My Modern Zen 2-Room 35sqm (Type 1) HDB BTO Apartment Renovation Journey

[Songz 132]

From the looks it seems quite well done.

With your darker shade of tiles, using of warm light will really enhance the look 

Hope to see the pictures when the lights are up 

[RyanYTH 87]

14 hours ago, Songz said:

From the looks it seems quite well done.

With your darker shade of tiles, using of warm light will really enhance the look 

Hope to see the pictures when the lights are up 

Thanks I hope so too

[CaseBlue 2]

Wow you are really meticulous and detail. Thanks for sharing. All will be smooth sailing ... Didn't know that highest floor has higher ceiling... new knowledge.... 

So the contractor doing the renov is engaged by your ID? I have found a contractor but not found an ID yet. Wondering if I could just engage an ID alone... 

[RuFus58 14]

On 10/4/2017 at 11:39 AM, ryanyth said:

Really Really appreciate your help linking me up with your ID.
I look forward to chatting with her about it.
No problem. u are most welcome.. actually, if your haven't sign your wardrobe contract, can also get her to quote. see if you can get a competitive quote. end of the day, every penny counts...
i just wanted to ask if you will be saving portion of the bomb shelter for storage or utilising whole as walk in wardrobe.  need to factor in where to store those bulky items i.e. vacuum cleaner, iron board and luggage bags etc.

wah, really know how to enjoy life seh, got massage chair also 

haha.. yeah.. its my very own haven. must convert it to enjoy the max. that's why i don't plan have large sofas etc. just 1-2 seater only and small dining table, more like a high chair bar type. (told all my frends.. come me hse chill, all must sit on the floor...  ) so i have space for my luxury item to R&R.. wanted very much to have a swing but really not much area to swing ard. so sadly scrape that idea..

Regarding the lighting, so far i've been looking around and i never seen any LED strips that are only 2 tone.
The only ones I saw are 1 colour, and another one that is multi colour one. You might want to note it may add more to your lighting budget.
Lights wise, i haven't really go reccee yet.. maybe during dec period, will go tampoi see see look look. my friends recommend go there for cheaper lighting and celing fans and the shop will help give fake receipt so don't kena get taxed. lol.. lighting can really add up to alot! and  spore and m'sia currency conversion makes a whole lot difference. 1:3 ratio.

Actually, I came across this some time back, and I thought it looked cool, although it is very expensive.
A Bladeless Ceiling Fan would fit nicely in your design.
It costs about $1128 though, and i have not seen it in action but i believe it will not cast shadows (since there is no blades)
so it will be the best of both worlds for your cove lighting design.
I myself almost wanted to install it, but the price is too much i feel lol.

wah.. tat is EX!!!   while i want the fan to look nice. i also want it to be powerful in terms of providing strong wind. 
maybe i will pick a fan with lights attached and can be controlled with remote. actually i'm looking into a smart home system that can be controlled by hp/tablet. my fellow neighbours are going for a group buy. price range from $500 to 1K. 
Can control everything from Auto lights, fan, curtains and house hold applience.. really very futuristic (and lazy) lol..

 

On 10/7/2017 at 3:32 PM, ryanyth said:

A Quick Update of Tiling done so far at the end of the 3rd Week.
Just came back from inspecting my place. Bathroom is pretty much done.

The Kitchen Tiler was there working. Saturday also need to work ^_^;
Bought some drinks treat him drink lah (Also as bribery )

Waddya'll think?

Bathroom:


Arrghh... the aircon trunking....    i guess this how mine will look like also... haizz... 
u planning to paint it black to conceal rite, i am sure it will camouflage nicely...
 wonder what i will do? (or rather, what my ID plan to do..)

see my toilet theme.. soo ****ty colour theme.. wonder shld i over lay, arrghh.. extra expenditure!!... sighz.


----------------------------------------------------
Kitchen:

WOW!!!! the black really enhance the look.. very classy looking....   really looking forward to seeing the end product. 
 

