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sunboi80

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Posts posted by sunboi80

  1. Posted

    yea I know.. I made my hubby paint his room before I officially stay with him after our ROM 1.5yrs ago.

    We took 2 whole days to repaint and rearrange the furniture back.. that was very tiring!!

    Cant imagine that we need to paint everypart of the house incl. the ceiling.. but my frens r very keen to help! hahaha..

    oh good good... my wifey gave up after 1 day cos it's tough and tiring, but in the end i still gotta repaint the parts she painted... in the end i am the only one painting the whole house... haiz

  2. Posted

    painting is tough esp so if u'll have never do it before, it's not as easy as it seems... i spent 7days just to paint the whole house (hols + saturdays) so if the price is ok, it's better to employ some help...

  3. Posted

    I brought my parents to our place yesterday...

    my parents were complaining that it was too far for them.. as they stay in Sengkang. MY mother said she sat on my dad's motorbike until her bum was aching.. hahaha

    however, they seems to like the area.. said its location is quite accessible.. near JP and within walking distance to GIANT and eating places. Thats what made us to decide on getting the unit! :notti:

    When we were inside the house in the evening.. it was quite sunny but there was no glare in the house. The amt of light in the house was kinda comfortable...

    Initially my parents were saying that 130sqm is very big.. but after looking at the house.. the house does not appear to b very spacious. I think it is easy to clean cos the EA is being compartmentalised into small areas.. so jus clean one area a day.. shd b manageable.

    My dad was saying that we r quite lucky to have a rectangular layout flat.. so we dun need to do customised carpentary like they did for the Sengkang house.

    Btw, the toilet door at the kitchen cannot make it one~ been to friends and relatives houses who use the same door for their toilet.. all of their toilet door r faulty!:dancingqueen:! Its either the lock was stuck or the handle broke. So we r definitely going to change the door regardless of cost!

    Oh, do u smell something farnee when u r at the house?? I think it smell like something was burnt.. my hubby said we r near to a chocolate factory.. haiz, but it dun smell like chocolate leh.. if not I have no complains !!

    ya at first i tot 130sqm might be quite big but after i went into the unit err... it's not so big afterall.. after puting in all the furnitures i think also not much space left...

    haha te toilet door u can ask the HDB contractor to change it ... $50/ door, bifold one room doors $30/pc, but workmanship not tat good... but it's cheap.. hehe

    no leh i didn't smell anything funny.. the choco smell shld be a nice smell.. or is it ur neighbours are cooking?

    did u hear aeroplanes flying pass? sometimes i heard many times in a day, sometimes none... dunno whether that will disturb u'll or not...

  4. Posted · Edited by sunboi80

    have u'll brought ur Parents/parents in law to visit ur unit??

    Anyone have te same comments as my MIL??

    1) JW=ULU

    2) Block very old

    3) too big for 2 persons

    4) "xi zhao", face afternoon sun (got meh??? bull**** hehe)

    my only feels the unit is abit too big for only 2 of us... cleaning might be a chore...

    what makes u'll select tis area huh?

    for me,

    1) I dun like crowds, jams etc... so far away from city good

    2) tis area near my parents IL (Ghim Moh, Buona Vista) and my house(Teck Whye CCK)

    3) near Giant! means i no need to walk long long distance to get basic stuffs

    4) not too big (130sqm only)

    only regret is no bay(full height) windows (like the other 4/5 rms flats around the same cluster)... haiz...

    share share ur views abt this area leh...

  5. Posted

    really? From the catalogue, the barley white appeared to have slight yellowish tint..

    mayb lily white is a better option..

    thanks for your advice! :):)

    tat's wat i found after i started painting..at first i tot it's yellowish tint but then it looks more pinkish when applied... hehe lily white is more yellowish... anyway are u'll gg to buy the paint and paint urself? or buy paint and give to contractors to paint? or let the painters do it themselves? cos i think if u ask the painters to handle it most likely they will only let u select colors from the cheapest range of paint... in case of nipponpaint..it's the vinylex ... no 3in1 soft matt, no odourless, no easy wash even haha.... anyway easywash and above cost $50 and above for a 5l tin...

    the ceiling is a tricky thing... u might want to buy a small bottle and "experiment" first... paint the edge and see how it goes with the wall...

    finally got the keys in the evening and opened the door liao!!

    but quite disappointing to see that the MBR is soooo small~ I dun think I can put my L-shaped WiW now.

