2 Room Bto Themeless With Philips Hue Lighting

[Ketua 0]

Hi can share how much is the custom bar table? and contact / shop?

Thank in advance.

[andotang 18]

Hi can share how much is the custom bar table? and contact / shop?

Thank in advance.

PMed but I forgot to mention it takes 4 to 6 weeks for them to make and ship to singapore from indon.

[xiaocai7 0]

Very nice white house.

Wanted the white laminate for kitchen, but wife say cleaning is a nightmare.

[kusudama 0]

.

Edited January 16, 2017 by kusudama

[andotang 18]

Hi, your 2-room flat looks great! Can share your contact?

I'm looking to help my parents reno their old 2-room flat. On a really tight budget cos I don't have much spare cash after spending on my own flat last year. Only need very basic reno.

Thanks in advance.

PM-ed. Thanks for the compliment.

[2Roomer 7]

A belated congratulations on your new house, hope you have settled in well.

My kitchen has a similar configuration to yours. I definitely have to remove the indoor laundry system as it makes the tiny narrow kitchen feel even smaller. Thanks for the tip on not installing a cupboard below the toilet sink. The toilet was designed as a "wet room" so it is sensible to limit storage only to the walls.

You had a post in mid-December about changing your door locks. I am wondering what was the arrangement with your ID regarding access to your house during the renovation process? For instance, did you give her the keys to your main door or did she install an additional padlock to the front gate?

[andotang 18]

A belated congratulations on your new house, hope you have settled in well.

My kitchen has a similar configuration to yours. I definitely have to remove the indoor laundry system as it makes the tiny narrow kitchen feel even smaller. Thanks for the tip on not installing a cupboard below the toilet sink. The toilet was designed as a "wet room" so it is sensible to limit storage only to the walls.

You had a post in mid-December about changing your door locks. I am wondering what was the arrangement with your ID regarding access to your house during the renovation process? For instance, did you give her the keys to your main door or did she install an additional padlock to the front gate?

Hi 2Roomer, my ID uses her company padlock which is numbered on it, then she gave me 2 keys for me and my wife. The ID's tiler, plumber, painter, cleaner, electrician, carpenter all have keys to all the padlock my ID's company uses. This arrangement is very good as all her workers can access all renovation site without owners or ID's present. However we only lock the front gate, not the main door, throughout the whole renovation period only my main gate is locked, main door can still open to peep inside. Upon completion, I changed all my lock cylinder to duro for 1 master key access for main door, main gate and letter box. The original lock cylinder from HDB kept as spare. I did pass to ID my keys from HDB for her to put on her padlock and she returned me back after putting her company's padlock. If you meet ID onsite to put on their padlock then you no need pass your HDB keys to anyone. Hope this solve your doubt for your upcoming reno.

[twinklecloud 2]

Hi 2Roomer, my ID uses her company padlock which is numbered on it, then she gave me 2 keys for me and my wife. The ID's tiler, plumber, painter, cleaner, electrician, carpenter all have keys to all the padlock my ID's company uses. This arrangement is very good as all her workers can access all renovation site without owners or ID's present. However we only lock the front gate, not the main door, throughout the whole renovation period only my main gate is locked, main door can still open to peep inside. Upon completion, I changed all my lock cylinder to duro for 1 master key access for main door, main gate and letter box. The original lock cylinder from HDB kept as spare. I did pass to ID my keys from HDB for her to put on her padlock and she returned me back after putting her company's padlock. If you meet ID onsite to put on their padlock then you no need pass your HDB keys to anyone. Hope this solve your doubt for your upcoming reno.

May I ask how u change the lock to the letter box?

[andotang 18]

Changing Letter Box Lock

I have no experience and have no idea how the letter box lock works. So I opened it and study the mechanism.

This is the original letter box lock from HDB.

 

The important thing here is the metal latch which is bended in the middle.

 

Another view of the metal latch, you have to retain this latch instead of using the new one that comes with the new lock. You will need a adjustable spanner to unscrew the big gold nut in the picture.

 

After you removed the old lock, you swap the metal latch to the new lock, the picture here show the latch that comes with my new lock which is not bended.

 

Then just install the new lock using a adjustable spanner. Here you see is my completed installation using the old latch.

 

Completed pic. You see the gap is because I used the new latch which is not bended, so will have a gap. By using back your old latch, it will be a perfect fit, or at most some slight adjustment using washer and plier you will make it seamless. I completed everything in 10 minutes being a first timer.

 

I might as well mention how to change the main door cylinder too, all you need is to unscrew the screw as pointed by the red arrow.

 

The screw is very long, you can see the hole on the cylinder that it locked into. After that you can install the new Duro lock which can easily buy from Homefix.

 

Only the metal gate cylinder require some skill to remove as it involve inserting the key to turn the locking lever before pulling it out.

