Simple 4Rm Reno @ Costa Ris

[ElsaAnna 2]

Hi there,

I noticed that you are intending to install a sliding barn door.

Do you mind sharing how much it costs?

Thank you!

Our Reno Requirements:-

1) To hack off L wall at kitchen entrance + make good

2) To hack off L wall at Bedroom 3 + make good

3) To dismantle SY windows & Bifold door + touch up

4) To construct 2 x bottom kitchen cabinets with Quartz top, ABS trimming, handcrafted barn doors with soft closing mechanism

5) To supply labour to install lights, ceiling fan, install new /relocate electrical points & install kitchen/bathroom accessories

6) To paint whole house with Nippon/Dulux (4+1)

7) To install 4 doors (2 Veneers / 1 wooden lourved Bifold / 1 sliding barn door)

8) Craft Brick Feature Wall

9) 9 ft suspended Study table along Bedroom 3 Windows area

10) 5.5 ft full height Wardrobe in Master Bedroom

11) 4 ft full height storage cabinet in Living / Dining Area

12) To lay HERF flooring for whole house except BS, toilets & SY



We hope the house will turn out spacious, well ventilated, hopefully lots of natural light and will be going for low furniture with a woody feel.

Leaning towards white / neutral base colours with a dash of blue / light pastel colours as accent colours and probably a subtle hint of polished industrial or Scandinavian elements.

My wife dislikes the overly raw/distressed /extreme look and mirrors. We like the house to be clutter free and will be counting on the bomb shelter for the additional customized racking storage since we are not doing much carpentry.

[Danmify 16]

Hi ElsaAnna, it is about sgd $1k, inclusive of the top hung tracks. Door feels solid and wider than main door.

[beehoon 0]

hi Danmify, i'm at costa ris too !! blk 525B ! still waiting for the bank loan to settle before collecting keys... -.-

could you share your ID contact and quotation please??

please upload more photos, would love to see your progress !

cheers!!

[Danmify 16]

Hi future neighbour, great to have you here! My contractor is Andy from K2LD Builders. You can check out their FB PAGE. My quotation is about $41k, excluding $3k electrical works and also $5k floor works. Definitely not the cheapest around. You need to be rather involved in the design process.

I will give a full review upon completion.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Danmify

[mitchiko 3]

Great buys u have. Nice reading your experience. =)

[Danmify 16]

Well.. Life isn't always smooth and we were expecting our first "lemons".



After hacking down the BR3 walls to enlarge our living room, we found this stubborn metal structure remaining at the ceiling - the lone survivor against all odds!

As per HDB guidelines, we cannot remove this metal object and our next best option is to make "lemonade" out of it. We explored the following options:-

1) Paint it white and install vertical wall planters and hope it covers up over time
2) Install vertical wooden columns
3) Hide it with Cornices
4) Hide it with partial false ceiling & cove lighting
5) Hide it with carpentry
6) Partial top half Box up that flushes with the existing BR3 ceiling beam at the windows

We chose Option 6 and certainly hope it will turn out well! (not too sour)

23 to 27 Sept 2014 - Day 09 to 13 of Renovation



The progress was gradual as the professional tiler took it upon himself to do the finishing touches to ensure the quality is consistent. The plastering works and laying of grouting lines were solely done by him - the popular Ah Kim which you will definitely see in K2LD Builders' FB albums!

Common Toilet is 65% completed. For mosaic tiles, the grout lines will have holes after the 1st round. There will be another round of touch up.

Kitchen wall tiles overlay will also be scheduled after carpentry and kitchen quartz top is up. We can have a better fit/alignment that way. IMO.

29 Sept 2014 - Day 14 of Renovation



I happened to hear a rumour that the free HDB Cement Screeding might cease after 1 Oct and quickly arrange for it to be done before end Sept. Andy was flexible to shift the original targeted date on 3rd week of Oct forward.

We were all surprised that the cement screed contractors turned up so fast on last Sat afternoon to put down their equipment and materials and completed everything today. :bow:

Edited September 30, 2014 by Danmify

[minibunnyhusky 1]

hi danmify!

thanks for sharing!

we r future costa ris neighors. i'm at 528B.. habent collect keys yet...

we r oso thinking to demolish the entire 3rd bedroom wall/door and the kitchen wall.. then we r thinking how to prevent aircon from escaping..seems like we need a strong aircon in the living. u have any plans for tis??? pls share w me... TIA!

[Danmify 16]

Hi Minibunnyhusky, I would not advise installing aircon in the living room after you hacked down the kitchen wall and BR3 wall for open concept.

1. You need a brand with high BTU. Maybe Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. But 1 fancoil might not be enough as you got to consider BR3, living room, kitchen and SY as 1 big combined area.

2. Unless you consider some ways to trap the cool air in e.g those frameless foldable glass panels / customized bifold or hidden sliding doors.

3. Or maybe do a bottom half wall and top half glass for your kitchen and BR3 area. You get some sense of a bigger space with more light into the house, the flexibility to use it as a private room when required and also to trap the cool air in within each area as well.

3. You need to plan for the aircon routing. Might need box up or other hidden costs.

I think fans are more economical in the living room for our case.. if it gets too humid and hot, can "take cover" in the bedrooms. Save some bills too.

Jia you! Just a short wait more!

