A Second Reno

[nextstep 3]

Shopping Day

It's SG50 today and a PH meaning we are out combing any shops we have left unturned so far for the quest for that bed frame we are still seeking and going after.

Our day started off with the XZQT sale and we visited their Pandan Crescent outlet but didn't managed to identify anything we do need and also realized that despite their sale most of their pieces are still $4000 and upwards for dining sets and bed frames so I still think we are definately priced out here. So after a quick hop and about we are our and back onto the roads.

Next stop! Crate & Barrel in town. The all famous crate and barrel had to be visited but upon reaching there realize that alot of items though nice does not fit the price tags they came along with so again in and out session at this shop. Simply exorbitant in pricing unless there is a massive sale going on.

CB2 is next and here we are now talking. The pieces here are nice and very different and price points are much more acceptable with study desk starting from $400 and bed frames between $1500-$3000 ranges. But didn't find anything we like except for ironically a concrete block.

http://www.cb2.com/cement-grey-side-table/s606581

Wanted it for a display piece at our new place and thought this stand was simple and elegant in its own way but shocking as we are told there would be a 14 weeks back log There goes any intention to buy it right out of the window despite their 1 day special 15% off for SG50!

Sighz gone we went and back to the next hunt. Fanttique at Link@AMK. It's a new industrial building and most shops were still setting up their spaces here and so is Fanttique. But we managed to take a peak at the bed frame we identified earlier and are happy with the actual look and quality of the wood the bed is made from. They are also having a 15% off sale until next weekend. However, they only accept cash/net which is a bummer in a way

But well if we can't find anything nicer then we may just settle for this piece since we are happy with it anyway for its clean sharp look. Well that sums up our shopping for the day.

Perhaps more tomorrow but no more furnitures for now but perhaps a trip down to the bathroom warehouse Changi store to see if there are any goodies at their advertised sale going on.

Happy SG50 Everyone...

I have to agree Crate & Barrel price tag are on the high side. Kinda like one of the sofa bed but it cost over $4000.

For CB2 when I tried on some of their furniture, it I feel that their quality is not as good as Crate and Barrel (Maybe because I am too fat).

The bed frame from Fanttique look nice, maybe I should make a trip down as well to check out see is there anything that I would like.

Thanks for the tips

[doubleEM 4]

I have to agree Crate & Barrel price tag are on the high side. Kinda like one of the sofa bed but it cost over $4000.

For CB2 when I tried on some of their furniture, it I feel that their quality is not as good as Crate and Barrel (Maybe because I am too fat).

The bed frame from Fanttique look nice, maybe I should make a trip down as well to check out see is there anything that I would like.

Thanks for the tips

Fanttique showroom is not fully done up yet haha so you would not see all their items there but the whole range is on their website and the price is as per website less 15% buying it there. So see their website and see if anything tickles your taste buds before heading down to the showroom haha.

[doubleEM 4]

Kitchen Shopping Day

Today is not a furniture day anymore since we do have most of our items settle and done for but today we shifted the focus back to our kitchen with our sinks, hob and hood that are still unsettled for.

So off we went to the Bathroom Warehouse @ Changi and was left pretty disappointed as we were when we visited the Bt Merah branch. Small and the range was very disappointing. So I guess we will not be doing any biz there but did see a easy keep ladder which is able to fold and keep to fit into your normal cupboard space rather than the usual bulky ladder laying around the house. KIV this for now.

Next up was Hoe Kee @ IMM to take a peek at their sale. We went down again to see if we can get the sink we were looking for at a better price but we figure today that this was the best they are going to go as they claim is already reduced @ $349. We are picky with our sink because we were very specific in the material and finish we were hunting for and after looking at no less than 10 stores and their sink on sale Blanco was the only brand it seems these days who still does what they call a LINEN finish instead of the usual polished finish in most metal base sinks. Linen basically has a meshy finish instead of the usual smooth finish we see in sinks these days.

Our MIL has one in her place and after 17 years still seem spotless with no visible scratches so we decided this time if we can we will try to look for something like that. Unfortunately they couldn't tell us the brand as it was nowhere to be found on their set so we went hunting. We got it now so happy about this one definitely.

