schiz0id

OVERALL UPDATE Four weeks have zoomed by so quickly. Made many uncle friends this past month. Time for a quick update - DONE & DANDY - All floor/wall tiles hacked Walls hacked (11) Walls erected (8) Dry Kitchen tiling and grouting Bedroom tiling and grouting Bathroom tiling and grouting Windows (still left living room) Door frames WORKS IN PROGRESS - Living room floor Wet kitchen floor Plastering (Bedrooms) PENDING WORKS - Electrical works Plumbing works Lighting works Ceiling works Carpentry Window Grilles Doors Three more weeks to go..

Oh my.. that's a good one! Thanks adidaem See if I can catch the contractor again.

WOW! Okay, I really feel like a mountain tortoise. I have this huge misconception that reservoir waters are sacred and no activities can be done on the water. I really need to go to Bedok Reservoir this weekend Thanks for the eye-opener, therat and bepgof!

Yeah me too.. I think my parents should pay me instead of my ID. Ha!

Hey May, Sorry, need to ask - You asked them to lay cable or lay trunking? Meeting my electrician soon so see if I can do likewise

Since we are on the topic of CCTVs here, I thought i'd ask.. Is it okay to install CCTVs outside the house? Or do we need special permit for that? I'm not looking to install any but I've heard conflicting arguments about needing permits for such things and wonder if you guys know anything about it. Thanks!

FLOORING UPDATE All the bedroom floor tiles are done! Tiles have also been grouted. They are looking very nice! [Can't tell from here cos each time they wash it'll still have cement residue] WALL UPDATE Plasterers have started works in the bedrooms. I sure didn't know how tedious plastering can be. This small wall here that the guy was working on, took him at least 45mins to an hour just to make it super smooth and perfect. Yup, one puny wall. That long a time. Hope to post pictures of more perfect, smooth white-washed walls soon!

Hey eden, thanks for sharing. My HDB TO says it's a standard procedure to have to lay the waterproofing layer before they lay the tiles in the kitchen. When I told him that the upstairs neighbour has already hacked twice, he says he's aware and that after hacking each layer, they will have to put a fresh layer of waterproofing before laying the new tiles. This is all talk, of course. But the actual doing - who's to say what actually happened. When he comes down to assess the situation on Friday i'll ask him what else HDB can do about it. The doors to the upstairs unit were open today cos they were doing some touch up works. Managed to go to their kitchen and see. No sign of faulty taps or wet areas were found. The area immediately above the wet spot is not at any sink or water pipes. Seems okay so far. Will wait and see what HDB says on Friday.

I'm sitting at HDB Branch Office now. Who knew pushing up hacking date of 2 puny pillars will be such an arduous process... Don't understand why they can't release more season parking lots if there are sooo many empty lots at night. Sheesh...

Hahaha okay.. that one I have to agree... Wow, this reservoir allows activities on the water? Interesting.. Never been to Bedok reservoir. Think i'll pop by one day to look see look see.

Yup, love those tiles too!

Even then, I don't think we had that many incidents occuring at MRT stations as compared to reservoir? Then again, I think I recall one short period where we had 3 incidents at MRT, one after another. Sigh... Wish these people had someone to turn to. Hey bepgof, is there a particular spot that's very dark and ulu that people can't spot you if you get into the reservoir? I wonder how these people get into the water undetected...

MAIN DOOR UPDATE The main door frame is finally up! Fire-rated door to go up here soon! Pillar will be hacked only tomorrow since today no noisy works can be done FLOORING UPDATE - BEDROOM The bedroom floor tiles sitting pretty waiting to be laid. [sounds ahem.. ] Really love these homogeneous tiles that look so much like wood panels! My bedroom floor tiles, half done, to be completed tomorrow My younger brother's room being grouted since his floor is all done! Lots to do this coming week. Entering the 5th week of renovations.

