The Polates' Scandi 4-room BTO

[infatuation1527 2]

Today, we went to City Gas Carnival at PWC Building to purchase our gas heater. The salesperson explained a whole lot of things to us (it almost felt like an hour long lecture) for about 30 min and we finally settled on this. Installation scheduled on 26 August along with the delivery of our hood and hob, floor standing basins, KDK fans and bathroom mixers!

MACRO MA-10FE ($325)

The perks of purchasing it at the carnival sale include:
- Extended warranty from 1 year to 1.5 years
- Gas rebate of up to $20 per month for 3 months
- Waiver of $90 installation fee

We were also told that there will be a $50 charge after reno is almost over because the people from City Gas need to make another trip down to fix the meter and to turn on the gas. This will be charged to your monthly bill. As for the rebate, we just have to e-mail our SP Group bill to enjoy the rebate. 

On another note, decided to take a better picture of our floor tiles against my brown sofa. Mr K told us that our tiles are not completely "flat" so he will have to "smoothen" it as much as possible.

Today, hubby finally told me that actually our Taobao loots are scheduled to arrive in SG next Wed. He has been telling me stories like the shipment dropped into the sea and the dustbins for the bedroom hasn't been shipped blah... I think he enjoys seeing me getting all flustered -.- Crossing my fingers that the items will be hits and not misses (learnt it from fellow renotalkers). 

** UPDATE on Sunday **

Wanted to bring our pet dog for sterilization at a vet (coincidently there is one at blk 124) but was told that she has to fast the night before. So we booked an appointment for Thursday and decided to pop by our house since it was nearby! Pleasantly surprised that more stuff are being done  

1. Service Yard windows up

2. Service Yard side windows changed to glass panels 

3. Sink finally up together with cement support

4. Floor tiling in progress!

5. Box up of recessed wall in living room done

Edited August 13, 2017 by infatuation1527

[infatuation1527 2]

 

Updates after almost a week!

1. Seatee in Master Toilet

2. Common Toilet Overlay

3. Flooring in Living Room (towards rooms)

4. Flooring in Living Room + a bit of Bedroom 3

 

Carpentry designs

 Master Bedroom

 

 Kitchen

 

 Shoe Cabinet

 

That's all for now!

UPDATE AT 7.55PM

In any renovation, there will be ups and downs. With so many ups since the start of our reno journey, finally the downs came...

Mr K asked us if we would want our toilet shower screen to be black framed because the other time I showed him that I really like such style. He talked me out of it saying that I would need to top up (what's new right), and that it won't be durable as it is made of metal and the bathroom is constantly wet, etc. 

So today when he asked that question, I thought that my black framed shower screen was doable again. So we discussed a bit and he mentioned that it's not possible because of my seatee in the master toilet. So I googled the photo below and showed him that even if the corners weren't straight down, it was possible - you just have to cut the glass and do the black frames accordingly. He insisted that such a style does not match my toilet tiles and even sent me pictures of honey comb tiles with black frames shower screen - saying that black frames can only go with honeycomb or subway tiles. Bottom line was - he kept putting my ideas down and insisting on his own.

Frankly speaking, it annoyed me quite a bit. I feel like I'm paying for his ideas while mine have to be flushed down when he thinks it doesn't fit. The husband is literally a follower. Whatever Mr K says, he will agree with him no matter how much he wants something. When asked why he agrees with Mr K, he said that it's because he's the contractor. *shakes head*

Just needed to rant about this. I mean, I appreciate Mr K giving us his opinions and helping us in the decision process but I feel that he should ultimately let us decide whether to do certain things or not. It really frustrates me quite a bit.

Edited August 19, 2017 by infatuation1527

[Clarence Lye 10]

looking good. love your floors, very similar to what i have for my kitchen.

[infatuation1527 2]

14 hours ago, Clarence Lye said:

looking good. love your floors, very similar to what i have for my kitchen.

Just saw your kitchen floor and it really does look similar. 

[edwintan 1]

It's turning out really nice! With some smart lighting, smart blinds and motion sensor bathrooms, it will turn out to be a dream home.

[spikeling 8]

perserve. dont give up on your ideas.

Edited August 19, 2017 by spikeling

[infatuation1527 2]

Thanks @edwintan and @spikeling. Hoping that things will eventually turn out fine. Good luck for your reno journey!

[matchalatte 16]

girl, insist on your own ideas. its your home afterall and YOU are the one paying. moreover its the design he doesnt agree with, not like affects the building structure or something. my contractor is the same thing, he just wants the easy way out and doesnt accept my ideas at all. he would say things like "you'll regret it one day" or "why must you do it this way, it doesnt look practical". luckily when i insist, he will do it. 

