My 5Rm Love Nest

[josephsbs 1]

Finally, we've got a place we can proudly call our home, our love nest. In some sense, finding and deciding on this resale unit isn't really easy due to our desired criteria, as below:

• 5 room corner unit
• high floor
• unblocked view
• near MRT but don't want to hear the MRT screeching sound whenever they pass by
• near amenities

Luckily, we were not bothered about existing renovations as we were prepared to re-renovate "everything", thus the focus falls on location, as long as the unit is not structurally modified/unsound.

After few weeks of looking around, we found and settled for a unit that met our requirements; not ideal but that's what we can get our hands on at that time. It's a top floor unit, having the good of not having to experience inconsiderate upper floor neighbors (dripping laundry, floor noise, etc) but the bad of having sun-baked roofs or even water leakage (this we can get town council to resolve). Seriously hoped the dual-layer "sun friendly" roofs of newer HDB flats works well.

Well, a little homework says we're safe cos we can get Town Council to come plug the leak, as compared to having to negotiate with the owner of the floor above us... a little tricky if they are not so cooperative, very tricky when it comes to who pays for the repairs.

In this case, the leakage is from the roof of the block. The roof is part of common property maintained by the Town Council. For ceiling leakage in flats at the top most floor, the flat owners may contact Town Council maintaining their block for repairs to the ceiling leakage.
http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeMaintCeilingLeaks?OpenDocument

After another few months of waiting, we got our keys from HDB.

Yippieeeee... we're really exited and looking forward to move in. But standing in front of that, is the 2nd largest financial commitment since our marriage, renovations of the Love Nest.


Added:
Forgot to mention the block is only 5 mins from Boon Lay MRT and all the shopping that's next to it... Jurong Point

Added: one of the few things cool factor of the unit... really nice view

Edited April 3, 2014 by josephsbs

[josephsbs 1]

Finding a renovation contractor/ID is the next tedious and tiring phase... it indeed is

After a few weeks of deliberations and meetings with about 5 contractors/ID, we finally decided to hand the project to the contractor that renovated for my sister few months earlier. We were lucky that some of the ID brought us to see their current projects so that we could have a better idea of their deliverables. Recommendations from friends and RenoTalk forumers is one thing, a major factor is my familiarity with this contractor's sub-cons' workmanship, both good and bad ones. With this in mind, we made special requests which the contractor agreed (on gentlemen's agreement, no black-n-white though). For example, I specified that we wanted the same subcon that did the tiling and carpentry works for my sis's unit but a NO NO for the subcon that did the plastering and painting job.

Having agreed on those and the quotation (after a few rounds of revisions), we signed on the dotted line.

Added:

Some forumers have PMed me for my contractor's info, thus decided to put it here for easy reference.

M Image Interior Design & Renovation

280 Bukit Batok East Ave 3, #01-335 S650280

Tel: 65606800

http://www.mimage.sg/

(boss is Mr Michael)

Among the first thing to crack our head after appointing the contractor is "what theme or designs we're looking for?"

After a few discussions with wifey, we decided on something really simple but cozy; we kinda like those country resort feel but not too "woody", also nothing too grand or too modern that makes the house difficult to upkeep.

Thinking back, I'm really lucky that my wifey and me have similar thoughts about the deco we want, that kind of feeling when we step in after a hard day's work. I've heard of couples disagreeing about what they want in the reno and had many days of arguments over that. I'm a lucky chap

Personally, I'm a wood fan... ok, solid wood furnitures to be exact so we'll be expecting may woody looking furnitures instead of colourful ones.

Many of the furnitures we see at malls/shops are made of MDF nowadays and I've decided to minimise them in our place.

After surfing around, I think that if we look around enough, there could still be affordable and reasonably priced teak furnitures around. Burmese teak are definitely out of my budget, Indonesian teak is good enough as long as the workmanship is ok. I've also targeted some furnitures made of the more economical materials such as Nyatoh wood.

Edited April 3, 2014 by josephsbs

[josephsbs 1]

First purchase... Air Conditioning

The existing unit came with a Panasonic non-inverter system 3 aircon (master bedroom and 2 rooms); tested and they look and worked well. Unfortunately, I have a big issue with the layout of the cables/pipings... they're simply ugly and obstructive to furnitures.