Hey Reiki, Thanks for that. Indeed, if flooring done again will be best. And yeah, you're right to say that that'll only happen if HDB steps in. We'll see what happens after my sleuthing tomorrow Thanks for your input on the matter. Appreciate it

Did your HDB TO tell you about the kitchen flooring not having waterproofing or you heard that from your contractor? It really is a cause for worry...

Hey eden, thanks for sharing Contractor upstairs claims waterproofing was done. Will only get more information on Tuesday when it ain't a public holiday and all parties are available. And yeah, don't worry will most certainly speak to my ID at great lengths about this. Thanks!

Haha like eden mentioned, the white makes the place "look" bigger. Can't wait for white walls!

Check back in a bit!

UPDATES Wet kitchen waiting for tiling to be done on Tuesday! [Have not seen the wet kitchen looking so clean in quite a while - it was the place where much of the sand was placed] Lots of plaster has made their way up. A lil more than 30 bags of plaster! The plasterer has also brought up his "equipment". They will be continuing some more works tomorrow. Apparently it's not a public holiday for the uncles. They will be doing some light work that won't involve noise. I'm guessing grouting work..

FLOORING UPDATE Okay, pictures galore! The area is not completely cleaned up yet but excited to share the progress so far. Living room completed! Except for the part with the horrendous pillar and the nearby area where debris is waiting to be cleared. Study area completed! Dry Kitchen completed! Left the small part where the base for the fridge and full-height cabinets are going to be. The foreground also shows part of the dining done! [it looks like the living, dining and dry kitchen share the same floor tiles, but dry kitchen actually has a non-slip finish.] My parents' room done! The joining with the bathroom is not confirmed yet cos they still don't know where the glass door should go. That'll determine where the bedroom ends and the bathroom starts. My younger brother's room (Bedroom 4) done! They should be finishing floor tiling on Tuesday, very latest, Wednesday. Hopefully by then, it will be white walls galore when the plasterers take over!

Haha, nono.. What I meant is it looks like an insect - the leaf is its body and the two dew drops look like its eyes

Hahaha! That's one of my concerns too when we were house-hunting as well! My new place won't have opennet till Jan next year. So for one month, we'll be without fibre optics. But honestly, till now, can't really tell the difference between the normal broadband and the one using fibre optics.

FLOORING UPDATES Decided to focus on happier things for now. This pic was taken two days ago. As of this evening, the floor tiles in the living room are done! Dry Kitchen also done! Parents' bedroom also done! Bedroom 4 also done! My room (Bedroom 3) is halfway through. So is my other brother's room (Bedroom 2). Couldn't take pics today cos one part of the living room was still wet. Will take more pics when I'm at the house on Sunday. They are working on Monday too so shall not be in their way. Flooring is expected to finish on Tuesday!! Was very happy to see this guy sitting nicely in the corner. He should be put up either Mon or Tue. He doesn't look much different from the bedroom frames but he's quite wide! Zoom zoom!

Thanks Lauer and adidaem, it’s a good idea to speak to owner, if I can catch them. They have not shifted in and they don’t come to the house as often as I do so that may be abit of a problem. Hope can catch them either tomorrow or monday. I hope they see our side too and understand that it’s in the best interests of both parties. I will check up on the injection rectification thingy with the ID. Guess that’s the only thing I can do for now. Wait and hope to speak to someone soon.

Thanks sleek! I finally understand why people start t-blogs... It really helps to get such support during difficult times like these. I'm really very heartened for you guys I think it never really hit me until this incident how damaging 10 months of reno works upstairs can be for us. Sigh.... And you hit the nail on the head when you said it really doesn't matter how rich they are. Anyway, seems they are pointing fingers at their ID, ID is pointing fingers at them. It's also a sticky situation upstairs. Anyway, that's their issue to deal with, I currently have this to deal with. I wish I had the answers on how to deal with it too. Of cos, best way to be absolutely sure is to get them to hack their floor tiles, watch them do the waterproofing layer before laying tiles again for the umpteenth time. Even then, don't know if problem will be solved. Other areas may start seeing similar problems. And who will go through that trouble for us rite? Thanks for your kind words. Hope to find some resolution on this matter soon!