curryqueen

So nice & shiny! Jasket, is that epoxy paint?

Your toilet pipes are in better condition than mine!

I your mosaic tiles!!! So retro! Do you know that very few tilers can do the old fashioned mosaic flr now? It's too labour intensive.. My grandma still has these type of tiles in the toilet..

Instead of grilles in my MBR and kitchen, I'm planning to have mosquito screens. The MBR screen will be fixed, while the kitchen grilles frame will be reused for the screen. That will hopefully get rid of the jailhouse feeling while at the same time provide a bit of security for the cats and my friends' young kids when they come over.. The guy was also recommending having screens placed in the LVR and the CBR for privacy. This means that should I choose to open the windows for LVR and CBR, people still can't see my place (unless I switch on my lights lah). I'm in 2 minds about it coz I only have 1 neighbour, so privacy is not that big of an issue. But it does prevent mozzies and a fair amt of dust (less cleaning!), so still thinking abt it for the LVR and CBR. http://www.magneticscreen.com.sg/ - the guy who suggested to me not to change my windows but just change the rollers. According to them, their mesh is fibreglass mesh from USA http://www.peaceon.com.sg/ - fibreglass mesh not made from USA.

I was just thinking about it yesterday!! how nice it would be if renotalk could be sorted like excel spreadsheet. All 3 rm T-blogs, 4rm T-blogs, etc, the second level by how current the thread is...

Abt $500 each for living rm & bedrm 2. Aluminum so much cheaper!

i'm getting confused.. I'm getting quotations for my window grilles. I don't like the bumpiness of wrought iron and asked if there is such a thing as smooth wrought iron. He said yes, and showed me a sample. I asked another vendor for smooth wrought iron grilles, and he said there is no such thing. The smooth non-alu grilles are mild steel. Is mild steel and smooth wrought iron one and the same thing??

Actually, I asked Alex to quote for the windows.. Ho Bee's contact for windows are actually cheaper. His electrician is a bit more ex, but I'm hoping that he can help me cut the cost of the single 13A and labour costs, coz that's going to eat up the main bulk of my electrical fittings. The SCV, heater point, etc all those.. I will let the electrician earn since I'm probably only there's not going to be very many of those..

Yah, the gate was still not cheap... Though now that I am calculating the figures, it seems more like 10% than 30% off... must check with Steven from Metalworld again.. Dunno when hacking will begin. Just sent him the letter yesterday to apply permit.. Will let you guys know! I'm hoping that the reno will be smooth sailing with minimal errors.. I'm hoping that reno will complete before NDP, but I think will be delayed since got so much hacking.. It's finally getting to me... so exciting!

Went to Tanjong Katong Complex today to get a quote from Classic Furniture and drool at their very interesting kitchen storage. Was served by Pauline, a very nice and friendly lady. No hard sell, practical, good ideas... I like! The quote was , but she had gd ideas which I would be incorporating. Was also admiring the textiles at Jimmy's textiles and the blinds at H.M. Deco. The blinds are from Korea and what I really like about it is that the base metal pole has a full-length rubber 'bumper'. Now for those of us who use blinds, you know how irritating it is when the wind blows your blinds and it clanks against your windows. I've tried blue tack (it got flattened in 1 day), double-side felt, bumpers(all fell off after a while), rubber band hooked on nail....everything! The wind always wins. The blinds have a 3 year warranty for it's mechanism, but it's not cheap. Abt $900 (inc installation) for the whole house (excl kitchen). No hurry yet.. will take my time to source around. Oh..and I've decided on Ho Bee as my contractor. As you may have read, I didn't bother to source around for a lot of contractors. Some didn't get back to me, some I wasn't comfortable with. Ho Bee has the steadiest rep in the 2 yrs I've been reading reno-talk that's still in business, so I decided on him even though he's not the cheapest in town. On a side note, a 6th flr unit on my block is starting reno on 1 Jun! So 'qiao'! That unit also used the same lawyers as my sellers (I heard the guy in the law firm was muttering that he just did another unit on my block). I hope we won't clash in lift usage!

Yah.. no need already. Thanks for helping me look! With the budget ballooning, I think I will stick to the basic laminate flooring.

Heh.. making gd the walls is separate pricing.. Metalworld now got 30% off because of GSS... very tempted! I just heard from my neighbour that HDB may be replacing our main door for us..( they did it for the block next to ours!), so definitely no change to main door. The guy who came by to quote for the insect screen also advised me to save $$ by not changing my sliding windows since they are in gd condition. Just change the rollers.. that will save me abt $1K. I've confirmed my laminate flooring through Ossify's contact. Pergo family series...

