AnneY

My house : front gate (for car) is 4m wide and we have 1.5m wide pedestrain gate. The approvals took quite a bit of time as a few agencies' approval are needed(i think the usual plus LTA, PUB and may be NEA). Initially, we were asked to build culvert (i.e to cover the drain) along the entire width of the house but we (through architect) appealed successfully. We need to do the culvert in front of the gate and pedestrain gate, obviously.

My understanding is no drilling/hacking and other "heavy" activty after 12 noon on Sat. My neighbour called my contractor up to complain the moment it is past 12 noon on Sat during my construction. You can consider this : Get a meeting with the main contractor's rep before you sign off the pre-consultant survey photos. You can convey your concerns and requests to he main contractor and get their project manager's mobile phone number. Most contractors try to start off with a good relationship with neighbours. There is little way to escape the noise, dirt and inconveniences of living next to a major construction. If cracks appear on your wall, floor, water leakage, excess vibration etc you can complain to BCA - they take safety concerns very seriously.

Besides fixed skylight you can also use transparent roof tiles. We use the kormac roof tiles and 12 pieces of transparent tiles from the same manufacturer. They work very well. I also have a fixed skylight in one of the windowless bathrooms but I like the transparent roof tiles better.

Harrods carries miele and other appliances, even sub zero fridge. But you have to email them under the Harrods Direct service as I mentioned.

from Harrods (UK, London Dept store). You have to email them using the contact on their website. However for vacuum cleaner i am not sure if the savings will be significant after the shipping charges.

In my experience, for condo, best to start with partially furnished (wardrobe, kitchen cabinets, fridge, washer, dryer, curtains). If you meet a prospective tenant who want more items like TV, microwave or furniture, they can always negotiate with you. Many tenants have their own furniture and appliances. If you buy first, the tenant may not share your taste in furniture.

Hello Lee, if you are building another house next to your existing house (ie. you will have 2 houses in the plot of land), its likely you have to pay a development charge which could be quite hefty. Have you look at this item?

The ceiling exhaust fan is connected to a duct which will carry the air to hole in an exterior wall. The exhaust fan is cheap (~$200-300), the ducting is expensive (Depending on length of duct). There are 2 options - flexible hose or fixed ducting. Flexible is cheaper but not much. I was quoted about $2K plus to do install 2 fans with fixed ducting in 2 toilets that are windowless. For reducing humidity in walk-in wardrobe, one option is to install a dehumidifer (eg novita has some slim models). If you make provisions during construction, you can install a pipe to carry away the water from the demumidifier (so that you don't have to empty the water tank).

twothumbs : For bathroom related stuff like taps and steam generator, we have purchased from Amazon.com (accepts SG cards) and homeperfect.com (accepts Paypal). Have to use vpost or comgateway to forward the packages. Usually at least 40% savings after shipping, GST (if >$400) etc. UK and European sites usually accept international credit cards. Some of these sites will deduct VAT (19-20%) off the price when they ship outside Europe. So very large savings can result. If shopping for electrical items (like lights) must get from UK due to 220V voltage. We purchased a De Dietrich induction oven from UK site, about ~S$1K total with shipping, GST and we did not even get VAT deduction from that site.

As we construct our house, we found that many items are far cheaper in Europe or US. We have purchased from these sites and save money in the process. 1. Ironmongeries : Valli & Valli door levers & lock (Italian design and made in US) from www.decow.com). Average about US$150 where those less known brands in singapore cost >S$300. 2. Samsung digital keypad lock : SHS 3120 from Amazon.com : US$230 (about S$600+) here 3. George Nelson Bubble Lamps & other italian light fittings : ylightings.com - >50% savings in general 4. Kohler Purist floor mount bath filler (for free standing bath tub) : US$580 compared to >S$2K here And many other items including Elitis wallpaper, Miele appliances, steam generator, etc. Does anybody have other shopping sites to share ?

A few more: WeLoveAir Designer Furniture - clean and sleek look. http://weloveair.com/siteAir/contact.html Monticello - LIGNE ROSET European Designers #01-01 Odeon Towers The Shophouse Teak Furniture at Tanglin Mall & Rochester Park www.theshophouse.com The Home Gallery Made in China, but looks quite close to European designer furniture UE Tech Park, 8 Pandan Crescent, Lobby 5

New Erection is start from scratch. Reconstruction is like an extensive A&A, it reuses some of the existing structure. You can read about it in this URA document. http://www.corenet.gov.sg/Corenet/einfo/Circulars/HTMLandPDF/URA_2005090501.PDF A&A does not require architect and no need for TOP/CSC.

Have PM you. For construction contract (including PS sums), mine works out to be in the range $165 psf of GFA (including open terrace, car porch), but this is not an accurate assessment of building cost based on my observation. Mine will be well below $150 psf range if i did not have a swimming pool. It depends on (a) how much foundation structure you are redoing, the type of foundation needed due to soil condition (piling or pad footing) (b) any sewer line running across your property © do you want an attic, are you redoing the roof structure - major items like this. For a semi-d of land 3800 sq ft, a few architects i spoke to said you need a total budget starting 800-900K (for reconstruction) and at least 50% more if it is a new erection (ie demolish everything and start from scratch). The total budget includes the construction cost plus PS sums set aside for aircon, sinks, taps, wc, electrical, lighting, built-in cabinets, door handles, autogate etc but excludes furniture. My PS sums are 30% of total budget - this is the portion you have discretion on how much to spend for the quality you want.

I have seen houses which remain as "semi-d" status, but the house is designed in such a way that most of it is detached from the neighbour's house - looks and feel like a detached. That may be an option for you if it is not approved.

HI Goodluck, for your reference, my architect's fee is 40K (his name is found in the Board of Arch) , PE 12K, QS 2.5K. And this is for reconstruction of a semi-d land size 3600, 2 levels, 5 bedrooms +family room, and swimming pool. So I think it is possible for get one for under 70K.