adrian_john

Heya Smartie and Booy, Very nicely done up place. Don't think you'll need to do much renovation except maybe a nice new coat of paint and use your funds for stuff like nice furniture. A good buy indeed!

@Asugama Nice view indeed. Glad that everything's moving. Hope to see everything done up nicely soon. Based on your view, your flat must be in the 139 to 144 cluster?

Hmmm ... looks like he has quite a backlog of missed appointments. He's definitely very busy. During my meeting with him, his mobile was ringing non-stop and many a time he had to tell them that he'd call them back tomorrow. Since my appointment was delayed a day, I suppose he'll probably meet up with your friend this evening.

Hi Booy, Thanks for the compliments. Its never too early to think about schools. Personally, I moved over to St 24 from the Central (St 13) primarily because of my 2 boys (Now aged 3.5 and 1.5 years). Hoping that they can get into Catholic High and hence, it'll save me the headache of transporting them to school early every morning as my alma mater is in the East side!

@Pet & Familyof4 Finally got to meet Ah Soon yesterday evening and the meeting turned out really well. After I called him yesterday morning, I didn't call to remind him, but I'm glad he did take the effort to remember and he called me in the evening before popping by from Tampines. He's a very nice and friendly uncle but what strikes wifey and I is that he's indeed very sincere and experienced and has alot of ideas to offer once you show him your preferred concept, and also he's very mindful of budget and down to earth. He also suggested that I take a look at some of his ongoing work and workmanship at Fondue's house this week and assess his workmanship. I guess I will pop by there on Saturday afternoon to have a look see.

@Praisey I've been a Bishanite for 21 years now too. Not sure if it'll be 50 more years to go, but I guess I'll definitely be here for the next 10 to 15 years! Just hoping now that my 2 boys will end up in Catholic High so that I can save money and time on transport. @Metalsubzero Thanks for the compliments. Lawry wouldn't need my help, he's even better than me cos' he's got great ideas of his own and he can work them out on the 3D software, which is way more precise and proportionate. I'm trying to master it but have been quite bad at it, so I just rely on sketching. @Angel Thanks for the compliments. For the MBR Glass toilet concept, one of the ideas to work it out will be to flush a 8ft wardrobe cum TV panel parallel to the toilet wall to block out the direct line-of-sight to it. This way, the wardrobe becomes something like a WIW and creates a passage area, which we can probably shield with some string curtains. There's always blinds I guess. Wifey also not very convinced so maybe we'll end up doing what you highlighted - frosted glass and some walls .. sighz!

Hi Pet, Didn't end up meeting him yesterday because he fly aeroplane. Was tentatively supposed to meet at around 8-ish cos' he said that he'll call me after he's done with an appointment at Kallang when I called to confirm time in the afternoon around 4+. Waited for him and called him around 830pm to check again; he'll call back but didn't lah. This morning I called him to suan him, and he joked that he got mixed up because he thought I was actually his other customer at Block 167 Bishan, and my block 197 so similar. So he'll call me again this evening to arrange. I know he's busy, and in a sense, I'm not angry or annoyed because I'm pretty flexible as I didn't have any plans anyways and you also did share with me about his tight schedule and his appointment keeping 'power'. We'll see if he calls me back today ... Hahahahah.

