*meow Residence* 4 Room: Where The Sun Rises

[myzticalz 14]

and so now you can also be a ID/contractor

simple design can, complex design is better to get ID

Did some painting (diy style) before commencement of renovation. It's only for rooms as we're not doing massive renovations in any of the rooms except to install normal lights.

I like the door frames so much, dark colour is definitely nicer than grey

So, before painting, we have to putty the little holes around the walls/windows/door frames, then we use a scrapper to even out, set in the first coat, then colours (normally 2 coats)!

Putty, painting and brushes (total costs) - approximately $350

Edited July 9, 2014 by myzticalz

[Troublemaker 31]

simple design can, complex design is better to get ID

Did some painting (diy style) before commencement of renovation. It's only for rooms as we're not doing massive renovations in any of the rooms except to install normal lights.

I like the door frames so much, dark colour is definitely nicer than grey

So, before painting, we have to putty the little holes around the walls/windows/door frames, then we use a scrapper to even out, set in the first coat, then colours (normally 2 coats)!

Putty, painting and brushes (total costs) - approximately $350

After you put the putty, it would be best if you can use a sandpaper to sand that "putty" area first. The reason being that the paint can adhere to the area better!

I am also doing the painting myself!

[myzticalz 14]

After you put the putty, it would be best if you can use a sandpaper to sand that "putty" area first. The reason being that the paint can adhere to the area better!

I am also doing the painting myself!

I see, that's a good tip, no wonder my putty area seems harder to paint over.

Went to Royal Fanco yesterday but didn't manage to buy anything I like so popped over to Poh Seng Hardware and bought sink, kitchen tap and storage heater.

Sink - $250

Kitchen Cold Tap - $75

Storage Heater (Joven JH25HE series) - $230

Heard from my neighbours that Everjoint @ AMK sells the storage heater on a cheaper price range but since we're at the Jalan Besar area, we just decided to buy.

Went over to lightings.com.sg to have a look at lights as well. My loots from Taobao doesn't seems nice (I only got 2 lights meant for kitchen - saw it in one of the T-blogs) cause it's quite malleable so Mister told me not to buy any stuff from Taobao anymore

But good thing, we're using that kitchen lights to be fixed for my parents-in-laws' house At least it's being put to use.

[myzticalz 14]

Taking things super slow but my electrician is super fast. After the permit was approved, the electrician got down to work on my house for lightings!
He did the pulling of Lights for my cove light + downlights and here's a picture of it (I like it, it's neat and tidy):-

Also, requested to hack a 10cm wall (the entrance to kitchen) and move the light switch inner. Not bad, hacking is completed within a day as well! Plastering to be done soon and tiling of the tiles

Unlike everyone here, I'm doing renovation on a slower pace cause I haven't even bought the lights but all the light points are almost finished =X
Oops-y. The good thing is cause I'm doing ala carte style, my electrician is not focusing solely on my project so he is okay with taking it slowly as well.

I've settled my kitchen cabinets with a carpenter and choosing caesarstone as my kitchen top (pure white) and wood grain (oak) as the laminates for bottom cabinets while white gloss as the laminates for top cabinets.

I hope the choice is good.

Need help - anyone has contacts for lightings?

I'd wanted to get the lights from philips carnival sale over the weekend but was a day too late (Sunday) and it was all sold out for cool daylight led downlights

I will share my contacts once everything is completed cause I do not want to share bad stuff

And I found out that things are not much cheaper if you go ala carte style (e.g. cabinets) but you are ensured good quality stuff as the person who is doing your cabinets is the guy who knows how to measure and advise accordingly as compared to an ID. ID tends to have bulk purchases so they are able to get better rates for kitchen tops/tiles/lamintes than the sole guy who does small projects for people. So I guess there's always the pros and cons

Hope this helps people who are still deciding.

Edited July 9, 2014 by myzticalz

[myzticalz 14]

Bought my lightings from lightings.com.sg (spend a bomb there).

And L Box installing tomorrow but I have a question - how many ft wide is a typical L Box? L Box company recommend 3 ft but my electrician says 1.5 ft is enough.

I wonder how wide is the other people L Box then.

[myzticalz 14]

Hello!

Didn't get any answers about how wide L Box should be and I was in such a panic mode (just less than 12 hours and the installation of false ceiling will be up!!) Googled through entire renotalk and seems like people seldom measure/mention about how wide L Box should be. Uh oh.

Anyway, I stumbled into this guide by Mrcontractor, it is really a good read and I kick myself for not reading it earlier! (http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/58154-guides-to-renovation/) So, the usual size of L box is 12", 16", 18"!

5. Supply labor to construct L-box @ Living area 48.5ft x $13/- per ft $630.50
- how wide is the Lbox? The common sizes are 12", 16" or 18". The wider it gets, the more exp it goes. So better to check for the size quoted

And I went over to a friend's house and asked her to help measure her L Box and it was 16". So, I decided on 1.5ft (18") as recommended by my electrician and boy, I am so glad I did cause 3ft (36") would be freaking big and makes the living room looks alot smaller.

Here's the outcome from the false ceiling (L Box) guy:-

Not bad lah! I like that the plastering are all smooth smooth de cause I've seen rough edges on the L Box for some flats and it pretty much annoy me cause I don't really like rough edges.

