Hougang/kovan 4A Resale Reno Journal

[kovan4us 5]

Renovation Stage 1: Emptying the flat.

How does the flat look when striped bare?

Kitchen

Master bedroom, before. Laminated floor.

Master Bedroom, ceramic tiles revealed.

Bedroom 1. The frame in the middle marks the storeroom.

Bedroom 2

Common Toilet. It used was the squatting type. You can see the square concrete box on the top right corner.

We were wrong...everything had to be changed!

This was the expensive lesson we learned: looks can be deceiving. We Thought that we could still use the laminate flooring but they popped out in places. We thought that we could still use the aircon but it was using an old refrigerant and the aircon pipping's layout was horrid.

The aircon duct ran towards the window...

Went around the room...

Across to the other bedroom before entering the master bedroom toilet.

We thought that we could use back the ceiling box but the position of some of the down lights were wrong. So we decided to ripped it all off.

Ceiling, stripped bare.

Actually, I was happy to not have ceiling box with down lights. I hate down lights. There were always so many. The thought of having to change them when the bulb blew was a turn off. There must be a better way to light the room.

Now we are looking at an emptied apartment with just walls...and wonder how much more we have to spend.

Emptied flat, empty wallet.

Edited December 13, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Venetian Blinds: J&R CurtainBlind Concept Pte Ltd

A small local enterprise run by a knowledgeable, affectionate and bubbly lady, Joyce Ong.

We are going to have venetian blind all around: white panel with black tape, so it was a relatively simple discussion. She knew well how the configuration of the windows without us having to tell her. We went along with her advice on the panel size and length.

Offered us at $2k+ and we bargain a little to $1900. We think the price is in the mid range. Didn't really have a clue because this was our only quote.

To be updated...

Edited December 25, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Kitchen Design

We spent a lot of time on the design of the kitchen. This would be the final design:

Do the new designers do drawings like this? On pencils? We still kept the drafts of the carpentry work in our old flat done by Mr Chua. A heady rush of nostalgia... loved it!

The other side would look like this:

[kovan4us 5]

Response time of HDB's general enquiry... so good!

There is this additional pipe in the toilet which no one has a clue what it was for. Can we get rid of it?

Who else better to ask than HDB? I couldn't find a contact point for renovation questions so I tried the general email: hdb@mailbox.hdb.gov.sg.

I don't think I have had many good experiences when emailing to general enquiry of any organisation. In this case, I too, have forgotten about it as soon as I sent it.

The email was sent on a Friday night at almost 10pm. The following Tuesday morning, I got a call at 9am from Don, a representative from HDB saying he would drop by my unit at 11am to have a look.

Don was there at 11am. After surveying, he said it is part of sewage pipe system from older design. Only a some units in certain floors have it and I was one of the lucky ones. And no, it cannot be dismantled.

One working day, one officer on site, question answered, doubt cleared. I am left with the astonishment of the speed of the turnaround time. HDB's 'general' enquiry email not only works but it is also quite extraordinary!

[ricepapergirl 21]

This is very useful information on the HDB enquiry line! Good to know that response is quick!

[kovan4us 5]

Window: Singapore Safety Window System

Updates and Verdict

No experience here. Contacted Alvin, a contactor from reading Renotalk forum. He asked a few questions to see if I am doing anything else. After which, he said he would get his worker, actually his subcon, to contact me.

I made the call before noon and met up with the two young Malaysian at 4pm. After measuring, he immediately gave us a quote: $2300. We bargain down to $1900 for the following:

1. Living room: 6 panel casement

2. Master bedroom: 3 panel casement

3. Kitchen: 3 panel sliding

4. Bedroom 1: 3 panel casement

5. Bedroom 2: 4 panel casement

6. 2xBathroom windows.

No grilles. It was $19/sqft for windows with grilles and $14/sqft for windows only. All in all, $2,300 and we bargained down to $1880.

Price seemed reasonable? Don't like it that we had to ask for so much discount after their 'best' price.

Tom came down the next day for us to fill in the HDB application. So far, service was top notch. Just a little worried: they had been given 6 demerits points by HDB (can check from HDB website). Hope they learned their lessons and do a good job here.

Contact person: Tom Lee +9448 6396

To be updated...

Updates

Material is of average quality.

Workmanship in sealing the gaps and smoothing the surface was also of average quality.

Should you use them? Please read on...

They were tardy: first round of installation only started at 1pm. Second round of installation, they showed up after 3pm.

They were thoughtless: After dismantling the old windows and installing the new frame, they needed a few hours for the water-proof cement to dry completely. Since they came at 3pm on the second day, they couldn't wait and had to go home. We had no windows that night. What if it were to rain??

They were reckless: Rocks were all over my parapet and they wanted to left for home. When questioned, they said they would come back after unloading their tool. Then they were gone. I scolded them over the phone and unhappily, they came back.

