My First Home: The Bachelorette Pad Edition

[miumiu16 0]

On 14/12/2016 at 5:01 PM, bie18 said:

Tiles

Things finally felt real when I had to go down to Hafary to choose my tiles. I guess it's cos that was the first concrete (pun intended ) decision I had to make for the reno. Since I had chosen to use a contractor rather than ID, I would hv to make all the design decisions myself. But I was happy my contractor met me there to orientate me around the vast Eunos showroom and give general guidelines on the size and texture of tiles to select for different rooms. Also, thankfully I only had to select tiles for my 2 bathrooms and kitchen since I had already decided to go with vinyl for the rest of the house.

After reading so many accounts of how ppl had to spend hours or even days to narrow down their choices at tile showrooms, I made sure to do lots of research before hand. It really helped and I ended up spending just 5hrs or sk at Hafary (3hrs + on Sat 7 jan, and another 1 hr + on the next day when I had to retrieve my samsung tab that I had accidentallt left behind the previous day). Then, I spent the next 2 weeks or so deliberating on the choices (based on the samples I got) before confirming the tile selection with my contractor on key collection day (19 jan). Hacking started a couple of days after that, the tiled were ordered and delivered, and now waiting to be laid after CNY.

Anyway, here goes, my tile selections (most costing $3psf as per the budget given by my contractor).

Kitchen

Look I am going for is moden rustic, with light green/mint cabinets and wood coloured kompacplus worktop. 

In line with that, decided to go for sandy-coloured matt flooring. Didn't want to use vinyl for the kitchen floor, and wood look tiles would be overkill with wood look vinyl flooring for the rest of the house. So I thought this one would be a good alternative (hafary code SA03)

Guest bathroom

Decided to go with a fun design for the walls, with colours that complement the kitchen. Decided on blue, white and grey hexagon tiles, to be laid in a random pattern like this:

The tiles I chose (the blue and white ones... plus grey, not shown in this pic).

Chose light coloured flooring with a bit of blue-grey to match the walls (colour is a bit distorted by the warm lighting in the showroom...actual tiles are whiter than that) (hafary code SG4E1D)

MBR bathroom

Look I am going for is the modern resort look, with pebbled flooring in the shower area, sandstone-like wall tiles and greyish slate-like floor tiles. 

Went with this wall tile, which has a bit of texture (hafary code QD639612)

For the floor tiles, chose this (the greyish one on the top part of the photo. Code: Sm813D)

Spotted these rustic looking tiles for the shower feature wall (ignore the top row of tiles)  (code: nerva gris mat).

Also wanted pebbled tiles for my shower floor, which my contractor hasnt found yet (i failed to find it in hafary). Hope she finds something suitable!

 

Hi,may I know how much per psf of your common toilet blue grey wall tiles?

[bie18 3]

3 hours ago, miumiu16 said:

Hi,may I know how much per psf of your common toilet blue grey wall tiles?

Hi, you mean the tile with code SG4E1D? I used it for my floor and it costs $3.20 psf ($3.42 with gst). For my walls, i used the hexagon tiles..it is charged per piece, not psf. $1.20 per piece before gst. I estimate each sq ft needs around 3 tiles.

Edited February 27, 2017 by bie18

[bie18 3]

8 hours ago, fifteenmay said:

ooh look likes bathing in a resort!

can i ask how much u had to top up to use legrand?

Hihi, yeah..  glad someone else besides me thinks it looks resort-like! Actually I don't know how much exactly I have to top-up. Asked at a shop in Kelantan Lane before quite some time ago and I remember 1-gang switches costing less than $5. There are also some prices listed in this 2011 thread: 

Based on that, I estimate I will have to top-up $100+ for the dark silver sockets in my MBR, living room and kitchen. Will update when my contractor tells me later. For most of the items to top-up, i usually ask my contractor to confirm the price before we proceed. But this time, I figured the top-up will not be very much, so asked her to go ahead first. 

