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Finally got a contractor willing to move my laundry rack. My ID d not want to do it.

I hope this information will be useful to all homeowners who wish to save cost on home renovation works. Just as any other couples, we approached a few interior designers to build our dream home. To be frank, we were quite disappointed with their proposed ideas and design. Im proud to say we were the designers for our own home but of course with the help and advice from our contractor. Since we had to keep within our budget (arrival of our baby around the same time), we decided to do the renovation with a contractor after hearing from friends that it is possible to have a wow home makeover and save significant savings too. Information on renovation ideas are also readily available online. We were very much involved during the whole process. We invested our time on phone calls and checks to ensure evrything goes as plan such as the correct colours, design and layout as discussed with our contractors. Here are some of our house's photos in progress and the outcome. Im unable to upload all the completed photos due to size. All the best in planning your dream home!

3D drawing of my kitchen. Looks bigger than actual. Won't b seeing it take shape any time soon. Workers r stuck in Malaysia.

it's not about better. it's about how much power you need for your house. for example, a 32A induction cooker would draw 7.36KVA of power (at max). so if the house has a single phase 100A 230V supply, the maximum available power is 23KVA which would mean there is only 15.64KVA available for other appliances like aircon, water heater, etc. But for a house with 3 phase 60A 400V supply, the appliances with heavy loading can be spread evenly across the 3 phases, eg: induction cooker is on brown phase, water heater on black phase, ducted aircon on grey phase. with a total available power of 41KVA, there's also slightly more room for installation of appliances which need higher current draw.

waiting patiently...

13 Mar to 22 Mar – Hacking, Masonry and Piping works On 13 Mar, my renovation officially starts. The wall that separate my bedroom and living was hacked away to make room for my TV cabinet. The aircon piping done and toilet door sealed up. 50mm kitchen cabinet plinth and shower kerb done too. One bad news is, my ID told me that my project will be delayed due to the current situation (COVID-19 + Malaysia lockdown). As their carpenters are all Malaysian and their carpentry work are all done in Malaysia before they bring it out to install. Currently there’s only 14 carpenters are here to support 60-ish IDs and their projects. Will have to see how things goes and plan along the way. 😟 Before / After Wall between my room and living room hacked and the toilet entrance from my bedroom sealed. Aircon piping position for living room and bedroom. I have decided to group my toilet bowl and the shower together as my wet area. Shower kerb created to split them apart and tiles for toilet done. Kitchen cabinet plinth erected. Previous Topic Next Topic Back to Content Page

Front view of front wall and car poach where the dumpster is placed.

check with your contractor and SP on whether SINGLE PHASE 100A requires inspection or not. I may be wrong here as I know THREE phase 100A would require inspection. a single phase 100A at 230V will be at 23KVA 3 phase 60A at 400V would be at 41KVA 3 phase 100A at 400A would be at 69KVA from what I read, EMA requires anything more than 45KVA do have annual inspection. so a single phase 100A is only 23KVA so might not require annual inspection. but you need to determine if 100A is sufficient for your usage or not especially if you want to run aircon, induction cookers, etc all at the same time. for solar power sell back to grid, you will need to "pay" a transmission cost. for example if currently SP is selling you electricity at 23 cents per KW, when you sell back to them, the price you get from selling would be about 18 cents per KW after deducting the transmission cost. the numbers I provided are not the exact number but just to illustrate the point of transmission costs. since you are doing up your house now, just provision for an isolator for future use if you do not want to install solar panels now. else next time have to run wires would be more messy.

It takes around 8-10 years to break even and it’s not so easy but ask the sellers to take you through. As for 63a, this thread may help

Just to add on to what AWS mentioned, the "leak" along the duct is more due to condensation on the ducts rather than actual water leakage. however, this should not happen if the ducting is properly insulated when being installed. ducted aircon utilises a big blower unit to push air through the ducts. the sizing of the blower and corresponding condenser unit depends on the area needed to be cooled. so a ducted aircon can have same BTU rating as ceiling cassette units. one thing I missed out to mention is that the bigger BTU required, the bigger the size of the condenser unit. a 42K BTU condenser unit can be more than 1.2m high depending on brand and model. so if you do not have the space to install/move such a big condenser unit, then you may have to use a smaller BTU unit which provides lesser cooling. so in order to achieve the same cooling for a room, 2 sets of aircon may be needed. if there's no space for 2 sets of ducting and blower units, then choosing ceiling cassette or wall mount units would be preferred unless one can live with slightly less cooling.

Just my 2 cents: Ducted more prone to leak along the ducting compared to cassette, hence damaging the false ceiling. Cassette rate of cooling can match to that of ducted if proper BTU selection done properly by determining overall air volume in the room.

