natgw

nope.... maybe just check with HDB if the wall u intend to hack is a load-bearing RC wall.

hugeeeee crib!

ID went to his PE for advice... and was told if its a non load-bearing RC wall, still possible to hack.. but mine was a load-bearing one.. so there's nothing much PE can do to get it approved also.. hope it helps. okok. dun angry ok? i will burn more h3ll notes for you this year.. please leave me alone.. *pray pray* nvm nvm.. 11 days to go before he gets chased back again.. okok! will try to go back whenever possible to take more pics and update for u guys ok? hee. thanks for the support and encouragement! yea in future u can always come in here to vent your anger if u want to! at least make my thread more lively and happening. haha. =p yea~ thanks for the support! will update with more pics for u people whenever i can! =)

yea.. will update our purchases here!

not at the moment... ID went for short weekend getaway with his wife and kids. will be back on wed i think.. well, he deserves a good break.. haha. so i'll speak to him regarding the new designs with the storeroom ard.. since will be meeting him 1 week later to buy our sanitary wares.

seems quiet here.. i guess not much people is interest in my ugly reno... tiling for the steps outside main door partially done. pebbles for foyer area done as well. tiling for living room completed as well. currently left with tiling for kitchen and skirting for MBR. =) tiling for storeroom completed.

nothing much here. just drawings of wardrobes 12ft L-shaped wardrobe for bedroom. 7ft wardrobe for MBR

3D drawings... but some not applicable anymore due to the storeroom.. 7ft suspended shoe cabinet with seattee living/dinning area. not applicable anymore as dinning area is now a storeroom. (._.") kitchen.. not the correct choice of colours. gonna be using black work top with white cabinets instead. full ht storage cabinet on the other side of kitchen. not doing already though. supposed to replace the storeroom for storage of bulky items but well... the storeroom is there to stay for now. so no point spending the extra money on this.

i gave up already.. cos the drawings shows that the walls of my storeroom are load-bearing RC walls. even my ID's own private PE said it cannot be done.

wall tiles for common toilet with mosiac added now. wall tiles for MBR toilet with mosiac added now. another view. view of sliding window panels of living room from common corridor. anyway saw that they are using those common white plastic-made water drainage cover for both toilets. smsed Roy to ask for stainless steel ones and he said will inform his men to get it changed tomorrow. hehehehe. he's so ever accommodating and will try to squeeze in whatever he could. ID will be going overseas this weekend. next weekend its time to go shopping for sanitary wares with him!

floor tiling for both bedrooms completed! casement window for MBR a closer view of it louver window for both toilet done as well. view from MBR.

went to check and update on reno process today after work. basically, windows for whole unit is changed. using white powered coated windows with light blue tinted glass for all windows. wrought iron window grilles will be installed for bedroom 2 and living room only. MBR and kitchen will be window grille-free. anyway grilles are not up yet. time for more pictures. =) please feel free to comment. thanks for viewing! sliding windows for bedroom 2 view from common corridor casement windows for kitchen more sand in the kitchen now.

thanks for the advise.. much appreciated.. but i guess i'm giving up on it already.. called that Dy Director for housing maintenance today who was appointed by the CEO to investigate my case. he mentioned that he has already liase with the branch head for tampines and after refering to their own PEs and drawings of the building, the store room really cannot be hacked. he said if its a non-load-bearing RC wall, he would have given us the go ahead. but the fact is that the walls for the store room is load-bearing ones. which left them no choice but to reject. i asked if i could engage my own PE to evaluate and calculate then endorse docs to HDB to approve for hacking, but told me not to waste the money. he told me that i could engage my own PE, but dont pay them first to evaluate. main purpose is to ask the PE just see the walls first and give further advice. i called my ID and told him abt this.. explained to him that they found out my blk is a fully prefabricated blk, and the walls located at the store room is actually load-bearing RC walls. he said his PE was checking with tamp branch office at the same time, so he told me he will call his PE to update and get back to me. true enough, after checking with the PE and getting him to see the walls. even my ID's PE told him that there's no way for us to hack away the walls without affecting the integrity of the building if its a load-bearing RC wall. PE said that the walls of this store room is actually a long and huge pillar acting as a support for the whole building. which means the walls at connected from the bottom to top of the whole building. to me.. if HDB is just trying to inflexible with their rules, i will try to push it and fight my way through. but since even PE confirmed that hacking of load-bearing store room cannot be hack, i guess i just have to live with it and see how my ID can redesign the house with the store room there.

