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lilithfiend

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Posts posted by lilithfiend

  1. Posted

    The First Appointment

    rain202.jpg

    It poured like mad the morning of our first appointment. After what was like a month of no rain, it had to rain on that day. Nervy me obviously saw it as a bad omen.

    So we took the bus to TPY, walked on over to HDB Hub, we were late by 15 mins and when we got there at 9am, our agents, the sellers and their agent were already waiting for us..so paiseh. Our agent went to get a queue number when we arrived. In less than 10 minutes, our number was called. We were led to one of the stations just in front of the waiting area where the officer asked for our ICs and marriage certificate. She then asked us to sign a declaration form stating that we do not own any property overseas.

    After we were done, it was back to the waiting seats again. Think it was less than 10 minutes when our number was called (again). So off we went to the rooms behind the stations we were at earlier. We were led into a cubicle with a HDB officer who was looking like she had PMS. It was freezing in her cubicle! Our agent was with us the whole time.

    So this officer started by asking us to sign the HPS insurance form, followed by a flurry of other documents like Letter of Offer, Warrant to Act etc etc. She then took us through our Financial Plan, which worked out how much we would be paying monthly. Signed, signed, signed. Felt as if I was signing my life away. She also reminded us that if we were to purchase a subsidised flat from HDB in the future, we had to pay a $30k resale levy (in CASH) since we were taking HDB grant. Then, she proceeded to fix our 2nd appointment date – 21 April 2010. I tried asking for an earlier date, she told me this was the earliest because we had the grants so it would take a while to process. So 6 weeks it is..

    Our first installment to HDB would begin on 1 June 2010. So they gave us about a month to move in, which I thought was pretty thoughtful of them. I was actually hoping to get the keys before end March since I read somewhere here that the fastest HDB could expedite was 4 weeks. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. So I tried asking our agent to get the keys from the owner first, so we could get the contractors to do site visits. She told me not possible..sigh.

    So after all the arrangements were fixed and done, we were told to go upstairs to pay the caveat fees. On the way out, our agent whispered to me in a conspiratorial tone that she managed to get the keys for us. Woohoo!! Apparently, she didn't want the HDB officer to know. I was quite relieved since that meant we could go to the house whenever we wanted, no need to arrange with the agents to open the door whenever we want contractors to do site visits.

    We then went to the third floor to pay the caveat fees. Paid the agents’ their commission and got their contractor's contact (they did their 3-rm flat at only $14k!). And it was done!

    We were out of HDB by 10am. All in all, a pretty quick experience, much faster than we thought it would take.

    Now, the plan is to move out of our current rental by 1 May to hb's grandaunt's house. Then, move into our new place once reno is completed. We would have to move some furniture into the utility room for storage first, while the reno is ongoing. Things are finally falling into place and I’m so excited!

  4. Posted

    tracy, yep we will start reno right after the 2nd appt. actually, we already have the keys as the house is currently vacant and seller don't mind giving us early. but cannot start reno yet la, we can just get contractors to do site visits only. tried asking hdb for earlier 2nd appt (they gave us 6 weeks) but they say cannot as we are applying for grants so will need time to process blah blah blah. zz

    wcseow, thanks! it seems whenever "Everton Park" comes up, its almost always childhood memories for people. for us, we look forward to those memories! haha..i had no idea where everton park was before we bought this place..but love the location and the sleepiness of the neighbourhood.

    rondy, yep you told me about the bathroom shop before. will go there have a look when its time.. :) thanks!

  7. Posted · Edited by lilithfiend

    Hello all. After silently reading numerous t-blogs over the past few months, the time has finally come for me to start my own! Yay! :D

    Firstly, would just like to say thanks to those who have replied my PMs and supplied me with tips and contacts: Simon, Rondy, Ossify, fftw, lynnzlq & Angteko to name a few. This forum has been a very valuable resource of information during the long wait for our first appointment. And since we've just attended our first appointment yesterday, I figured the time is RIPE!

