My Renovation Journey

[phantommist 1]

Dear all, after asking many questions in this forum, among friends and etc, i have started my renovation. Thought i can give back a little with my sharing.

This also serve as a dairy of some sort. Do keep me some feedback if there are some incorrectness or other good suggestions that i can improve on as my renovation is still on-going.

[phantommist 1]

My references for estimated light Wattage.

I plan to use LED lightings for the whole house, hence as a layman, better go read what is the differences between normal bulb and LED lights.

- http://www.charlstonlights.com/led-light-requirement-calculator
- http://www.hoveyelectric.com/hovey-electric-power-blog/bid/55242/How-To-Calculate-Watts-For-Analyzing-Energy-Efficiency-Projects

Based on above and other websites, i estimate that i need 

- at least 24W for bedrooms/kitchen (~3.5m x ~ 3.5m), 
- at least 18W for storeroom/bathroom 
- at least 12W for all the downlights in the living room. 
- Plus need some small lights like 6W for some corners. 

The downlights should not be placed in corners so that you don't waste the area that the lights can cover. Spacing between each downlight best to be between 1m and 1.5m. 

Hence i need like 10 x 12W downlight at the side and 2 x 18W ceiling lights in the middle for a 8m x 3m living room. Plan to be slightly brighter than necessary and then group the lights to a combination of switches to control where i need the lights.

Originally wanted to have daylight white, warm white and cool white lights. Heard that there are people who encounter the downlight not in sync after sometimes, need to manually reset the lights to make them in sync again. Decided against it for practical reasons. only the middle lights are either 2 tone or 3 tones. the side lights just daylight white will do.

[phantommist 1]

Mar 2016
Started hunting for a flat. 
Started reading and creating my "reno spec and requirement" of what i want and the estimated price. 

Below is my condensed version of the spec and requirements. For each work, i will list it out so that i can compare and find out if the price is justified. can put this into xls for easy comparison. 

If you need more details, can PM me. I try my best to tell you my experiences. 

Hacking
Supply Labour to hack the built-in wardrobe in master bedroom
Supply Labour to hack the floor, wall tiles, basin, toilet bowl in 2 bathrooms
Supply Labour to hack the top and bottom cabinet in kitchen
Supply Labour to hack the false ceiling in living room 
Supply Labour to hack the floor tiles and skirting in living room
Supply Labour to hack the floor and  wall tiles in kitchen
Supply Labour to remove existing wall skirting and laminate flooring in 3 x bedroom

Masonry
Supply material and Labour to touch up damages after hacking in kitchen, living, bedrooms and bathrooms
Supply material and Labour to install vinyl flooring in 3 bedrooms
Supply material and Labour to lay selected 600x600mm polish homogeneous tiles in living area (est. $3/sqft)
Supply material and Labour for 3-in-1 HDB approved waterproofing membrane in kitchen (how high? HDB requirement is 1/2 foot)
Supply material and Labour to lay selected 600x300mm non-slip homogenous floor tiles in kitchen (est. $3/sqft)
Supply material and Labour to lay selected ceramic wall tiles full-height (exposed area) in kitchen (est. $2.50/sqft)
Supply material and Labour to construct kitchen cabinet base w/ side tilings (est. 3.5m)
Supply material and Labour for 3-in-1 HDB approved waterproofing membrane in 2 bathrooms (how high? HDB requirement is 1/2 foot)
Supply material and Labour to lay selected 600x300mm non-slip homogenous floor tiles in 2 bathrooms (est. $3/sqft)
Supply material and Labour to lay selected ceramic wall tiles full-height in 2 bathrooms (est. $2.50/sqft)

Sanitary, Plumbing
Supply labour to install 2 bathrooms toilet bowl
Supply labour to install 2 bathrooms wash basin and tap
Supply labour to install 2 bathrooms bidet hand spray
Supply labour to install 2 bathrooms accessories
Supply material and Labour to install kitchen sink (under mount) and tap after carpentry work.
Supply labour for connection of inlet / outlet piping for kitchen sink and tap, washing machine
Supply material and Labour to replace whole house copper / stainless steel water piping (cold)
Supply material and Labour to replace whole house copper / stainless steel water piping (hot)
Supply labour to install shared water storage heater for 2 bathroom

Lighting
Supply material and Labour to install cove lights or down lights with L-box in living area
Supply labour to install lightings at 3 bedrooms, living area, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, storeroom
Supply Labour to install ceiling fan in living area 
Supply material and labour to seal gaps between walls an wire casements