Edited February 27, 2017 by bie18

[fifteenmay 40]

1 minute ago, bie18 said:

Hihi, yeah..  glad someone else besides me thinks it looks resort-like! Actually I don't know how much exactly I have to top-up. Asked at a shop in Kelantan Lane before quite some time ago and I remember 1-gang switches costing less than $5. There are also some prices listed in this 2011 thread: 

Based on that, I estimate I will have to top-up $100+ for the dark silver sockets in my MBR, living room and kitchen. Will update when my contractor told me later. For most of the items to top-up, i usually ask my contractor to confirm the price before we proceed. But this time, I figured the top-up will not be very much, so asked her to go ahead first. 

$100 plus still ok i think. my id say i have to top up $350 for 49 points if i never rem the no of points wrongly. sadly, it is too much over budget so i have to stick to normal mk or clipsal switches

 

[bie18 3]

Another day, another cornudrom. This time about the eubiq track. Got a short 600mm one at an expo sale last yr (but even supposedly at sale price, it wasn't cheap). My contractor told me eubiq should install it. Eubiq has quoted me $80 for installation. Now I am wondering if it's worth it..will be $300+ . I only have a tiny length of wall, exactly 600mm for the track.. right next to it will be the stove, so the track will not help me extend the area for me to place my appliances.

Like in this photo below (taken from eubiq site), i can see why the track is useful. Rather than placing plug points all along the wall, you just pull the plug point aalong the track any where along the stretch of wall.

But mine will look something like below...besides looking nicer than normal plugs, don't see how it is more useful.

Mulling over two other options:

- top up around $40 to get a longer track (1 metre) and put it on the opposite wall where there is no cabinet, but i will be placing a kitchen island on wheels (see illustration photo below, with red circle is where the track should be..that is not my kitchen by the way). That allows me to use appliances along that stretch of wall occasionally (-things like mixers, blenders, etc. that i dont use often). Involves more expenses, but the track will serve its true purpose as a flexible source of power.

- sell off the brand new track to save money

Edited March 4, 2017 by bie18

[fifteenmay 40]

1 hour ago, bie18 said:

Another day, another conudrom. This time about the eubiq track. Got a short 600mm one at an expo sale last yr (but even supposedly at sale price, it wasn't cheap). My contractor told me eubiq should install it. Eubiq has quoted me $80 for installation. Now I am wondering if it's worth it..will be $300+ . I only have a tiny length of wall, exactly 600mm for the track.. right next to it will be the stove, so the track will not help me extend the area for me to place my appliances.

Like in this photo below (taken from eubiq site), i can see why the track is useful. Rather than placing plug points all along the wall, you just pull the plug point aalong the track any where along the stretch of wall.

But mine will look something like below...besides looking nicer than normal plugs, don't see how it is more useful.

Mulling over two other options:

- top up around $40 to get a longer track (1 metre) and put it on the opposite wall where there is no cabinet, but i will be placing a kitchen island on wheels (see illustration photo below, with red circle is where the track should be..that is not my kitchen by the way). That allows me to use appliances along that stretch of wall occasionally (-things like mixers, blenders, etc. that i dont use often). Involves more expenses, but the track will serve its true purpose as a flexible source of power.

- sell off the brand new track to save money

can see your dilemma! 

i would put the track on the other side i guess to serve its true purpose.. more functional.. but would it break the aesthetics of that wall?hmmm...

[bie18 3]

The saga about the door above the rubbish chute continues. Has been more than a week since HDB told me they had passed on the matter the town council. No peep or hoot from the town council since then, so I called today. Luckily there is a branch office near the flat, and i happened to be at the flat this aftn, so the town council guy could come down and do an inspection right away. Got a dejavu moment when he said "i have to check with my supervisor about this", which was the exact same thing the hdb guy said! No resolution in sight yet.
 

[fifteenmay 40]

1 minute ago, bie18 said:

The saga about the door above the rubbish chute continues. Has been more than a week since HDB told me they had passed on the matter the town council. No peep or hoot from the town council since then, so I called today. Luckily there is a branch office near the flat, and i happened to be at the flat this aftn, so the town council guy could come down and do an inspection right away. Got a dejavu moment when he said "i have to check with my supervisor about this", which was the exact same thing the hdb guy said! No resolution in sight yet.
 

totally understand about the tai chi! i had my tai chi week last week! 

i used this to pressure the town council..hope this helps. u must keep calling and pressuring them otherwise they will take their own sweet time