 

Edited October 9, 2017 by RuFus58
typo

[RyanYTH 87]

On 10/9/2017 at 12:50 AM, CaseBlue said:

Wow you are really meticulous and detail. Thanks for sharing. All will be smooth sailing ... Didn't know that highest floor has higher ceiling... new knowledge.... 

So the contractor doing the renov is engaged by your ID? I have found a contractor but not found an ID yet. Wondering if I could just engage an ID alone... 

Thanks for visiting
End of the day, as most blogs focus on larger apartments (3room and above),
I sincerely hope that my blog can help any 2 roomers who have no clue how to even start. I shall try my best lah.

Ya i also didn't know highest floor has higher ceiling. Feels like a small little bonus lol.
Ya the tilers, electricians, ceiling, carpentry are engaged by my ID.

Thats the point of engaging an ID. Anything you want, you just talk to the ID and ID will coordinate everything for you.
(At least thats what is happening for me so far. I tell Jason what I want, he tells his contractors to do it, and if there
are any issues, ID will settle with his contractors)

If this is the first time you are doing renovation, i highly recommend engage an ID to handle everything.
Renovation can get very taxing and technical at times. I can't imagine coordinating all those things by myself.

Edited October 9, 2017 by ryanyth

[RyanYTH 87]

21 hours ago, RuFus58 said:

 

Thanks Rufus
Yvonne also do pole wardrobe? Thats interesting.
I haven't sign with Smart Home yet. I don't mind let her earn lor if her quote is competitive enough.
Yes part of the pole wardrobe system is for me to also put some barang barang instead of just clothes.
That said, my space also not big, so i must learn how to minimalist and downsize abit cannot have too much barang barang lol
--------------

Hmm...as for your lighting...."Shop give fake receipt" sounds abit shady.
Honestly, not worth to get in trouble just to save $100 or $200.
Scared is paid liao, they run away.  
The total cost of my lighting is about $1.3k and I don't find that very ex. (And my lightings are already alot i feel lol)

If you are comfortable with the price, why not go to my lighting vendor take a look see look see too?
They are also located at Woodlands, near to Yvonne's Office too (relatively)
------------------
Personally i'd caution against "Smart Home Technology", and this is coming from someone who enjoys tinkering with gadgets.
What i can tell you is such tech one day will surely fail. Lets say you use one of those digital locks to lock your door.
What if it suddenly fail and open the door to strangers while you are at work? Or something goes wrong and causes a fire?.......
Also, technology changes rapidly. What may be cool now, may be very obsolete and obiang in the future.
Just my 2 cents.

------------------
For aircon trunking, definitely follow Mmoh's advice don't do box-up in Bathroom especially if you are going to overlay.
Honestly I'm quite disappointed that this important warning came from a Renotalk forumer instead of my own ID.
I will be indicating this when I'm doing a overall review of Jason at the end of the entire renovation.

Is that the default tiles that HDB do for your bathroom? The horizontal line does make me abit dizzy just looking at it.
If it was me, i'd overlay. Or alternatively, can ask Yvonne if there is any cheaper way to cover over the tiles?
There is a special kind of paint in the market that you can use to paint over instead of tiling.
Its like a special "Liquid Laminate" but for tiles. I'm not sure what its called though.
You might wanna check with Yvonne if it is feasible or not.

Overlay of tiles for any part of your home is something you need to decide and confirm relatively early.
Once confirm, thats it liao, cannot suka suka halfway say don't want.

Edited October 10, 2017 by ryanyth

[RuFus58 14]

17 hours ago, ryanyth said:

Thanks Rufus
Yvonne also do pole wardrobe? Thats interesting.
I haven't sign with Smart Home yet. I don't mind let her earn lor if her quote is competitive enough.
Yes part of the pole wardrobe system is for me to also put some barang barang instead of just clothes.
That said, my space also not big, so i must learn how to minimalist and downsize abit cannot have too much barang barang lol
yup, her factory does the capentary work, so let's hope she can give a competitive quote. always good to compare quotes.
i am hoping the bomb shelter is big enough. that is where i am going to store all the bulky items! away from sight! so i will be doing alot of shelving. i have alot of luggage bags. (travel freak!) lol. 