Painting Works
Supply material and Labour to paint all wall with Nippon paint odourless easywash
Supply material and Labour to paint all ceiling with Nippon paint 
Supply painting works for water pipes with Nippon oil-based paint
Supply material and Labour for floor protection works

Doors, Curtains and Grilles
Supply material and Labour to install window grills for kitchen
Supply material and Labour to install window grills for living room
Supply material and Labour to install window grills for Master bedroom (main windows and side window)
Supply material and Labour to install window grills for bedroom 2
Supply material and Labour to install window grills for bedroom 3
Supply material for Naytoh timber swing door in 3 bedrooms w/ door frame w/ hinges, lever handles, eyeview, lockset, magnetic door catch and accessories 
Supply material for half hour fire rated single panel solid swing door main door at main entrance w/ door frame, hinges, lever handles, eyeview, locket, magnetic door catch and accessories
Supply material for PD door for 2 bathrooms w/ door frame, hinges, handles, lockset and accessories
Supply material and labour to install tempered glass swing door for kitchen w/ handles, hinges and accessories

Carpentry
Design and construct built-in full-height wardrobe (est. Xm) in master bedroom w/ laminate w/ ABS trimming w/ sliding door
Design and construct top kitchen cabinet  (est. Xm) w/ laminate w/ ABS trimming w/ Blum/Hettich/Salice soft closing
Design and construct bottom kitchen cabinet  (est. Xm) w/ laminate w/ ABS trimming w/ 4 drawers w/ Hettich/Hafele/Salice soft closing"
Supply material and labour to install quartz worktop on bottom kitchen cabinet (est. Xm) 
Supply material and Labour to install coloured glass backsplash between top and bottom kitchen cabinet (est. Xm)
Supply material and Labour to construct suspended cabinet in 2 bathrooms (est. Xm) w/ solid surface vanity top, laminate, ABS trimming and opening for over-mount basin
Supply labour to install Gas kitchen hob
Supply labour to install slim kitchen hoob

Optional
Box up the air con conduit
Supply material for metal gate at main entrance w/ door frame, hinges, handles, lockset and accessories
Supply material to replace metal gate lockset.

Others
Supply Labour for haulage service and clearing of debris
Supply material and Labour to acid wash whole house to remove stains TWICE
Supply material and Labour for general cleaning for whole house upon completion

Electrical
Supply material and Labour to replace electrical wiring for whole house as below.
- Duo socket (X set)
- Single socket (X set)
- Air con socket (outdoor)
- 2-gang switch (X set)
- 1-gang switch (X set)
- TV (X set)
- DB switch board (X set) ---> do not that bomb shelter also have one but don't think should change that.
- CAT 6 Data (X set)
- Tel (X set)
- 2-way switch (X set)
- 2-way switch for heater (X set)
- hood switch (X set)
- built-in oven switch (X set)

Edited November 10, 2016 by phantommist
Update for correctness

[phantommist 1]

May to Jul 2016

Requested for quote using Renotalk's function. Mainly received quotation from non-HDB approved IDs. Got some recommendation from friends but many are very expensive. In all, i had sent out 23 request for quote email and received 22 response.

Dropped those who are not registered with HDB as approved renovation companies.

Dropped those who does not include GST as i don't like to deal with "additional cost".

Dropped those with management fee as separate also as they already put in mark up, why still want to charge more?

Dropped those who are not case trust as i don't want to deal with them alone if there's any problem. Even with case trust, its not fool proof. sigh..

Met with "Faith" - pricing not the highest but a tad steep. can feel her "pek chek'ness" when i ask so many questions. lol. first time meeting ID, so spent more than 2 hours asking questions. dropped.

Met with "Mr K" - pricing is the highest. not very responsive, as reply usually early morning or after 8pm. keep saying my concept not practical, should do like this like that. each revision also very slow. After each revision, the price just got higher (50k) and higher (62k). Got a feeling that he is not willing to listen, just want to build a template for all his customer. How come contractors are more expensive than IDs? dropped.

Met with "3D" - very friendly chap at Bedok Mall. very responsive. not very punctual but at least he gave a convincing reason. could have let me know earlier i thought. pricing slightly high but willing to listen and customise practical solutions. Don't really like package as feels packages are designed to miss out certain things that lead to VO "variant order". dropped.

followed up with "top21" - price a tad high. tried to clarify if they are HDB registered and the response went dead. dropped.