    I dun even think that WiW is possible now.... :bleah:

    The kitchen is oso quite small... smaller than the kitchen in my parents' 4rm appt in Sengkang!! but I am not really bothered by it.. cos not gg to cook a storm there anyway :seeya:

    Overall, the house is not really that big as it appeared from the floorplan.. 130sqm :) . My hubby's 5rm flat in Jurong East is ard 135sqm.. but the rooms and kitchen r so spacious! Haiz, I guess most the floor area goes to the study room which is quite big loh.

    haha... my wifey wanted a WIW also at first but after going into the actual 'site' to see, found that it's not really a good idea but it's feasible...... i've seen people with the same floorplan as us do it.. but in doing so their sleeping area becomes really small... quite tricky... in the end we settled for a built in wardrobe...

    else if u really wan, u can knock down the walls between bedroom 2 and MBR, put ur bed into Bedroom2 and convert the org MBR into a gigantic WIW... haha

    kitchen small?? aiyoh if u do L-shape kitchen cabinets top and bottom combined minus the space for the fridge total 34ft leh... just doing such a 'big kitchen' alot of vit M needed liao... I've seen even smaller kitchens lor 2m long and they tot it's big already... haha

    the study is not very big also leh... in fact it's the smallest (in area of all the bedrooms) i think some space is wasted in the aircon ledge, svc balcony, HHS lor... think those space also adds up to the floor area bah?

    Old flats are bigger.... ours is only the size of a old average 5rm flat... haiz but cost more...

    Anyway enjoy ur renos and furnishing of ur new apartment... it's gonna be a mad rush .. haha

  6. Posted

    another way to restraint from spending is don't apply for credit cards. hubby and i don't like to apply credit cards b'cos spending is too tempting liao. if we want to buy anything then just use cash/nets. :good:

    we also like to dine at restaurants instead of hawker/foodcourt! we hardly eat at foodcourt b'cos too many people liao and boring. hawker is quite dirty so i don't like. :notti:

    u'll sure have good lifes... :yamseng:

  7. Posted

    2 more hrs to keys collection!:sport-smiley-004:!!

    Just gotten hold of the Nippon Catalogue

    Had chosen the colours that I liked.. awaiting for approval from Hubby:

    Living Room Feature Wall ----> Light Cocoa (3-in-1Soft Matt)

    Dining Area ----> Latte (Odourless)

    Corridor leading to the rooms ----> Celery Green (Odourless)

    Study ROom ----> Latte (Odourless)

    MBR Feature Wall ----> Hibiscus (Vinilex 5000)

    MBR walls ----> Rosy Fresh ( 3-in-1 Soft Matt)

    Guest Room 2 ----> Plum Rose ( 3-in-1 Soft Matt)

    Guest Room 1 ----> For Hubby to decide

    Ceilings ----> Barley White (Odourless)

    Doors ----> Mahogany (Bodelac 9000)

    u are planning to use 'barley white' for ceilings? i suggest u dun... cos it's rather 'pinkish' and hard to match with wall colors... use normal white better (matex) and cheaper as well... i initially painted my ceilings wif barley white but then after i painted my walls alamak...those look funny so i painted matex over my ceiling..waste time,effort and $$ (my barley white)... imho if u dun like flat white, use lily white will be better...easier to match with various wall colors...

    barley white will look nice on our toilet ceilings though hehe

  8. Posted

    wa good! any pictures to post here??? :yamseng::yamseng:

    after the flash on my camera, the green color looks like beige... so cannot show until i managed to get my camera to reproduce more accurate colors..

    btw the colors u see on internet and nipponpaint/ICI website may not be accurate also cos of different monitors(they produce different color effects grrr..) best if u go to those hardware shop and get the color catalog from them... the colors in the catalog are much more accurate than the ones u see on internet...

