Remodeling of existing 5 room flat

[Bumblebee17 1]

Hello! The renovation of our existing flat just started and the hubs asked if I wanna blog about it. Was undecided initially but made the decision to do so eventually. Treat it as moments la! 

Our humble abode is a 5 room flat where we’ve stayed for almost 9 years. Decided to renovate the house again because we couldn’t find a better place to move to and also because things are starting to fall apart.

For this 2nd time of remodeling, the main objective is to increase storage space and change the look of the house. Remember the past mistakes and try to avoid them (hopefully).

We engaged an ID this time around to help with the design and management of the project. I fell in love with one of the chosen ID's project and had more or less decided to engage him even though we did approach 3 other ID firms for quotations. 2 came and discussed then went mia. 1 came back with a quote and drawing - Quote was a tad high and proposed design didn't really catch our breath. And so we ended up with my favourite choice. 

Once the decision was made and details nailed down, we packed up and moved out. 

Edited April 25, 2018 by Bumblebee17
Add new photo and tidy up post

[KFC1189 11]

May I know where your flat is located? What is the floor area? Do you still have the floor plan of the flat?

[blubugs 2]

What is the contact for the KDK fans? 

[Bumblebee17 1]

@KFC1189 my unit is a 115sqm flat at Tiong bahru. This is my floor plan. Is your place also a 5rm?

[Bumblebee17 1]

@blubugs  Hubs bought the fans at a shop in AMK. Unfortunately he doesn’t remember the name of the shop   while I vaguely remember it starting with “Ever”...

Alternatively you can try Goh Ah Bee at Kovan. Reasonable prices for quality stuff.

[Bumblebee17 1]

To anyone who happen to chance upon this post, are Bellari products still available in SG?

[Songz 132]

18 hours ago, Bumblebee17 said:

@blubugs  Hubs bought the fans at a shop in AMK. Unfortunately he doesn’t remember the name of the shop   while I vaguely remember it starting with “Ever”...

Alternatively you can try Goh Ah Bee at Kovan. Reasonable prices for quality stuff.

 

Think it should be Everjoint

Their price is good 

[Bumblebee17 1]

2 hours ago, Songz said:

 

Think it should be Everjoint

Their price is good 

Yea that’s the one! Likely to be getting another KDK baby fan from there for the dining area

[Bumblebee17 1]

Hacking

To start off the renovation, hacking works were carried out. Hack, hack, hack....

Kitchen We are finally getting rid of the original HDB tiles after 9 years! 

Master room toilet where we previously did overlay, which wasn't done well. First there was leakage, then calcium build-up. Toilet bowl had a lot of "stretch marks" and shower tap was badly abused by 2 previous helpers.

Bedrooms 2 and 3 Hubs and I were still debating whether to hack wall dividing these 2 rooms. It was gone when we went back take a look a few days later. (Bit peeved  because this item was listed as optional in the contract so ID should at least get a final confirmation before going ahead ma.) Ah well, that means abort Plan A and execute Plan B.

Accident And what is renovation without accidents? Bedroom 3 has a wardrobe with a 4-panel glass door. One of them was damaged during the hacking of the bedroom wall. (The worker is either too excited or has a lot of pent-up frustration to vent ). Whatever the reason, his boss (i.e. my ID) is accountable and promised to make a new one which will be exactly the same as the other 3 panels. We'll see...

Edited April 27, 2018 by Bumblebee17
Add picture

[Bumblebee17 1]

Tiling

After hacking, wet works start. 

And after wet works, tiling. Since we didn't stay too far away so we (or rather I) will drop by the house whenever we can but didn’t see much progress. Feedback to ID and he said should finish by tomorrow.

Common bathroom Love the tiles! The bathroom isn't awfully bright so my mother was very adamant about using lighter coloured tiles.

Master room bathroom It was previously overlaid with white tiles so this time, we went to almost the end of the other extreme - Dark grey. We figured since this bathroom gets a little more light than the common bathroom, it would be ok to go for dark coloured tiles.