And so headaches:

• To keep the existing good condition aircon system, or spend on a new inverter aircon system?
  After much deliberation, we decided to redo the whole cooling for the house, mainly due to the ugly pipings.
  I want the pipings to be out of sight as far as possible and, not obstructive to furnitures... they're going up
• Aircon for living room or just the rooms?
  Tried asking around and found supporters in both camps. Eventually took my wifey's choice to have aircon for living room as well, since we're at top floor and it could be quite hot during "summer".

On the recommendation of our contractor, we contacted Kaisoon Aircon and purchased the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries System 4 (3+1) with:

• 1x SCM80
• 3x SRK25
• 1x SRK60
• upgrade to Armaflex class 1 insulation
• steel stand for outdoor compressor unit (they say can reduce vibration/noise)
• trade in old system 3 aircon for 3 years parts warranty
• 5 years workmanship warranty
• standard MHI warranty applies

Frankly, we made the mistake of not doing our homework enough when changing the aircon.
Kaisoon's pricing isn't the cheapest as we realised few days later that some vendors (including Gain City) offered lower prices for the same MHI System 4.
Consolation is, the price is lower than that of Coolserve.

At the moment, I'm just hoping that the extras we paid could be "compensated" by good workmanship from Kaisoon. bo-pian

Added:

Now that the aircon is up and running, I have to say the Kaisoon did a good job installing the aircon, but after being f***ed by my contractor real good. Whahaha... yes, my contractor f***ed the KS people real good for almost messing things up. We had a piping plan/design which was discussed and "endorsed" by their manager but the workers came and strongly recommended the easier/uglier way of laying the piping. WTF!

Good thing I dun have to do the f***ing, my contractor did it and got things done. If you were to see the pics below, you'ld realise that my aircon pipes are mostly "out of sight"... that's the "neat" design we wanted.

Added:
Many of our friends are asking why we didn't get Daikin... I was really tempted, but decided to go try MHI as the specs looks really good, money for value stuffs. The aircon vendor also mentioned that Daikin parts could be rather expensive, could be an issue when the warranties expire.

Added:
A friend told me that the price I paid was not a "kotok" price, just that I'm not enjoying the current promotions given by other dealers... sigh.

Edited April 3, 2014 by josephsbs

[spikedoll 2]

Hi care to share how much u paid for aircon? Thanks

[zxoliver 0]

:sport-smiley-004:waiting for your updates~~~~uppppp

[josephsbs 1]

Hi care to share how much u paid for aircon? Thanks

PM you liow

[josephsbs 1]

MASONRY WORKS

Among the biggest job items in a renovation project is masonry works, or floor & wall tiles to be more specific.
Our initial plan was to hack all floors and kitchen/toilet walls and have them changed as follows:

• living, dining, kitchen and toilet floors ... homogeneous tiles
• all bedrooms ... parquet or some wooden floor

Homogeneous tiles are easy, just have to pop by any of the major tile suppliers' showroom and whoala... lots of choices available, only limited by budget. We went to the showroom of Sim Bee Huat (http://www.sbh.com.sg/) at Toh Guan and spent few hours just looking at tiles; remember to go 2nd floor to take a look at some mock-up designs.
Then headache comes when choosing wooden flooring. We checked out solid wood, engineered wood, parquet and even resilient floor (HERF from Evorich) which are supposed to be "pee friendly" but seems some options require us to breaks our piggy bank

Not willing to break our piggies, we had to work our sums again and again till the day we finally decided to do otherwise.
After we got our keys, our contractor (the one whom we finally selected) did a careful check on the existing flooring and recommended that we keep the existing compressed marble floor. His views were that the floors are still in good condition (a good polish would do the trick to make it swee swee) and no point changing from compressed marble to normal homogeneous tile; even if compressed marble is of cheaper/lower grade marble, it is still better than the usual homogeneous floor tiles. But if we intend to change to better quality tiles, that's another story.

For this, I give credit to our contractor for a good piece of advise, helping us save money from not embarking on unnecessary renovations. Not sure about yours, but I won't be surprised that there'll be lots of contractors who would gladly hack up and relay the floor for a quite a few thousand dollars more.

Pic showing living room windows and condition of floor...


Heeding his advise, we decided to keep the compressed marble flooring and do the following:

• living & all bedrooms floor ... existing compressed marble tiles
• dining area floor ... parquet
• kitchen and toilet floors ... homogeneous tiles

Why then did we change the flooring at dining area?
This we kinda had no choice cos after removing the false wall between the dining and living area, that section below that wall is "hollow" (a hole), no tiles. We tried to find similar tiles (previous owner didn't keep any spare tiles) to fill the hole and explored other options such as using pebbles, putting furniture over it, etc. Unfortunately, nothing seems suitable and to our liking. In the end, decided to cut out the area and lay parquet over (approx 2mx2m).

