Hougang/kovan 4A Resale Reno Journal

[kovan4us 5]

Hi everyone! We will be moving to this HDB resale 4a unit near Kovan. Although it is 30+ years but the interior is well maintained and we like the size of the rooms. They looked bigger than the new BTOs and ceiling seemed taller too. The 2 children rooms are of the same size and can fit in a full size wardrobe. And...no bomb shelter! Hehe.

Hope to receive the keys in early December and move in Jan '16. Anyone with similar layout?

[kovan4us 5]

Current state of things -- Kitchen

I know, this looked messy. However, the condition of the cupboards and floorings were good. I especially like the quality of the cabinets, they were of solid wood... more solid than the 'solid wood' that I had encounter these days. Should we retain the cabinets?

We didn't the counter that was protruding in the foreground. The other problem area was the sink.

We had to do away with this sink because we didn't like the size and it was showing some colouration due to usage. Another reason was that the rubbish chute was underneath it, making it hard to access. The current owner threw their garbage in the common bin downstairs! If we were to remove the sink, the entire counter would have to be destroyed as the sink was an under-mount.

Edited October 2, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Current state of things -- Toilets

Common Toilet

Common Toilet

Ewe...

The pipes are so gigantic! This is so small, but since it is the common toilet, we don't want to spend too much on it. Going on to the toilet in the master bedroom.

The master bedroom toilet is equally pathetic...

Toilet in Master Bedroom

The sink is so puny and then there's all these humongous pipes.

For sure, we are going to rip out everything in the master bedroom toilet. Just need another inspection with the contractor to see if we could overlay the tiles (save money) or we need to take out the flooring.

How to put in a full sized sink? This sink is definitely too small. To use this everyday would drive me crazy.

[ifp 0]

i have the same layout and will be living in the same area! we could be neighbours

i've already started reno works at my place, and the common toilet did give me somewhat of a headache but i managed to resolve most of it!

i'm excited to see how you've planned your space!

[kovan4us 5]

Hi ifp! Good to know! Are you in blk 23#?

My biggest headache is the master bedroom toilet. Would be interested to know how you plan it.

[kovan4us 5]

Tecno was having a warehouse sales over the weekend and we went to take a look.

We had our eyes set on this:

Tecno KP9988

It has good looks and ergonomics: taller in front to give you good clearance for your head. The noise level is low, even at the highest setting, it is relatively quiet than most. There's time and alarm function. Also important consideration for cleaning and maintenance: only have to deal with a single piece of steel mesh and carbon filter.

Tecno T333 TG SV

The offer was S$950 and you can pick any Tecno hob to go with it. At this point in time, I believed anything less than a thousand for a chimney hood and a glass panel hob is a good deal. However, the deal does not include delivery ($20-$40) and another $35 to add safety valves to the hob. So all in all, it will still come to around $1000.

We called up Goh Ah Bee (our usual 'go to' appliance store) to check the price and it was $1150. Should we? I decided that we should go back to Hoe Kee to take a look at the Fujioh that we had our sight on before we place our deposit.

So off to Hoe Kee we went...

[kovan4us 5]

We visited Hoe Kee a few weeks back on a weekday afternoon. There were not many people and also not many sales persons around. When we venture into the hood and hob section, we were greeted by an old man. Despite his age, he is one the most enthusiastic sales people we have met. After knowing that we cook frequently, he immediately ushered us to the Fujioh section. For the next half and hour, he presented the data, demoed the suction power of the hood and patiently answered all our concerns. We were sold!

Then while conducting more research into it, I read on a blog that mentioned a problem with the hood -- it protruded more than the others and the blogger's husband knocked into it on several occasions. The man is around the same height as I, 1.75m, so it set off an alarm in my head. I became conscious of how high should we set the hood.

When we saw the Tecno hood, I thought that was it! The perfect solution: it sloped higher in the front and thus provide the necessary clearance. Furthermore, it was beautiful and quiet.

What we wanted to accomplish on this return trip was to make sure of things before we place our order with Tecno.

