leechaorui

As long as you have a false ceiling, it is quite easy to install a ceiling exhaust fan. My friend has a toilet in the middle of his house (ie without windows). I find that it stint when someone does big business inside because the exhaust fan is not powerful enough. When you install the exhaust fan, you may want to look for something that is more powerful. Cheers!

I have not heard of Euro Builders. You could ask the builder for contacts of houses that he has built before and check with the owners on the quality of his construction and his responsiveness. Cheers!

There are serious cons and also some pros. Check out this article. http://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/turf-wars-pros-and-cons-of-artificial-turf

Did she mentioned that hers is a new development/ erection? In any case, I prefer not to recommend illegal works. If it is going to be done legally, I think it is best to maximise what she is planning to build on the land. Cheers!

In that case, you may want to consider A&A works to build up from the ground floor to the upper floor(s) and that would give you more space. Cheers!

To do the construction legally, you have to comply with the setback requirements and submit the necessary documents to the authorities for approval. You can get an architect to help you design the room and a contractor to build it for you. The additional built up space would add to the GFA and is taxable by IRAS.

Lauer has given good advice. In addition, I would like to caution on adding an attic when your house is already a 3 storey building. You will need to have additional pillars and possibly beams that run through the first floor to the third to support the attic. Hence, it is not a case of simply adding an additional storey with the rest of the house largely intact. It may not be easy to just add a lift even if you have an existing airwell and you may wish to consider installing a lift chair along your stairs. If you wish to add an attic, you will definitely need to get the necessary engineering expertise and approval from the authorities.

Yes, A&A requirement. Permit primarily from BCA and URA. You can get either an architect or builder to help you. They would need to hire a professional engineer to assist you. You can get from original contractor/ engineer but you can also get from elsewhere. Just need to get hold of the drawing of the house of which BCA should have a copy, if you can't get it from the developer. There are many architects and builder around for you to choose from. You can also get recommendations from some forumers who are rebuilding their house or have just redeveloped their place.

Happy National Day to you too! You may want to give him more time as 6 months is fairly short and not too good for you if he rush through the works. Probably 8 months to 10 months will be more comfortable. After all, cement needs time to cure. Regards.

As this is inter-terrace and only two side facing, the figure is still doable with reduced profit margin from contractor. I heard that the small glass lift is about $30K to $40K.

Agree with Kardtoon, $820K is a very reasonable and good price for constructing an inter-terrace. My caveat is that the construction quality are good and there are no hidden cost. Cheers!

Looks like what you require is an A&A requirement. If the void area is on the second floor or higher, you will need to put in the necessary structural pillars to support and this would require the help of professional engineer. No problem to do it before CSC.

Good to know that you are generally satisfied with your house construction. To lay the 3 phase power cable, it took Powergrid up to 4 months to do it for me. I applied for the cable laying after the piling works and foundation has been laid. To help speed things up, you may need to write to Powergrid to ask them to expedite. After the power cables had been in place, I got SingTel and StarHub to lay their cables, redo the drainage outside my house, redo the garden strips outside and then got LTA to repaved the road. All in, it took about 6 more months to complete, without which CSC will not be issued. If there is extensive external works such as re-ordering of the external pavement walkway, reconstruction of external drainage, etc..., you will have to start early to simultaneously do and complete the external works and apply for the necessary approvals as the bureacracy can take some time. I needed to do the external works because I designed my house such that there is no drains and water can flow out to a culvet (leading to a bigger covered drain) which is a short distance away from my house.

You can try: Active Restoration Technology Asia Pte Ltd No. 2 Fan Yoong Road Singapore 629780 Telephone: (65) 6261-4154 Fax: (65) 6265-0745 http://www.artech.com.sg

You can try fascina. It is one of the more premium quality product. http://www.fascina.com.sg Alternatively, you can get a carpenter craftman to help you design it using part tempered glass and partly using high quality chengai wood, using higher end weather proof stainless steel track system and hinges.

Hi Pantieileen, You can get a mortgage consultant to help you source for a bank loan that meets your needs. His service is free and you pay the same rates if you go direct to the bank. Only difference is the mortgage consultant helps you to check out on the banks and give you more personalised service. Cheers!

You can always construct your perimeter wall inwards towards your house so that you can place the sliding gate tracks on the outside. In this way, it will be safer for your kids. In addition, sliding door gate can open completely and this allows easier access in and out of the house for your vehicle. If you are concern that the kids may stick their hands out while the gate is sliding, you can always install glass gate or wooden gate that covers all. Something for you to think about when considering the pros and cons. Cheers!

One should have interest to maintain the tank. Otherwise after some time, it becomes an eye sore. Regards.

Congrats. TPY is a good estate with amenities and very central.

You can re-negotiate with the seller of the property to explore if there could be some form of mutual agreement to delay the completion of the transaction by another two months. This will give you more time to source for another bank. I have a friend who works as a mortgage consultant and he provides free services to the client and earns a commission given by the bank. In short, the charges that the customer pays is the same regardless of whether the customer uses his services or go to the bank directly. I think he may be able to help you to quickly search for other possible bank loan while you negotiate to delay the completion of your property. If you wish to engage his help, you can pm me with your hp number. I can link both of you up. There are also many other such mortgage consultants around, you are also free to engage the others for help. What is important now is to defer the completion of the property. Good luck.

For the individuals, I think it is better not to live within our means. When I was at condo showrooms, I saw many young people looking to buy condo units costing $1.xx million. These are the mass market "affordable" type of private housing and not those in the prime area. Not sure what are the buyers' earning capacity. Certainly, the interest cost repayment each year is very high if these buyers finance a huge part of their purchase price through the bank. A mortgage consultant shared with me that many of the buyers will never be able to repay their housing loan. They took 30 to 35 years loan and are basically paying only interest and each time, they refinance their loan at the expiry of the loan contract, it is renewed for another 30 to 35 years term. The buyers are hoping for capital appreciation and in the meantime, enjoy a beautiful condo. If a crisis arrive at our shore, I think many of these people who are highly geared will be in serious trouble. Like the earlier postings, jobs are not secure, interest rates may rise, huge supply of apartment kind of housing in the horizon, slow down of immigration to Singapore, etc... may lead to very tragic outcomes for those who are caught.

I think there are two reasons. First, by swinging outwards, you may hit and damage a car that is directly outside your gate or someone who is standing outside your gate (in a public place) may get knocked by your gate opening outwards towards him/her. Second reason that I thought of was to restrict homeowners from building only within your land perimeter. I was informed by the architect that the rule prohibits swing gates from opening outwards, unless after opening outwards, the gate is still within the perimeter of your house. Like I said earlier, after TOP, nobody bothers unless there is a complain against you.

I think there are cost advantage in doing just footing and there are also cons to it in terms of quality of structure. After the house is built, generally people can't tell the difference between reconstruction or redevelopment. Even those who do A&A and have a clever design, can have an end product that looks like a new development. In general, those who do reconstruction tend to just do footing. I think if they were to do deep piling, the few pillars or walls that are preserved for reconstruction cases may collapse during the piling process. Like what pantieileen said, homeowners can still do piling but I think it is kind of difficult to protect the few pillars standing around. I was informed that the architect will have a lot to explain if those walls and pillars that are supposed to be preserved for reconstruction cases are "accidentally torn down". Hence, I guess most would try for footing instead of piling. As for home shelter, I last heard that the authorities are clamping down on homeowners who try to avoid building home shelter through the reconstruction route. Was told that it is harder to get the approval for waiver to build home shelter because the government is trying to plug this gap. I supposed clever architects can still come up with creative solutions and design to meet homeonwers needs. Cheers!