Update on yesterday's visit to the new place. Some thoughts and challenges we gathered from the visit are as follows: - It was still abit tough to have a good idea of the open space as the house is still packed with furniture etc. Also, the owners were around so also abit pai seh to really scrutinise and snoop around. - A piece of good news, the walls are in pretty good shape so that'll shave off costs for plastering. Doors and door frames are also in pretty good shape, so basically I'll just need to spend on 1 new door and a frame for creating a new opening for the MBR entrance that was sealed up; Unless of course, we opt to replace all the room doors with veneer doors. - The perpetual Bishan beam problem is darned annoying for anyone who wishes a clean and neat contemporary concept. So I guess all the false ceiling and hacking has to be done with alot of caution. This may also pose a challenge for trunking and also flushing of furniture/carpentry works. - The window grilles are actually pretty good, wrought-iron grilles with very fancy designs on it. Unfortunately, this may look rather hard and clash with our proposed clean concept, hence they would have to go and be replaced by white powder-coated grilles and new casement windows. (Again $$$) - A practical issue to deal with is on the hanging of clothes to dry. Although there is an airwell at the kitchen to hang wet clothes to dry, however, we were told that sunlight there is very minimal and hence, the owners themselves sometimes make use of the balcony area to hang their clothes to dry as it is very airy and the sun will shine directly there for a short spell in the afternoon. Arrgh, what a way to ruin what is supposed to be cosy corner of sorts. - If the clothing hanging area in the balcony is ever required as back-up (Please don't take away my plan to hang a rattan bird cage seat!), we may not be able to level the floor to the same height at the living area, let alone do a raised platform. - Still on clothes drying, if the clothes are being hung inside the kitchen, they will hang across the service balcony. Thus, changing the kitchen entrance further is not a valid option anymore and we'll stick to the original entrance. Also, depending on layout and placement of fixtures, we may need to shift the clothing hanging point slightly. Clothing hanging may also rule out the open concept kitchen. Like the balcony, I guess it may look weird if your kitchen is open and suddenly the clear line-of-sight view is spoilt by clothes hanging inside. - 3 of the HDB sewage pipes run through near the kitchen window at the service balcony. Of course, the first thought of rectifying it would be to box them up. However, boxing them up may end up creating a more 'blocky' look. 1 or 2 pipes run through the common toilet too, but I guess it wouldn't look so bad boxing this one up as compared to the service balcony.

Another updated sketch (The scan resolution was quite bad today for some reason) to visualise another idea for the TV area at the hall, which is incorporated to flush with the rebuilt storeroom. In the previous sketch, we thought it'd be more neat to just mount the TV and use some niches for the A/V appliances, but practically speaking the recessed niche-like TV console space may provide space for placement of 5.1 speakers/subwoofers and the option of not necessarily mounting the LCD TV to the wall. In addition, the recess will also allow for some storage space to put stuff like DVDs/CDs etc. I guess it can still be neatly flushed and look clean. Also featured is an attempt to visualise the possibility of a more Open Concept kitchen with a mix of full-height glass doors and a half-height glass panel. After the site visit (which I'll share more in the next post), perhaps the Open Concept may be quite a challenge because depending on the kitchen layout (e.g. placement of tall cabinets or taking into consideration wet area and clothing hanging area),having an Open Concept may actually end up looking more cluttered. Oh well, this is something we'll be figuring out and grappling with to come out with new ideas. Any feedback/suggestions/ideas is as always, most welcome.

Hi Booy, Welcome to Bishan! Glad to meet another new 'neighbour'.

Thanks poseidon_gal for your kind compliments. I just try to draw what I can. Visited your blog and saw that you have a nice house coming up. Wishing you all the best for that and looking forward to seeing the pictures.

Its been a rather hectic long weekend this week. With the valuation of my current unit out, my wife and I can somewhat breathe easy a little as it wasn't some scarily low figure we envisioned. We had a number of couples and families view the unit. Next step is to hope we can secure a buyer and acceptable price. I'm still rather unwell, after reconvering from flu, suddenly today I started getting some annoying stomach problem (No, I didn't eat Geylang Indian Rojak), so I haven't really been inspired to draw any sketches. Managed to meet up 1 ID and I took some time to pop by Seng Kwong yesterday as wifey was very interested in finding out more about Kitchen Cabinets, Systems and Wardrobe Systems and of course she had a great time. I get worried when her eyes light up at those systems ... Hahahah, it means more $$$$$. Managed to contact Ah Soon, and in my very limited broken Mandarin and Hokkien managed to secure an appointment for tommorow. Looking forward to that! Also, tomorrow I'll be popping by the new place to collect the valuation report for my new place. Will take the opportunity to take some pictures and use them to help me in my sketches.