During this visit, Uncle Johnny (the old man mentioned above) had to leave early, leaving us plenty of time to explore on our own. I double, triple checked the height of the hood installed in the showroom, compared it with other hoods around it and came to a conclusion -- it really didn't matter that much. Later that night, I had a chance to visit my brother-in-law's apartment. The hood in his kitchen, similar in design and width, was installed at a height of only 1.5m as measure from the floor! It reaches just to my chin and yet I didn't find it much of an issue reaching and looking into the pots and pans. With that worry out of the way, the Fujioh hood is back into consideration.

So, no hurry to decide for now.

[ZzzMonster 7]

Congrats! Your kitchen cabinet condition is good. I would keep it... Unless it doesn't match your theme.

Koran/Hougang area have lots of good food.... I'm enjoying myself exploring the food here.

[ifp 0]

oh no, i'm on the other side of kovan, 14#

our MBR toilet is halfway done. i'll take some pics this weekend!

it currently fits a full-sized sink, but the shower area is smaller than yours.

Hi ifp! Good to know! Are you in blk 23#?

My biggest headache is the master bedroom toilet. Would be interested to know how you plan it.

[kovan4us 5]

Congrats! Your kitchen cabinet condition is good. I would keep it... Unless it doesn't match your theme.

Koran/Hougang area have lots of good food.... I'm enjoying myself exploring the food here.

Ya... I will be just a stone throw away from the row that houses Nakhon Kitchen, Hatter Street, Knuckles and a new Japanese restaurant. Uber happening!

The cabinets had to go because the sink had to be ripped out and the layout is going to change. Will mourn the good wood being tossed away...

Edited October 6, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Retractable Cloth Hanger

We installed a retractable cloth hanger many years ago when we lived in a condo. The product is called EZ Hi-Dry from EZZ Living. You just pull it down and push it out. The simple mechanism with hydraulics makes it simple and easy to operate. We had no problem with it over 3 years of usage.

Visited the company this afternoon to see if we can find one to fit into our new home.

The EZ Hi-Dri system is still available. However, the price has gone up by at least 30%!

For this round, we are just looking for a system whereby we can pull it down and up. It should also come with longer poles than the Hi-Dri model.

The other manual types we saw use a system like in curtain blinds -- pull, disengage the stopper, release. You are pulling on a thin string of plastic beads; I just cannot bring myself to trust that it will last.

As for the automated system, one comes with lights and the other has added fans and UV lights.

What? Why? Why can't it be something simple?

In the end, the one that is worth considering - solid build with long adjustable poles is the one that comes with all the bells and whistles and so determined to set you back $900.

Ahh... I really don't wish to pay so much and I don't wish to have a motorised system. No hurry... maybe we can find something better along the way.

[kovan4us 5]

Interior Designer Series - Part 1

How do I pick an ID? First and foremost is trust, then experience, taste and cost.

Weiken, IMM

We did not plan this. We were wondering around IMM after work looking at furnitures and appliances. Walking by a bookstand and it happened to be at a page where a photograph grabbed my attention. We started to browse and a friendly bespectacled sales person came up to greet us. He was very enthusiastic and we thought we just sit and hear what he had to offer. After a while, in came the boss: a small, stocky guy but sporting a big strong voice. We were introduced and he sat down to take a look. Immediately, He showed us why he was the boss: he knows! He knew why there was a kerb here, pipes there and explained why the current owner did things that way. We were very impressed. So we made an appointment to come back to see his proposal a week later.

That evening, we googled and learned that Weiken was quite a large establishment and owned by a celebrity.

Back to IMM a week after for our appointment. After going through the proposal, the boss tried persuading us to put down a $3k deposit for him to do a design in 3-D. Even though the deposit would go into part of the renovation cost should we choose to go ahead with him, we politely declined.

Rating:

Trust: 1/5. Pay a design fee? Really?

