My exciting journey to owning and designing a flat

[Yplailai 4]

More progress

today painting is done, one man show, and very efficient. He just painted a single layer grossly over the walls, will touch up the edges and corners another day. Having mixed feelings about renovations, the only "right" choice i made so far is the wall colour. Exactly what i wanted, not pure white and not yellowish in colour. Recommended nippon cotton white 1136.

Note the original white by hdb at the edges and my new cotton white colour.

However, as i scrutinise the carpentry, i realised the internal laminates are already up. And some of the edges are poorly finished. Is it supposed to be like this? 

Also, the more i think about it, the funnier the configuration of the wardrobe appears to be. 

This small space for me to store 2 sets of my most precious dresses or what? I told the carpenter i wanted pigeon holes to put my bags, and the extreme left side of the wardrobe is the width of my pigeon hole. 

To be honest, we are feeling tinge of regret taking up this contractor who seems to be playing the "disappearing" game whenever i post any questions regarding their work.

in fact, when we got married and buy a ready made wardrobe from neighbourhood furniture shop, the finishing is so much better than a customised one. And still holding up really well for 4 year's use. 

My best buys so far for this renovation is the song cho kitchen cabinet set and minimise my risks with this contractor.

i mean, i can accept less than optimal workmanship, no choice already since our judgement is off for contractor. My advice for those going for renovations is to consider carefully your ID or contractor choice. If don't want to take risks, minimise your carpentry. 

And after laying the mbr bathroom tiles, we measured the bathroom width against mirror length. Guess what? They are so smart to cut mirror and fix the frame to the length before overlay. I shall wait and see how they are going to fix that.

Edited June 16, 2017 by Yplailai

[spooky 6]

52 minutes ago, Yplailai said:

More progress

today painting is done, one man show, and very efficient. He just painted a single layer grossly over the walls, will touch up the edges and corners another day. Having mixed feelings about renovations, the only "right" choice i made so far is the wall colour. Exactly what i wanted, not pure white and not yellowish in colour. Recommended nippon cotton white 1136.

Note the original white by hdb at the edges and my new cotton white colour.

However, as i scrutinise the carpentry, i realised the internal laminates are already up. And some of the edges are poorly finished. Is it supposed to be like this? 

Also, the more i think about it, the funnier the configuration of the wardrobe appears to be. 

This small space for me to store 2 sets of my most precious dresses or what? I told the carpenter i wanted pigeon holes to put my bags, and the extreme left side of the wardrobe is the width of my pigeon hole. 

To be honest, we are feeling tinge of regret taking up this contractor who seems to be playing the "disappearing" game whenever i post any questions regarding their work.

in fact, when we got married and buy a ready made wardrobe from neighbourhood furniture shop, the finishing is so much better than a customised one. And still holding up really well for 4 year's use. 

My best buys so far for this renovation is the song cho kitchen cabinet set and minimise my risks with this contractor.

i mean, i can accept less than optimal workmanship, no choice already since our judgement is off for contractor. My advice for those going for renovations is to consider carefully your ID or contractor choice. If don't want to take risks, minimise your carpentry. 

And after laying the mbr bathroom tiles, we measured the bathroom width against mirror length. Guess what? They are so smart to cut mirror and fix the frame to the length before overlay. I shall wait and see how they are going to fix that.

Did your contractor come up with the wardrobe layout for you to confirm before proceeding with carpentry? My ID had a few 'templates' and I picked the one that I liked most, but could propose something different if I wanted.

Btw I saw from your previous post that the altar doesn't look like full height? Why is there a small gap left at the top?

Coordinating between your contractor, electrician, aircon, painter, windows, must be such a tiring affair. Your contractor is only doing the carpentry and masonry works for you? Carpentry should really be the one of the last items to go into the house. Hopefully your other subcons can work around the furniture.

[Yplailai 4]

@spooky He said he would come up with some hand drawn drawings before proceed and reassure us he would do the coordinating for us, just leave it to him. 

