4Rm Resale Reno Journey!

[bykaraanne 30]

Liddis I hit jackpot with my contractor liao.

[hc28 0]

Hahah. Ya. I agree with what @ahyong81 say about contractors and ID. But somehow with so many ID firms popping up, you really don't know who got "liao" and who don't.

Even in my case, did up swee swee for others. But reach me, everything cock up. So now I found this good contractor, I will just approach him for my works and hope he don't cock up. Hahaha

[hc28 0]

First coat of painting done! Our bedhead will be installed against the grey wall.

Painting was paused after the first coat as we were changing our windows. Painting will be resumed after our windows have been changed so that the edges can be properly painted together with the rest of the house.

After a few days of waiting, the windows have been installed!

We picked dark tinted windows for the entire house except for our kitchen windows. For the kitchen, we selected light tinted.

From what I have understood, there are different types of window tint. Dark tinted, light tinted, blue and green glass. Blue and green glass are slightly more expensive.

As we have a long stretch of corridor at our living area, we decided to have dark tinted windows so that it is not so easy to look in. You literally have to stick your face to the glass if you want to peep. Initially, I was afraid that it would be too dark on the inside. But its quite clear and not too dark. In fact, I think it really helps so that the sun doesn't literally shine in on a hot afternoon.

Just some information on windows for renotalkers. HDB bathroom windows can be changed to those top hung kind. I did that for mine.

Usually, HDB toilet windows are louver kind with the metal wires running inside. Most IDs will tell you that you have to change back to this kind of window, at least mine did. But my contractor informed me that there is a kind of glass which HDB will approve which is laminated glass which removes the need for the metal wires and the glass is also clear. Too bad my toilet windows have already been replaced and I am not so particular about it.

Our contractor is like a surprise man.

He does not take any photos to update us on the work progress. At most he will just call me to tell me the main works that are ongoing on that day when he is there. To him, if he calls me, means he is disturbing me. So he tries not to.

He informed me that the vinyl flooring would be installed, so we decided to go down one evening after work and surprise surprise!

Window grills for the windows are up! The electrician has also installed the LED lights in the rooms.

Big mirror in the living/dining area has also been installed.

Our vinyl flooring has also been installed.

On top of that, our shower screen and tempered glass bathroom door has also been installed but we forgot to take pictures.

Floor polishing tomorrow and we are all set for the carpentry to arrive!

Edited October 16, 2015 by hc28

[yakult 3]

even though our renovation works were facing delays, we proceeded with shopping for our home appliances.

i have no preference when it came to buy kitchen appliances but my wife wanted a fridge that came with a water dispenser. she also wanted a fridge that was conventional and not the new inverted design where the freezer is at the bottom. Also, it must be 2 doors that opens to one side only.

so far, we have only come across one such fridge which is the samsung RT5982 which comes in 3 sizes. the smallest doesn't have a water dispenser. the price of the medium and the large was about $100. hence we decided to go for the large one. i was also told that the medium one is made in china/thailand and the large one is made in korea. since samsung is from korea, it only makes perfect sense that they should come from korea. maybe the salesman just wanted me to part with an additional $100.

for washing machines, we chose the samsung WD90 combo mainly because i like the color and my wife loves the cool eco bubble. from what i understood, only the 9kg/6kg combo comes in grey, which matches the scheme for our kitchen. not sure if 2 of us can fully utilise the washing machine, but im hoping it lasts till we have kids. when i bought the washing machine, i thought i hit the jackpot with the best deal in town. but it seems like someone else beat me to it.

My husband & I had shortlisted the same fridge! Gonna order soon hehe. Love how much space it has

[SaltedCaramel 0]

Your renovation is looking good! Haha... My contractor also rarely updates me on the progress. Every visit to my house is a surprise.

[hc28 0]

My husband & I had shortlisted the same fridge! Gonna order soon hehe. Love how much space it has

Yes! Its really big! Almost could not fit through my kitchen doorway.

From what I understand, Samsung is giving away some vouchers for home appliance purchases now.

[hc28 0]

Your renovation is looking good! Haha... My contractor also rarely updates me on the progress. Every visit to my house is a surprise.

Thank you! I guess real contractors work this way.

[OceanEleven 203]

even though our renovation works were facing delays, we proceeded with shopping for our home appliances.

Just to share personal experience and other's as well.

Have a water dispenser fridge as well. However the dispenser gave way just a little over a year hence no warranty.

Went back to maker, quote $80 per trip to inspect ONLY. Repair or not, still pay. And in my case, likely motor spoil, estimated cost $180 min.

So adds up to be about 1/5 of the cost of the fridge. Happened to a few of my friends as well, though difference brand.

After this, I swear to stay clear all those with water dispenser, ice maker etc. But the same fridge is into the 13th year now.

[hc28 0]

Just to share personal experience and other's as well.

Have a water dispenser fridge as well. However the dispenser gave way just a little over a year hence no warranty.

Went back to maker, quote $80 per trip to inspect ONLY. Repair or not, still pay. And in my case, likely motor spoil, estimated cost $180 min.

So adds up to be about 1/5 of the cost of the fridge. Happened to a few of my friends as well, though difference brand.