Experience: 5/5

Taste: 3/5 (good actually, I wanted it to be simple)

Cost: 4/5 (good)

Edited October 16, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Interior Designer Series -- 2

I posted my job scope in Renotalk's Get A Quote section. It was just for renovation for my two toilets. Shortly, a lady called to verify my posting - a good job on Renotalk's part to screen the requesters. Within the day, 2 companies responded and I gave them each a floor plan and pictures I had taken. We decided to visit just one:

Unity Design, Kallang Avenue

We stepped into the bright and modern showroom and was greeted by a bespectacled young man, dressed casually but chic in a sports jacket. He led us to a dinning counter and on it, neatly laid out, were the printouts of the floor plan, the photos I sent and the proposal.

He gave us an overview of the company, what our scope of work and what approach he took in designing. After verifying a few details, we were impressed enough to let him onto our plan for other parts of the house.

A date was set for more than a week later. We were to discuss it when we visit his show-flat, a BTO in Punggol.

Days before the open house, I received an email confirming the event. A day before, a reminder SMS was sent. After the visit, I also received a Thank you note via SMS.

The show flat was situated right next to the Punggol waterway and beside a school that was in the final stage of completion. What a coincidence! That was the turn-around point for my run!

The decor was modern; evidently for a young urban working couple -- open kitchen, plenty of light boxes and an adjacent room knocked down to make way for closets and dressing table. It was very well done and pictures of it should be already listed on their website.

Samuel was a true professional: well prepared, attentive to details and good in presenting himself as well as his ideas. It was easy for us to be comfortable and be able to place our trust in him. As for Taste, that's where we felt the gap. Well, if only we were twenty years younger, we would very likely went further along with him in our planning.

Rating:

Trust: 5/5

Experience: 3/5

Taste: 5/5 for Yuppie

Cost: 3/5 (mid-high end)

Edited October 16, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Interior Designer Series -- 3

We came across a few designs on the site that we liked while combing through the web. I sent a request and got a response. In my reply, I fixed the time and also attached my floor plan and pictures.

O***, Somewhere in Joo Chiat

The designer was a lady in her thirties. Once seated and the pleasantries exchanged, I was furious and I wanted to get out of the meeting right away. She was not prepared! I was sure that she had read the email because she replied to it but she didn't go through my attachments. But somehow my wife had an affinity with her. Ahh...had to be those children things; women loved to talk about children.

I endured the session and when I got out, I was ready to put it out of my mind. However, my wife had other plans. They communicated and setup the next meeting.

So what have we got:

The kitchen was designed for a clean and minimalistic look -- sure, it would look good when done and photographed. But we did mention we do cook and have many appliances. An open top would be too messy.

Master bedroom - she was the only one who proposed to place the wardrobe directly opposite our bed. Hmmm... open the door and face the side of the cupboard? Sure, we would have a larger wardrobe but the adjacent wall would be so wasted.

Rating:

Trust: 2/5 (too distracted, don't read emails, unprepared)

Experience: 4/5 (she showed us enough photographs of the projects she did)

Taste: 2/5 (we didn't like the layout)

Cost: 3.5/5 (mid-high end)

Edited October 16, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Interior Designer Series -- 4

Attended an event hosted by another website where you could meet with nine IDs. It was very well organised and we had a wonderful experience. We did our homework before making an appointment to meet with just two of them. The first was:

Rezt & Relax, Ubi Ave

For those who have spent a little time checking out IDs, this name should be a familiar one. Their projects have appeared in many publications.

We met with a petite, young and energetic lady. I was quite impressed her idea with two area of our concern and she pointed them out immediately and effortlessly. We went on to make an appointment to see her the following week.

When we went in, she already had the table set up with our drawings and sample materials on the side. We spend almost two hours with her before having to rush to another meeting.

R&R provides warranty for their renovation work for between 1-3 years and even lifetime warranty for some items.

Rating:

Trust: 5/5 (big name, provides warranty)

Experience: 3/5 (some ideas were brilliant, but others were impractical)

Taste: 3/5 (couldn't come to agreement with the kitchen and living room layouts)

Cost: 1/5 (high end, branded, certification)

Edited October 28, 2015 by kovan4us