Met with "Sky..." - An ISO company full of award and also full of air. Really believed that they will deliver good quality renovation result but sadly, what pissed me off is that the designer refused for me to take the estimated quotation home for thinking it through and try to hard sell, push me to put deposit. Everything is package. In addition, the price is sky high at 75k even though i requested for normal materials, like iQuartz instead of Ceasarstone, etc. She said its free upgrade. Where on earth got free thing one? dropped.

Met with "DezignHub" - recommendation from friend. Very responsive. His price a tad on the high side. What i didn't like was he appeared to have quoted items at a higher price but "allow" you to change to higher spec ones without raising the price. e.g. i wanted Nyatoh bedroom doors but he quoted veneer door. When i asked again i wanted Nyatoh doors, he replied "OK" to change as the price is the same. Feels like just waiting to be carrot. dropped.

Met with "Urban Design" - saw some unfavourable comments about UD but as the price is about there and the boss himself replied, made the appointment to meet with him. He was able to give advises that is both practical and not pricey. Good that he is willing to quote many items that i wanted as optional in case i need them. e.g. fire-rated door, etc. Slow for the 3D rendering, like any changes will need 1 week to rerender. Wonder if this is the norm. Went ahead to appoint him for the renovation. Below will be the journey. Hopefully all will be smooth.

Day 0
ID went around the units left, right, above and below to put flyers.

Day 1
Hacking and tear down everything that i don't need. Super fast. 1 day completed mostly.

Day 2
Removal of minor stuffs.

Day 3
Clear debris.
Discussion of tiling works like orientation of tiles, where the shower bar, how high the shower kerbs, etc. Amused that the "plans" are drawn on the wall. 

Day 5 
Screed being applied.
Went to go buy a Yale letterbox lock to change myself. i must say lol... the lock is 0.2mm larger than the actual hole. Should have bought the same lock as the old one. Put back the old one and go hunt for the REAL brand lock. Standard lock is 19mm diameter but REAL lock from taiwan is 18.8mm. (*@#^$*&*&*^ In the end spend $15 on the Yale and $18 on the REAL locks. Changed myself a few days later. yeah.

Day 6
Waterproofing in progress. The rest of the tilings are in progress. Maybe 25% done. The waterproofing chemical must be HDB approved. e.g. Quic - Seal 104.

Day 8
Tiling work continues. About 60% done up. Bathroom tiles left with decorative ones not up yet. 

Day 10
Tiling finally completed. All the WC holes, shower holes, bathroom holes all done up. * must remind myself to test the water flow in case got area where the water got stuck *
Air con site survey and final tie down.

Day 12
Plumbing final tie down.
brought forward discussion for ceiling lighting plans final tie down. more drawings on the wall.
brought forward discussion for electrical wiring final tie down. exact location marked on the walls.

Day 15
Install water pipings (cold + hot) in kitchen, bathrooms.

Day 17
Electrical wiring start and completed. I think its very fast. 3 men team to do all these. Those area where cant decide one, the electrician left loose wires to accommodate changes. 
Air con piping start and completed. 3 men team to do all the removal, drilling and piping.

To be continued...

 

Edited November 11, 2016 by phantommist
Add pictures

[phantommist 1]

Sigh.. I signed up internet package with ST and the website got stupid BUG!!!! When you fill up the application online and come to the part of booking the opennet installation, ST router installation, DO NOT CLICK "NEXT WEEK" link if you are already choosing one of the earlier dates. The website simply cant register the earlier date that i choosed. Called up ST Cust Care and was advised to choose any date and submit while he help to escalate up.

Guess what, ST don't have enough muscle to arrange with opennet. Was told that they call the same hotline as we do? what crap is this? Called up ST more than 6 times, call until they said "each time you call, there is a new case, you have 5 case already".. haha.. Have to insist them to escalate to the manager to handle this. Finally after 4 days of chasing, they finally managed to find the next available date on day 21. 

Website bug + opennet slow response = delay....

In order to hide the cabling, will delay the ceiling works to start only after the opennet cabling completes. 

Enough of ranting.

Like to ask any recommendation for furniture shop with reasonable pricing?
 

 

 

[phantommist 1]

Singtel Home Fibre and ONT installation

Opennet sent a team down yesterday. I realised though, not to install the new ONT but rather to activate the "port 2". A few calls with Singtel and they promised to call back in 3 hours but they never did. Really bad service. Today finally managed to reach someone at 1688 who understand what is going on and resolve the issue.

Lesson learned.