Next thing we know, they said no space in their office and need to park at our house. Everything also haven't do already carpentry done. I think their planning is very messy and unreliable. And never see any drawings. 

whereas my next door neighbour, in stark contrast doesnt need to be physically there and they have a team of 3-4 of different expertise working on site. Really, if not out of budget, self coordination is a headache thing. 

There is a gap at the top because need to box up and conceal wiring. I hope they dont break my chandelier when moving things. 

[spooky 6]

2 minutes ago, Yplailai said:

@spooky He said he would come up with some hand drawn drawings before proceed and reassure us he would do the coordinating for us, just leave it to him. 

Next thing we know, they said no space in their office and need to park at our house. Everything also haven't do already carpentry done. I think their planning is very messy and unreliable. And never see any drawings. 

whereas my next door neighbour, in stark contrast doesnt need to be physically there and they have a team of 3-4 of different expertise working on site. Really, if not out of budget, self coordination is a headache thing. 

There is a gap at the top because need to box up and conceal wiring. I hope they dont break my chandelier when moving things. 

I think your contractor is super unprofessional, sorry to say. To hear that he agreed to give drawings before proceeding and then bam your carpentry is done is terrible. Hope you can finish dealing with this contractor soon since the subcons may not be as bad. Mind sharing how many % savings you get by using different subcons instead of your initial ID quotes? Anyway hope your reno can complete without any big hiccups

[Yplailai 4]

@spooky iDs in general quote me about 28k after gst. 

This contractor cost me 15k no gst and songcho 12k. And i get extra things that ID cannot offer me like overlay of toilet, customised vanity and full length (horizontal) mirror, shower screen 

 

[spooky 6]

6 minutes ago, Yplailai said:

@spooky iDs in general quote me about 28k after gst. 

This contractor cost me 15k no gst and songcho 12k. And i get extra things that ID cannot offer me like overlay of toilet, customised vanity and full length (horizontal) mirror, shower screen 

 

Ok at least the savings are very significant

[Yplailai 4]

Efficient and professional electrical works

today electrician came down to do electrical wiring, looking at photos i think they are very neat and professional. Very happy with their services.

had second thoughts about my crystal chandelier because it will be hanging low (tickling the top of hubby's head) and right in front of the cabinets. But the electrician was confident it can be hung up nicely.. mil was quite encouraging too, look weird, but as long as we enjoyed looking at it is what matters.

the contractor said they will redo my kitchen cabinets and bathroom mirror and wardrobe configuration. At least taking responsibility.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Yplailai

[Yplailai 4]

air-conditioning piping

today aircon piping installation. We were also flipping between system 3 or 4. End up decided system 4 because 1) living room is small and 2) dont want to regret not installing when i need it

very satisfied with my air-con company because they do a very neat job in installing the trunking! Initally also panicked when saw on some forums how some staff will install based on the most convenient route for them. So i called up the staff and requested to view how trunking runs on other units they are handling.

the installation staff is very nice and patient to show me around the flat they are working on, and explained that every unit layout is different. If sufficient space allows, they will hide in the concealed box up (provided by hdb), if insufficient space, they will have to run under it (exposed and visible)

after hearing that, more panic! I went back to study our unit and quite undecided whether it will be seen or not. Especially we already overlaid the toilet tiles so nicely. 

Pleasantly surprised that our layout allows aircon piping to run so nicely. The staff advised us to do box up because of the ugly trunking. But looking at the excellent job they do, i may only box up the living room

mbr toilet (running inconspicuously) and luckily the rest all hidden in the box up above

mbr, air con sitting above toilet entrance for least trunking

mbr entrance, all three units in br2,3 and living room entering mbr and exiting onto toilet. I dont think it is necessary to box up because very neat.

trunking in br2 travelling neatly under the beam. No need box up too.

br3 also travelling neatly under beam (max happy)

living room, will be sitting on beam. Although neat and nice trunking, i may have to box up this. 