Pic showing the hole just below the false wall...


Some recommendations to those starting reno soon

• if doing false walls, remember to ask contractor to also lay tiles below the "wall", i.e. do not leave a hole in case you want to change your design and remove the wall few years down the road. Else, you'll have same problem as I did.
• if doing kitchen top & bottom cabinets, remember to ask contractor to also lay tiles on the walls behind them, in case you want to change your cabinets to smaller sized ones or removing them altogether without having problem with missing wall tiles.
  BTW, we decided not to have to cabinets on kitchen walls to have a simple clean look.
• if doing built in cabinets/wardrobes, remember to ask contractor to also lay skirting even though they can't be seen (behind the cabinets/wardrobes), in case you want to remove the furnitures altogether without replacement in future

More to follow...

Edited March 24, 2014 by josephsbs

[josephsbs 1]

PARQUET/CARPENTRY & STONEWORKS

After the flooring & walls are decided, next is to sort out the woodworks and carpentry stuffs.

Instead of cluttering the kitchen with various cabinets/furnitures, we've decided to go plain. We'll just have a long bottom cabinet with washing machine on its left, a "buy from Ikea" cabinet and refrigerator on the its right. What's on the wall is only a chimney hood, some wall-mounted shelves and a wall mounted fan for ventilation, at least for the time being.
As usual, bottom cabinet is of laminate finish with ABS trimming, soft closing hinges, etc. As for the top, we've decided to go for Caesarstone quartz that supposedly comes with 10 years agent warranty. My contractor initially tried to push for granite but I stood firm on getting a quartz top

So what's so special about quartz countertops?

http://www.caesarstoneus.com/products/advantages/

Caesarstone quartz surfaces are the ultimate combination of nature and technology. Non-porous, scratch resistant and highly resistant to stains, Caesarstone retains its beauty without sealants or waxes and is almost maintenance-free. Ideal for any interior space, Caesarstone stone surfaces have four times the flexural strength and double the impact resistance of granite while impressively outperforming marble.

Pic of initial kitchen layout... later amended to do without the Ikea cabinet, bottom cabinet extend all the way to the refrigerator.

Caesarstone chosed... 6600 Nougat


We have initially toyed with the idea of converting Room 2 or Dining area (false walls & sliding doors required) into a walk-in wardrobe but later dropped the idea, choosing instead to use Room 2 as a Study room with a long Wardrobe running along one side of the wall; approx 11 feet long with a total of 8 doors (4 for me and 4 or me wifey). Room 2 & 3 are supposedly for our children when they grow up but until then, we get to use them. Room 3 still reserved for my kids. This arrangement also allows us to save some monies

Except that it is unusually long, there's actually nothing much to share about the laminate finish wardrobe which comes at $260 pfr (market price for a basic unit usually starts from $240 onwards, depending on the design and materials used).

The last piece of customised furniture is the vanity top/unit in the master bathroom; we decided not to have any in the common bathroom. Also using Caesarstone quartz, it's a "wall mount" hanging type (about 8" above floor) and using top mounted glass bowl basin. Was considering to use bottom mount basin cos that'll give more storage space in the cabinet. However, decided to stick with glass bowl cos it looks better

So where does the parquet fits in?
I'm using parquet at 2 places, a "cozy cum laze around corner" platform next to the living room windows and at dining area (due to the missing tiles described in earlier post). While the dining area is more like no choice, I've always wanted a cozy corner where I can just lie down (not on sofa) without feeling the chill from the floor tiles. Reading, watch TV, sun or moon bathing, etc... shiok only lah

Will post pics later.

Edited March 24, 2014 by josephsbs

[spikedoll 2]

Thank u for the pm.. Paisay wanna check with u how much for the ceasarstone top? Price per ft

[josephsbs 1]

If you call Caesarstone as a home owner, prices starts from $180 pfr (comes with standard 50mm back-splash) for the 20mm thickness I chosed (also have 13mm & 30mm); different pricing for different models/designs. To have edge profile, need to add $20 pfr for the additional workmanship. so total could add up to $200 pfr.

Edge options:

http://www.caesarstoneus.com/products/edge-options/

Commonly used edges...

