mae29

I am sure most home owners & forumers here are fully aware that you can't expect problem-free renovation & workmanship, especially for a complete makeover of an old 31 year old flat! It also depends on your level of quality expectations & how diligent do you conduct QC checks! Moreover, it boils down to how honest you are, when commenting on your reno progress, and your level of quality acceptance! If you say 100% good workmanship, it is either you are not sincere, or your standards of acceptance is only so so, not up to my mark! Sorry to say this, but my ID almost broke down handling me & my reno project! As I am putting up my reno blog primarily for my sons to be informed of reno status, I list down every details & " stories" that come along the way! Nothing to hide, as I am the proud home owner, and ID is engaged by me after due selection process.

The group of Singaporean movers.... Moving of bulky items from the bomb shelter of my sister's place at Bukit Panjang: This guy standing is the driver cum 'chief' mover! ...and the big truck they sent to transport my 30+ boxes of stuffs, few pieces of IKEA furnitures & alots of our hand carry bags ....with 5 local men, 4 hours spent @ $300 only...really cheap & good!

I paid $1,750 for all the curtains including the trackings & installation. Maybe is because of the materials I have chosen, expecially the day curtains for MBR alone is already $400++.

It opens to the full height mirror of the inner aluminium frame sliding door. This means there are one outer wooden sliding door, and an inner sliding mirror door at entrance to toilet of MBR. It is weird, but there is water dripping sound which affects my sleep...at least now 2 doors to lessen the noises at night.

The completed store room cum shoe cabinet: Comparing with 3D drawing of store room: ...and the mess started in the store room!

Status Update: As mentioned earlier, my ID is sending another group of painters to do a 3rd painting to almost the whole house. Some walls have sratched marks when carpenter lean the materials against the wall, and some are stains. They will be coming tomorrow to repaint our house again! Further, there are hiccups in the 2 areas: 1. The window opening at the dining area: Due to unevenness of wall tiles at the edges, ID had to 'fork' out at their cost, additional wooden trimming to line the 4 sides facing the kitchen. These wooden panelling will be painted in white, before the carpenter install the pelmets to cover up the upper sliding track tomorrow. Seen here is the above mentioned problem, and the LG side-by-side fridge in White. 2. The wooden sliding door at toilet of MBR: Due to bulky aircon trunking which obstructs the sliding door, additional false 'pillar' was constructed so that the sliding wooden door can slide to the left edge, near the windows, without leaving gaps. This also affected the curtains track which the curtain maker will shift & re-install the end stopper.

sure, let me update some progress photographs, then clear my PM messages...it is full already as I have been busy like bees these 2 days.

The curtains bosses came to site personally & met our ID to resolve the beams & columns issue. Now, due to unforeseen problem with the aircon bulky trunking which obstruct the additional wooden sliding door, the curtain installer has to return to adjust the stopper at the right side. Sharing here are more photographs of the curtains: Close-up view of the material for Day curtains in my MBR: Curtains in Bedroom 2 & Bedroom 4: Curtains in Bedroom 3 One of the 3 installers who came to fix the curtains:

Hi, Blue Skies True, really hope the pipies in the toilets can be made hidden somewhere else & less obstructive! Throughout the whole reno process, there are pleasant & unpleasant moments as mine is really an extreme makeover of over 30-year old flat with so many unpredictable issues which surfaced only during the renovation works. Kudos to my ID for his patience and involvement in the project from beginning to now. I will share with you the details.

While I was searching for flats way back in 1999, I scouted around many estates and realised that I could lift my hand and almost touching the ceilings at some estate, like Teban Gardens Block 4 (I am 1.65m tall). When I came to visit my current place, I can see the total difference in height of ceiling. Maybe I go back tonight and measure for you to compare.

Our block was built by JTC in the 1979, and the ceiling is much higher than other estates. The other day, while I was doing QC after the contractors left (I checked daily the tall piece of side panel as that is the area they would pass by when using the toilet or dustbin), I saw a joint & thought it was a scratch initially. The joint is at the bottom about 3-4 inches away from the lowest edge. As we have unusually high ceilings, I understand that my ID 'underquoted' the wall tiles!