[vxnne 2]

15 hours ago, Yplailai said:

air-conditioning piping

today aircon piping installation. We were also flipping between system 3 or 4. End up decided system 4 because 1) living room is small and 2) dont want to regret not installing when i need it

very satisfied with my air-con company because they do a very neat job in installing the trunking! Initally also panicked when saw on some forums how some staff will install based on the most convenient route for them. So i called up the staff and requested to view how trunking runs on other units they are handling.

the installation staff is very nice and patient to show me around the flat they are working on, and explained that every unit layout is different. If sufficient space allows, they will hide in the concealed box up (provided by hdb), if insufficient space, they will have to run under it (exposed and visible)

after hearing that, more panic! I went back to study our unit and quite undecided whether it will be seen or not. Especially we already overlaid the toilet tiles so nicely. 

Pleasantly surprised that our layout allows aircon piping to run so nicely. The staff advised us to do box up because of the ugly trunking. But looking at the excellent job they do, i may only box up the living room

mbr toilet (running inconspicuously) and luckily the rest all hidden in the box up above

mbr, air con sitting above toilet entrance for least trunking

mbr entrance, all three units in br2,3 and living room entering mbr and exiting onto toilet. I dont think it is necessary to box up because very neat.

trunking in br2 travelling neatly under the beam. No need box up too.

br3 also travelling neatly under beam (max happy)

living room, will be sitting on beam. Although neat and nice trunking, i may have to box up this. 

Hey. your 2 common room won't have build in wardrobe?

 

[Yplailai 4]

1 hour ago, vxnne said:

Hey. your 2 common room won't have build in wardrobe?

 

Yes, planning to buy ready made and move one of our wardrobe over. We want to have flexibility to change layout of room as and when we like. Also, my toddler is still young, dont want to commit any layout first, in case grow up, don't like, hard to change.

[vxnne 2]

1 hour ago, Yplailai said:

Yes, planning to buy ready made and move one of our wardrobe over. We want to have flexibility to change layout of room as and when we like. Also, my toddler is still young, dont want to commit any layout first, in case grow up, don't like, hard to change.

I see . cause i was planning my trunking as well. But due to our build in wardrobe, we are not able to hide it in the bedroom like yours  . also we're not willing to spend more to cover up with false ceiling. so i guess need to make do with it! 

[Kobelala 8]

Nice progress , do share more 

[Yplailai 4]

On 21/06/2017 at 11:34 AM, vxnne said:

I see . cause i was planning my trunking as well. But due to our build in wardrobe, we are not able to hide it in the bedroom like yours  . also we're not willing to spend more to cover up with false ceiling. so i guess need to make do with it! 

Initially when i read blogs posted by others i also studied my house plan. After talking to the aircon staff, i realised how much we could hide safely and efficiently really depends on the bouse design. We are not planning to box up mbr trunking to save costs and the likelihood of me looking up and feel bothered by trunking is almost zero.  

[vxnne 2]

12 minutes ago, Yplailai said:

Initially when i read blogs posted by others i also studied my house plan. After talking to the aircon staff, i realised how much we could hide safely and efficiently really depends on the bouse design. We are not planning to box up mbr trunking to save costs and the likelihood of me looking up and feel bothered by trunking is almost zero.  

My floorplan is the same as yours as well. probably need to talk to the aircon staff upon my installation in the next 2 weeks. 

[Yplailai 4]

Our one roller coaster renovations journey

thanks fellow renotalkers who are following my blog. This post serves to conclude our renovation experience and hopefully help new home owners in deciding what to do for their house. I'll not be updating anymore because 1) no point 2) talking about the same boring things

my advice

1) listen to your personal friend is better than taking recommendations elsewhere. Esp friends with 3-4 renovations experience.

2) minimal carpentry is best. 

3) take time to visit your neighbours in midst of their reno for an all rounded decision

4) join group buys. We have a few good purchase  which is great, though how good, haven't personally test it out yet. 

5) accessories buy from normal neighbourhood shops. They give very competitive pricing. One good example is my fan with light ($500 per piece. No installation) vs another shop i found ($400 foc installation)

6) when choosing anything, don't look at solely just facebook page review. Consider the reputation from online forums as well. No review is good as erm... 

7) I personally like more matured workers.