Dear Mr Tan Please refer to your e-mail of 27 Aug 2009 to my CEO, regarding your appeal to hack/demolish the store room walls of your above flat. 2 To safeguard the structural integrity of HDB flats and the safety of residents, all load-bearing reinforced concrete (RC) walls for prefabricated flats cannot be tampered with. We would like to explain as your block is a prefabricated block and the store room walls which you have requested to hack/demolish are load-bearing RC walls, we regret that your appeal cannot be acceded to. Kindly note that this renovation guideline is available in the HDB InfoWEB at www.hdb.gov.sg under Home Owners>Renovating Your Home>HDB Renovation Guidelines>Examples of Renovation Works Not Allowed . 3 Under current renovation guidelines, flat owner can only submit an application (through their HDB registered renovation contractor) if the wall proposed to be hack/demolished is a non-load bearing RC walls and subject to the engagement of a Professional Engineer (PE) to inspect and supervise the works. However, for the demolition of load bearing RC walls as in your case, the request would not be approved even if you have engaged a PE to submit application for the proposed demolition works due to safety reasons. 4 We seek your understanding on the matter. If you need any clarifications, please call Mr Tan Kok Lam, Head of Tampines Branch at Tel: 63477201 or his Principal Technical Officer, Mr Teo Soo Thye at Tel: 63477270. I can also be reached on Tel: 64902281. Yours sincerely, (signed) HO SEIN YEAN DEPUTY DIRECTOR (HOUSING MAINTENANCE) for DIRECTOR (HOUSING ADMINISTRATION) cc Mr Tan Kok Lam Head of Tampines Branch Office guess its time to call him tml morning and make some noise.

mine is located on level 6. the flat has 12 levels. and my unit is located in the middle. so its like the middle of the middle. i dun mind spending the $3-4k for a PE to evalute, calculate and endorse HDB approval for hacking. but problem is whether HDB is willing to approve with all these documents.

not gonna relocate it.. i want it to be gone for good... will be making a full height storage cabinet instead for storing of rarely used items...

i guess its depending on what you're doing. i've posted the breakdown of the charges as well. alot of carpentary works.. 1 x 12ft wardrobe. 1 x 7th wardrobe. false ceiling for living and MBR. 7ft shoe cabinet. 30ft top/btm kitchen cabinet 8.5ft full height storage cabinet feature walls for living and MBR. sliding glass door for kitchen/living frosted glass door for MBR toilet white powder coated windows for whole house. anyways i dun mind paying if its quality stuff and after-sales service i get in return. cheers.

thanks Rasp. i hope overall would look ok once everything is done up though..

floor and wall tiles for MBR.. mosiac not up yet.. floor and wall tiles for common toilet.. mosiac not up as well..

updates on kitchen... L-wall is up. up close view of the dreaded storeroom and living room

floor tiles and skirting in bedroom has completed. a closer look at the tiles. new bedroom door frames are up.

after repeated appeals and rejection of Tampines HDB Branch office, I've called HDB CEO's office and was referred to the Director for building development by his secretary. was informed that the unit head for building development in HDB head office will contact and liase with tamp branch office regarding my case. anyways went back to my flat on friday to check out the reno process. argh.. that damned storeroom.. still there standing and disrupting my reno process. tiles are laid till the area around the storeroom. another view of the living room's tiles. foyer area and steps will be using different tiles with small pebble stones.

im curious to know too...

the storeroom is right smack popping out inbetween my living room and kitchen. i wanted to hack the whole storeroom away to create more space for the living room and use the space for dinning table. pm u already

ultimate sian now... but i am thinking... if PE deem its ok to hack off the storeroom. HDB shld approve it ma...