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/home-maintenance/function-of-hdb-branches-service-centres-and-town-councils

[bie18 3]

In other, happier, news, the electrician has been in to install my lights and fans! Managed to catch him at work today since I was on PM leave, so was able to discuss the exact location of some lights and fans (basically, some had been located wrongly 'cos he had started installing them yesterday when I wasn't around). Some photos:

MBR lights (the light shades are glass and the base is wood). Bought online and shipped via ezbuy prime,

Bamboo lights from IKEA (fm one if their limited edition collections). Looks kinda oversized for my small bathroom, but I love it nonetheless. However, it has been placed too close to the shower area, where there is gg to be a shower screen. So will hv to be moved (photo courtesy of my contractor).

Rose gold pendant light for my dressing room (french boudoir themed) fm JB. It uses a corn cob led light which changes colour-temperature with each flick of the switch, alternating between warm white, daylight white and cool white.

[bie18 3]

4 minutes ago, fifteenmay said:

totally understand about the tai chi! i had my tai chi week last week! 

i used this to pressure the town council..hope this helps. u must keep calling and pressuring them otherwise they will take their own sweet time

http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/living-in-an-hdb-flat/home-maintenance/function-of-hdb-branches-service-centres-and-town-councils

Thanks for the link, @fifteenmay! Yeah, i read abt yr saga too. Sounded painful. Looks like I will hv to call again tmrw.

[bie18 3]

16 minutes ago, fullhouseJL said:

Nice progress! I just got a 3rm corner recently as my bachelor pad too. Just wondering what you're planning to do with your other 2 bedrooms?

1 bedroom will be a dressing room (i have lots of clothes) and the other a study-cum-guestroom. Will keep the latter room relatively sparse in case I want to rent it out in the future (that will be pretty far in the future though!).

[bie18 3]

On 2/22/2017 at 9:10 PM, bie18 said:

 

 

Lastly, a design dilemma... What am i going to do about this ugly door in my kitchen that cannot be replaced or removed? My unit is on the top floor and apparently HDB put the door there as an emergency access route or something. It is complicated to box up because the window grille is too near. If i really want to box up, i will have to remove the grille (which cannot be reinstalled; needs to replaced with a new grille in the future if i want one). The door is so decrepit that it will look ugly even when painted. Wallpapering is not an option because of the latch. How ah?

Another episode of the saga... town council officer called to confirm that the door does indeed belong to the town council. However "as it is still in good condition, it will not be replaced!" The door has been painted over and admittedly doesn't look as bad as it originally did in the photo above. But the painting has only masked the decaying edges of the frame! The guy didn't even take a photo and didn't even do a close inspection. How come I have no say over a door THAT IS IN MY HOME! Insisted on a closer inspection, but as it can only be done during office hours, can only have it this Saturday (the branch office is open in the morning) when I can be there. 

[fifteenmay 40]

1 hour ago, bie18 said:

Another episode of the saga... town council officer called to confirm that the door does indeed belong to the town council. However "as it is still in good condition, it will not be replaced!" The door has been painted over and admittedly doesn't look as bad as it originally did in the photo above. But the painting has only masked the decaying edges of the frame! The guy didn't even take a photo and didn't even do a close inspection. How come I have no say over a door THAT IS IN MY HOME! Insisted on a closer inspection, but as it can only be done during office hours, can only have it this Saturday (the branch office is open in the morning) when I can be there. 

oh man!!! insist for a change!

[CZL 0]

Haha, municipal problem. Usually if there is no water leak in during washing, town council will just ignore it. Ask them do a water test to confirm.

Happen to saw this thread too, maybe you can find some other solution (seem like somebody change it to aluminium frame) if town council refuse to do for you till the end: 

 

[bie18 3]

On 3/8/2017 at 1:41 PM, CZL said:

Haha, municipal problem. Usually if there is no water leak in during washing, town council will just ignore it. Ask them do a water test to confirm.

Happen to saw this thread too, maybe you can find some other solution (seem like somebody change it to aluminium frame) if town council refuse to do for you till the end: 

 

Thanks for the reference ! Town council called me back today to say they will replace the door! I was so happy I didnt even remind them i am moving in soon. They will call me again to make an appt.

Edited March 23, 2017 by bie18