Renovating a 50 year old house

[edward 0]

Following the renovation of my 3-rm flat in 2010 (see link below), I will be renovating my new place. This time round it is a 50 years old house, even though previously renovated, the conditions were rather bad. I do not have the floor plan of this house since it is built in 1968 and the previous owners did not submit any floor plans to BCA. However, I have attached a hand drawn and not to scale floor plan for reference. 

[KFC1189 11]

Wow, 50 years old house! Is it a freehold house? What is the land area?

[edward 0]

On 4/16/2017 at 8:19 PM, KFC1189 said:

Wow, 50 years old house! Is it a freehold house? What is the land area?

yes freehold. land is about 900sqft. 

[edward 0]

Attached are the "before" photos.

 Living room

Living room

Kitchen

Toilet (very tiny)

Master Room

Master Room image 2

Common Room

 Attic

[edward 0]

With experience from our first reno, the contractor/ID selection isn't as tedious (me and wife invited 12 contractors/IDs to quote the last time round, kiasu). This time round we invited 4 contractors/Ids and these guys are recommended through word of mouth. Of course, one of the four was my previous ID Mr Yen. On a side note, Mr Yen has left his previous company and is now his own boss.

The prices quoted were rather competitive amongst the contractors/IDs. However, with our previous experience with Mr Yen, we decided to award him the contract.  

[edward 0]

Considerations for the reno:

1. Since the house is 50yo, it has severe water damages on the walls and many parts of the false ceiling. So, me and wife decided that the water pipes and electrical wirings need replacing. The roof needs to be check for leakage as well. 

2. While I love all the beautiful pictures and creative homes that created plenty of space by knocking down walls or combining 2 rooms into 1, me and wife decided to go for a more practical approach. Since we have 2 kids and that they will need their personal space in a couple years time, it is better to keep our rooms and attic intact. I have seen too many friends regret having a picturesque house that cannot serve their needs as their family grows.  

 

 

[snoozee 98]

Did the previous owners change the roof before? the concern with such old houses is that there could still be asbestos in the roofing materials which is health hazardous.

[edward 0]

On 4/23/2017 at 1:00 PM, snoozee said:

Did the previous owners change the roof before? the concern with such old houses is that there could still be asbestos in the roofing materials which is health hazardous.

 

Sorry for replying so late. My computer went dead together with my reno photos. Anyway, I am not sure about the roofing material, but my contractor is going to open up the false ceiling and I will try to see what tiles they use for the roofing. 

Thanks for the reminder

[cymon 6]

Old houses with asbestos roofing needs special BCA licensed contractor to remove.

[edward 0]

Now a quick update. My contractor quick leg quick hand and has done most of the hacking and he is already chasing us for appointment to select tiles and other materials. I like the speed

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2017 by edward
Delete repeated pictures

[edward 0]

Hacking and more hacking.

 

 

Will be making the toilet on the second floor slightly bigger so that it can incorporate a proper shower area. So the wall between the bedroom and toilet hacked down. 

 

Will be putting up a feature wall beside the main door, so the previous windows removed to rebuild a proper wall to tile up the feature wall. 

The granny room will be converted into a duel use room. Dining area and likely maid's room or guest room. The area is really small, so may have to install a murphy bed for maid or guest. Decided to have an opening in the wall that is facing the living room to make the space feel less claustrophobic. Also, can also watch tv will dining in future. 

 

Next up, tile selection. Still hasnt really decided on the theme of the reno. The main consideration is really cost, if we are going to follow a certain theme like industrial or palace, it will be really costly to buy certain things to fit the theme. So will discuss with contractor again for some advice. 

[edward 0]

Also, excited wife and myself are already looking around for sanitary wares. Wife wants a rain shower that is like in shown below, but honestly, our house is not so big. Dont think can achieve this kind of effects. Think a one piece rain shower set will be more realistic. 

 

Looking around for Duravit or Toto sanitary wares and Hansgrophe or Grophe shower sets and taps and was told that Home and Bathroom at Balestier gives pretty competitive prices for Toto, Hansgrophe and Grophe products. I think I also saw some Grophe and Duravit products at Hoe Kee. SO gonna check them out soon

[edward 0]

Didnt update the post after the initial start because my computer crashed and my photos were mostly gone and the reno faced with a lot of hiccups. 

Posted below are the photos of the renovated house. The theme we chose in the end was simple because more elaborate ones will cost more :P. Eventually, it was to keep to the use of white, black and grey color as much as possible.