Defect checks and City Gas Piping Defect Checking I have arranged with my ID to do the defect check on 27 Feb. I believe she will know what and where to lookout for potential defects. At the same time, she can do some actual measurement of the physical place to finalise the dimension for the carpentry works. I have also arranged City Gas to do their site recce on 27 Feb as well. Trying to kill 2 birds with one stone (limited annual leave so must fully maximise the it). After my ID done with the defect checking and measured the actual space for the carpentry works, she told me that the carpentry, furniture and appliances position are according to what she has planned. There isn’t any major defect/modification require, except for the carpentry work at my living room and shower screen for bathroom, which I’m thinking of changing the door for my bedroom and re-position the shower screen in my toilet. Running of Gas pipes for Hob and Dryer After we have identified the location for the Hob and the Dryer, we have agreed that the pipes should run downwards, as we have cabinet that able to cover the pipes away. To run the gas pipes, I must arrange another appointment with City Gas. This is how it look like after the pipes are put in-place for my Hob and Dryer. Before / After Hob Area Dryer Area Previous Topic Next Topic Back to Content Page

Hope your friend's fortune had improved by leaps and bounds after spending the $30k for shifting the lamppost.

I actually had some mould problem in my master bedroom and i gave the HCL89 from http://hcl89.byethost10.com a try as it seems to give the best promise to get rid of the mould from what i read around and after i had used the HCL89 about a year back the mould in my master bedroom has completely disappeared and has never appeared again Its a product worth the try because for me it got rid of my mould issue permanently and it would probably help as it did for me as well

Key Collection OMG! This is what I have been waiting for! Excited!🤩 After numerous tries of balloting (cannot remember how many times I tried, should be more than 10x) and waited close to 5 years. Finally, I’m collecting my Keys on 24/02/2020. YAY~✌️ The following documents you need to prepare during Key Collection Day (KCD) and only the first 3 items below applicable to me. NRIC (Original) A working Singpass with 2FA Completed HDB Appointment Letter A copy of your Certificate of HDB Fire Insurance (if taking HDB loan) Original Marriage Certificate (if applicable) If you want to reduce the time spent at HDB Hub. The following two things I would prefer or recommend new homeowners to do before KCD. Key Collection Day (KCD -1) Apply for HDB Fire Insurance. If you are taking HDB loan, you will need to purchase a mandatory fire insurance from HDB’s appointed insurer (FWD Insurance). There is two ways to do it, you can choose to do it at the HDB hub during Key Collection or do it online. For two rooms it cost $2.71 for a 5 years premium (Do note that it does not covers home contents such as furniture, renovations and personal belonging). Sign up and Activate your SP service account If you intend to do the defect checks right after you have collected your keys, do activate your SP account 1 day before. This will allow you do the following checks when you head down to your unit. Check if the flushing works well Pour water in the toilet to ensure water flows towards the drainage Charge your mobile device or power-bank to ensure all the electrical point is functional Since I am using my CPF to pay the remaining amount in full, purchasing of Fire Insurance from FWD is not required. That does not mean that I do not need Home Insurance. Fire hazard can be easily triggered by the electronic gadgets/appliances, so to protect my unit and home content. I have bought my Home Insurance from Income ($156.28 for 3 years) and as for the activation of my SP account (Electric & Water) I have scheduled it on 27 Feb. Key Collection Day (KCD) My appointment was at 4:15 PM and I was there by 3 PM. Guess I’m too excited and I have been waiting for this day for so long and I can’t wait to get it done asap. I proceed to self-service kiosk to get my queue number and sit at the waiting area to wait for my queue number to be called. Since I was there very early, I thought I must wait for until 4:15 pm for my number to be call. To my surprise, my queue number was called around 3:45 pm and it took less than 20 mins to complete all the necessary paper work and payment. Glad that I’m there early and have done my homework prior to the appointment. After I collected my keys, I went down to my unit to do a simple Door Opening Ceremony and I have taken some pictures of my unit before my renovation start. Living room and Dining area Bedroom Kitchen Toilet Previous Topic Next Topic Back to Content Page

it seems that many people who buys a landed house wants to rebuilt to maximise the GFA. a landed house provides the owners the opportunity of having a private outdoor space which most apartments would not have. my personal opinion is that if the owners are not going to make use of this outdoor space, then might as well buy a condo which saves the headache of home maintenance. most older houses would have been built without the GFA being maximised so as to provide a balance between indoor and outdoor space. of cos an architect could design a new house with this in mind as well to maximise the upper storeys while still providing enough outdoor space for the 1st storey. my suggestion is for you not to be fixated on the GFA but focus on what you plan to do while staying in the house and your lifestyle. also think about how long you are planning to stay in this house. if this is going to be your retirement home, then it might be better to just rebuilt it now and then provision for a home lift and spaces which allows for unobstructed movement. if it's just going to be short term (5 or 10 years) then maybe just do a simple renovation would be enough.

