Kerio

Oops haha! As long as there's a common understanding and you trust the ID, shouldn't be a problem right Yup we're taking Reno loan.. But we won't need to adjust it cos we're taking the full quantum, and even if there're adjustments that need to be made, there're just minor ones that will probably be absorbed by Reno changes along the way. I also forgot to clarify, ID only found out about the bathtub when she took a physical look at the place.. Maybe sometimes the floorplan is too misleading I guess Still waiting for Reno permit!

Thanks for the advice! In this case we need to give her 10% upon confirmation and 40% upon commencement, so we need to give her 50% once work commences Yup, I've been stalking renotalk for some time, so I know some of the tricks some IDs try.. Hopefully nothing of he sort will happen though We're still consolidating the can and can't-dos, but I'll definitely request for a variation order or a revised invoice.. Debit credit notes sound really unprofessional! Ya that's what I did! I was like "have Liao have Liao" and scuttling away quickly with my wife in tow haha..

I've changed to a stainless steel hob! Actually the good thing about buying from mega discount is that as long the items are not delivered or installed, you can change it with no questions asked Still using an EF brand hob though:)

ID went down to take a look yesterday, and updated us on a couple of issues: 1) She'd need to get a permit from HDB to hack the kitchen wall and floor, because of the "problem" of the HDB kitchen floors overlapping into the living room if we knock down the wall. 2) The MBR bathroom is too small to fit a bathtub, so we'd have to make do without (wifey and I discussed it previously and we're ok with doing without). Looks like we'd have to shift the money from the construction of the bathtub into a shower screen and the MBR platform. Also, on a separate note, the contractors hovering around the block every day (and night) are really getting on our nerves. We understand most of them (or maybe just some of them) are honest businessmen and some may even have high standards of workmanship, but seriously, we're more put off than intrigued when approached like that. Choosing contractors for House renovation is not quite something you make decisions on off the cuff, anyway.

Thanks! Haha, wonders of the internet - I didn't even think I'd be able to find it online heh heh.

Ya, I agree that some cheaper furnishings from Ikea don't last very long.. especially the cupboards! Almost all the cupboards I bought from ikea were decimated within 2 years. Think their beds should be alright though - the manstad one, for instance, costs $1,199, which is the normal market price for good quality sofa beds. I think I'm going to check out OM also.. though wifey says sure over budget one.

Mine is the biege one We may need to order/buy now and have it delivered at a later date I guess.. Do you have the full address for Dozz bedding?

Thanks! Wife and I just came back from ikea; saw a few really good ones but still looking for alternatives for comparison if possible. The new manstad one (L-shaped) that we really like is temporarily out of stock too.

Hi everyone! Does anyone know any reliable shops to get good sofa beds that allow for 2 (moderately large) persons to sleep comfortably on? Thanks in advance!

Ya, that's the thing.. We can't find the copies -..- we vaguely recall stuffing it into some nook or crevice in my tiny room, but after 3 years, all I've managed to find with my frantic scrabbling would be dust, books covered in dust, and unrelated dusty documents. Haiz, just have to go on with the floor and build doors lor.. Anyway doors cheaper if we go for the normal ones

Thanks! as expected, the layout is good though a little small heh heh Yeah, we hope so!! We flagged out several defects which will take a while, though our ID expects the Reno to be done in about 6 weeks (which is really fast considering the amount of work to be done). We tried not to make any changes, but there was one MAJOR problem- we thought we had opted in for the doors, but turns out we had opted for the floors! So our Reno plans need to shuffle a bit, and flooring is a rather major component. Now need to see if ID can find doors for us haaiz. Though to be honest, I STILL think we opted for the doors judging by the price we paid. Other than that, we also added a platform in the MBR (est $900), and besides the kitchen wall electrical points need to shift and the living room tv point need to shift (and that dratted opennet thingie, of cos), shouldn't be anything other additional items

Went by yesterday to flag out all the defects in the apartment - mainly cosmetics issues (e.g. painting around frames very messy, a few windows had issues with their locks and a few dents in the door frames). Service centre staff was very polite Total defects found: 14! And that's with us being very chin-chai to leave the areas we intend to renovate alone. Rectification will take around 7-10 days, so Reno will be delayed slightly (it was supposed to start on Tuesday), although the service centre staff mentioned we can start Reno while rectification works are going on. In any case, it might work to our benefit since it gives us time to get the cheques for our ID; I think it feels wrong to have them commence work without giving them the first 50% (10+40), even though we did put in a 1k deposit.