After this, I swear to stay clear all those with water dispenser, ice maker etc. But the same fridge is into the 13th year now.

Oh no! Totally did not anticipate this. I did ask the salesperson about the warranty and had expected it to cover the dispenser as well.

But since I have already received it. Fingers crossed!

[hc28 0]

I have been very busy with work recently and have not had time to sit in front of the computer to update.

We went up to our flat last weekend and our broken marble flooring has been polished and one round of cleaning has been done by my contractor.

I like how the flooring is so shiny now. It is really a huge difference from how it looked like initially.

Initially, we were quite hesitant to keep the broken marble flooring. But almost everyone we met urged us to keep it. Since almost everyone was telling us the same thing, we decided to keep the broken marble flooring although we felt it looked dated. But after the polish, its gleaming and I feel it really flows well with the colours of my walls.

One thing I almost missed out. My fans have also been installed!

We have been shopping for fans for the longest time. Since we started with the renovation, we have been looking at the ceiling fans in almost every other shop. My wife is very particular about the look of the fan while I am very particular about the performance and price of them. As we needed to purchase 5 ceiling fans, we were hoping to fetch a lower total price but eventually we found out that most shops just quote us as per normal giving the standard discounts.

As the color scheme for our flat is white, black and grey, we wanted a fan in either black or grey. Also, as we were going to have L-box in all rooms, we did not need a light kit to come with the fans.

We were first introduced to Fanco by our friend. Running through their catalog, we shortlisted the Fanco Icon 48

We were told that Fanco comes from Malaysia and many locals use it. Also, it is not as expensive as the other brands. However, at one of the shops, the salesperson mentioned that the wait time for Fanco servicing is very long. How long exactly, I do not know because I did not get a chance to ask.

My wife was swiftly introduced to the Crestar Icol 46 which costs the same as the Icon 48 and was sold. It looks similar to the Icon but according to the salesperson, crestar is more reliable. Maybe the salesperson just wants us to get the crestar because they are paying more commission

Although the price was similar to the Fanco, it was 2inches shorter. I felt that I needed to do some research before we committed to purchase the fans. I never really got down to doing my research as thats when my ID problems kicked in. When we switched to our current contractor, we were introduced to KDK.

KDK is a household brand but we thought that it would be quite pricey so we never really considered it. To our surprise, our contractor informed us that it was more affordable than both the Crestar and Fanco.

KDK M11SU

We got 3 of this fan. 1 for each bedroom. Needless to say, we got the silver one since it fits into the grey theme. The cost savings for these fans were quite high as we managed to get them for less than $190.

KDK R56SU

We got 2 of these to be fitting into the living and dining area. This is 56inches and costs slightly more than the Crestar and Fanco fans we shortlisted initially. But still it costs < $300.

Days after we confirmed our purchases, I ran across some threads in renotalk that mentioned some concerns with KDK ceiling fans. Sigh~

Fingers crossed and I really hope the fans will last with no problems!

Edited October 20, 2015 by hc28

[hc28 0]

Last night when we went up, the carpentry is here and they have started work. However I noted a potential problem hence would like to get some guidance from bros here.

What should be minimum clearance from the nearest clearance to the vertical surface at the side?

If my burner is placed too close to the vertical surface, how can I protect it. Will tempered glass suffice?

Appreciate all responses as I will be meeting with my contractor to discuss this issue.

[hc28 0]

Our carpentry has been installed and we are in our final phase of our renovation!

Last week passed in a blur. We met up with our contractor 3 times during the week to run through our place for defects, 2nd time was to inspect the carpentry work and check the first round of rectification for defects and a third time to run through the final rectifications for carpentry.

After just one day of work, most of our carpentry is already up. This was when we met up with our contractor to run through defects that can be rectified immediately and ensure that the carpentry have been installed correctly. As we prefer to have as little casings as possible, we chose to have switches embedded within the carpentry so there will be minimal boxes for the switches. Due to some miscommunication on my side, some holes were cut wrongly. But luckily for us, the laminates had not been pasted the carpenter can still seal up the wrong holes.

Remaining of the carpentry to be installed the next day.

Edited October 26, 2015 by hc28

[hc28 0]

On our second meeting with our contractor, our cabinets were almost complete. Minor touch up and rectification works had also taken place. Waiting for the carpentry to be completed before the painter will touch up on the painting and paint our door frames!

Doors of our common room wardrobe are up!

Our MBR headboard for the bed is also up. Carpenter mentioned they will clear the room before installing the bedframe.

After our initial experience with our first ID, we feel very happy that everything is taking shape at such a fast pace. Our flat is finally close to completion!

[hc28 0]

No photos from our third meeting with our contractor because i forgot to take any.

Our doors have been replace. Granite top has been installed and all plumbings and electrical works completed. The painter has also come up to finish up with the painting touch up works. My wife is not too satisfied with the painting of the door frame so our painter will have to come back to touch up. We are just pending for the installation of the remaining glasswork and mirrors before we will run through the flat one last time with our contractor before handing over.

Can I check with fellow renotalkers here, what are the common defects that I should look out for before handing over?

[bykaraanne 30]

Wahhhhh so much progress!! Congrats on almost finishing the journey!!