Where to view?

http://www.caesarstone.sg/en/Pages/Where-to-view-and-buy.aspx

Funny thing is, Caesarstone doesn't really have a proper showroom to showcase their products to retail customers like us. If you call their sales office, they will usually refer you to their partner's showroom at Ubi Biz-Hub... BLUM.

I have to say I was rather tempted after seeing the Blum products, but stood firm on not spending extra for non-necessities.

Note: Your contractor will be able to get much much lower prices, so remember to bargain.

Edited March 24, 2014 by josephsbs

[josephsbs 1]

ELECTRICAL & PLUMBING WORKS

Since the house is only about 12 years old, we've decided not to rewire the house, except for the kitchen where it'll be stripped "naked". Lucky for us, the existing house comes with concealed electrical points whose location are somewhat conveniently placed, so I need only to change the lights, switches and sockets/points.

During the few weeks or homework, I came across this website called RenoHub and it has a page showing the various brands of switches available.

http://www.renohub.com.sg/SwitchPlugs.php

When I check with my contractor about the brand of switches/sockets I'm getting, he said I can choose whichever as long as they are approved ones, just top up the difference if I want "ATAS" brands. I considered MK, Clipsal and Legrand which are established and have affordable models. After asking around and going around to view those switches at nearby shops, I decided on Legrand and was told if I take Legrand Belanko (normal white series), no top up is required but need to top up for Arteor, BTicino or Mallia series.

The renovation involves "stripping" the kitchen and both bathrooms, i.e. both electrical and water works will be relaid, other than the tiles. For water pipes, my contractor gave me the option of choosing stainless steel or copper pipes at same price. Frankly, I had a little dilemma choosing cos:

* stainless steel pipe looks nicer but needs more angle joints and heard that over time, the water may have a "rusty" taste;

* copper pipes are easier to shape and won't rust (safer and no rusty taste) but they look ugly if bare; need to paint over the pipes to make them more presentable.

From forums, we read that copper is cheaper but some also claimed that prices of copper has risen over the years and both are about the same price now... dunno how true

Anyway, we chose copper and contractor agreed to have it painted to cream colour at no extra cost.

added:

plumbing done liow... alamak! regret liow!

should have taken the stainless steel pipes... sigh

now hoping that the pipings look good after painting

Edited December 4, 2012 by josephsbs

[PurpleHippo 0]

Hi!

Congratulations on your new home. My husband and I also bought a resale 5rm flat at Pioneer. Our flat layout look similar except that we have a balcony.

We are currently overseas and renting out our place. When we return next year will start renovating. It is going to be a major overhual for us.

Good luck with your renovation and do post photos for updates.

Cheers.

[zxoliver 0]

[josephsbs 1]

CHANGING WINDOWS... BIG CHALLENGE

Other than the selection of renovation contractor (or ID), the next big challenge of my renovation project could be window works.

While some buyers of resale flats are lucky, our unit's previous owner didn't take care of the windows and we decided to have them ALL changed.

We thought it's a simple job but it turns out to be that one job that held up the project's completion

My renovation works started in mid-October and we're still stuck waiting for necessary approvals to change the living room's windows (as at today)

Why? Because many parties in the loop are not sufficiently conversant with the rules governing the change of windows; from the approved window contractor's salesman, to my contractor, even the officer at HDB Branch office.

What's the fuss? My unit's comes with full (actually more like 3/4) height windows at the living room, casement windows at master bedroom, sliding windows at bedroom 2 & 3, casement & sliding windows at kitchen and louvre windows at the bathrooms... quite a mess.

Instead of changing everything to exactly the same thing, we decided to change ALL to casement windows; top hung replacements for bathrooms louvre and kitchen sliding windows. In addition, we got rid of the small top hung section that're at top of the original windows.

Why we want only plain casement windows without the small top hung sections?

* Our unit is top floor so may be warm during the day at times. Sliding windows can't maximise ventilation like casement types.

* I we keep the small top hung sections and open them for ventilation, then we need to close them whenever we on our aircon. If we keep them closed, then no point having them in the first place.

* The extra top hung sections will also collect dust/dirt and needs extra efforts to maintenance or clean them.

* Looks better and more like private homes.

As usual, our window contractor (a HDB registered window contractor) applied online to HDB to get the required approval for renovation works.

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/bn25/isos118p.nsf/Window+Ins+List+by+Company?OpenView&Count=15&Start=1&RestrictToCategory=W&&CurVal%3DReno%2520Company%2520Name%2F&Redirect=1

Then came the "case pending" reply from HDB, why pending?