Hmm...as for your lighting...."Shop give fake receipt" sounds abit shady.
Honestly, not worth to get in trouble just to save $100 or $200.
Scared is paid liao, they run away.  
The total cost of my lighting is about $1.3k and I don't find that very ex. (And my lightings are already alot i feel lol)
hahaha.. not shady lah.. if anything, i am the shady one! almost all who go msia buy items will ask for fake receipt. msia custom always waiting to tax sporean for GST.  so the JB shop owners will help us issue cheaper receipt. mainly is pay on the spot and buy.  brands like philips all there is cheap.. light shops here really jack up alot. 

If you are comfortable with the price, why not go to my lighting vendor take a look see look see too?
They are also located at Woodlands, near to Yvonne's Office too (relatively)

ya, i will be going light shopping with yvonne. but mainly to take down the price and models.. but most prob still buy in Tampoi, JB.
------------------
Personally i'd caution against "Smart Home Technology", and this is coming from someone who enjoys tinkering with gadgets.
What i can tell you is such tech one day will surely fail. Lets say you use one of those digital locks to lock your door.
What if it suddenly fail and open the door to strangers while you are at work? Or something goes wrong and causes a fire?.......
Also, technology changes rapidly. What may be cool now, may be very obsolete and obiang in the future.
Just my 2 cents.

 never consider the fire factor. but i will not link my door or security camera to wifi. later kena heck. mainly plan to link aircon, lights etc. its a nice idea, activate aircon when i leave work, come home to a cool house..  end of day, is see how much it cost and makes the final cut in my budget.

------------------
For aircon trunking, definitely follow Mmoh's advice don't do box-up in Bathroom especially if you are going to overlay.
Honestly I'm quite disappointed that this important warning came from a Renotalk forumer instead of my own ID.
I will be indicating this when I'm doing a overall review of Jason at the end of the entire renovation.

Is that the default tiles that HDB do for your bathroom? The horizontal line does make me abit dizzy just looking at it.
If it was me, i'd overlay. Or alternatively, can ask Yvonne if there is any cheaper way to cover over the tiles?
There is a special kind of paint in the market that you can use to paint over instead of tiling.
Its like a special "Liquid Laminate" but for tiles. I'm not sure what its called though.
You might wanna check with Yvonne if it is feasible or not.
yes! T_T 
this ugly bathroom tiles is a 'feature wall'. if it was any other colour, i can still accept. but the brown.. arrghh.. so fugly!
Most of my neighbours also complain the colour theme.. yucks.
now all my toilet accessories need to match this earthy tone. i wanted an aqua theme toilet.. 
ya. yvonne and i will have a loong talk on my designs. probably in the coming months. 
so glad to have your blog as reference as till now, couldn't find any type 1 floor plan. so thank god for your blog and your sharing your experience. 

 

 

[Songz 132]

I think you should do the overlay for the bathroom if you have the budget.

Got to agree that it looks really ugly.

[RyanYTH 87]

Blog Entry Date: 11th October 2017 Wednesday
Please click here to access

Updates: 4th week after Key Collection
Middle of 4th week after Key Collection. Tiling completed, Important Milestone reached.
A Prepping Week for the next Carpentry Milestone.

Edited October 14, 2017 by ryanyth

[RyanYTH 87]

Blog Entry Date: 11th October 2017 Wednesday
Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

My Mid-Renovation Review of my Interior Designer

So with the 4th week underway and Tiling Completed, I feel an Important Milestone was achieved, 
and we are right now roughly at the Midpoint of my Renovation Journey.

