No Money Also Wan Reno...bk Batok 3Rm

[edd 0]

Hi all ,

After months of lurking and stealing ideas/knowledge from various t-blogs , now it's time for my flat to be renovated.

Due to the fact that my wife was a malaysian, I was unable to go for BTO or sale of balance flats , I was "robbed" of my chance to buy an "affordable" flat .

HDB really needs to review this ruling considering the affordability of HDB flats these days, I am also a singaporean leh!!

The flat was built in the 1980s so yeah, this 30ish year old 3rm flat is just a little bit younger than me.

To be honest, I had simply underestimated the cost of buying and subsequently renovating a resale flat.

The flat seems to be in a good condition during my first two visits but after getting the keys, i found many faulty items which need to be changed...... and to my horror, my new neighbour told me that since the first owner who renovated it the flat was left untouched by the two previous owners! Hearing this, I knew I had to basically do an overhaul..........so yeah, already not much budget still have to do overhaul, i dug myself a grave...

Lesson Learnt: must really open my eyes big big when buying resale flat

Here's the floor plan and the before renovation pictures, the toilets are hideous, dun wanna make u all lose appetite

[Makanology 29]

Welcome to RT and Bukit Batok! We just started to renovate our 3 room and like yours, ours also in very bad & bare condition. The only renovation done was by the first owner and the previous 2 didn't do much. Even our layout is quite similar. Where's yours located? We are in 300+, near the famous 24hr teochew muay.

[edd 0]

oo, neighbours wor....i'm also 300+, blk 324

[Makanology 29]

We are at 343! When are you getting your keys?

[edd 0]

reno already started, same date as urs too

[Makanology 29]

Last thurs? Cool! Now still hacking? What are you doing? We are hacking everything can't keep anything, haiz...

[edd 0]

wow we r just seperated by a road lol! street 34 eh?

yep, we also almost hack all, left living room n bedroom floor, will be using laminate.

we also can't keep everything, get keys liao then know windows cannot lock and cannot open, metal gate no handle at all, door edge chipped off .....my eyes got stamp during my first two visits....

[edd 0]

Proposed layout.

Nothing fancy, might consider moving my computer table to the position between the sofa and dining table.

Sacrificed a counter top proposed by the ID for other more important works

[niko 1]

I love your kitchen, it so big..compare to BTO flat

[edd 0]

Majority of the hacking has been completed. Monday will be the last day to finish up hacking according to schedule.

Hacked off the storeroom to extend the living room, left the "sacred" partial wall to act as a partition.

Why is it sacred? Initially the ID proposed to rebuild that part to act as a partition, I wanted to remove the partition in order to free up funds for other works, but the ID is very reluctant to do so

" trust me, it will be better to have the partition there, looks better and also block off the kitchen from plain sight from the main door" he said.

so we reached a compromise to hack the wall till the point where the partition would be and make good the wall, looking forward to see the end result

Guess i have to change the refuse chut too.....wow the previous owners actually lock the chut with a bolt!!??

My ID quite fierce hor? got rules and regulations for workers de

but mandarin quite fail

Edited May 5, 2013 by edd

[edd 0]

@niko, yep i agree with you, the modern flats' kitchen is very small and very hard to design an optimal setup for space and storage

[Makanology 29]

Your ID seems like a disciplinarian but that's good. Out of curiosity, without a storeroom, wouldn't it be a challenge to store stuff like luggage and vacuum cleaner?

We didn't hack any walls as ours look like a pre-fab unit. Also it will be just 2 of us staying and 1-2 pets, so the space is generous already. But now, considering the amount of stuff we have accumulated over time and the things we have just bought, I think space is becoming limited again lol

[edd 0]

yep, it hurts without the storeroom, but for my flat, the 3Simplified model, is smaller than ur 3A and that storeroom really takes up precious space and block off much light from the kitchen.

solution: in the proposed layout, we have a full height cupboard beside the fridge, around 2.5ft wide, for storing short/step ladder, vacuum cleaner and other misc stuff. there are also some interesting options from ikea if the need arise in future

next, it would be up to us to really decide and only store the necessary stuff, those which we dun need or in doubt, just throw.

my experience is...the more storage space i have, i will just dump it in there and forget about them for the next 5 years or more, like my current hse kitchen top cabinets, things inside had been there for almost 2 decades, untouched!!

[swaskie 0]

Welcome to Rt!

Makan, u have a new neighbour liao hehe

[Makanology 29]

Welcome to Rt!

Makan, u have a new neighbour liao hehe

Yes and very near to our place!

@edd Is your block the one with the kopitiam? We just had lunch there today!