Toilet flr tiles have to change since doing water proofing. Wall tiles, if can "tong", then let it be.. If break during drilling, contractor pay! Is this the std rate for hacking, hauling,etc & plumbing? General Works 1 Apply HDB permit fee 2 Hack off existing living,master and bedroom2 skirting $ 150.00 3 Discard existing 2 bedrooms timber door and frame $ 80.00 4 Demolish between master and bedroom2 T shape hollow block wall $ 150.00 5 Demolish between living and bedroom2 hollow block wall $ 120.00 6 Hack off existing 2 toilets floor tiles $ 200.00 7 Hack off existing 2 toilets wall tiles $ 400.00 8 Demolish between kitchen and toilet hollow block wall $ 150.00 9 Demolish between master room and toilet hollow block wall $ 80.00 10 Hack off existing kitchen floor tiles $ 240.00 11 Hack off existing kitchen wall tiles $ 500.00 12 Discard existing kitchen cabinet and clear off site $ 180.00 13 Discard existing kitchen and 2 toilets sanitary fitting $ 80.00 14 Supply sand and haulage material to door step $ 550.00 15 Clear debris off site $ 150.00 16 Acid/General washing 2 times for whole unit $ 150.00 Plumbing Works 1 Rerun whole unit cold water stainless steel piping $ 580.00 2 Ext 2 nos hot water shower mixer tap point $ 180.00 3 Labour fee to install sink in/outlet piping $ 150.00 4 Labour fee to install washing machine in/outlet piping $ 80.00 5 Labour fee to install 1 set storage water heater $ 120.00 6 Labour fee to install 2 set sitting Wc bowl $ 180.00 7 Labour fee to install 2 set wash basin $ 140.00 8 Labour fee to install laundry sink in/outlet piping $ 70.00 9 Labour fee to install 2 toilets spray tap $ 60.00 10 Labour fee to install kitchen and 2 toilets accessories $ 60.00 Saw 2 very lovely door gates at the metalworld website : Unity & Verti The price is also very lovely...

Mainly getting contractor to do.. getting laminate flring thru Ossify's help, aircon & grilles myself. Windows I may get contractor to do, asking for more quotes. Contractor's quote is lower than Alex's. I had Ho Bee to do an on-site quotation and got a bit of a heart attack.. Didn't know hacking and all the general works so ex! It's almost $3K! Am not going to tile toilet walls anymore, will live with the hollow tiles in the loo. My mum was saying that toilet tile seldom pop. I am doing a 14ft wardrobe and a 11ft half height storage in the living rm nad 16.5 ft worth of bottom kitchen cabinet, so that kinda added up to the bill.

Keep forgetting to bring my camera up with me,but here are some more that I took when I did an "open house" on Mon: Common Toilet Kitchen area next to storerm (where I'd place my fridge and WM) Storerm Living Rm (Frm Kitchen) (frm Main Dr)

Welcome, welcome! Wah.. we are getting more and more 3-rmers in RT!

Welcome , welcome! It's great to have another 3-rmer around!

After waiting 2 hrs at HDB yesterday, I finally got my keys! Owner cleared EVERYTHING out on the morning of second appointment , so I was quite happy. But a number of unexpected expenses appear to be coming up:- Main Gate When the owner gave me the keys, he told me the old-retro HDB gate was not working and had not been working since he took over the flat. They usually just padlock the gate and leave the actual gate unlocked. That means that I have to change the main gate and throw the old retro one away.. Kitchen flr & wall tiles Majority of them are hollow.. so everything must hack. That's extra $$ Toilet flr & Wall Tiles Apparently, cannot do waterproofing over old tiles, must hack every **** tile and tile it back up again. MBR and Kitchen Windows Had wanted to keep them, but now need to get them changed as the rollers have worn off and the locks are rusty. Shower Screen+door for MBR Door is needed to prevent water from spilling to the dry area. Others Decided to do half height narrow shelving and full height shoe cabinet in the living room -$$$ Apparently for HDB flats, cannot have stainless steel drain covers coz now must have some netting thing below and stainless steel drain covers don't have that. DIY table may also be a gone case coz apparently carpenter will charge more than Ikea to cut the size of the countertop. All in all, it's going to be abt $20K or more excl grilles, aircon, electrical appliances, lights, laminate flooring..

Yah.. that's why can only look and draw inspiration..

Thanks, ladies! Looking foward to it too!

No lah.. it already came with chicken-wire glass. But a lot of old paint drops on the glass... need to get thinner to clean it up. Tomorrow is day of second appointment! yay!

Yah.. figured that she's busy, so didn't bother. Main dr not changing. Maintaining old HDB dr. bedrm drs changing to sliding. But MBR is not noisy which is most essential for me, a light sleeper. I just viewed the place once. Main thing I wanted was the location.. near MRT, near parents, near shopping.. Viewed other 3rm flats around the area (which weren't many) but settled on this despite it being near the junction.

I think the reason why mine might be so expensive is because I've asked them to make the gaps btw the rods narrower. Regardless, will be asking for more quotes. M doing my "open house" this sat after I get keys on Fri.

Oh yah... forgot that they did your windows.. didn't know B&E did your grilles too! Rynn never got back to me on the quote, so I didn't bother to chase.. Yes, on a low flr.. not sure if it's because there's no furniture in the house, so the place sounded noiser. it didn't sound that noisy when I viewed it before OTP.