Lauer

The concrete is reinforced, therefore called RC, for a reason. Of course, please consider (or design) carefully about the toilet-dry space conversion. Afterall, the sewer piping still runs through the area; and if conceal, it still needs to be accessible. Cheers!

One color for the window frames, and 3 different colors for the glass? Aiyoh, the house would look weird. Even for the frame's color, please select one that complement your neoghbors' or block. Double-sided, in my 2-cents opinion, is useful only if you close the window all the times, whether to minimize noise or heat. One area that most people neglected about window and glass door is the profile. That is, the dimension of the frame,which I think that it makes a lot of difference in how the window or door would look. I have seen small windows with large frames, and wonder why so? Cheers!

I see. Enforce the contractor's recommendation?I don't know how you could, even via civil litigation. Anyway, it is better to find a common ground, perhaps through a mediator. You have got only two direct neighbors, and it is God's will (so to speak) that brought all together. Cheers!

You mentioned terrace house, and so I would be careful to agree with the contractor's conclusion. The bathrooms may be back-to-back, but your house has its own wall, and his house has its wall. The pipings are embedded within the respective walls. To illustrate, in his bathroom: - There is the brick wall, separating his house from yours, - Within this brick wall, in the bathroom area, we have the water pipings (hot & cold, therefore the mixer) embedded within. - Then there is the layer of waterproofing membrane, - And then the bathroom wall tiles. The waterproofing membrane, as you could see, is laid towards his bathroom. Not towards your house, or bathroom. Moreover, the function of the membrane is just to contain the moisture within the bathroom (when a bath is taken) and allow the area to dry in between use. (So, I don't understand the recommendation of the contractor?) But if we want to assume that his water piping does leak, the water would just find its way down through the small gaps in between the walls? (So, I don't understand why the leakage appears above your mixer?) Unless you have turned off the water main (located outside the house), and drained the water from the internal pipings, it is not conclusive that the leakage originated from the neighbor just because of the house vacancy. Maybe others could add to the comments, so that I could learn something as well. Cheers!

I don't care to, nor am I a believer or practitioner of FS, Bazi etc. Do I believe in Jesus? No, I don't but I don't intrude in others who believe in him.I don't have to go through the Bible with these believers, to sort of disprove or discredit his teachings. So we have a poster who asked about the best date to do something, and then what? Everybody 'choong' everybody...I didnt see Tarzan 'choonging' the tigers, monkeys, boars etc in his jungle? What you are doing here, is just pathetic. Cheers!

He is basically saying that everybody 'choong' with everybody, and it is best to live like Tarzan, according to his interpretation of Dizhi Theory. Anyway, he is a non-believer of FS, Bazi etc but who knows a lot about FS, Bazi etc. Enjoy!

I heard the same. My builder (he is already 60+) put his company into expansion mode 4-years ago but told me that he has decided to 'wind down' the operations last year because he simply could not get the labors, let alone retaining and training good ones. Costs have also jumped. Nowadays, he is very very selective in residential project, only doing it for friends (don't know if he is joking on this part).. Cheers!

To be clear, are you doing an A&A or New Erection? In general, unless you are very familiar with the construction process, I would say: - Hire an architect, and have him surveyed the landed before signing the OTP. Let the architect deal with the builder. - Hire a good ID, to run through the architect's drawings before submission. Cheers!

No, the RC trench is for protecting the public sewer pipe that runs across the land. Here is the URA handbook for almost everything you need to know in rebuilding. http://www.ura.gov.sg/circulars/text/dchbr/pt1landedhousing-dchbr.pdf Cheers!

The washroom is on the ground floor?

Wah, you meant those old type telephone wire? Got photo? This type never tried before. Cheers!

Too late liao, LOL.

3m? Tio boh? Did someone dig the ground to confirm? Nothing could be built on top of the trench, except the party wall. For example, you could not have an internal wall over the trench. Cheers!

I see. To clarify, the "sewer line" in the 1st paragraph is the same as the "public sewer" line in the 2nd paragraph? TIA!

Any update to this interesting project? Enjoy!

I don't know that you could reroute the public sewage pipe at all? (which is why the SIP is one of the documents your lawyer would obtain in due diligence). You could relocate the IC, and even this, there are a few bylaws to comply with and it has a direct impact on where you could place the 1st storey's bathroom(s). A 10-K indicative price is best treated as just a teaser. I wrote a thread on this subject last year. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=52455&st=0&p=748767&hl=lauer&fromsearch=1entry748767 Cheers!

Interesting. But why use an ID and not a builder? (of course, the ID would still use a 'builder' to do the wet works) I would really want to avoid the proposed method of building the 2nd storey floor. Incidentally, my ID (who only did the ID part of my house) took an 'A&A' project for another client and did the same method. He invited me over to the site for some inputs of the result, and frankly I scolded him for having done it that way. The whole floor felt hollowed, unlike when one step on a concrete floor. Just my 2-cent comment. Cheers!

Haha...it worked. Enjoy!

Even if you could find the way to run the cable, I doubt that the wireless could penetrate the shelter's thicker wall & door. No wireless? Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLbaRoh9wR8&feature=youtube_gdata_player Enjoy!

A poster previously engaged me via PMs, on the types of construction contract. So maybe I would write about Design & Build (DB). The following is my experience, and other posters please share theirs. A DB contract is basically a construction contract with a builder, which includes the service of an architect in providing simple designing and who is primarily for submit plans for government agencies. The builder fronts the construction project, which deviates from the normal practice of having the architect fronting. In other words, the architect is in the background; maybe he meets the owner for 2 times for the designing, and that's about it. The owner deals with the builder after the plans get approved by the agencies and construction starts. There are 2 disadvantages in this kind of relationship: - The design. Most owners don't really understand what to look for in designing, unless they have had a house built before. So, in DB the architect would likely do the basic designing which tends to favor the ease of construction. While the architect does gather the owner requirements, it is fair to say that he would not be as attentive to them as, when compared to an arrangement where the architect is fronting the project. - The construction process. Where the architect is fronting the project, he is responsible to the owner to make sure that the builder does a good job; the material used, the workmanship, defect spotting and how it is rectify etc. Not so in a DB arrangement. Of course, I am not saying that all houses built by DB companies are inferior but there is a role played by an architect that you don't get as much in a DB arrangement. The advantage of a DB arrangement is cost, where the architect fee is somewhat 50-70% lower. This is great for an owner who has experience building houses. Cheers!

I see. I would suggest to review the original intent of buying the semi-d. I have seen so many newly rebuilts and absolutely hated the architectures, while also seen so many refurbished original 1 or 2-storeys landeds and absolutely loved them. You would realize that the charms of a landed don't really come from the building but the garden. Cheers!

I think that the first option to explore is whether the telephone cable embedded in the trunking runs from the ONT to the bedroom. If so, then you may opt to convert this cable for networking, assuming that it is at least CAT 5. Cheers!

Enjoy!

The main reason that I don't encourage buying a landed and do an extensive A&A. No matter how the A&A covers, the ceiling height could not be changed, lifted. A high ceiling really makes a lot of difference. To feel the difference, just visit a cluster landed, and then a rebuilt landed with 4.5m ceiling. Cheers!