And what a Journey it has been so far!
It has been quite a bit of a rollercoaster ride I must admit, and I guess now is a good opportunity
to do a Mid-Renovation Review of my ID Jason on how I personally feel on his performance so far.
(Yes, Chris from 96 Degree Designers, I know you have been following this Reno T-Blog so you might be interested in this section. )

Some of you reading my Blog so far may have felt:
"Wah how come this guy so enthusiastic one?"
"His ID really so good meh?"
"Talk until machiam so good like that, sure or not?"

I guess my tone has been overly enthusiastic. Someone even PMed me privately
and told me that Renovation is not as simple as I think, and not to be so NAIVE.
Thank you whoever PMed me this.

Don't get me wrong, there were issues during the project (Which project doesn't have issues right?)
This Mid-Renovation Review Post is my way of doing an Objective and Honest Review
without Bias or Candy-Coloured Shades on how my ID Jason has actually performed so far:

------------------------------------------------------------

Lets start with the Good Points:

1) Jason's replies via Whatsapp are usually very prompt and responsive.
Almost all messages sent to him with regards to discussions, measurements of furnitures, enquiry of Renovation Updates will get a reply very fast. The latest I ever got from him was a couple of hours but thats because he said he was in a meeting. Can say 99% of replies are replied within the day at least. Hey i'm also a good Home Owner ok? I'm not like some Psycho Customers who Whatsapp their IDs at 2am in the morning LOL!!

2) Jason's planning of the entire process has been on schedule so far.
Every week went by according to schedule, with no unexpected major delays of which I am thankful.
Every report on what the week's job is, goes according to plan smoothly.

3) All his Contractors so far have shown their Professionalism.
So far I can tell almost everyday, there are his workers in my apartment and work is always been done because I occasionally do surprise spot checks. There was hardly a day where I found no one working on my project. No one seems to be "Eating Snake"  I guess this also contributed to the 1st point where every week goes according to schedule too.

4) Workmanship so far has been looking Good.
I haven't totally scrutinized and inspected very closely but a casual glance from me shows that the workmanship and quality of Jason's workers are acceptable without terrible cockups like misaligned tiles, broken corners, etc. Any errors that did happen, it was rectified accordingly with no impact on the schedule, with him providing photo updates.

5) Jason is Responsible and Committed to his Work.
To quote an example, last Sunday, he called me and say he would like to  go down onsite for a personal review check after his Tilers completed the Tilling. It just so happens that MRT breakdown (There was a flooding problem on the MRT North-South Line) Because of this, I told him specifically he no need to come, since MRT is down and there's no way of knowing when it will work again right? I told him he can come some other time to provide his report for me.

Having said that, i went personally to my place to do my own inspection not expecting him to be there at all. I was pleasantly surprised when I met him while I was still there onsite after the MRT lines were restored much later in the afternoon. This part I have to commend him for showing Responsibility to my Project.

6) Hey, at least he hasn't run away with my money yet LOL
Lets be honest, we've heard of multiple horror stories of how IDs after taking close to 50% of the money, start to chut pattern delay this delay that, and end up an important milestone like Tiling never even completed leave the poor Home Owner hanging. To this part, I can say I am very relieved Jason didn't do that. Thank God.

------------------------------------------------------------

With that said, it hasn't been all Sunshine and Rainbows and Jason isn't totally Perfect either.
Here are some Bad Points that I've encountered so far:

1) Jason's updates on Whatsapp are Weekly, NOT Daily as some of the good reviews on his Company's Facebook suggests.
Way back in the beginning when I engaged them for the first time, I was told that once Renovation starts, I would be added into this "Special Whatsapp group of IDs from 96 Degree", so that even if Jason was busy and couldn't update me on the progress, another ID will be on hand standby to update me daily and answer any of my enquiries.
Apparently, they claim to do this for every Client that sign with them.