There were these two pieces on the left that I was most concern. They were very close to the edge.

When pressured and unable to pull the rocks back, they did something that left me speechless...

Update 2

A week into the installation, one of our contractor pointed out this to us:

We immediately called Tom up and he came by in the evening.

To be clear, during the installation, he was on vacation and left the work to his two other worker, a young guy and an older man. So I showed Tom what else I was upset about: the debris left behind on my parapet and in the recess of the window grilles.

He immediately got to work: changed all the screws to stainless steel ones and proceed to clean up all the debris. The younger man and him spent almost two hours clearing up the mess. Tom was the 'steady' one, he acknowledged the problems and was polite throughout. Before he left, he even helped us fix a fault in our metal gate.

Verdict: Neutral (upgraded from Avoid).

I would make sure Tom is around to oversee the installation. He is skilled, experienced and above all cool and calm when dealing with us and his worker.

Edited December 30, 2015 by kovan4us

[kovan4us 5]

Movers: Soon Seng Transport Service or SSTS Mover

We have used them twice and this time will be the third. They are professionals: quick, efficient and careful. Stuffs that need to be protected will be wrapped and cushioned. Large items are dismantled and put back with proper tools.

They are not the cheapest. But worth it if you value your household belongings.

[kovan4us 5]

Tiler: Mosaic Soon (顺)

He is part of sub-con of my ID. Stocky guy with a loud and intimidating voice. When asked his name, he proudly announced: Soon!... call me Mosaic Soon!

For you newbies doing renovation for the very first time, tiling or wet works rank the highest in terms of importance. Cement mix is not right, level is not aligned, tilt not enough (water flow)... you will have endless nightmares with the house. So...

Be very nice with the tilers.

I will just show you some works he has done mending the walls.

Before

After

Before

After

I am paying extra attention on the walls because they will just be painted at the end of the renovation. If it is not smooth and flushed, it will be noticeable. We are paying him extra to do all these patch ups because it was not included in the quote. Will cost us extra $600 more as I ripped off all the aircon pipings and the ceilings. Worth it if he can do it right. So far so good.

Edited December 25, 2015 by kovan4us

[Changbp 5]

Which WC are you using? The ones that came with HDB was pathetic, supposedly with water saving benefits but when you require 2 flushes to clear the color of urine I don't think I can save much.

[Ks Toh 74]

Which WC are you using? The ones that came with HDB was pathetic, supposedly with water saving benefits but when you require 2 flushes to clear the color of urine I don't think I can save much.

This viewpoint is counter-intuitive but I agree. My WC uses 6 litres for a full flush. I think it has 2 or less ticks, so not supposed to save water. But many of those WCs that have 3 or 4 ticks use only 3.5 to 4.5 litres of water per full flush. Unless the flushing mechanism is really good, you find yourself flushing twice, so end up use more water than my WC!

[kovan4us 5]

WC - Treo

I don't have the exact details of it but I bought it because it was a ToTo CW166B look-alike with Geberit system built-in. It was the only one I liked in the line up in that shop. At that moment in time, I was mostly happy that the price is ok and I don't have to go elsewhere to do more shopping and comparison.

Other than aesthetic reason, this design is a little bit taller and steeper in gradient than the Roz (using it currently) and Johnson Suisse (used it before). I am hopeful that the increase in height and depth will translate to more forceful flushing power.

Another consideration I had for WC was the coating of the ceramic basin. Toto was the only one to mention that it had an additional coating of CeFionTect for extra protection: a little like Teflon coating for cooking pans, non-stick and easy to wash. No other brand has mentioned any special coating, so I assume ToTo is the only one who bother to do a little extra.

This particular Treo WC costs $330+ (need to check the receipt for actual). Was I right not to pay three times the price for a ToTo? Let's hope Treo won't let me down.

To be updated...

Edited December 26, 2015 by kovan4us

[Changbp 5]

More details on the Gerberit system please?

[kovan4us 5]

Sorry bro... since I already settled on the WC, I didn't conduct any more investigation into it anymore and so won't be able to elaborate on Gerberit system. Suffice to say that it is like "Intel" inside for PC: branded, more QC and more reliable?

I am busy with lightings now.

Oh, when I passed by the neighbourhood shop selling bathroom items, I did notice the particular design I chose and with Gerberit fitting was also available in another brand. Can't recall the name because it is not one of those well marketed ones. It looked exactly the same and price was about $380 before discount.

[Changbp 5]

No worries Thanks

[kovan4us 5]

Ok, did some searching and this should be what's inside of a WC tank fitted with Geberit system:

Gone are those floating ball and piston. It also means that it is more expensive if things go wrong, you will have to replaced the entire system costing around $100. Fortunately, Geberit tested their system for up to "200,000 times, an equivalent to ordinary family use of sixty-years".

Edited January 9, 2016 by kovan4us