- ONT point is the rectangular box in your house. ONT port is the point at the opennet setup outside your house.
- There are 2 parts for Opennet installation session for new ONT installation. 1 session to install/relocate your ONT point. 1 session to activate the ONT port.
- If you are getting resale HDB, and there is an existing ONT point, need to do a few more steps. You need to get the previous owner to consent for relinquish control on the existing ONT port. Otherwise, you will be assigned port 2 which may suffer from capacity issue if all the port 1 in your block is used. If you skip the relinquish control part, Opennet will activate port 2.
- For most packages with ISP, the free ONT installation is only for those without existing ONT point. ST didn't put it in their T&C and still want to charge me for the installation, stating that this is norm. Imagine signing a contract and the other party tell you the free installation is not free even if not in the contract. Yes, **** happens.
- Never never allow the contractor or anyone meddle with the old ONT point or even the wires, for you may end up being billed for "damaging" opennet assets and required to pay for the "damages".

 

 

 

 

[phantommist 1]

Day 32 - Checking of Tiles

Finally the new place was chemically washed, and the cardboard removed. Brought some marbles to test the floor tiles. Noticed that at many tiles, there are spots (about 50c coin area) within the tiles where there is high pitch sound, almost like the sound when you test for high quality jade. Wonder if that is indication of any problem but ID say its OK. 

There are also a few pieces of tiles that really have the hollow sound for an area like 15% of the whole piece of tile. ID advised not to change as the cement are  specified by HDB where the rest of the area should make up for that hollow part, plus might cause problem to the neighbouring tiles if re-do those tiles that i mentioned.

For wall tiles, noticed that many tiles sounds hollow at the joint portion (groove part), Wonder if this is another indication of any problem. ID say there is 5 years warranty so they will come to fix if there are problem in future. I just thought if want to fix better fix now rather than messing up the whole place when need to repair, or worse still, there is no more stock of the tiles that i'm using.

Any gurus here can advise? Intend to change the few hollow floor tiles and leave the wall tiles be.

Now pending the vinyl flooring, carpentry, plumbing and finish touch up works to really see the finished state.

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by phantommist

[phantommist 1]

Day 38 - Air Con and Tiles (Again!?)

We chose a Daikin system 4 from Tim. Air Con installation was kinda smooth except that they broke my windows grille.  The installers were pretty quick in their work and tested each unit before going off. Didn't know exactly what they were testing when they switched on unit 1 then fiddle the outdoor unit, then switch off unit 1 but switch on unit 3 before yet fiddling with the outdoor unit. Maybe they mixed out the wiring on the outdoor unit? The air con units took about 2 - 3 minutes to generate breeze cool enough to "air con" level, i guess the test will be really when i shift in to use them. Hopefully these MIT units will last.

Went to inspect the replaced tile. The tile side nearer to the wall still sound hollow. Don't know if the tiler think of saving the cement or perhaps afraid he put too much and extras will ooze out upon putting the new tile? I guess its the best skill of the tiler already. Give up.  

Now left with carpentry, painting, bathroom accessories and delivery of furniture.

 

 

[niel85 1]

2 hours ago, phantommist said:

Day 38 - Air Con and Tiles (Again!?)

We chose a Daikin system 4 from Tim. Air Con installation was kinda smooth except that they broke my windows grille.  The installers were pretty quick in their work and tested each unit before going off. Didn't know exactly what they were testing when they switched on unit 1 then fiddle the outdoor unit, then switch off unit 1 but switch on unit 3 before yet fiddling with the outdoor unit. Maybe they mixed out the wiring on the outdoor unit? The air con units took about 2 - 3 minutes to generate breeze cool enough to "air con" level, i guess the test will be really when i shift in to use them. Hopefully these MIT units will last.

Went to inspect the replaced tile. The tile side nearer to the wall still sound hollow. Don't know if the tiler think of saving the cement or perhaps afraid he put too much and extras will ooze out upon putting the new tile? I guess its the best skill of the tiler already. Give up.  

Now left with carpentry, painting, bathroom accessories and delivery of furniture.

 

 

good choice for AC Brand!!! thinking of buying this also for my home!

[phantommist 1]

On 12/9/2016 at 3:09 PM, niel85 said:

good choice for AC Brand!!! thinking of buying this also for my home!

Are you doing your renovation now too? 

[rainfish 0]

Hi Phantommist, thanks for sharing the diary. After reading it, I have some question , hope you don't mind to share:

1. When do air con unit need to install? Right after the air con piping is done?

2. How to know the contractor is HDB approved?

3. When do we need to call up Telco company for the opennet installation? Do we need to sign up the package before move in?