Yea well, thats just B***Sh*T This "Mythical Whatsapp Group" never happened.
While he is quite responsive in his Whatsapp replies, his actual Renovation updates were Weekly rather than Daily. His updates also sometimes need to push abit than got updates. For anyone who insists for ID to provide Regular Daily Updates on the Renovation, Jason doesn't do this no matter what their Reviews claim to be.

2) Jason has strange Design Choices sometimes.
To quote an example, I wanted to put a small 20L Microwave in my Kitchen, and due to lack of space,
He claims there is no other way to put this Microwave other than to put it on top of my Washing Machine.

(Who the hecks put a Microwave on the top of a Washing Machine???)  It was only when I was there checking with him that we found out a spot he missed out that is more suitable to put this Microwave.

3) Any solutions by him to solve problems are usually VERY EXPENSIVE
Any mistakes, any issue that needs to be corrected usually involve alot of money.
This will be further elaborated in Point 4 later. But an early example was in the Kitchen, where my Laundry Rack was too low due to the Stainless Steel bracket.

Without checking why there are Stainless Steel brackets making it too low, his first response is to "Remove the entire Laundry Rack because it clashes with the Kitchen Design" and replace it with yet another $500+ Laundry Rack". LOL!!!

It has gotten to the point where I'm even worried now he will want to charge yet another
insane amount of money just to paint my AirCon Trunking in my Bathroom Black in Colour.


4) Jason is VERY RECKLESS.
Dealing with him usually means alot of money need to spend, but the worst thing is
he sometimes won't even give you any warning or advice before doing something. Very Scary.
I can quote 3 Separate Scenarios where this happened:

Scenario 1:
Remember when he recommended to do a Box-Up of the Air-Con trunking in the Bathroom so it will look nicer? He FAILED to warn me of the consequences of such a Box-Up and had I not heeded Mmoh's important warning in the forum, I may have stupidly done this Box-Up, only to find out Years later if my Aircon Piping spoil, I might have to completely DISMANTLE the ENTIRE BOX-UP in the BATHROOM just to repair the piping.This is especially DISASTROUS as I do Tile Overlay in my Bathroom, and Overlay are also done on this Box-Up.

So just imagine how HORRENDOUS it would look with Half-of my Bathroom Wall stripped of it's tiles? Honestly I am very disappointed that such an important warning came from a Renotalk Forummer instead of an ID who is supposed to be experienced about this. To make things worst, his comment when I say I don't want to do the Bathroom Box-Up was "I worry the Pipes look Ugly."  Appearance seems to be a more important Priority than future potential issues.

Scenario 2
I'm sure many of you can feel my FRUSTRATION at the DB-Box Door that he hacked away recklessly without even consulting with me the price first. I admit i'm a little at fault here, because I did tell him that I want to remove the DB-Box Doors to change to a Sliding Door one. But wouldn't the correct thing to do is to quote the price to the customer first, check if agreeable before hacking and dismantling the DB-Box Doors?

And to think he still had the cheek to casually quote me $750 just to REPLACE THE DOORS!!! Even when I told him this price is just too high, the best he could do was just lower it slightly to $650?? and still tell me "This is Best Price?" I am EXTREMELY UPSET about this, but at least I'm very happy and relieved that at least I can find Solace in a fellow Renotalk Forummer Rufus58 who came to my rescue by introducing her ID friend who can at least soften this MASSIVE DAMAGE caused by Jason. Subsequently, I think he can feel I'm upset also and is trying his best to avoid this topic when meet up.
He's lucky I'm not the confrontational type, or I'd have scream and shout at him to no end lol.

Scenario 3
While his Aircon guys did a generally good job with the routing of the Aircon Trunking, however Lets Play a little Game. Take a look at the below 2 Pictures of the Aircon Trunking in my Bathroom, can you spot what is wrong with my Aircon Trunking?