The ID Hunt I started this quite early, since 2019 March. Seriously no joke, I thought this is the simplest process but end up NO! it took me almost 6 months to finalise which ID i want to engage. Had met up with 30 IDs or even more. Some reject my job when they hear its 2 rooms, while some reject because there was no key collection date. Some was rejected by me as the ID keep asking me for design concept, asking me to send them photos as example. On a serious note, If i want to copy other people design i would have not look for an ID. Anyway I list down a few IDs which i still have impression with them. Will also list why i select my current ID. Dxsign X Sxxxx - Met a lady designer. A little pushy to close the deal Txx Wxxxxx Pxxxxxxx - A nice guy but trying too hard to sell by package Mxxx Ixxxxxxx - story say untill got phoenix got dragon end up never received quotations Wxxxx & Wxxxx - Purposely approach this firm as i was attracted with one of the project the designer does. very *****. After meeting up realise he did all the drawing himself. Did not go ahead with this firm as he took very long to reply with a quote and subsequently never follow up with me anymore. 9 Dxxxxx - this is the ID i gave them the job. Very patient and sincere guy. he also does his own drawings. Alot of ID will only release 3D to you after payment or confirmations. But this ID will draw on the spot for my visualisation. Thats a bout it for today... next update will be on what kind of theme i am looking at.

Here's the man himself if anyone's interested! Good service, very professional and responsible, and even vacuumed after!

Hi! Yes! That's all we did for the floor and walls! Cheap & easy! No grout lines too.. all painted over. So no mould no black lines! I will post pics of the painting process soon. My painter is jaybon pro painter, mobile 8227 2177. You can find him on Facebook, he has a large repertoire! Everything incl cabinets can be painted according to him! My kitchen walls & floor were painted too! Alvin is a plumber. He dismantled the old WCs & basins and installed the new ones, as well as installed the sinks and faucets.

Bathroom Reno Hack and retile was my 1st option to redo the bathrooms but it'll cost 5 digits for 2 bathrooms.... Overlay was another and it was half the price. I've no experience with tiling but I've heard many people say there's a possibility tiles will pop up over time and overlaid tiles are not as durable... Then, I came across an article on EPOXY PAINTING Intrigued, I decided to find out more. You can Google "epoxy painting" or "polyurethane painting". It was almost perfect! I had no cracks on my tiles, they were just discoloured, stained, porous, and I hated the original light blue anyway! So painting seemed a good and very affordable way to change the colour and waterproof the tiles at the same time! Here's what I found out: epoxy painting is waterproof, mould-proof, doesn't discolour etc! In my painter's text to me: "polyuretane epoxy paint is weatherproof and waterprooof.very durable.use for painting ships and metal bridges..can wash with detergent,clorox everyday..can last long for toilets except cannot push or pull heavy furniture on the paint coz it can scratch.." So for $370/bathroom, walls and floor, what more could one ask for? My total cost for 2 bathrooms came up to $3000 including all WC, basins, cabinets, shower sets, lights etc. Basically changed everything except the heater as it was still good and this brand with stainless steel tank is now defunct (it's so good, nobody changed their waters heaters!) Oh btw, I had a great plumber. Really nice young chap and affordable & reasonable rates too. Fixed up everything in my bathroom incl WC, wash basin, cabinet, mirror, except the lights, shower which we DIY-ed using existing holes, and towel racks which my carpenter fixed. If anyone needs, here's his contact. Alvin: 9247 7110

The new above, and a mixture of the old and the new below... Alright, so if anyone's interested, please call Yeo directly to enquire. Just tell him his customer Mak from Anchorvale recommended! He knows us very well by now hehe... I won't be sharing cost as he gave us a special old customer price and besides, the scope of work is different. Plus this time round, I did a lot of minor stuff only. Just tell Yeo what you need, I love bouncing crazy ideas off him! In my next post, I will talk about bathroom reno on the cheap and sharing my plumber contact! Stay tuned & give a shout-out here if you find my post useful!

Sealing the stone is good because it helps to preserve the beauty of any stone for a long time

By sealing it i assume you mean to protect it? You can maintain/recondition your granite tiles by using something called HCL89 What it does is that it cleans and reconditions your granite tiles and also helps to create a protection for it so that it always remains new. You can usually get it from from http://hcl89.byethost10.com or http://hcl89.atwebpages.com Hope this helps you out