The Polates' Scandi 4-room BTO

[OceanEleven 203]

On 7/15/2017 at 0:03 PM, infatuation1527 said:

NO False ceiling

No false ceiling because we will be having track lights for the entire house. We also don't want any creepy crawlies stuck somewhere up there. Some IDs also said that depending on the design of the false ceiling, some ceiling fans "wind strength" may be "blocked" by the shape of the false ceiling. 

 

On 7/17/2017 at 5:56 AM, Remon said:

Wow. Interesting idea that there might be creepy crawlies on false ceilings and wind that will be blocked by cove designs.

Perhaps I want to rethink my now reno concept. Hehe.

False ceilings should not house any creepy crawlies unless it is not done properly or crack over time. 

More of a concern will be L box instead, however after living with L Boxes for more than a decade, I have no problem with any insect growth or dust issue.

L Box has its charm too as it create a lume of reflected light which is more evenly scattered around.

False ceiling is a MUST if one wants down light, and false ceiling also can help conceal/ run wire and cable easily compare to no false ceilings.

Without false ceilings, cable and wires are run in trunking (piping if industrial look) which some may not like it.

Track lights not recommended for dining are, as track lights are more of a beam/spot like and focus on a area rather than "all around". Makes reading/looking tedious.

[infatuation1527 2]

@OceanEleven any links to share for LED track lights on taobao? I agree that local prices are a total rip off.

[OceanEleven 203]

12 hours ago, infatuation1527 said:

@OceanEleven any links to share for LED track lights on taobao? I agree that local prices are a total rip off.

Afraid dont have any links to share, my purchase are about 3 yeas ago. Track ligh you may consider to purchase local. Cost wise, not as bad as dining/living lights.

[infatuation1527 2]

Today is the start of hacking works! I shall let the pictures speak for themselves. Mr K took the initiative to send us the photos, probably because we told him that we won't be able to be there today. We did ask Mr K whether he would give us a project schedule. However, I think he prefers to do things at his own pace and we are okay with it as long as he is able to handover in mid October as promised. 

 

[infatuation1527 2]

This post is about two days late. Anyway, we met Mr K up last Saturday to discuss the electrical works. He was on time and shortly after, a guy (should be the electrician) came. Planned electrical works around the house for about 1 hour and he said he will give us the quote soon. 

Walked around the empty (and dusty) house and noticed that the toilet bowls have been removed and placed neatly in the bomb shelter. 

Yesterday, Teck Tai also came to install the door arm! Initially was quoted $65 by this guy called Joel 9635 9956 but later saw from my estate's FB page that they got it for $50 so Joel honoured the price of $50 for our estate! Joel was prompt throughout and the installer was also on time. I like the fact that he called me before installation and he waited about 15 - 20 min for me to arrive at my door!

 

Anyway, electrical quote came back to be on the high side so we frankly told Mr K that we would like to outsource. He was cool about it and said no problem at all. We got Mr Sim (highly-raved on Renotalk - 9818 2445) who is really superbly nice! Hubby met him and hubby told me that Mr Sim felt paiseh to "snatch business" from other contractors so he actually told us to use the electrician provided by Mr K and also "taught" us how to negotiate further and get a better price from Mr K's electrician. He also gave a few good suggestions and this was how we managed to cut down on 2 data points and get a lower price from Mr K's electrician in the end. So yes, we went back to sign with Mr K's electrician after some negotiation. It seems like eletrical works will commence tomorrow! Next post will be updated with another Amazon buy and my Taobao loots (via sea shipment)!

Edited August 1, 2017 by infatuation1527

[Raylowwl 1]

Hi,

Could you pm me Mr Sim contact? Thanks. I need a electrical for my bto soon. 

Ray

[infatuation1527 2]

Hi @Raylowwl, I think Mr Sim is a super nice guy so I thought I'd share his contact above in my edited post  All the best for your reno journey.

[infatuation1527 2]

Electrical works took place on Thu and Fri and have now been completed! Some pictures that Mr K sent me as soon as it was done..

Basically the highlight of each picture are the wires  nothing fancy. We didn't have time to go and have a look so we only went to see see look look on Saturday morning because it was also the delivery of our huge Blanco Naya 6 sink from Hoe Kee.

Having read quite a bit on forums, we were quite prepared for the bottom of the sink to look like that. Hubby also asked the delivery man and he explained that this is normal. 

When we went up, there were 2 workers doing some works and I must say that the entire place is truly messy! 

Hubby was quite excited so he brought his brother up our house to have a look at night and to our surprise, the common toilet wall is already half-way overlaid! This was taken in the morning:

The kitchen wall was also in the process of being "plastered"..

Over the week, our Unifi from Amazon also arrived! The only downside was that it came as a US power adaptor so we have to use an adapter for it to fit into the power socket. 