Hi There Smartie, Congrats on your new place. It's really a nice layout. Hope you have a great time coming up with ideas for your renovation. Nice to meet another 'neighbour'. My new place will be in St 24 too.

Hi Praisey, Cute little doggies you have there. Hard to imagine anyone would ever wanna abandon them in the first place. I have a mini-schnauzer myself. She's already 5 but still retains a small, petite frame of an older puppy (Taiwanese breed). The concept for your place is really great. I share the same layout except my current flat's the mirror opposite. Hacking away the storeroom will make the place look more spacier. I've also seen before where some people hack the wall of Bedroom 2 to create a really nice living space and cozy area. All the best! Looking forward to see the completed pics.

Hi All, Saw this ID featured in the latest issue of Lookbox Mag and liked one of their concepts. So far, haven't heard anything about them though and can't find any information online about them either. As such was wondering if anyone has any experience with them or any feedback to share? Thanks.

Looks like very little space to maneouver around for the dining table. Agreed with BinBin, it may make your living area slightly more cramped.

Hi Lakaik, Very nice house you got there. Hope you're enjoying Bishan. My house is essentially the same layout as yours except its the mirror image/opposite direction.

Hi Asaguma, Mrs Frog and BinBin, Nice to see some fellow Bishanites around. I'm also living in a 4S in Bishan St 13 (currently up for sale) and will soon be moving out to another flat at St 24. Yes, agreed a common problem is with beams and not forgetting, alot of areas of exposed water and gas pipes. Because of the beams, running air-con trunking can also be a major nightmare, especially at the ceiling area which falls between 2 rooms. You can end up having like 2 criss-crossed rectangular blocks of trunking that will look unsightly if you don't conceal it. Also most of the walls usually come in pretty rough shape in original condition. If you're particular about smooth walls, you'll end up spending a fair bit to re-plaster. Did up my 4S about 4.5 years ago (major reno, 100% overhaul) and 2 years ago (Minor reno - repaint and addition of new structures). Hope to get to know you guys. Details of my current flat are at another post: Post on my Bishan 4S for Sale

@Pet & Ivy Thanks for the nice compliments. I'm just trying to do what I can to help myself and wifey visualise, and if I do get a contractor, to show him and help him visualise as well. Update for Today, I'm abit flu-ey but managed to draw a rough sketch of another idea for the Living Area without using the rotatable TV console wall as per the earlier Dining/Living/Kitchen sketch. This time, tried making use a portion of the reconstructed storeroom wall to be a neatly flushed TV console and at the same time, can have the wires hidden behind at the storeroom extension. To have a more clear view across Living and Dining area, perhaps another alternative is the low height cabinet for storage and acting as a 'divider' of sorts between Living and Dining area. Also, although I wish I could just have a slightly above waist height full glass parapet wall on its own for the Balcony, but guess for the kids' safety, I'll have to place casment windows. Feedback and comments welcome. Thanks.

Another sketch I drew to visualise the proposed MBR bathroom. My initial thought was to do it up like what I've seen in some boutique hotels I've stayed in where the bathroom is a full-glass and see through. I thought it'd be a nice touch to hack down the walls and do a full height glass with a door, especially more so if I cordon that part of my bedroom and integrate it with a WIW so its more private. But then again, practicality-wise I'm a little afraid of the impact of moisture etc. Wifey also abit conservative so perhaps we may just live with a frosted glass door and walls on the side. Oh well, we'll see ...

@ Guy77 & Rierie - Thanks for the warm welcome! Wifey and I really love the layout too. Look forward to learning and getting good advice from all the forummers. @Pet - We haven't spoken to Ah Soon yet. Like I said, I'll need my wife to do the translating and talking on my behalf while I chip in with some broken mandarin. Right now, me and wifey are rather kan-chiong waiting for the valuation for our current place to be out. We hope that despite the recent announcement of the slight drop in HDB prices, we can still get a good price for our flat. *Fingers crossed*. My current flat is actually very well-renovated and the key selling point is the location as Bishan central (Including Junction 8, Interchange, MRT, Circle Line and all amenities) is just across the road. Just hope can find a buyer soon. Anyways, for easier visualising, just to share, I've come up with a rough sketch for the living/dining and abit of the kitchen and storeroom area. Don't mind the disproportion and rough-ness of it all. Not finalised yet, but still open to more ideas as we keep researching from home mags etc.