4. How to get previous owner to conscent for relinquish control of the existing ONT port?

btw, can you share me your quotation? Also whr to get cheap electrical appliances?

thanks in advance. 

[AHbang 0]

Vwry n8ce blog post.  keep us updatednlove he detailed descriptions.

[phantommist 1]

On 12/15/2016 at 10:20 PM, rainfish said:

Hi Phantommist, thanks for sharing the diary. After reading it, I have some question , hope you don't mind to share:

1. When do air con unit need to install? Right after the air con piping is done?

2. How to know the contractor is HDB approved?

3. When do we need to call up Telco company for the opennet installation? Do we need to sign up the package before move in?

4. How to get previous owner to conscent for relinquish control of the existing ONT port?

btw, can you share me your quotation? Also whr to get cheap electrical appliances?

thanks in advance. 

Hi rainfish,

Apology for replying now.

I split my air con installation to 2 parts. First run the pipes, then later, install the units. I got mine from Tim. You can search from the forum for his contact. His installers are OK but a tad careless in spoiling my windows grille. However, will really know if their workmanship is good only when we start using for over 1 year.

For question 2, ask the ID/contractor for the HDB registration number. With that number, run it through the HDB website at http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/renovation/looking-for-renovation-contractors. You will be able to see if there is any history of point penalty and when the license was registered. On HDB website, you will also see if the company is case trust registered.

For question 3, i originally wanted to lay the fibre to the TV location and hiding the wire in the ceiling using the downlight box but then some issues between Singtel and Opennet, there was a delay of 1 week plus. I signed a plan with Singtel because of the "free opennet installation", apparently, it's not free even though its stated in the contract. In your case, you have to decide if you want to hide the fibre. Singtel will only charge upon "activation" of the lines during the 2nd appointment. 1st appointment is done by opennet for enabling of the fibre port or fibre installation.

For question 4, either you ask the previous owner to call up the ISP to give consent or ask the ISP to ask on your behalf. In my opinion, i just don't get it, when one take over the house legally, why is the fibre port still not legally taken over by the new owner. Interestingly, the home plan should be migrated or terminated by the previous owner.

For electrical appliance, think you need to compare around like Goh Ah Bee, HN, Best Denki, Courts, NTUC, etc. Festive season like Xmas now and LNY next month should be a good time to buy too. A tip, don't ever be tricked by the big stores that the price is really cheap by the supposedly deep discount. A look at past few months, you will see that the discounts are bluff one.Also don't be so easy convinced by the sale person what he/she says. Be informed before you make decisions.

 

 

[rainfish 0]

55 minutes ago, phantommist said:

Hi rainfish,

Apology for replying now.

I split my air con installation to 2 parts. First run the pipes, then later, install the units. I got mine from Tim. You can search from the forum for his contact. His installers are OK but a tad careless in spoiling my windows grille. However, will really know if their workmanship is good only when we start using for over 1 year.

For question 2, ask the ID/contractor for the HDB registration number. With that number, run it through the HDB website at http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/renovation/looking-for-renovation-contractors. You will be able to see if there is any history of point penalty and when the license was registered. On HDB website, you will also see if the company is case trust registered.

For question 3, i originally wanted to lay the fibre to the TV location and hiding the wire in the ceiling using the downlight box but then some issues between Singtel and Opennet, there was a delay of 1 week plus. I signed a plan with Singtel because of the "free opennet installation", apparently, it's not free even though its stated in the contract. In your case, you have to decide if you want to hide the fibre. Singtel will only charge upon "activation" of the lines during the 2nd appointment. 1st appointment is done by opennet for enabling of the fibre port or fibre installation.

For question 4, either you ask the previous owner to call up the ISP to give consent or ask the ISP to ask on your behalf. In my opinion, i just don't get it, when one take over the house legally, why is the fibre port still not legally taken over by the new owner. Interestingly, the home plan should be migrated or terminated by the previous owner.

For electrical appliance, think you need to compare around like Goh Ah Bee, HN, Best Denki, Courts, NTUC, etc. Festive season like Xmas now and LNY next month should be a good time to buy too. A tip, don't ever be tricked by the big stores that the price is really cheap by the supposedly deep discount. A look at past few months, you will see that the discounts are bluff one.Also don't be so easy convinced by the sale person what he/she says. Be informed before you make decisions.

 

 

Hi Phantomist,

thanks for the info provided. 

[blacksheep 1]

Very educating detailed blog.☺