  11. Posted

    there's a shop at alexandra village that sells a variety of chemicals for cleaning

    you can visit them for advice, they are quite friendly.

    asked for price of chemical wash for my EA, preliminary price is $450 till they check out the unit.

    they stress that they DO NOT use acid coz it's damaging to the tiles and fixtures

    the shop is at Blk 123 bt merah lane 1, opposite queensway S.C.

    there's also a shop a few doors away selling furniture, quite reasonably priced too

    as for myself, i'm looking for someone to construct concrete support for sink and stove

    do you have any lobang?

    i'll be doing painting myself coz labour alone will cost me $600-$1k

    think i can do an acceptable job myself, what with the unit totally vacant

    I took 1 week to finish painting my EA(w/o touch ups yet) touch work..neck and arms pain pain hehe... good luck to ur painting...

  12. Posted

    ya I got the Google sketch.. hehe took very long to draw up my whole house loh..

    btw, my unit is at the carpark side, but its not facing the carpark.. my blk is along the road that leads to the carpark from the main road.

    I am afraid that the unit will b a bit dark oso.. cos I noted that there is always no direct sunlight to my area :yamseng:

    btw, is ur unit is facing the carpark too?? cos was thinking of putting only grilles at balcony.. but we r afraid that rain will splash into the area and wet my guinea piggies at the balcony :jawdrop:

    oh haha me also took quite sometime to learn how to draw a decent floorplan of my housie hehe ...

    my unit is facing the field... ur unit is facing the rd means it's behind lor... i think it might be quite dark...

    u must go open the door and view inside then u noe whether it's dark or not... but i think dun take too dark shades lor.. else might b quite dark... We using yellow for our living room also.. btw i dunno whether it's true or not but if non-white colors for ceiling will it be more ex? cos frm wat i noe they usu use Matex or Super Maxlite which are white paint and super cheap (~$18/7l can) whereelse those color ones are (~$30, pentalite, vinylex 5000) . I did my own painting that's why i noe the prices hehe...

    for my unit, the rain do splash in leh but for the other side i dunno perharps u can build a small roof for ur 'babies'? or move them inside when it's rainin... i also dun like grilles but grrr... old folks insistence, gotta keep it (our unit is RP unit, grilles already there) ... or like most ppl in our area, window up the balcony (i feel look terrible)

  13. Posted

    me , me I am frm 628... hehe

    Use google sketch to do 3D with wall color for ur HB lor... dunno nevermind learn lor... I am learning as well hehe quite fun... see if the effect is nice or not.. keke

    btw is ur unit facing the field or the carpark? if facing the field, living room is brighter can use darker shades... if facing carpark i think use lighter shades better... i seem my neighbour's unit (facing carpark) very dark esp when her floor is also those dark pink type of color... wah... like vampire house like that (hope she isn't in this forum hehe)

  14. Posted

    i had an very interesting childhood.. for the first 12 years of my studies, I need not take bus!! :sport-smiley-004:

    my schools were within walking distance to my house.. and walking distance got further as I upgrade from Pri to Sec to JC.

    I was from Griffiths Primary and Ngee Ann Sec.. I was the Pioneer batch for that 2 schools.. as in both schools were newly built when I were enrolled in. Then later on, I proceeded with TPJC :)

    i was also pioneer batch in my sec school hehe Choa Chu Kang Secondary... just a neighbourhood school most of u'll probably never heard of it before...

  15. Posted

    Had received an envelope from HDB to brief us on the TO-DOs on next monday when we r signing the lease agreement..

