stryke

any updates on your Reno design?

Hi, If you have the intention to rent out the whole unit and want to avoid the hassle of going back to open the door each time a potential tenant wants to view the place, you may either allocate a viewing time slot for viewing. Usually we will allocate 1 weekday evening and 1 weekend for viewings, 1 hr each will be enough. By renting out the place on your own you save on agent service fees but you have to do your own marketing, answer phone/email enquiries, conduct viewings, and prepare your own paperwork. Alternatively you may want to engage the service of a real estate professional to manage all these enquiries and viewings for you. An agent will be able to minimize hassle for you by taking care of marketing, enquiries, qualifying of tenants, paperwork etc. By engaging the services of an agent he/she will be able to help you manage all lease related matters during the lease term. If its a vacant unit you may just leave the keys with the agent, but just make sure you go through the inventory list with him first. If you require more advise, feel free to contact me. Shalom & regards, [remove property agent contact]

Yeah, I've been very busy supervising the last leg of the renovation works and moving in. Well, most of the works are done except for the wallpaper (just arrived in SIngapore today) and also the kitchen hob backsplash. As we need to wait for the glass to be up before installing the hood, I have not been able to test the unit. Will only be able to do so after Saturday. I got it for 900 at Aik Leong which is located at Alexandra Village (one of the whole row of electrical shops). I did find a cheaper quote by Everjoint (888) but since I was getting the RInnai hob from AIk Leong, might as well order everything from them. No need for me to travel all the way to Everjoint just to place order. You can look for Mrs Koh from Aik Leong if you are interested.

wah...i ordered the Simmons Escapade with memory foam pillowtop..... am i gonna have sleepless nights? My wife always complain that the aircon temperature is too cold. perhaps this will be just right for her.

More progress pictures... MBR Bathroom Kitchen Cabinets Mum's Wardrobe Its all starting to take shape. I hope everything will be completed in time for handover on the 25/26th May. Seems like we still have a lot to do....

Progress Pictures! Kronotex laminates for bedrooms Glassworks Bedroom doors (unfinished)

i dont have cabinet base, no fridge base, no washing machine base.

Well, yesterday the carpenters uploaded all the cabinet carcasses to the flat. Today they started to install. There are some dimensions for the cabinets that are not right, and have to be remade. When I visited the flat after work, the guys are still working. First time I see any of the sub-cons work past 6pm! WOW! I was quite delighted to see the kitchen tall units carcass up, and my mum's room's and also the MBR WIW. BUT I soon realised that the MBR WIW dimensions are wrong, so quickly notified the carpenters and ID. They will be rectified. Also for my mum's room wardrobe, due to the stoopid slanted wall (see my floor plan), they realised that the door nearest to the wall cannot be fully opened to allow the drawer to extend fully. So that has to be shifted a little. No bigggie I think. My wife and I felt sympathetic for the carpenters as they spent the whole day installing the carcasses and almost 2 third of their work has gone to waste. Some of the blocks have to be re-done so I hope that we will still be on schedule. ANd I must emphasis again. HDB architects, engineers, builders ALL COCK! the wall that is next to my mum's wardrobe, is not only horizontally slanted, but vertically AS WELL! No matter how well the carpenters' workmanship is, I tell you, there will be a visible difference of the pelmut's width from top to bottom. It will be farking ugly! Pictures tomorrow!

megaman and philips both have dimmable CFLs. cost about 35 each bulb. but there are no downlight holders that can be fixed with those bulbs leh

got mine at aik leong. good price. look for mrs koh.

no i dont have the address. its along the row of shops next to Heng Tyres

LG/Samsung should be going for around 90/pfr. So for 40 ft you should only be paying 3600. It might be more expensive if you have an integrated sink. If you can afford it, go for caesarstone or silstone. beautiful material. 100% non-porous so easy to maintain. can last you for a lifetime.

i saw a replica at Genova shop along Bendemeer Road. ONLY 168. Dunno still there or not though. Was quite interested to get it but dunno where it can fit into my flat. Go check it out!