Besides shopping on Amazon, I was also addicted to Taobao. It was because I wanted to purchase lights from Taobao and the usual air shipment did not allow that. So I googled and found that sea shipping was possible so I sprung into action immediately! Each LED bulb was only 25RMB as compared to Singapore stores which sold one for $40! The total cost of my lights and a few other stuff without shipping was about $600. These were the items...

Hippo Stool

Chair Legs' Cover

LED track

LED bulb

Round Mirror for bathroom

Simple Circle Light for bathroom

Captain America floor mat

Bathroom floor mat (thick)

Vegetable Cushion (potato and broccoli)

Hope that the items are true to the pictures. Floor tiling will be done next and will take 3 weeks according to Mr K so I guess the next update will be at the end of August!

[infatuation1527 2]

Happy National Day Eve! Both toilets' overlay of the wall tiles in progress!

I've seen nicer toilets, so I don't know if we selected the best tile for overlay anyway it's too late for regrets now. Hubby kept saying that it's nice but it's far from my envisioned look.. 

Anyway, kitchen cabinet kerb, tall unit kerb + cement sink support also done.

Mr K has been prompt with his updates. Keeping my fingers crossed that things will stay this way. 

I was browsing tblogs to get some inspiration and saw that the dining wall need not be always white although the entire house revolves around white, black and wood. So I decided to go to Pinterest to look for my favourite colour (navy blue) wall. I sent this picture to Mr K and asked if he could show us this colour on our 3D layout. He said ok so I shall wait. Hubby isn't very convinced with using this colour but I told him that it actually acts like a "feature wall" and everything need not be just black, white and wood.

I'm quite glad that works in the kitchen and toilets have started. Initially, I thought that flooring for the whole house has to be completed before any other works can take place. I must say that when Mr K gave me the estimated completion date to be in mid-Oct, it makes me less kan cheong and more chill. Hubby also reminded me not to rush him as we want him to do things sui sui for us.

Recently, I have been looking for things that cannot be found easily using the Taobao photo function. I think it's super useful as people who don't know what something is known as could just take a screen shot of the item and search for it on Taobao. 

[infatuation1527 2]

Found time to visit the house during the public holiday. I think the two workers assigned to reno our house must be thinking how come these two always come and do spot checks. 

1. Toilet floor tiles are in for master toilet.

2. Bomb shelter "holes" fixed.

3. Feature wall ready for craft stone to be pasted.

4. The last photo of the living room is to explain why my hacked bedroom will not look like the Pinterest photo which I shared earlier. If you notice, there is a beam stretching from bedroom 3 all the way to the kitchen side. Initially, I had wanted for the glass to be full height, from floor to ceiling, however this cannot be done now  

[spikeling 8]

Have you found your dream stand alone basin for the toilet? I am also looking for one but no luck so far. Mind sharing yours if you already got it? Thanks.

[infatuation1527 2]

@spikeling I ordered mine from Heritage Bathroom at Geylang. It is not on display but I showed them a picture and they found it on an OTTO catalogue that was sitting in the shop and said they would be able to order it for me. Got it at $400 each. Universal Union (a few shops  from heritage) also sells floor standing basins and they have some designs on display so perhaps you can go take a look! I didn't purchase from them as they quoted me $380 before gst. 

Edited August 11, 2017 by infatuation1527

[spikeling 8]

Thanks for the quick reply! Is this the one u bought?

[infatuation1527 2]

@spikeling yup I bought the 001 model.

[infatuation1527 2]

Was just telling hubby yesterday that the tiles are taking so long to be done even though Mr K brought us to select them first thing when we met. Today, Mr K shot us with a series with messages to confirm certain things because today his workers fast hand fast leg did quite a number of things!

1. He asked us how wide we wanted our tile grout to be.

Pros and cons for 1mm: Nicer looking since tiles are closer; Easier to wear off over time
Pros and cons for 2mm: Tiles look more far apart (actually not much also la); Would not wear off so easily since it is a thicker layer

Hubby and I went ahead with a 2mm grout since we wanted durability. 

2. He double confirm with us that our bathroom seatee will be hollow. Initially, hubby told him we didn't want a hollow seatee. But Mr K assured us that if you sat down, you would not fall so hubby was fine with that. Also, if you notice right in front of the seatee is the floor trap (is that what you call this thing?) so the seatee width cannot be too wide. Otherwise, Mr K said he has to "expose" the bottom (like an 'n' shape bench) and not seal up the seatee like a block which we didn't want because I don't want any dirt of hair to be stuck underneath. 

3. He told us that he cannot do a "slide down" from room to bathroom (forgot the reason) so he will be doing a kerb instead.

 

Edited August 11, 2017 by infatuation1527