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Hi! We have been on this forum for over 3 years and have learnt a lot thanks to the generous sharing of information and ideas here. Now that our very own first home will be ready soon, it's time to give back. Our home is a 4-room unit in Punggol Emerald that was launched in April 2010 together with Punggol Waves. At the point of writing, some of our future neighbours have already collected their keys and commenced renovation works. Even though our PCD is still stated as 4th Quarter 2013, our block still has quite a bit of work to do and as the title suggests, we are looking at a more realistic moving in date of March to April 2014. In terms of the unit layout, we are really pleased that the kitchen is large by today's 4-room BTO standards as we are looking forward to finally hosting dinners in our home. On the other hand, this means the living room will be smaller but we feel the area distribution is balanced. The only gripe is that due to the way the Main Bedroom and Bedroom 1 are placed, the available options to hack or combine the 2 rooms are limited.

Dear All, Welcome to my T-Blog. I am starting this T-Blog to chronicle my reno journey, in the quest of creating a cosy, liveable space that i can call home. After living in a 121sq.m 5room flat for the last 15 years with my wife and 2 kids, many of my friends are unbelieving when I mentioned my next flat is an 82sq.m 3 room unit. My decision on a 3 room is purely financial. Maximise profits, live loan-free. I sold my previous flat just before the HDB prices and COVs came a-tumbling (last May), and have been living with my parents since. Saw an opportunity to purchase a flat fully paid, and with a COV of $2k, I signed an OTP within 5 hours of viewing this flat. I took ownership of this flat 2 weeks ago, and I have been discussing my plans with various IDs and contractors. Details later. Now for the customary obligatory floor plan. What attracted me to this unit is (1) the location-Bedok, (lived here half my life) (2) the large kitchen (I love to cook), (3) top level in the block (well, technically I live on a more "atas" stratosphere than 90% of my neighbours. Right? Lol) (4) windy - at least it was windy when I first viewed at 3pm in the hot afternoon, and thankfully still very windy after I took over the keys 4 months later, (5) chance to create a study room where the "excess living room" sits (6) Corner unit (privacy) (7) North-South orientation, thus NO WEST SUN!! I suffered badly in my previous flat the dreaded west sun. I bought it when I was much younger and deemed the west sun as a minor factor in a flat selection. Clever me... (8) I can go on, but I think any further points would just me justifying to myself. Haha.. However, I certainly did miss a couple of shortcomings of this flat when I viewed, in the excitement of it all. Only in an empty flat do these defects show up. (1) Master toilet space is miserly. Utterly miserly, making me miserable.. (2) Ceilings are spalling badly. (Pictures in the next post). Being in the top floor, my upstairs neighbour is the space managed by the Town Council, the storage water tanks and its water proofing, and the weather elements. (3) The walls are not aligned right-angle. There is a slight 2-3degree (by my estimation) tilt, making the floor space a trapezium. Although 2-3 degrees do not seem much, running the 2-degree deviant over 4 metres show up the huge difference. Placing furniture will then also be a challenge. It shows as right angles on the floor plan though. Not funny, HDB... (4) Maybe there are more that I have not discovered yet. Okay, getting long-winded already. More pics coming up in the next posts.

Hi mishmash, it is good to see more homeowners considering structured cabling for their new homes. Most consumer switches are plug and play and do not require any configuration and unless you are planning to deploy a managed switch, as in my case, you need not be concerned with this aspect. In terms of the wireless router location, placing it in the living is hardly the centralized location for most HDB units and poor signals or blind spots are likely to be experienced in the main bedroom. So, if you are able to shift it to either of the common bedrooms, that will likely boost the all round coverage of your wireless network.

Laundry System (Pulley). Actually wanted to get the one using electric to move the poles up and down, and also has light. But due to the cost/budget, chose the pulley instead. Got it at the Expo furniture fair from a company that has been around longer than the other competitor. Installed yesterday: 4 poles but 2 poles have holes in them for the hangers to hook into the holes, so can hang more clothes.