According to the HDB officer, 2 issues needs to be resolved:

(1) Changing the full (3/4) heigh window require the new window's design/dimensions to be approved by Building & Construction Authority BCA, and those design/dimensions must be endorsed by a Qualified Person QP (e.g. Professional Engineer PE) before BCA would consider approving it.

--> this one we are OK, cos the contractors are aware and have promptly advised me.

(2) New windows need to follow the original HDB windows' colour scheme, proportion and type (i.e. casement to casement, sliding to sliding). According to the HDB officer, this is the newly implemented rule.

--> this one got me confused.

Confused becos my contractor tell me confirm can, now HDB officer say cannot. Furthermore, some of the units around my block have changed their windows (including the full height ones) to non-standard types.

Not convinced, I did my own homework and searched around the Internet for answers and found this...

HDB's rules/guidelines can be found at the webpage below (copy & paste the URL)

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/HomeRenoGuidelinesWindow?OpenDocument

See the section at at (B)(ii)...

Enhanced Renovation Guidelines For Installation/Replacement Of Windows

From time to time, HDB has been introducing new and distinctive features in HDB flats to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the block and the overall town. Some of the common distinctive features introduced are full height windows (3/4 height windows), windows with coloured frame/glass panel and windows with different proportions.

In July 07, HDB has introduced some control measures to ensure that the aesthetic appearance of the block/precinct will not be marred.

The following enhanced window guidelines have been implemented:

{A} Full Height Windows (including 3/4 height and bay windows)

Replacement of full height windows is strictly not allowed, unless with valid reasons, such as badly damaged frame which require a total change of windows.

Examples of full height windows.

If replacement is necessary, flat owners need to engage a BCA-approved window contractor to submit an application for renovation permit to HDB electronically. The replacement must comply with the colour scheme, proportion and type [ie casement to casement, sliding to sliding] with that of the original windows provided by HDB, in addition to existing requirement to engage a Qualified Person (QP) to certify the lateral loading.

The QP is required to submit structural calculations and drawings to Building and Construction Authority (BCA) for regulatory approval via CORENET (COnstruction and Real Estate NETwork). Once the approval is given by BCA, the BCA-approved window contractor is to submit the BCA's "Permit to Commence Structural Work" and approved drawings to HDB for the issuance of the renovation permit.

{B} Windows at Parapet/Balcony

(i) Flats handed over from 1 Jul 07 onwards

For installation/replacement of windows at balcony/parapet, flat owners need to comply with the colour scheme, proportion and type [ie casement to casement, sliding to sliding] with that of the original windows provided by HDB, in addition to existing requirements.

(ii) Flats handed over before 1 Jul 07

For installation/replacement of windows at balcony/parapet, an advisory note will be incorporated into the renovation permit to inform flat owners to comply with colour scheme and proportion with that of the original windows provided by HDB.

{C} Installation of Grilles at service yard/private balcony (if any)

Flat owners will need to install using HDB approved grilles design, which are given during the booking of flat/collection of keys via a renovation fact sheet for flats handed over from 1 Jul 07 onwards [see sample renovation fact sheet].

My interpretations of these rules are...

For resale flats that are completed and handed over to their respective first owners (not resale buyers) before 1 Jul 2007, owners:

{a} must follow the original colour scheme and proportion (cannot alter overall dimension);

{b} are advised but not mandatory to follow the "casement to casement, sliding to sliding" rule;

{c} must get PE to endorse the design and dimensions of the new full (or 3/4) height window and BCA's approval of the design is required.

For resale flats that are completed and handed over to their respective first owners after 1 Jul 2007, owners have to comply with all requirements, no more options.

Note: PE charges for the drawings and endorsements are around $1,800 to $2,500... kind of a rip-off but no choice.

Having to paying the hefty sum to get PE's endorsement/BCA's approval is one, getting it in time within the renovation period is another problem.

According to the PE we engaged, it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for BCA to approve their applications.

RECOMMENDATION

If you are planning or intends to change change your full (or 3/4) height windows, make sure you factor in the extra costs and time required to get the respective approvals. Better still, start finding the PE and do the approvals part before renovation starts.

cheers

Edited November 23, 2012 by josephsbs

[josephsbs 1]

Purchases... @ Hoe Kee Hardware Pte Ltd

I decided to buy the following items from a neighbourhood hardware store due to design and cost:

* 2x bidets

* 2x bidet taps

* tap for washing machine

Edited November 23, 2012 by josephsbs