Hi All, Thanks for the nice wishes. Looking forward to your advice and hope to share with you what me and my wife hope will be a pleasant renovation without much hiccups. @Angel81 - The search for the ID/Contractor is ongoing. To date, we've seen 8 and will be meeting up with another 2 more IDs to round up the search. As for contractors, I've contacted 2 but will need my wife's help with the language. (I quite banana la, can't speak mandarin and hokkien very well). So far, out of the 8 we've seen, 2 have come up with quite good initial ideas and impressed with their dedication, passion for the job and seemingly personalised service. We're waiting to meet 2 out of the 8 for the 2nd meeting and quote. @Pet - Yes, the layout was one of the reasons we decided to get the place. Of course, the other factors was the view and high-floor. The layout to us, was more cosy with every room tucked. From what I hear, this is actually the first DBSS at Bishan and the 'newest' HDB there at 10 years old (Until Natura Loft comes up in 2010) and thus it was built with a more 'condo-style' layout in mind. Wanted to thank you also for your advice and recommendation of Ah Soon. @Zonkkie - Glad to know they're Bishaners around. Wonder if there's any from my cluster or anyone who's recently done reno on a similar unit to mine. The floor space for my unit is about 123 sqm. I wouldn't say its very big in size, but in my opinion think the layout helps alot in maximising the space and making the unit look bigger and more spacious. Another unit I considered was a 136 sqm 5A in Bishan, but somehow I didn't seem to feel as big and had odd angled walls (at 80 degrees) for 2 bedrooms.

Hi Everyone, Been surfing this forum for a couple of weeks now and it's certainly been a great help in providing useful information and advice on renovations for the home. I've just recently purchased a 5-room unit in Bishan (actually its the 3rd unit I'll be moving to in Bishan - Been living in the same area for almost 21 years now) and am really looking forward to getting the upcoming renovation sorted out. Hope for it to be a cosy home for me, wifey, 2 little boys and my parents. Unit's on a high-floor with a pretty nice view, very windy and bright. Current condition is OK/normal, but we'll most likely be looking at doing a 100% overhaul. My wife and I have been searching around for IDs/Contractors as well as recce-ing and shortlisting the essential household items (air-con, hob, hood, off-the-shelf furniture, toilet accessories etc.). The many recommendations by you forummers have been very helpful indeed. Most importantly, we're now in the midst of marketing and selling off our present unit, a 4-room unit also in Bishan (Will prob post an ad out once my valuation is out anytime this week). Once this is done, we can more realistically plan the full extent of the renovation. I guess we'll update the progress slowly as we go along. Here's the floor plan of our new home: As I mentioned, we're gonna do a full overhaul of the whole place, major works will include: - Retiling of whole house. - New Layout Kitchen and Storeroom (Present owner tore it down) - Maybe Open and Glass Concept. - Shoe Cabinets and Sitting Area at Foyer. - TV feature Wall **** Area. - New concept for Balcony: Probably raised platform with glass parapet and casement windows. - Re-do MBR Toilet with a Vanity Top, Mirror Cabinet and Storage. - Re-layout MBR with Sliding Wardrobe, Mini Dresser and TV. - Sliding Wardrobe for Parents' room (Bedroom 2) - Off-the-shelf configuration for Kids' room and Study (Bedrooms 1 & 3) Hope everything works out well first with the sale of the current unit, and then appointing the best ID/Contractor for the job. In the meantime, am enjoying and appreciate all the good advice from this forum. Also, a big thanks to all who have kindly shared and recommended the contacts of your ID. Its a great help! BTW, any other fellow-Bishanites here?