Thanks for the heads up on such issues. My opinion, the reno process should go this way. Discuss what you want, the lay out, the carpentry, the materials etc. Then wait for quotation. Once quotation is ok, sign the contract and then ask for 3D drawings. Initial stage, no point discussing so much on the design, colour, laminates etc. This is a waste of everyone's time. Better to tell ID/contractor things like your theme, 2 full height cabinets in the kitchen, Blum, granite table top, craftstone bricks on this particular wall, wardrobe in all bedrooms etc. This shorten the time used on discussion and at the same time can listen if the ID can propose something different. Chemistry or not also start from here, If the ID insist on certain ideas, design, more ex setup, then move on. Else sit there with ID for 6 hours to sort out colour, design etc but in the end not signing on, a complete waste of everyone's time and life. Also how much can design differs from others, a wardrobe is a wardrobe, no one is champion enough to ask for a triangle one or a hexagon one right? End of the day, it is the laminates, color that makes the difference. What hides behind the door can be sorted out in the carpentry stage. My take on 3D - Good to have but not necessary. Reason, cost of 3D comes from you and take weeks to draw. Most ID sub out the drawings, cost I heard is min $100 up. So that 3-5 pcs of 3D is cutting into your reno cost by $500. I personally dont like 3D. What is drawn does not represent what I want, or what I will get. Think of the paintings on the wall, comfy armchair in the corner, or my favorite - pebbles under the toilet's vanity top with down lights.Many things are there simply to enhance the look which you will never have, get or do. So why waste the time delaying the starting of reno. Just my 2 cents. Paying for consultation, design,3D: Again, why pay for things when others are willingly and readily giving to you in the first place? Unless you really like the company or the ID, I see no reason to pay upfront for something so intangible. For all I know, it may be a simple cut and paste, shift this here and there, change of colour and taa daa here you go, your 3D, design and consultation. They aint no lawyers, where you know nuts and need the expertise. All you need is be proactive, practice some due diligence, do your homework and you are on your way to rock and roll. With all due respects, just my 2 cents.

Hello everyone.. Very new to RT.. I am so glad I came across this thread.. Congrats KayKay on your great purchase.. Just to share that I am also looking into purchasing this model .. Viewed one on low floor,mid floor and even managed to get a viewing for one on the top floor.. Hoping I will be an owner soon too.. Looking forward to read all your updates ( great insights from ur first post already ! ) here's wishing u a great and smooth Reno..

W will be getting Yale digital lock Gold YDM 3109 for the main door and Yale 1st digital lock YDG323 special design for gate which dun need the ugly bracket behind the gate which other model have to. we would like to have the handle for the gate so before reno, i got one of the contactor to weld another metal box on the gate for the digital lock. This is what we going to have for below photo.

Got it at the end of last year when they had Christmas promotion at 15% off. A day after getting my keys. But only had it installed yesterday. It has free installation and the hyflux plumber even asked me why took so long to install. http://www.hyfluxshop.com/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?c=FG-HCPSYS-025-1&l=sg If you have hot and cold water, then have to be careful. the system cannot be connected to a hot water line as the system is not designed to withstand high temperatures. The maximum temperature of feed water tolerable is 38°C. Best a separate tap.

Used a few times, as it's just installed and I've yet to move in. But I can taste the difference between the filtered and unfiltered. Unfiltered has that slight chlorine gap water taste but the filtered water does not.

Nice display cabinet with the blue lightings...

Howdy leonjennawong! Thanks for keeping us entertained with your Tblog...I've 'engaged' posh home as well...met him once for an initial talk about my design. A second time at his office and his quotation is rock steady plus he did not miss any of the items that i requested to do for my house. I will start a Tblog soon to document. His other designer name ephron is equally helpful as he drove me to OSK and Hafary to take a look at the tiles and lights which is near their office. Yes calvin will be busy from now on after all the promotion you gave him...so i've made it a point to click with his colleague in case calvin is too busy. The reason why i say 'engaged' is becos i told him verbally thru watsapp that he will be appointed as my ID and told him my start work date will be early march. Calvin straight away say no time! cos he need to apply permit and all...so without any delay, ephron came to my place aft work that night and collected the keys from me. The next day he went up to take measurement on the walls that are to be hack. What can i say....POWER SERVICE and we haven't sign the contract yet. Guess it will be a smooth journey from now. Look out for my tblog soon!!

*Continued from previous post KITCHEN 3D (LEFT & RIGHT SIDE) by #PoshHome: Summary of Works: · Mint-coloured laminate from #Formica & ABS trimming & soft-close hinges (bottom cabinet only) for all kitchen cabinets (CFO absolutely loves this colour! ) · Concrete Base for bottom kitchen cabinets · LED strip lighting below top-hung kitchen cabinets · White subway tiles with grey grouting for kitchen backsplash · Full height cabinet for built-in ovens · Complete quartz top for bottom cabinets (colour to be confirmed again) · Forgot to tell #CalvinTan that we want a kitchen hood with chimney · Dish rack not shown here · Complete false ceiling for kitchen not shown here · Full height ladder unit not shown here MASTER BATHROOM 3D by #PoshHome: Summary of Works: · Top hung suspended mirror cabinet (love love love how it is in-line with the bottom quartz top & vanity closet) · Quartz top for sink (still exploring other colours) · Built-in vanity closet below sink · Tempered glass shower screen (extends all the way up to ceiling, opted out glass door) · Shower Kerb (tiles to be bought from HDB later) · Still looking around for suitable motif tiles to replace the current mosaic 3D design shown (will have a post on new choices for motif tiles soon!) Oh yeah.... Hmm there's still one more Master Bedroom 3D drawing that #CalvinTan owes me... I shall upload again once I get my grubby hands on it.. Hehehe.. And.. That's all folks! Hope you all enjoy these 3D drawings as much as CFO & I do! TGIF and Happy Weekends everybody!

Hi can pm me your direct contractor numbers as well please. Thanks