Kitchen Only the floor is tiled. Rest of the walls will be painted. Hubs was initially concerned that it will be difficult to clean when the walls are covered with grease. But I told he should not worry since he is not the one cleaning  and we won't be doing heavy cooking. So no wall tiles, which is a good thing too because the tiles are seriously heavy and huge. Tiler was like . Haha! He didnt want to make the effort to cut the tiles to fit the gap so ID just level up that area. We are ok since it will be covered by the kitchen cabinets.

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2018 by Bumblebee17

[papermotif 0]

You mentioned you'll try not to make the same mistakes during the first reno - am curious what are you looking to correct in your second reno? 

[Bumblebee17 1]

@papermotif the most “disturbing” mistake was the half height wall to separate kitchen and service yard. Previous contractor’s worker screwed up the measurement and we ended up smaller than expected kitchen counter top space. Everything suddenly had to shrink and threw our plans haywire.  We refused to pay for rectification and contractor refused to budge so we opted to live with it. Really a pain when we had to cook. There are other minor stuff like mirrors having black spots because they are glued to the wall, using solid surface instead of granite for kitchen top, not enough storage, didn’t ask for/insist on drawings/sketches of layout etc. So this time around, we are making sure work only starts when we are happy with the proposal.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Bumblebee17

[Bumblebee17 1]

Sanitary purchases

Smart lighting system has always been on my wishlist that's why I was keen use a lighting system that my friend is selling. Things came to a short standstill while I talked to my friend about the system and the required arrangements. In the end.... decided not to go ahead.  That’s because I came to know about Philips Hue lighting and realized it is possible to set up a that system can do pretty much the same as what my friend is selling but at a lower cost. I figured since we've already spent a ton on this reno, we should try to save if we can. Informed ID of our final decision and electrical works are set to start this Fri. Yay!

Now that decision has been made, it's time to get things going (aka shopping time! )

First up, sanitary items at Hoe Kee. Why HK? Because it’s the nearest to ID’s office. We were supposed to go sanitary shopping followed by meeting at his office. Hubs say prices are not going to vary much so just buy from HK. Save hassle and brain juice.

1. Toilet bowls. We bought this because ID says water swirls instead of shooting straight. Supposedly cleans the bowl better and also because the kids didn’t fall into the bowl while testing. Haha! 

2. Kitchen sink. My in-laws have a dish rack that is fixed as part of the top kitchen cabinet. Every time I place a cleaned, dripping crockery/utensil there for drying, water trickles down my arm and I absolutely hated it. On the other hand, my mum is old-school and didn't like the movable dish rack that we used to have (prior to this reno). Difficult to clean, she said. So she insist on buying the old-fashioned type of sink with wavy lines next to the bowl. That way, she can just leave everything there for the water to drain off and then just wipe the area dry. I refused. While the 2 of us were having a face-off (staring contest la ), I saw this Blanco granite sink. It seems to be an acceptable compromise so we bought it!  ID says “fulfill auntie’s dream”. 

3. Service yard sink. This is for us to do some light washing. Chose the biggest Blanco stainless steel undercount sink available.

4. Kitchen taps. Also Blanco.

5. Bathroom sinks. Hoe Kee doesn’t carry the Johnson Sussie semi-recessed basins ID wanted so he offered to help us buy from Malaysia.

6. Bathroom accessories. Got 2 sets which comprise of a hook, towel bar and toilet roll holder at $139/set.

7.  Bidet spray. Stainless steel.

And that’s the end of sanitary shopping.

Edited April 27, 2018 by Bumblebee17

[papermotif 0]

23 hours ago, Bumblebee17 said:

@papermotif the most “disturbing” mistake was the half height wall to separate kitchen and service yard. Previous contractor’s worker screwed up the measurement and we ended up smaller than expected kitchen counter top space. Everything suddenly had to shrink and threw our plans haywire.  We refused to pay for rectification and contractor refused to budge so we opted to live with it. Really a pain when we had to cook. There are other minor stuff like mirrors having black spots because they are glued to the wall, using solid surface instead of granite for kitchen top, not enough storage, didn’t ask for/insist on drawings/sketches of layout etc. So we are making sure this time around, we are making sure work only starts when we are happy with the proposal.

I look at my own reno and roll my eyes at some of the silly mistakes too. If I were to have a second go, I'd pick an ID over contractor too. I'm sure you'll do just fine this time. 

[bykaraanne 30]

Looks good so far!