The Answer:
Look at the below picture in the Area Circled in RED.
With the Aircon Trunking installed so close to the Window Frame, how does he expect me to install a Bathroom Blind / Curtain? So when he was commending how good a job his workers did with the Aircon Trunking, he was noticeably stumped for words when I highlighted this problem to him. So when I asked him, what he can do to rectify this?

Guess what his reply was?? DO A BOX-UP Hahahaha...NO!  
I didn't even bother to ask him how much, I immediately shot down his suggestion. (Probably gonna cost money to cover this mistake as usual)

Dear Reader, if you have any suggestions (that doesn't involve spending Hundreds of Dollars) i'd love to hear from you how I can still install a Curtain / Blind at my Bathroom Window with this Air-Con Trunking blocking the way. I would definitely appreciate it. Thanks!




5) Last but not least, this was only discovered when I inspected my apartment today:
MASSIVE SECURITY BREACH!!! (my number combi is blacked out for security purpose obviously)



Imagine my horror upon entering that the Number Lock, WASN'T PROPERLY LATCHED AT ALL????

I'm not sure who exactly to blame.
His workers for forgetting to Latch Properly? Or Jason for not supervising properly?

When I was doing my inspections previously, this Security Breach never happened before. It was only today that I found this. Of course I immediately Whatsapped him this and he said he will take note of it.

I'll treat this one as a One Off Human Error, but if this happens again, I'm sad to say SECURITY will be a MAJOR CONCERN. Dear Readers, this is something you need to take note if you do your own inspections when you're doing renovations.
-------------------------------------------------------------

So we come to the conclusion of my Mid - Renovation Review of my ID Jason from 96 Degree Designers.

Jason certainly isn't perfect by any means, he has his good and bad points.
please don't take my "Mid-Renovation Review" the wrong way and condemn him.
There are no such thing as a Perfect ID.

In response to the kind forummer who PMed me gently reminding me not to be so Naive,
Yes, I knew of this fact from the start when I first started out looking for IDs. I'm not THAT gullible.

To be very honest, I'm already very very relieved that at least he didn't take my initial 50% of the money
I paid so far and run away like so many horror renovation stories I've heard alot of people suffered.

*Special Note to Chris from 96 Degree Designers if you are reading this:
Don't take this the wrong way, i'm just providing my objective review of how I feel about Jason so far.
I hope you can take my gripes constructively and gently remind him of this. (I know he doesn't read this blog)

Click Here for the Next Blog Entry:
Kitchen / Bathroom Fittings Shopping at SaniQUO

Click Here to go back to Page 1 - Table of Contents

Edited November 22, 2018 by ryanyth

[Songz 132]

You may want forgo the blinds / curtains.

Maybe you can go for frosted glass or something. 

[RyanYTH 87]

2 minutes ago, Songz said:

You may want forgo the blinds / curtains.

Maybe you can go for frosted glass or something. 

Thanks for the reply bro

Ya thats one of the things i'm thinking of. Although replacing glass sounds expensive.
I'm hoping there is an alternative sticky sticker type can paste on the window or something.
I remember my old house did such a thing for the windows.

[Songz 132]

31 minutes ago, ryanyth said:

Thanks for the reply bro

Ya thats one of the things i'm thinking of. Although replacing glass sounds expensive.
I'm hoping there is an alternative sticky sticker type can paste on the window or something.
I remember my old house did such a thing for the windows.

You don need to replace the glass.

Just get people to do frosted on the existing glass. This will save a lot more   

[RyanYTH 87]

2 hours ago, Songz said:

You don need to replace the glass.

Just get people to do frosted on the existing glass. This will save a lot more   

Noted. I'll be on the look out for this.
 

Edited October 11, 2017 by ryanyth

[matchalatte 16]

re the curtain in the bathroom, maybe try the ikea curtain rod? it can be mounted on both the ceiling and wall. like this :

of course another alternative would be to do the window sticker but your window is already frosted, whats the point of putting frosted sticker on a frosted glass? you wont be able to open the window anyway