[infatuation1527 2]

UPDATE: Can't decide which vacuum cleaner to buy. Went down to Gain City AMK on Sunday wanting to buy my mom's Tecno gas hob because our current one has a GREEN flame! Was told that there will be a $30 delivery fee for orders below $1,500 so hubby and I thought why not get our TVs since there seem to be some sale going on. Told the guy we only wanted a 55" for our living room and a 40" for bedroom 3 and it has to be a Sausung or LG + it has to be below $2,000 in total. They offered a 55" + 32" for $1,799 nett but we wanted something bigger for the room so I said could we make it $2,000 for both TVs. They said cannot -.- and must be $2,049. So after a while I decided to just close on eye. At the same time I impulsively bought a Bosch bagless vacuum for $249. When asked if a discount was possible, the lady said OK! $245, discount $5 hahaha. I was like ok never mind, $249 is fine. But I wasn't convinced this was the vacuum that I wanted because I was still considering a Karcher. When we went home, I asked hubby if I could replace the Bosch vacuum with something else. And I am tempted to get a Dyson because it is powerful + cordless!

Question: Is a Dyson worth the buck? Looking at the cord-free V8 @ $700-ish.

-----------

Actually I'm over that now. Decided to see it positively and think that Mr K is really trying to help me renovate the house proper. I think he has his plus points as well. It's ok, I can live without black framed shower screens. 

Unhappy things aside, my taobao loots finally arrived because my clown hubby says that he managed to "dive into the sea to retrieve the package while it's missing in the waters" 

As it is really bulky and heavy, hubby says we shall lug them all on a weekend when there's light so after work on weekdays are out. We also checked with Mr K when will flooring protection be up before deciding on that. He mentioned that flooring protection will be up by Thursday! 

Shall review the taobao items when I unbox them on Saturday 

Edited August 22, 2017 by infatuation1527

[infatuation1527 2]

It has been a while since my last update. Today was a super productive and tiring day because aircon guys came to install piping, delivery of our Grohe items, delivery of our oven, hood and hob, City Gas pipe installation. Shall let the pictures do the talking!

So this is the usual messy state now.

We first unboxed our taobao purchases and I think most are hits! Except for my very pathetic quality hangers which I didn't take any pictures of.

Happy with our lights purchase, now just hoping that it works. No dents or whatsoever.

Our Bosch oven! Didn't manage to take picture of our chimney hood or induction hob because it was too troublesome to unbox them. They will be installed another day.

Pleasantly surprised that our shower head and bidet spray are Made in Germany whereas the wash basin faucet and shower faucet are Made in Thailand. The packing is also different as you can see. 

Shower screen for common toilet is done! Glad that we went ahead with a rectangular shower area instead of a square one because we have a bit more space to bathe our dachshund now. Master toilet shower screen had to be sent back because the measurements were wrong...

Our overly-used craft stone feature wall. This made the hubby very happy because he likes it very much. This is before grouting.

And this is halfway done with grouting...

This picture shows that the aircon trunking has to "touch" my door frame as explained by the Gain City guys that due to some beam, this is inevitable. Mr K also said that this is common in many homes so hubby and I just ok ok accepted it. The Gain City guys took 4 hours to do the pipings!!! Hubby and I stayed throughout because we wanted to see the end product before signing anything. Really very tiring because we did not bring any chairs or stools so yes, I stood there for 4 straight hours. I'm just so glad that everything that's supposed to come did eventually come... oh wait... there was something wrong with our KDK ceiling fans. I remembered we ordered silver ones but the 4 that came were all white and hubby did not even realise! He said that we bought so many things until he blur. I called Heritage and they confirmed that we ordered silver ones, so the guy had no choice but to come back and collect the wrong ones. They will be sending us our silver KDK fans together with our Vento Fino fan on Mon or Tue. Also, the OTTO floor standing basins that I ordered from Heritage did not come with the OTTO name on it. I wonder if they ordered a look alike from Taobao? Was quite uneasy about it but it's very troublesome to have to question them how come the name OTTO is not there. Hubby also said they may just bring it back and "tattoo" the name there just for the sake of doing it. So I thought, heck never mind as long as the shape and size is what I wanted. 

Paid another 35% of reno fees because carpentry will come in next Tuesday... Mr K says that my tempered glass and metal frames for bedroom 3 will take some time because it's a long process to treat the glass and whatnot, so I shall update when more works are done!

 

[infatuation1527 2]

In the blink of an eye, one month has passed since reno started. I must say the process has been worry-free in the sense I do not have to chase Mr K to do things and he will not go MIA. All questions asked were replied too so this makes me feel that my money was well spent. To date, we are only left with 5% of payment. 