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by andotang
replace all missing pic, somehow the blog mess up all my posted pic

[2Roomer 7]

Thanks for the info Andotang. Some of the IDs I have talked to mentioned about using their own padlock. It didn't occur to me that the main gate is locked and the main door isn't. This arrangement is okay as long as there isn't any major appliances in the house. I have heard that some house owners give the main door keys to the ID who will let their workers in & out. The house owner then changes the main door lock at the end of the renovation.

Edited January 12, 2016 by 2Roomer

[twinklecloud 2]

Changing Letter Box Lock

I have no experience and have no idea how the letter box lock works. So I opened it and study the mechanism.

This is the original letter box lock from HDB.

The important thing here is the metal latch which is bended in the middle.

Another view of the metal latch, you have to retain this latch instead of using the new one that comes with the new lock. You will need a adjustable spanner to unscrew the big gold nut in the picture.

After you removed the old lock, you swap the metal latch to the new lock, the picture here show the latch that comes with my new lock which is not bended.

Then just install the new lock using a adjustable spanner. Here you see is my completed installation using the old latch.

Completed pic. You see the gap is because I used the new latch which is not bended, so will have a gap. By using back your old latch, it will be a perfect fit, or at most some slight adjustment using washer and plier you will make it seamless. I completed everything in 10 minutes being a first timer.

I might as well mention how to change the main door cylinder too, all you need is to unscrew the screw as pointed by the red arrow.

The screw is very long, you can see the hole on the cylinder that it locked into. After that you can install the new Duro lock which can easily buy from Homefix.

Only the metal gate cylinder require some skill to remove as it involve inserting the key to turn the locking lever before pulling it out.

thank u so much! it's very detailed and useful! i faced an issue yesterday when I tried to get the lock. it comes in different sizes.. so i got to back and make measurement then back to the shop again. =(

Edited January 13, 2016 by twinklecloud

[Ks Toh 74]

The mechanism of almost all locks can be changed. You can take a picture of your current lock, bring down the photos and key to any reputable locksmith. They can tell you what to do.

[moldie 0]

hey andotang. congrats on your new home. nicely done up! im curious why you and your wife chose a 2 room over at least a 3 room flat?

[yewtee99 0]

Hi andotang,

Can give more info on how to change the metal gate cylinder? If it is not too complicated I would like to change it myself.

You have provided very detail procedure in you previous post

Thanks thanks

[andotang 18]

hey andotang. congrats on your new home. nicely done up! im curious why you and your wife chose a 2 room over at least a 3 room flat?

Hi moldie, interesting question. Why I choose 2rm over 3rm, well it is like the only wise choice to make at that time. The thought to buying a house arise when I plan to get married, and I need a house in bukit panjang for the Married Child Priority Scheme (MCPS) as my parents stay in bukit panjang. I was looking only at Sales of balance flat as I don't want to wait few years for the BTO, and also because there is no more new BTO in bukit panjang for the next few years, I don't see any plot of land possible within next few years. So during the SOBF Nov 2014, I see some balance flat available in bukit panjang and I hope to secure a unit for myself. They have 7 units of 2 rm and 2 units of 3 rm. So I feel my chance to get a flat is higher if I go for the 7 units instead of 2. I also see the location of all the 9 units before deciding. The 2 units of 3rm is not ideal at all where as got 3 units of 2 rm I am interested. That was the deciding factor at that time. Factoring in the fact that I can paid off the whole 2rm with CPF no need installment, whereas 3rm I need to loan and pay monthly for the next 20+ years while I am 43 yo, I don't want to be still paying at the age of 63. However, if at that time of application if there were more 3rm over 2rm, I will probably go for 3rm. I just wanted to secure a unit on the SOBF Nov 2014 exercise.

All SOBF is allocated to MCPS for priority, and with my age and first timer, I stand a very good chance of successful application. So the timeline is apply in Nov 2014, apply for ROM in Dec 2014 which confirm a date in 20 Mar 2015 for official ROM, got my golden ballot number 2 in Jan 2015. So I just need to choose first choice and second choice, and balllot No.1 choosed a low level unit, probably a pioneer generation, so I got my first choice. While processing the paper work which require my married cert. which I get in 20 Mar 2015, submitted all documents and got my keys in June 2015. Then renovation from Aug and moved in end Nov 2015. As we don't plan to have any children in the future 2 rm is fine.

Having stayed for coming to 2 months, so far it is a great place to be in. I am only missing one extra room and toilet over a 3rm and I am fine with it as long as you don't need to cater to sleep another person in the house. I have enough storage for wardrobe too with proper planning. I did install a curtain track in my living room in case my relative need to sleep over, I can still give some privacy using the curtain to partition a sleeping corners. I get to enjoy more rebates from the government too being smaller. Having fully paid for, my only commitment for the house is only the electrical and internet bill which I can say is very manageable.

That conclude how I ended up with a 2 room BTO, it is a wise decision to make at that point of time.