Edited September 30, 2014 by Danmify

[Zierra 2]

Hi Danmify,

We are also neighbors! Mine is Blk 525B. =)

Yup, you are right. My ID has just received a very last minute news from HDB yesterday at 4pm in regards to the cement screeding issue. We nearly have a heart attack...

Luckily, for my case, my hubby and I are still able to apply for the cement screeding job on this coming Thursday. We do not want to spend more money in engaging contractor to do the screeding for us. =X

[minibunnyhusky 1]

thanks for yr reply!

yes we r now thinking about having a glass door for d the kitchen...but hv to b at a weird angle coz i dont wanna reduce my dining area... my dining table is a round glass top one.

previously was gg for yr option 3, half wall n glass.. then my ID proposed a "shelving wall" as a divider for the 3bdroom n living. we went w tat coz we like the design.

yes fan is the best... but we wanna hv air con for special days... hehe

look forward to seeing more updates from u!

jia you too!!

Hi Minibunnyhusky, I would not advise installing aircon in the living room after you hacked down the kitchen wall and BR3 wall for open concept.

1. You need a brand with high BTU. Maybe Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. But 1 fancoil might not be enough as you got to consider BR3, living room, kitchen and SY as 1 big combined area.

2. Unless you consider some ways to trap the cool air in e.g those frameless foldable glass panels / customized bifold or hidden sliding doors.

3. Or maybe do a bottom half wall and top half glass for your kitchen and BR3 area. You get some sense of a bigger space with more light into the house, the flexibility to use it as a private room when required and also to trap the cool air in within each area as well.

3. You need to plan for the aircon routing. Might need box up or other hidden costs.

I think fans are more economical in the living room for our case.. if it gets too humid and hot, can "take cover" in the bedrooms. Save some bills too.

Jia you! Just a short wait more!

[Danmify 16]

30 Sept to 01 Oct 2014 - Day 15 & 16 of Renovation

Oh Yeah!! Fast Fast Fast Progress!!




Cement Screeding works was done within a day and left overnight to dry. Andy's tiler wasted no time in the "safe zone", working on the kitchen cabinets base plinth, tile skirting and constructing the concrete support for our sink from scratch. The eventual result would be carpentry enveloping the exposed concrete areas to give an unified look.

Next morning, another sub con came to box up the recessed areas at the MBR & Living Room walls and also solved the eye sore on the ceiling problem as well. Andy's team used partition boards in the MBR and calcium silicate boards in the Living room. I cannot tell much difference as both materials feel very sturdy. There is a process to seal up together with chemical bonding as well. Pretty neat and experienced works there!

It was actually a roller coaster day for me! Received a morning call from Andy about the potential delay for my MBR Toilet wall mosaic tiles until early Nov. The Golden Week in China affects the Supplier's initial mid Oct shipping schedule.

At first, I wanted to continue to wait as I had already sourced high and low from Hup Khiong, Unlimited, Hafary, Soon Bee Huat, Rice Fields, An Huat and GFA before finally deciding on my current choice. But later in the day, Andy somehow managed to source an even nicer alternative mosaic tile from Hup Khiong's new arrivals.

Oh yeah! Now we're back on the fast track again!

Ended the day positively with my confirmed selection on Paint Colours and Veneer Doors laminates as well.

Looking forward to meeting the Aircon guy this Sat and also the Carpenter on next Monday. This is only Day 16 of my Renovation.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Danmify

[coyote 6]

I am reading your blog and couldn't wait to see the end results. Love your sharing of inspiration photos and TB links.

[wyx03 12]

Wonder where you install your fan coil unit in your MBR? Above the MBR's door or the bathroom's door?

Hope my reno also progress as smooth as yours

[Danmify 16]

Hi Wyx03_2002, I thought I can give you a visual explanation but my Aircon works will most likely be rescheduled to early Nov as my MBR Toilet wall tiles are pending new stock availability.

I will be installing FCU 1 in MBR at the ceiling beam just outside Toilet entrance and facing the bed. Not above MBR's or Toilet's door.

FCU 2 in BR2 will be installed above the door.

All the best in your Reno! Looking forward to meeting you and visiting your place one day!

[Danmify 16]

Had a long 1 hr+ session with my Carpenter and Andy. Really appreciated that they provided a lot of logical advice and counter proposal during my design brief and we were able to finalize all the details and laminate selections last Sat.

Some updates to the progress as of Day 22 of Renovation - 07 Oct 2014

1. Concrete Support for Kitchen Sink completed

2. Make good for damaged floor tiles and skirting at Service Yard completed

3. Main Door Entrance Floor Tiling completed

4. Common Toilet Entrance Floor Tiling completed

5. Craft Brick Wall completed

6. Detailed measurements for carpentry works completed

7. Measurement for White Lourved Aluminium Bi-fold Door for MBR Toilet completed

8. Delivery of Hood & Hob

9. Delivery of Paints

:lol:

Upcoming Works

1. Painting Works

2. 2nd Round of grouting filling for Common Toilet Wall Tiles

3. Chemical Washing

4. Installation of Fixtures

5. Installation of HERF

6. Installation of Carpentry

7. Remaining Wet works in MBR Toilet

8. Air-con Works

9. Plumbing

10. Minor Final Touch up works

:fire:

Edited October 10, 2014 by Danmify