Oh i see.. Haha, no worries, I rather like the grills, and save money too:)) yup yup, I'm on 14th floor:) You were intending to hack the wall separating the kitchen and the dining area? There's a power point and a light switch on the wall, so might need a PE to check (not sure since it doesn't affect structural integrity). We had drawn out plans to remove the wall and install glass doors; looks like it might be slightly tricky >.< need to discuss with ID see how:)

@banned: Ya, but I didn't post any leh, so you saved me a lot of effort struggling with my touchpad heheh Thanks! the MBR is niiice! Hopefully our ID's magic touch can transform it into something nocer.. Despite our meddling hehe:)

Heh heh, thanks for helping me convert into pix was trying to do it when my PC hang -..- Dunno why the MBR has grills, since it wasn't in the specs when we applied for it haha.. think maybe for safety reasons? Perhaps hard for private contractors to do it correctly? The new windows a bit problematic though, there's a buffer used to close the windows and it snapped off when we tried to close it. Also, painting was quite shoddy and some hairline cracks along the walls.. have to report to HDB tomorrow

Key Collection Day! Pics of the house : http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/6774/frontdoorzg.jpg Front Door - looks like pretty good material. http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7435/livingroom2h.jpg Living Room - a little smaller than we imagined, but the large windows are nice. One of the locks was faulty, will need to report to HDB. http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/9278/guestroom1.jpg Guest Room. http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4364/studyroomt.jpg Study Room - good potential! http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/113/mbrg.jpg Leading to MBR http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3960/mbrview.jpg MBR. Http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9096/cdshelter.jpg CD shelter- the door doesn't close properly. Http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5198/front door peephole.jpg The peephole is rather stylish. Http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3602/kitchene.jpg Kitchen; a little smaller than we envisioned it to be.

Yup, I'm hacking my kitchen wall and shrinking it until it reaches the service yard door; this is so we can build a bigger breakfast counter and make the space neater. Not sure if mine will need a PE, though it may be possible because there's a beam along the ceiling that connects to the kitchen wall. This is also the reason why my ID needs to take measurements and see the place before she can apply for Reno permit. Are we allowed to change the location of the front door? I thought anything that changes the exterior outlook would not be allowed? And yeap, first 7 days are for rectification by HDB:) but if there're no rectifications (we're hoping), then work can start ba? Otherwise doesn't make sense to leave the house empty for a week for no reason one thing I'm concerned about is that it may take a while to get the Reno permit approved though.

Just met with ID again just now - she was super-efficient! Decided on tiles, wall colors, laminates, etc all in he space of 2 hours. Also walked us through the designs again and confirmed some details. Starting work next Tuesday if the Reno permit doesn't present any problems. Collecting keys tomorrow afternoon!!

Think the subsequent blocks should be quite fast! We were thinking there'd be at least a month from our HLE approval to the actual key collection, but it turned out to be less than 3 weeks It's definitely a better idea to get your ID now rather than after key collection! Even barring issues like actual selection and shortlisting of ID, there's still design and space planning and 3D designs, all of which take quite some time. My ID, for instance, has had to change the designs 3-4 times so far over 2 months, and we're still not satisfied because what we requested just isn't in there. Today going to see her again to finalize some details before actual key collection tomorrow, and Reno is expected to start the following week! So in the next week, colors, materials etc all have to be chosen and confirmed. Super rush! >.<

I want a play room too!! But wifey is all pumped up for the housewarming, and I also think it's more critical to get the main stuff like living room, kitchen, toilets and MBR up, so these are the items we're doing first.. budget constraints, so bo pian Looking on the bright side, at least I can build up the project room and customise it slowly hee Ya, the opennet thing is a major headache adding on to all the other headaches!! At least the SCV point has been standardised so don't need to think too much -..- Heh heh, thanks! I'm getting keys on Thursday afternoon, so should be in time to pop by with our ID to do an on-site survey Has HDB given you a date yet? HLE approved le? So far ID's progress a bit patchy - 3D designs not confirmed yet, so we don't have a very clear picture of how the house will look like haaaaiz. Meeting her tomorrow night to discuss some stuff (missus wants to change the kitchen configuration, and we want to see the 3D drawings if they're ready).