Thanks for sharing the info. I do not that due to building structural movements there will be cracks in the future. That cannot be prevented. Will just have to patch them up when the time comes. As for paint, we chose ICI cos Nippon's color palette is quite limited, and also according to Steven, Nippon paint is mixed on the spot at the shops upon order and may not have the same consistency as ICI which is mixed at the factory. Imagine you need to get some paint to touch up the walls and they turn out to be different?

I was at my fren's housewarming the other day, they have a ceiling box light in the study, and also a row of fluorescent hidden under the top hung cabinets, which are above the desktop, to me enough for work. However if you mean just using cove light on the ceiling, the i think its not enough. You will still need table lamps for task lighting. Personally I like my working areas like kitchen, study to be bright and other areas to be more mood.

I was joking with Steven, if he has too many projects on hand and cannot supervise closely everything on his own can hire me as foreman. Then again after 1 or 2 projects no sub-cons want to work for him anymore. Haha. I like the cove lighting and ceiling design by Steven too. 1 mistake I made, is that I thought the cove lights are more of mood ambience light and the PLC down lights are more functional lights, which means during normal days when we chill out at the living room I'll just on the cove lights for that cosy mood. Then I realised that the cove lights are actually very bright! and each 4 foot T5 is 28 watts! Imagine I on my cove lights for normal usage... I have 6 tubes in the living room ceiling and 8 tubes in the dining area ceiling. FWAH the power consumption will be al lot!. So I went back to lightings.com.sg and sought advice of Damien, the nice chap who served us the first time round. We decided to get a 3-bank LED holder to install in the middle of the living room false ceiling. That we shall use more often than the rest bah? it creates a very mood ambience for the living while we chill out, only 3 watts per light. Then the PLCs, now its 2x18 watt per light box, I might modify them to be 1x 18 instead. Once all lights are up then I'll see if I want to do the modification, and if I want to switch the color temperature between the PLCs and the T5s. Right now the cove lights are much warmer than the PLC's. I think the right way is for the PLC's to be mood ambience lighting, and the cove lights for use when you need that extra lighting for major tasks, or when you have a lot of company visiting. Too bad I changed the Philips T5 tubes to the OEM ones that came with the T5 holders...they are much warmer than the Philips T5s, and all the PLCs' boxes have been thrashed.... NVM, we'll see how.

i just went up to day to check the chemical washing. All seems to be fine. And at the same time i took a rool of masking tape to mark ALL the remaining plastering that need to be touched up before the painters proceed. would you believe a finished a WHOLE ROLL of tape?? better fix them first then paint to avoid any delays or major rectification. tomorrow air con second installation. i will be on leave the whoe day and will MAKE SURE the plastering touch up is completely done to my satisfaction before putting on the final coats of paint.

Hi, If they don't want to do then I will do it myself. It only takes a little effort to touch up the walls, as the painter had done today. I wanted to buy him makan and kopi as a token of my appreciation but he just wanted to go back JB...haha maybe next time. Anyways as i mention i can sleep tonight. However I am sure I missed some parts but overall I find it ACCEPTABLE now. I just feel bad for the painters cos he just finished a new coat on the walls but when I went to the place after work today, found many more flaws that are unacceptable. Painter had to do double work cos of the sloppy plastering.

