My First Home: The Bachelorette Pad Edition

[ilkl 6]

40 minutes ago, 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?

Hello there! Looks like we are doing reno at the same time!

I personally think that fugly door has to go. Are you changing your bedroom doors etc? When you talk to the door people, show them the picture of this door and ask them if they can make a new one for you. I'm sure they can. If they cannot, then perhaps they are not real door makers and should drop them like a hot potato....

Cheers!

[bie18 3]

3 minutes ago, ilkl said:

Hello there! Looks like we are doing reno at the same time!

I personally think that fugly door has to go. Are you changing your bedroom doors etc? When you talk to the door people, show them the picture of this door and ask them if they can make a new one for you. I'm sure they can. If they cannot, then perhaps they are not real door makers and should drop them like a hot potato....

Cheers!

Thanks for weighing in, @ilkl. Hope yr reno is gg well! Thing is, the door has to stay because hdb put it there for them to use when necessary. So i cant remove or replace it.

[ilkl 6]

If that's the case then maybe you can write to HDB to ask them if 1. You can replace the door or 2. They can replace for you.

Can say things like you're worried there may be termite infestation (based on the photo, I won't be surprised if there was a history of it). HDB will be obligated to do something about it.

Worth trying your luck. Maybe they will replace for you FOC (which I honestly think they should).

Edited February 23, 2017 by ilkl

[bie18 3]

9 hours ago, ilkl said:

If that's the case then maybe you can write into HDB to ask them if 1. You can replace the door or 2. They can replace for you.

Can say things like you're worried there may be termite infestation (based on the photo, I won't be surprised if there was a history of it). HDB will be obligated to do something about it.

Worth trying your luck. Maybe they will replace for you FOC (which I honestly think they should).

Thanks for the suggestion, @ilkl. Sounds like its worth a try!

[nav14 0]

11 hours ago, bie18 said:

About halfway through the reno journey and noticed today how spacious and pristine the flat looks now the wall plastering and floor screeding is done. Can't get too excited, though, 'cos there are still a million and one decisions to be made. Ah, the challenges of an ID-less reno. 

Spacious looking view from living room. On the left is the kitchen and on the right is the MBR. Going to put a partition folding door between the MBR and living room. My place is blessed with a lot of light..this was taken in the early evening, around 6.30pm.

 

Another peek at my pretty common toilet.

 

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?

I had the same issue with regards to the door above rubbish chute for my parent's house which I renovated recently. Get HDB to replace the wooden door with an acrylic door which they would do free of charge including a new frame as this comes under their purview , since the access cannot be blocked off permanently. If you are not happy with acyclic door, then make another slim wooden frame with a piece of laminated plywood  covering the acrylic door with 4 large steel screws holding it in place so that it could still be opened in case of emergency as and when required by HDB. You may have to modify the grill for the frame to fit in. You just need an inch or so all around the window to have a wooden frame fixed with a piece of laminated plywood placed on it. Before you cover the acyclic window, seal all its edges with a good tape to prevent any insects from crawling in.

Edited February 23, 2017 by nav14

[bie18 3]

27 minutes ago, nav14 said:

I had the same issue with regards to the door above rubbish chute for my parent's house which I renovated recently. Get HDB to replace the wooden door with an acrylic door which they would do free of charge including a new frame as this comes under their purview , since the access cannot be blocked off permanently. If you are not happy with acyclic door, then make another slim wooden frame with a piece of laminated plywood  covering the acrylic door with 4 large steel screws holding it in place so that it could still be opened in case of emergency as and when required by HDB. You may have to modify the grill for the frame to fit in. You just need an inch or so all around the window to have a wooden frame fixed with a piece of laminated plywood placed on it. Before you cover the acyclic window, seal all its edges with a good tape to prevent any insects from crawling in.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences @nav14. Shall write in to HDB about this! I am so relieved there is a solution for this matter. You made my day 

Edited February 23, 2017 by bie18

[bcmum 1]

Hi bie18

may I trouble you to send me your contractor's contact details?

thanks

[bie18 3]

Updated on track lights, wallpaper and other misc stuff here: 

Started a running thread on my learning points here (will keep updating along the way)

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by bie18

[bie18 3]

On 2/23/2017 at 9:26 AM, bie18 said:

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences @nav14. Shall write in to HDB about this! I am so relieved there is a solution for this matter. You made my day 

@nav14 & @ilkl thought you might be keen to hear an update on the matter. HDB called me on Thursday afternoon, the very next day after I wrote an email to them. The officer will be coming down to inspect the door on Monday morning. Hopefully they will agree to change it, and soon! Now I am wondering if the aircon vent cover in my MBR can be similarly replaced (I am not installing an aircon). 

 

 

Edited February 25, 2017 by bie18

[bie18 3]

On 2/23/2017 at 11:34 PM, bcmum said:

Hi bie18

may I trouble you to send me your contractor's contact details?

thanks

Thanks for your interest. Reno is still ongoing, so I cant share those details.

[ilkl 6]

59 minutes ago, bie18 said:

@nav14 & @ilkl thought you might be keen to hear an update on the matter. HDB called me on Thursday afternoon, the very next day after I wrote an email to them. The officer will be coming down to inspect the door on Monday morning. Hopefully they will agree to change it, and soon! Now I am wondering if the aircon vent cover in my MBR can be similarly replaced (I am not installing an aircon). 

 

 

That's great! At least HDB is efficient in getting back to you. Cross fingers that ugly door will be banished!

[bcmum 1]

Sure! look forward to seeing more updates on your reno progress!

[bie18 3]

Updated with a post on the first of several DIY projects for the flat, painting the switch boxes to match the dark silver Legrand Mallia switch covers:

Will update that post with other diy projects as I complete them. 

And to end off, here's a peek at my pebbled MBR bathroom floor! It was a long time coming and only got put in yesterday after all the other tiling works were completed. Originally wanted to pebble up the whole shower area, but decided on a small border only for the sake of practicality. Imagine the scrubbing needed if the whole floor was like that! (the rest of the floor is supposed to be dark grey... Appears whitish now cos they havent been washed clean).

 

Edited February 26, 2017 by bie18

[fifteenmay 40]

11 hours ago, bie18 said:

Updated with a post on the first of several DIY projects for the flat, painting the switch boxes to match the dark silver Legrand Mallia switch covers:

Will update that post with other diy projects as I complete them. 

And to end off, here's a peek at my pebbled MBR bathroom floor! It was a long time coming and only got put in yesterday after all the other tiling works were completed. Originally wanted to pebble up the whole shower area, but decided on a small border only for the sake of practicality. Imagine the scrubbing needed if the whole floor was like that! (the rest of the floor is supposed to be dark grey... Appears whitish now cos they havent been washed clean).

 

ooh look likes bathing in a resort!

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

[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?