Ya, I don't like Philips very much either haha.. but it's cheap and functional, so as long as I don't damage it by being too rough with it, it should be fine. Anyway, I have a TCL television (think it's some obscure china brand) and it's lasted me for 8-9 years with no issues until recently, so Philips can't be lousier than that right? (I hope) I intend to get my ID to help mount it, though Mega does offer installation and mounting I think - most likely it'll be on the top left and right of the living area; since I have a false ceiling should be easy to pull the wires through (if they're long enough). Considering philips doesn't have a really good reputation and I may change the system in the next few years (and shift the philips one to the study room), I think I'll assess the area first to see if I can hide it somewhere at ear level diagonally in front, so the speakers spread out in the front like a fan. My study room will be my entertainment room! But it's my KIV-ed project until the rest of the critical reno is done up.. considering a projector and sound system - hopefully will be able to conceal the wires properly then. Think if the wires are messy then bo pian lor.. just have to organise the wires properly and tape them to the walls where necessary (neatly of course). I'm not sure about the cat 6 cables leh; I think there's a thread on it, but I can't really find it; based on my notes, the cat 6 cables should be around $1.5 per metre, and the faceplate is $18.75 per piece - can get at sim lim tower LHS level 2. But do note that I'm not quite sure how the set up should be like, or what those things are used for hahaha.. I read through the thread once and everything was greek to me -..- Think I'll just email opennet to check about the details before meeting our ID on Wednesday night

Yes I did! I read from the opennet thread here that wireless may not fully optimize the high speed capabilities though, which is why I'm considering getting the Belden cat 6 wires and the RJ 45 faceplate. Getting them is not as big an issue as actually using them. Most likely I'll just hand them to the electrician and see what he can do. If I understood it correctly (not sure if I did), I'm supposed to pull the Belden cat 6 wires through the house to the various rooms, and use the RJ45 faceplate in the various rooms to plug in the PCs, TVs etc. In other more non-hysterics causing news, I've changed my tempered glass hob to a stainless steel gas hob! And also, gotten myself 2 sound systems: - Philips HTS-5560 5.1 5 channel Hi-Fi Blu-Ray System (for the living room, 5 speakers with 2 behind and 3 in front, including subwoofer) - Philips HTS-5120 Soundbar (for the Main Bed room; SUPER overkill, but they didn't sell the smaller one it seemed a pretty good deal) Total price of purchase - $1100. Will get electrician to help me set up wahahaha

Agree. Wifey tells me s/s hob hard to clean, but I'm quite used to them though. We consult our ID first lor Maybe tomorrow will go check out the Kallang Leisure park Mega also lol. Currently looking through the Opennet Installation details on RT... The accepted method appears to be to get the contractor to drill a hole from top of the front door, and run trunking all the way to the SCV point, pulling a draw rope throughout to facilitate the pulling through of the fibres. Not very clear, however, on what is required for the 13A Powerpoint/Sockets (are they like, normal sockets?), RJ45 patch panels, and Cat 6 cables (which apparently should be run throughout the house? How to run? Through false ceiling? I read there're only 4 ports, so what if we need to pull to 5 places?). Mwaaa so confused

Hahaha, I meant stainless steel gas hob My wife was thinking of getting an induction hob, but some of her colleagues told her the heat may not be as high (i.e. not good for chinese stir-fry), and of course, the standard cast iron or steel pots and pans for induction hobs are quite costly. Did you happen to see air-conditioning systems there? We saw another type of hob at the United Square Mega outlet; it's a ceramic glass hob (looks like an induction hob), except there're heated rings below the glass that heat up the pot when you're cooking. Quite ex though, and not sure if really hot enough or not. Then she considered a tempered glass hob with a cast iron ring and gas cooker, and thought it was alright, though I was worried because : 1) If you search for "tempered glass hob shattering", you'll find quite a lot of posts, although mostly from 2007 - 2008. Not sure if there's still that problem now, but the shattering usually occurs after the 1 year warranty, so replacement of the tempered glass may not be free. 2) The sales person told us to be careful with the hob, don't chip it or scratch it, don't drop things on it, don't use too much force when cooking etc etc. That really cramps my style, because when I cook, I tend to violently attack the hob with a frying pan, then toss the food in the pan by moving the pan on the iron rings with a great deal of vim and vigor. And why spend so much money to stress myself? A stainless steel one would do, I think. Still considering whether or not to swap our glass hob for a stainless steel hob. Anyone else have any experience with glass hobs?

Haha I know what you mean! I was checking the Hdb website every 2 hours when I heard someone in my block had gotten the Key collection letter My ID told us to buy the stuff on discount if we wanted to, though to play safe we only bought electrical appliances for the kitchen, and tv tv should be standard black mah, so quite ok heehee:) all our accessories are stainless steel to match the black and s/s theme in the kitchen. So far haven't gotten actual furnitures yet:) Which ones did you already get?