We have light! Mr Tan at work I find Mr Tan a very nice chap, very unassuming, professional. So far amongst the sub-cons, they impressed me the most. Fast and good at what they do. Clean up after themselves and laid the trunking very nicely. I had a chat with him and he's actually done work for some big corporate figures and garmen clients. LeGrand Mallia Switches/Sockets I was at the flat today after work. Saw the painter almost finishing with the study. Started looking around and noticed there's still quite a lot of flaws on the walls. Took a torch and started looking for them. Painter had to follow me around and start to plaster the flaws. I must say he was very accommodating. Thanks to him I can sleep better tonight. When I arrived, I notice the 2 panel for the MB top hung were laying flat on the floor (windows were not installed properly and had to be realigned to the walls), the powder coating scratched. The cleaners were there today to clear out the debris and stuff, and did not put the panels on any protection. I made it known to Steven and he dropped by and ask the windows installers to take them back. Will replace or touch up I don't know, as long as they come back looking new I'm happy. Anyways. Steven saw me checking the walls and I must admit, I was being very detailed. I reckon that since the painting is not fully complete, might as well look for all the flaws and fix them before putting on the final coat, that way there will not be too much rectification/touching up to do after we move in. We are really on a tight schedule. Well, so far I am very satisfied with the electrician's work, the tilers' (except for the speed), the painters'. I must however admit that I am not very happy with the plastering workers' workmanship.They came back to touch up on the plastering yet I can still find so MUCH flaws. Like I mentioned before because of my work I am a very meticulous person. In my line of work even a speck of dust I have to clean off before shooting the actual shot. I must give it to Steven for being so patient with me thus far. His attitude and service response time is no horse run. Must buy him beer once the works are completed. Monday 2nd installation for air conditioners, delivery for all the appliances and fixtures. YAY. will have more pics to show then.

Finally got pics to show! Updates: The plastering touch-ups are completed and this time I am fairly satisfied. See the pics, so much they had to touch up! I just find it a waste that the painters already put on the first few coats of paint. Today they will be finishing up on the painting! Also some of the lights are up! Pics in next post!

My flat undergoing reno now. I have chosen Rainer Oak from Exquisite series from Kronotex. I got them when visiting one of the home shows in EXPO last year. I reckon I got a very good deal. We choose Kronotex as that's the only one in the market that has the wood finish and not those cheaper ones that look like plastic, with glossy finish. Also the color is really very pleasing for me and wife. None other brands come close. Just FYI.

Hi, long time no update cos there's NOTHING to update except that painting has started. rest of the tiling for the bathrooms (boxups) not yet done, living room partial skirting no yet done too. tomorrow electrician will come to install sockets and lights, finally. many of the works so far has either been delayed, or messed up in sequence. For example, the plastering should be done before plumbing and electrical wiring, so that the plastering can cover all the areas. now some areas are not properly plastered due to obstruction by the wires/trunking or water pipes. Also, I realised that the plastering workers did not do a good job at all. many of the surfaces are still bumpy, and a lot of rough patches as well. They are very obvious when i go inspect the flat at night after work, and i use a torchlight to shine on the walls/ceiling... THE HORROR! I am being charged almost 2k for the plastering work and i get this kind of quality? i can't post pictures here cos its too dark to take any at night, and if i use flash it will wash out all the imperfections. Now, I already discovered that before they started painting, but ID said painters will touch up where ever is necessary to smoothen the surfaces. I saw the ceiling today, after it is painted. NOT ACCEPTABLE. tomorrow meeting ID to discuss and come up with a proper solution. What i am afraid of is that the plastering workers have to come back again to redo the whole place, then wait for plaster to dry, then paint again, which will definitely delay my handover. whole thing was originally scheduled to complete in 8 weeks, and already i find that too long. now drag some more? I have tenants moving into my mum's flat come June, and the more i delay, the more we are losing on rental income. HOW??

how does the counter top look like? i'm looking to get 1 as a tabletop. if you can post pictures, would be great.

no lah, they installed all the panels. just that the edges of the frame they patched up very sloppily. imagine the edge where the window frames sit on the window sill. all the corners are rounded and very badly patched. before that the plastering workers made the corners so straightly angled. ANGRY. And I must say I realised HDB architects from 10 years back are very COCK. They design the flats with slanted walls, pipes all over the place, beams and columns not of same widths and alignments. We have to box up many areas to flush the walls and hide the unsightly pipes. now the flat look even smaller!

spoke to ID liao. told him that the finishing is not acceptable. he says plastering guys will come touchup and after that painters will also do some. We'll see. I go everyday to check already got this kinda problems. imagine I don't go check....