    Ok, less talk more pics. Here's our floorplan - a humble 3 room HDB flat, our very first, nonetheless:

    floorplan.gif

  11. Posted

    hi, my floor is still a HUGE disaster, too bad u guys can't see from the pictures. rem to get your ID/ Contractors to use self levelling compound to achieve the super smooth and even effect. mine is really HAND MADE so you will see the uneveness of the strokes even though they buffered the floor. i have to use a floor rug to cover partial of the floor.

    how's your renovation so far?

    sorry to hear about the floor! I thought it'd have been fixed by now..will definitely keep your tip about the self levelling compound in mind when my reno starts.. i'm still waiting for my first appointment that will take place next week..sigh, long wait! your place looks good though from the pictures..simple and no fuss..agree with rondy about the decal - really cute!

  13. Posted

    hi lilithfiend', pls ask yr id what will happen if i choose to re-screed my flooring without hacking, my id said her workers would do the following;

    1) pour some very strong chemical on top of my existing already cement screeded floor and leave it to dry for one day

    2) then pour a thin layer of cement over (this is re-screed to them)

    to me it is exactly like walking on thin ice right? over time it cannot take our body weight, let alone our heavy furnitures. i'm very very worried tat the floor will have a `mini earthquakes' effect, instead of hairline cracks, it would develop deep GAPS!

    pls help me to check with your id. the reason why i want to re-screed is bcos i don't like the colors, too patchy and most of the areas are very dark grey in colors. they have already buffered the floor but no help

    i asked for metal strips is bcos it helps to break the floors into parts. if one area develops hairline cracks, it will not travel all the way on the floor, it will end where the strip ends. got it?

    hey lynn, sorry but i don't have an ID yet! i've only just begun speaking to ID/contractors and nothing has been firmed up yet. Maybe someone else here will be able to shed some light on your dilemma? :(

    and yep, i understand what you're saying about the metal strips liao..thanks for the headsup!

  14. Posted

    hi lynn, are all your floors cement screeded? even the toilet floors?

    by the way, did your ID tell you the use of those metal strips? i asked one ID, he told me they are just for aesthetics... :huh: i thought they were meant to minimize cracking..

  18. Posted

    Kichen cement sink And cooker support is done. I'm very anal abt the cement grey color n I specifically told my I'd not to start any cement work w/o me. but the worker just went ahead. i almost flipped!

    My hall flooring will be cement screeded floor w stainless steel strips

    master toilet walls cement screed

    common toilet walls partial cement screed

    kitchen no wall tiles just painted white

    only bottom cement cabinet

    http://m779.photobucket.com/albums/lynnzlq...xf5l0E%2F3yw%3D

    finally i found someone who's doing cement screeded floors and walls. looking forward to seeing the pictures when its completed!

  21. Posted

    i just let them work and check at end of day. they know what needs to be done because they're professionals. please don't get people who do not know how to do reno, it's dangerous and a waste of money. but of course you have to tell them what you want and if anything looks different from your expectations, feedback immediately for rectification. cement takes a few days to dry so the earlier you tell them, the easier it is to rectify.

    i see..how do you communicate what you want from them? do you draw it out with dimensions and all?

    The electrical/plumber near my house quoted me $2820 for my electrical and $1100 for my plumbing works :help:

    The $2100 for electrical and $900 for plumbing is by far the cheapest (cheap and recommended) so far.

    wowee, 2100 for electrical sounds a bit pricey..is that cos you have so many fans?

  24. Posted

    living room ceiling takes about 1 day, powder costs $9. so it costs $109? :D

    but in between applications, the worker does other things while waiting for it to dry.

    hi ossify, i'm thinking of going down the same path you're on when it's my turn to renovate. just want to know: do you closely supervise the workers (i.e. are you there the whole time they work?) or do you just check in at the end of the day? And how do they know what needs to be done - do you have to instruct them yourself or does their boss do that?

    btw, your blog is a huge source of inspiration and ideas and is now part of my morning "kopi" lol. Hope to learn alot from here and from you, thanks! :D

  25. Posted

    well, kind of. i pay by man hours, so... the faster they take to do it, the lesser i pay. grind and plaster is much faster than hack (or rather chip because you can't hack the RC beam, can only chip off the tiles individually), grind and plaster.

    actually the thickness is the same. if you hack, you need to cement screed smooth (which is already 1 tile thick) before you can plaster. if you grind, and plaster, it's the same.

    ok, great thanks for the tip! will keep this in mind when planning my (superbudget) reno.

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