Blanco Naya 9 Stainless Steel Linen

While we were there decided to go check our the Fujioh Hob & Hood prices since we knew we wanted it just what price to pay for it as we have been told by a fellow Tblog bro @Greenboi of the amazing price he got for the package.

We found the same deal avail at Hoe Kee today and this made me itch to add them up into the purchase but upon checking and asking realized the latest model of the Slim SLM900 cannot be wall mounted without a top cabinet so there goes my idea to pay the same price and get the set as we do not intend to pay extra for carpentry just to have that cabinet on top of the hood which is more often than not pointless and under utilized anyway.

The sales lady then directed me to look into Fujioh latest Chimney hood model the FJS900 which has better suction power (duh!! cos its chimney ) and then it does not need the cabinet. I was sold since the promotion also runs on this model with the hob as a set purchase. I was not going to settle for the bulkier looking FX900 which is my only other choice if I want it wall mounted. So took the plunge and was made poorer with this add on into the purchase.

Spent more than the price I wanted for the Fujioh combination but achieve a much better design with the chimney now rather than the slim and open space above the hood which we have yet to decide what to do with it.

Fujioh Hob & Hood Combination

FJS 900 Hood

Fujioh FG 3773 3 Burner Hob

Decided to go with black then the sleeker looking white glass because we will be having a granite top so this will flush out in terms of color code for the kitchen top.

Purchase another 2 instant heaters today as well to get the packaged bundle price from the sales person. So much poorer because of this outing but another few items struck off from our checklist!

Happy with the advancement we have even before our job has begun! Countdown 2 more days to hacking! Yipee...and also Ouchie....

[doubleEM 4]

What's left to go:

Bathroom Basin Mixers - 2 pieces

1 Rain Shower Set

Master Bed Frame

Bedside Tables

Kitchen Mixer

Light Fixtures

We have more or less shortlisted our Master Bed Frame and Rain Shower set and toilet accessories so I guess we are in good stead for now. With the rest with no real hurry less the mixers as we still can't find what we truly are after yet.

[doubleEM 4]

Hurray, Its finally the 2nd Appointment day and HDB is bustling today perhaps due to the long weekend and tailback of resale transactions!

Got our keys a day earlier thanks to our really great sellers who obliged and realized they have even tidy up and clean the whole empty house for us before this handover. Nice clean and neat nothing more we could really ask for.

So here we go:

In it's raw state we can see the home is well taken care of by the ex-owners who have lived here for over 10 years so kudos to them but unfortunately we are the type of "reset" new owners where we would reset the whole home when we do decide to purchase as it will be our home and hence should be designed and made to be our home. Unfortunately this process truly hurts the pockets but we just have to be prepared for it and keep to our budget.

So hacking officially commence tomorrow and it's now officially Ready...Set...Go! The home is now officially in the hands of our ID whom will be at hand tomorrow to inform the hackers what she requires from them and keep me posted on the updates.

We went over today to meet up with their electrician and AC guy and shall now await their quotes to see if we would go with them or seek external quotations from other vendors to do this job. At least our ID is nice enough to say she will help us coordinate and no worries even if we decide to go with others.

Let's hope all things go well and smoothly from here...

[ZzzMonster 7]

Congrats bro! Have a smooth reno.

[nextstep 3]

Congrats!!

[chaos 0]

Hi doubleEM,

May I also ask what's your approach for the following:

1. Aircon
   • I've checked with my ID and he said that it's illegal to install 2 compressors for EM. HDB doesn't allow it as old flats, like EM, are using Aircon Brackets instead of ledge in new flats
   • The solution I've thought of is to have a System 4 with the following configuration:
     • Living Room - 12k BTU x01
     • Bedroom (BR in 1st Level, Existing MBR in 2nd Level) - 9k BTU x02
     • New MBR (I'll be merging BR02 and BR03) - 18k BTU x01
     • Compressor - 38k BTU
2. Network
   • How do you attempt to setup your wireless at home to ensure that all areas are covered?
     • I'm thinking rewiring the entire home.