Edited July 9, 2014 by myzticalz

[myzticalz 14]

Yays, the carpentry is up for the Kitchen. I think my photography skills really does no justice but I like the woody feel.

I've pester the carpenter and keep asking him if he will help me seal up the gaps (between the tiles and the cabinets) I don't wanna put myself at risk with insects and cockroaches (yucks).

It's not fully done but I trusted the carpenters so I left my house and let them do their work cause me being around is an obstruction to them as I have no space to stand around in the living room =X

Oh, oh, so that's my rounded edges of my kitchen - curvy and roundy. It was a pleasant surprise cause it turned out quite nice but Mister was a little disappointed with the choice of laminates (he was the one who choose!) - he expected a darker tone perhaps. Hahas, oh well, let's wait till everything is up before we make any comments then

Edited July 9, 2014 by myzticalz

[myzticalz 14]

Oh, i realised I didn't mentioned that lights are up as well.

Here's the living room Lights (without the cove light yet cause I've not got the chance to buy T5 yet). My electrician is like super fast, done all lights in a day. Now I feel like I am the one delaying the renovation instead *Ooopsy*

The remaining rooms are all conventional lights so not much rave about it.

The other nicer lights I have is the passage way Lights (which I used track lights) - I find it super chio. My sister, on the other hand, likes the diamond kind of light that is right outside my master bedroom toilet - I shall take a good picture in future and post it up soon!

And lastly, the carpentry is left with Kitchen table top and glass backing.

So here is an outcome of how the top and bottom cabinets look like when it's up! The woody feel is so right - if you're wondering, it's from Formica - Alabaster Oak (http://www.formica.com/en/hk/products/wood-grains/details?di=AS_HK_FMASHPLW1_8854)

That's all! Just documenting my renovation journey for myself to reflect upon in future Hehehes.

Edited July 9, 2014 by myzticalz

[Songz 132]

The kitchen curve part add something different to the place and make it looks great

[myzticalz 14]

The kitchen curve part add something different to the place and make it looks great

Thanks Songz! Really had a hard time finding similar designs and I like the carpenter's workmanship too

Hope your reno is going smoothly as well

[11finger 3]

Hey I'm curious where is this shop at AMK that sells the heater at a cheaper rate?

Thanks in advance Btw, where are u locating ur storage heater at?

[myzticalz 14]

Hey I'm curious where is this shop at AMK that sells the heater at a cheaper rate?

Thanks in advance Btw, where are u locating ur storage heater at?

Hi 11finger,

Had PM-ed you about it

Hope it helps!

[Troublemaker 31]

Hi! Can share with me your electrician's contacts? Thanks!

[Harriette 42]

Hi, can I get your electrician's contact? My Reno is over, but I might need an electrician on an ad hoc basis in future. Thanks in advance.

[myzticalz 14]

Hello Troublemaker and Harriette, will PM you guys tomorrow, okay? Going off work already so no access to comp

Fast forward, kitchen table top was up on 2 July 2014 and then the glass was up on 4 July 2014 (supposedly on 3 July 2014 but apparently, I heard the glass broke or something - anyway, neighbour said 开花结果 which meant that everything smooth smooth kind of meaning, I think because whenever something like glass/mirror breaks, you have to say such things? *shrugs*)

Here's a picture of the almost completed Kitchen.

Recap

Laminates from Formica - Alabaster Oak (http://www.formica.c..._FMASHPLW1_8854)

Table top from Caesarstone - Pure White 1141(http://www.caesarstone.sg/en/The-Catalog/Pages/1141%20Pure%20White%20.aspx)

Glass from unknown but I choose white (it looks more green to me though)

See, there is a door missing right? Like most renovations, my renovation also has hiccups, the carpentry has some dents and scratches and I cannot accept such. But, Mister's dad told me this is the industry's norm cause cannot expect 100% no dents/scratches. Anyway, I told the carpenter and he was cool about replacing it. There are some more scratches and dents so I tell him to go think of how he's going to rectify it.

My carpenter told me the kitchen door is ready and can be installed this Saturday. At the same time, he's asking me to pay him too. I hope I can be fully satisfied before paying him. Carpentry costs close to $8k together with counter top wors. Not cheap not cheap.

I'm waiting for Doors at the moment, had a direct contact from one vendor and he's coming over on Saturday for measurements as well as providing me with the catalogue to choose.

Same goes for Curtains, contacting one of the now popular curtains/blinds provided - Home Curtains and Blinds (I think that's the name, can search in Facebook) recommended by my neighbour.

Mister and I have not engage a cleaning company to acid wash our floors so we tried mopping it up, quite a good job done cause the tiles look quite white and clean lah. Here's a picture of my passageway which we mopped (no doors )

Oh ya, I need to rant also. My MBR toilet light is not working and my electrician told me that there’s something wrong with the driver. I have no idea what is a driver so I called the lightings company and told them what my electrician said and to asked for a replacement. They said they will send someone down to repair last Saturday, 5 July 2014. So, this someone came, meddle around with the light and tell me he needs to get a new light for replacement and he doesn’t have it with him that day so have to re-arrange another date to come by. Grrrr, a waste of another day for them to come again and I’ve to wait! Sighs, I already told them that my electrician said there’s a need for replacement but they just wouldn’t buy my story, need to come and see and decide. Waste my and their worker’s time lehs.