nerrad

Reconstructing a single storey house to a 2.5 storey house requires an architect, as required by the Law of Singapore. The only difference is whether the home owner engages one on his own, or through a main contractor. Please do not confuse everyone here.

I actually think IKEA is a good option with all the customisable inserts available for you...

they cost a bomb. worth checking out their price.

3 days is unreasonable and they do not have the right to enforce that.

Most of the time, for small residential projects with no proper contract/contract administrator, the answer is no - variations will not be stated in the initial quotation, because there are way too many possible additions/variations that could happen along the way. Unfortunately this is the industry practice for D&B contractors. Drawers do cost more than open shelves, and at this stage you might have no choice but to top up the money for your contractor. However if you have contractor friend/relatives, you may show them your quotation and let them see if the additional amount are reasonable, and ask for a discount from the contractor if they are unreasonably high.

Get a new one?

call the boss of the contractor (i hope the ones visiting your house is not the boss) and tell him (do not scold him) that this is not acceptable and you need them to make good for you.

If there is a designer, the designer will be the one co-ordinating. Many times, home owners do not realise that when they work with a contractor directly, they will be the one co-ordinating. Your contractor was unable to produce drawings, because drawings are usually produced by the designer, and not the contractor.

Yes...

depending on the size of your room and the design of the 'wooden bed', you might hit your toes on the hard corners from time to time...

Hmm... Bretz at Park Mall, Universal Union at various locations, Heritage Bathroom Gallery at Geylang, TEKA showroom at UE Square, Kohler showroom at Lower Delta Road, HOE KEE at Genting Road, Soon Bee Huat at Toh Guan Road East, IKEA. Okay these are the usual places i go to.

Hi Jwchu168 Since no one is replying you, let me share with you from someone who has been in this industry for 9.5 years. There are many ways of doing Interior Design in Singapore. One way (and the cheaper way) is to engage a Design & Build Contractor. There are a few ways to identify Design & Build Contractors - they usually have a shop front; they like to appear in ID fairs/expos; their interior features a lot of built-in cabinetry works (because they do and earn less if the built-in is replaced by loose furnitures); and most importantly, they can give you a quotation very quickly, even before details of the design are discussed. They like to secure their customers first by offering an attractive low price. Many home owners like the idea that they 'confirm' a price on day one and therefore they are certain how much they are going to spend on their ID, but in fact the opposite is true when they engage D&B Contractors. D&B contractor's standard practice is that their day-one quotation usually covers the bare minimum basics. Usually, home owners will not be able to fully understand the content of the quotation, or predict/discuss about what they really need on day one (like, saucer racks). Home owners will not realise that what they are getting are the bare basics. Any further functional/aesthetics requests by the home owner will be considered as a variation and additional money will be charged. This is how they earn their money.

arowana is right. plot ratio is not relevant for landed residential.

Hi Yam Yeo Kindly check your pm. Best Regards Darren

Yes, I bought 8 Aeratron AE3 ceiling fans of various sizes for my parents' home, and all of them were so ridiculously slow that I absolutely regretted not buying KDK fans instead. When contacting the supplier, they simply said that "this fan is supposed to be a bit slower". Huh? How come you never tell me this model is "supposed to be slower" when I was buying, and only tell me this after i have installed everything? The biggest mistake I made was to believe my friend's good reviews about his aeratron fan. When showed him the slow-moving ceiling fan, he told me that that's also what's happening at his place, and he got used to it because he always turn on the air-con together with the fan. Shocking! Please DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL if you are like me, who simply want a strong ceiling fan who can function on their own satisfactorily! There is no word to describe the pain of seeing 8 ceiling fans that turn so slowly till you can see the blades clearly while they turn, generating close to no wind, and being told that they are supposed to be like that!

Main con usually has a 10 year warranty on waterproofing if it's a condo.

If I were you I will write to MOM and get a written reply to confirm that it is common (must have been stated somewhere) to allow construction noise to happen from Monday to Friday during working hours. I'll then forward the written reply to the MCST as a proof. Four days is unheard of.

Anyone know where to get those built-in wardrobe dehumidifier that you turn on forever inside the wardrobes to demudify the wardrobe? Usually use in good class bungalows' walk-in wardrobes.

Don't just compare cost. Remember to confirm the proposed piping material.

SKK is a very established brand that mainly focuses on selling their products to projects, architects, developer etc. Unlike brands like Nippon which focuses on home owners and consumers.

Roller blinds will allow light to seep in around the edges. Try not to use it in bedrooms.

What's the current material of your window and grille?

I am sorry but the dimensions are glaringly wrong. If the size is correct, only children can enter your kitchen.

tempered laminated glass (two panes of glass laminated together) is recommended for additional safety. there are regulations in Singapore controlling the minimum requirement for balcony glass parapets. talk to your contractor and make sure they know what they are doing.

Check with the supplier the STC rating if they claim that their windows are soundproof/acoustic. Basically, high performance sound proof window system, like those being installed at DJ rooms, recording studios, etc., are much thicker and also more expensive. Some ordinary windows may also cut down a bit of noise, sometimes by adding an additional glass pane (two panes, instead of one). They only help to reduce the noise, will definitely not cut off the noise completely.