[doubleEM 4]

Hi doubleEM,

May I also ask what's your approach for the following:

1. Aircon
   • I've checked with my ID and he said that it's illegal to install 2 compressors for EM. HDB doesn't allow it as old flats, like EM, are using Aircon Brackets instead of ledge in new flats
   • The solution I've thought of is to have a System 4 with the following configuration:
     • Living Room - 12k BTU x01
     • Bedroom (BR in 1st Level, Existing MBR in 2nd Level) - 9k BTU x02
     • New MBR (I'll be merging BR02 and BR03) - 18k BTU x01
     • Compressor - 38k BTU
2. Network
   • How do you attempt to setup your wireless at home to ensure that all areas are covered?
     • I'm thinking rewiring the entire home.

If your block is already done with the MUP or scheduled for MUP you can apply for the permit with HDB to install 2 compressors but if your area has not even been scheduled then basically don't even bother.

Unfortunately my current area has gone through it so I can have 2 compressors now but D... I'm moving out of here and the new area has not undergone so I'm stuck with a single compressor again haha!

On the good side, I'll get to save $$$ and not spend on luxuries. Cos truly trying to cool down the living/dining area in an EM is not easy purely because of the open vacuum space at the staircase area. So you need at least 2 strong 18K or 24K blowers to achieve some effect for the area.

So what we have gone with is a System 4 in the end with a 12K blower in our new MBR and 9K blowers in all 3 bedrooms on 2nd level for now. We will be shifting the compressor near to the edge and fan blowing straight out of the balcony itself so the whole area will not be so hot due to the heat from the compressor fan.

Not sure how others are doing it but this is how we have arranged with our ID AC guy yesterday. Quote came in and we decided it's acceptable after comparing to some others we have asked because this is compared as a non standard HDB installation that we are doing and they will be doing multiple trips as per our ID request and coordinate fully with her so this will be the bonus we get.

As for network this is still my headache for now but I guess most suggestions will be the new Starhub cable + fibre package where you can then have a cable modem and router on 1 level and fibre modem and router on another level to attain the best effect.

Would be good with any other experts here can share a better way out! I'm all ears...

[doubleEM 4]

开工大吉!

Work commenced today officially and my original 3 day hacking can now be completed in 2 days! Yippie!

Our ID got to work early this morning to lay down the instructions to the hacking crew for her and work commenced and she duly send us an update to inform us of this matter this morning. What surprised us was that she actually made the effort to walk through to our neighbours in effort to apologize to them for the noise that would be created during these 2 days due to the work.

I'm impressed by her EQ on this issue. Not bad as she continues to impress us with her work ethics thus far...very considerate which is a trait she has that ensured she got our deal besides her design flair of course.

She also agreed to assist to coordinate with the windows guys to come down to our unit to take measurements for quotation for window grills since we have decided to replace all the window grills in the unit as its check design now and black in color of which we are looking to change to powder coat white with singular horizontal lines across (More damage to burn the pockets)

But gladly she was ok to assist us on this issue which allows us to save a little on GST cost. Kudos to her on this willingness to listen and help in whichever way she can to save some $$$...

So she returned to the unit in the afternoon and updated us with:

Who Wrecked My Home????

Well fully hoping the hacking completes tomorrow as promised and the next phase of work begins...this is where the official pain begins to the pockets since at this stage most ID's will demand their 50% payment...sobs...

Smooth Sailing is all we can hope for now...

Edited August 12, 2015 by doubleEM

[nextstep 3]

發啊！！！

Your ID is very good as she walk through to your neighbours, one of my friend kena lots of complaint just because his ID totally forgot to inform the neighbours.

[hc28 0]

Mine informed the neighbours. But some tile cutting work was done on Saturday. Thn tio complain. HahaH

[hc28 0]

As for network this is still my headache for now but I guess most suggestions will be the new Starhub cable + fibre package where you can then have a cable modem and router on 1 level and fibre modem and router on another level to attain the best effect.

Would be good with any other experts here can share a better way out! I'm all ears...

I'm not expert. But what we did was to have cat6 cables pulled to second story and connect a router or modem (im not sure. Not so smart with this) so that 2nd story will also remain connected. At the end u only need to get the fibre plan.

[doubleEM 4]

Thanks for the tip but are costly trying to achieve a more cost effective way and less cumbersome way to this.

[nextstep 3]

for wifi, do take note wifi signal travel downward better.