1. Wood part of Bedroom 3 - pending glass to "close" bedroom 3 up

2. Shoe Cabinet w/o cover yet

3. Master Bedroom wardrobe

4. Tall Unit (close-up) - cabinet, hole to put stuff, oven, drawer at the last layer

5. Kitchen Cabinet bottom with my Blum drawers and soy sauce rack - so far my most liked item

6. Kitchen Cabinet top

By the way, I purchased my Dyson V8 Fluffy on Qoo10 last week for only $649 because I made use of their $100 cart coupon for purchases above $600! Really excited and shared it with a colleague of mine who also bought it at a steal! The following day, a lady called to confirm the delivery date and I hope it reaches me within this week! Just last weekend, we went for our haircut and saw that the hairdresser uses a Dyson hair dryer! A little too atas for a hair dryer to cost $599? Hubby and I also decided to go back to Gain City Sungei Kadut to replace the impulsive Bosch vacuum with 2 Phillips induction cookers (steamboat kind).

Can't wait to order my Corelle plates and simplehuman trash cans from Amazon when reno is almost done!!!

[infinity2015 1]

so exciting ... ordering simplehuman (trash can) from amazon is going to costs a bomb ... better get it from amazon prime now or home-fix (cheaper by 20-30)  ...

[infatuation1527 2]

@infinity2015 I thought amazon.com is the place to go for simplehuman stuff. Amazon prime is also under amazon.com, no? Looking at a stainless steel 10L butterfly opening trash can. Local options like home fix I thought prices are sky high as compared to online..?

[Diluted 0]

On 26/08/2017 at 10:42 PM, infatuation1527 said:

It has been a while since my last update. Today was a super productive and tiring day because aircon guys came to install piping, delivery of our Grohe items, delivery of our oven, hood and hob, City Gas pipe installation. Shall let the pictures do the talking!

So this is the usual messy state now.

We first unboxed our taobao purchases and I think most are hits! Except for my very pathetic quality hangers which I didn't take any pictures of.

Happy with our lights purchase, now just hoping that it works. No dents or whatsoever.

Our Bosch oven! Didn't manage to take picture of our chimney hood or induction hob because it was too troublesome to unbox them. They will be installed another day.

Pleasantly surprised that our shower head and bidet spray are Made in Germany whereas the wash basin faucet and shower faucet are Made in Thailand. The packing is also different as you can see. 

Shower screen for common toilet is done! Glad that we went ahead with a rectangular shower area instead of a square one because we have a bit more space to bathe our dachshund now. Master toilet shower screen had to be sent back because the measurements were wrong...

Our overly-used craft stone feature wall. This made the hubby very happy because he likes it very much. This is before grouting.

And this is halfway done with grouting...

This picture shows that the aircon trunking has to "touch" my door frame as explained by the Gain City guys that due to some beam, this is inevitable. Mr K also said that this is common in many homes so hubby and I just ok ok accepted it. The Gain City guys took 4 hours to do the pipings!!! Hubby and I stayed throughout because we wanted to see the end product before signing anything. Really very tiring because we did not bring any chairs or stools so yes, I stood there for 4 straight hours. I'm just so glad that everything that's supposed to come did eventually come... oh wait... there was something wrong with our KDK ceiling fans. I remembered we ordered silver ones but the 4 that came were all white and hubby did not even realise! He said that we bought so many things until he blur. I called Heritage and they confirmed that we ordered silver ones, so the guy had no choice but to come back and collect the wrong ones. They will be sending us our silver KDK fans together with our Vento Fino fan on Mon or Tue. Also, the OTTO floor standing basins that I ordered from Heritage did not come with the OTTO name on it. I wonder if they ordered a look alike from Taobao? Was quite uneasy about it but it's very troublesome to have to question them how come the name OTTO is not there. Hubby also said they may just bring it back and "tattoo" the name there just for the sake of doing it. So I thought, heck never mind as long as the shape and size is what I wanted. 

Paid another 35% of reno fees because carpentry will come in next Tuesday... Mr K says that my tempered glass and metal frames for bedroom 3 will take some time because it's a long process to treat the glass and whatnot, so I shall update when more works are done!

 

Did you buy the Grohe stuff from taobao as well?

[infinity2015 1]

sh Butterfly Step Trash Can, Stainless Steel, 10 L / 2.6 Gal

amazon USA costs SGD 146. amazon prime now (sg) - not avail. HF SGD 119.

the larger the capacity the more exp from usa... compare first then buy.