - i am visually OCD but even the hubs agrees (only when i pointed it out, but still). note to self: can i live with this or should we demand they (gain city) come back and change? they will say they followed the ceiling (which, incidentally is not straight, but it's a ceiling! not aircon) but there is a beam below the aircon and they should have followed that instead. it's straight.- i confused myself and told my contractor to order the wrong tiles. was going to accuse her of getting my order wrong but realised the fault is mine - confused cos i went down 3 different times and took down multiple options. thankfully my contractor is really patient and kind about it - she says there might be extra cost at first, but will try to get them to change the tiles when they bring in more tiles to avoid cost. apparently the lian seng hin people know me for always changing my mind... oh well. as long as they get the order right in the end. thankful we went and checked all the tiles before laying. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2012 HDB just called up and said they WRONGLY APPROVED our application, they are taking it back. srsly, CAN THAT HAPPEN??????????????????????????? It's not just this incident, but our whole experience with HDB so far has been... Will probably do the wooden platform. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mullane86 0 Report post Posted November 20, 2012 HDB just called up and said they WRONGLY APPROVED our application, they are taking it back. srsly, CAN THAT HAPPEN??????????????????????????? It's not just this incident, but our whole experience with HDB so far has been... Will probably do the wooden platform.Woah! HDB screwed up big time! Approve wrongly? Nonsense leh...Chin up! Hope it goes smoothly for you from now onwards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2012 Woah! HDB screwed up big time! Approve wrongly? Nonsense leh...Chin up! Hope it goes smoothly for you from now onwards.Thanks, we really hope so too... Was super depressed yesterday haha. We are trying to come up with alternatie layouts that don't deviate too much from original plan.. Cos we have already started doing some things! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 21, 2012 (edited) after cooling down a bit more and thinking things through, we decided to change layout. instead of cutting the kitchen, we are going to try to bring the dining table into the kitchen and have a long wall of cabinets instead. somewhat similar to the old layout of the flats (there's only so much you can do with that dreadful drop). we'll have to use a narrow & long dining table that could double up as an island table, in order for the space not to look too weird. did a sketch of the new layout:the two main problems we encountered are:1. since the space is so narrow to begin with, with dimensions of 60mm countertop, 80mm tabletop, only left with 70mm on each side of the table for people to walk and sit. not sure if this is too narrow. any thoughts??2. super long table - HOW TO BRING UP TO THE TOP FLOOR? even if we hire an army of strong men, you think can? where to find? also, any table that length is going to be more than we can afford. we are probably going to hunt for 2 separate pieces of 1.5m by 0.8m tables with a matching wood grain. alternative is to ask contractor to custom with solid top/ laminates. but we would rather buy the tables if we can find - then it will be moveable in case we want to move next time, and also *sheepish* i really like solid wood one. like the kind of wood with grain... that looks like it used to be part of a tree... hehe. problem is, with grain like that i'm not sure if we will be able to find 2 tables that 'match' with each other cos the grain of each piece will definitely be unique. *sigh* Edited November 21, 2012 by mandj Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ljlow 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2012 island top is not really advisable for the layout... if you visualise at site, you will feel that there is not enough space to move around...i'm thinking something like this, a bar counter style dining (150cm x 90cm) at the 2nd level of the drop... with high stools or chairs, can accomodates 5... It serves as a divider between living and kitchen too... need to consider aircon BTU as the living+dinind+kitchen is huge as there is no divider/glass panel... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ljlow 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2012 something like this... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mandj 0 Report post Posted November 22, 2012 something like this... hi friend! wow how you photoshop my picture quite nicely! thanks! we considered that too - considered doing a shorter galley kitchen and putting the dining table in the area before the kitchen cabinets start and after the drop - but then there won't be much space for the kitchen and also not much space for dining - if we wanted to have more friends over. we measured 700mm today and seems ok... but i guess this kinda thing have to really see it there and then. going to drop by the flat tomorrow and will try to do some quick measurements and visualisng thenl Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