I am glad that I selected the right curtain maker given by my ID. Their wokmsnship is superb and service is No. 1!! When they came for measurements, they saw beams & columns at every corners and they have duly taken these into considerations. Now, as there will be another wooden sliding door for the toilet of MBR, the right side of the track & stopper need adjustment. My ID feedback to them & they responded immediately, even though their installers are rushing for owners to meet CNY. Really worth every cents of the price I paid for whole curtains.

Hi, winkasiao Thank you for visiting my blog... I hope to borrow your 'winkasiao' luck for CNY! We like our reno too, it is really an extreme makeover home, as commented by our neighbours. I will pm you my ID full contact.

Hi, sleek I am glad my energy level at this age, can hold me through these 2 months of extreme makeover plan & I have to thank all of you like yourself for the encouragement. Wishing you a bountiful CNY with happiness & success throughout the year!

Hi, May_dream1 I saw your nick frequently on this forum & now I have the honour to have yours in my blog! Thank you for leaving behind your footprint in my blog, and I am really happy to 'know' u here. Looks like I will spend CNY reading your blog:)

Hi, hotchix Thank you for visiting my blog! I am glad that I have made it & finally the reno is considered over, although there are still some punchlist items to be cleared. Perhaps I place too stringent demand on quality check and that's why almost all contractors had a hard time with me. I will be writing a summation of the whole reno works & lessons learnt with full photographs once my furnitures arrived. As for the sink & stove, it looks very near, but they are at least 2 feet apart from sink mixer and the first ring of stove. Hence, it is not an issue to have L-shape sink & stove if sufficiently apart. As for the mover, I should really compliment them for their good service. My stuffs were all packed in cartons by ourselves when we moved out 2 months ago. They are all intact & no need to repack. There are altogether 14 trolleys plus the King size mattress, and they charged me $300 for the 5 men who spent nearly 4 hours of their time for all my stuffs & place each boxes properly in each respective rooms per my instruction. I will PM you their contact later tonight when I got hold of internet access. I forgot to apply for MI fibre broadband early & they will come only on 2nd Feb. Hotchix, thank you again for visiting my blog and I want to let you know how much I value your comments.

Lol, after moving back home yesterday, was busy unpacking stuffs for the kitchen. Guess what? My kitchen cabinets look whiter now... May be my eyes these 2 days were spent looking at them, nothing else. So, I want to convey is that my kitchen is like PIANO white!

Activities on 26 Jan 2011: Was at home waiting for Courts delivery for the LG fridge, Sanyo washer & Samsung LED TV amid the heavy rain. The delivery guys had to lug the washer & TV up to my unit because the only lift serving our point block had broken down as soon as they brought up the LG fridge. Then, mover called & advised delivery time changed due to rain. I was delighted as the only available timeslot was not favourable for me. So, rushed back to Bukit Panjang as soon as Courts finished testing the washer. Mover came punctually & in less than one hour, they have loaded all our stuffs. Was raining heavily and when we arrived at my place, the only lift serving our point block broke down again for a third time in one day. The other lift had shut down for upgrading since the day we moved out for renovation. The movers unloaded all our stuffs and they waited patiently for more than an hour for the mechanic to repair the lift. City Gas also came to install the gas meter & connection to heater & stove. I am glad that the mover didn't disappoint me; really cheap & reliable mover!

Hi, Martin Just for record, have sent you the contact details of my ID. Let me know anything else you want me to provide.

Hi, rickoveron Yes, I have the contact of one of ah neh...I guess is the guy without uniform. He called me when I was unwell and slept in one of the bedroom when they came to find the house owner:) Will PM you his mobile number.

Progress photographs: The Foyer @ entrance to Kitchen with the completed store room The headboard for my bedroom.

Curtains: Bedroom 3 MBR Reversed dressing with the expensive Day curtains in front instead of normal way of placing behind.

I bought at their Sungei Kadut outlet. I will PM you the address later tonight.

I thought they have Zoning and they ply along the West zone?