    To Bring:

    1. Our ICs!

    2. Marriage certificate

    3. Original Option Fee Receipt

    4. Original Bank Book

    5. Sufficient CASH (need to pay 3mths conservancy charges and Fire Insurance fee upfront)

    Have to ensure sufficient CPF monies to pay: 10% downpayment + Lease Stamp Fee, Conveyancing Fee, Lease In-Escrow Stamp/ Regn Fee, Mortgage Stamp Fee, Mortagage In-Escrow Stamp/Regn Fee, Survey Fee and the first mth of installment -----------> :) $32K! :sport-smiley-004:

    Btw, how much is the annual fire insurance ah?? Dunnoe need to prepare how much$$..

    i think the 3 mths conservancy fee can be paid by NETS lah... i can't remember though it has only been a few mths back...

    fire insurance there's 2, one covers just the house , the other covers the house and the furnishing inside of cos this is more ex...

    if i rem correctly the cheaper one is $9.60... the more comprehensive one i think is $60++

    oh ya still got the HPS to factor in..but the HPS is a annual fee payable by CPF monies...

    and if u are applying SP services (water and electricity), another $100/150 security deposit...

    on that day is really PAP Pay and Pay... haha

  16. Posted

    wah...didnt know you just join here...me also newbie.

    I too find this forum is of great help. at least help me got my honest contractor.

    if you know what you want to do - get a contractor

    if you are tight on budget - get a contractor

    if you have plenty of $$$$ and everythingalsodontknowdontcare attitude - then get a ID.

    $100 is nothing compare to all those horror stories in this forum.

    most ID has no time for pple like us (lessthan20k).

    haha i think u are right... the IDs we approached all quote us astronomical sums when we told them our budget is $12k haha... perhaps it's all a ploy to turn us away... hehe

  17. Posted

    it does. :jail: cos i always over spent on unnecessary things (not branded stuff hor), i wasnt contributing enough to our savings (this was meant for our wedding, hse, reno). my hb helped to save alot and bailed me out when i've overspent. bcos of this, we had argued many times b4 and he was so stressed tat he wanted to break up even. :( since then, i'm looking at wat i need to buy, wat i muz buy cos $$ is ez to spend yet hard to earn. :curse:

    hope my personal experience will highlight the fact on being prudent with our spending is absolutely essential. :)

    my wifey is also like tat... no savings at all despite 5++ years of work... she wans to 'enjoy first, worry later'... now she is reaping the 'fruits'... many things for our housie wan to buy but $$ constraints... for me also hard cos most of the cash frm my side... very heavy burden on my shoulders now, since i've only just started working and my pay isn't that fantastic... but wat to do? love a person must accept them for wat they are right? now she realises her folly but abit too late... luckily i never gave up hope so i still have some savings to tide over this period...

  19. Posted

    blum hinges? i dun think they will provide lor... 1 blum hinge cost $6-8 liao leh... 1 cabinet door needs 2... so if u got 10 cabinet doors need at least 20 liao..which is $120 at least... it can easily go up to 30 also...

    btw blum hinges are special hinges with hydraulic fittings (as an attachment so it looks like a normal hinge with a hydraulic piston attached).. so that when u slam the door close it wun just go "boom" after a certain proximity to the cabinets, it will slowly close all the way...

    hope the explanations helps... there are also blum drawer threads as well... but they are more ex... $70 a pc ...

    for me i just take the basic ... no pt taking so much... cos for me i need around 60 of them... my kitchen is long and my feature wall has alot of hidden compartments as well... so i need alot.. save $$ bo pian... these are so-call "good-to-haves".

    7) Maybe u can ask for Stainless steel backing at ur kitchen washing point. FOC

    I think s/s backing is included in the quote already right?

    the feature wall for the HSS also ..wat type is it? any design? or just a piece of wood? for my feature wall it's a display cabinet cum cabinets ... if i take a normal design ..just a door then the cost will be much lesser...

    the solid surface worktop... how long is it? the whole length of the cabinet? or just a small part?

    is ur quote part of a package?

  20. Posted

    Wow bro,

    the workmanship does look really good.

    And you're absolutely right about it being from ceiling to floor. Really makes cleaning much easier.

    You're almost done mate!

    That light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger by the day huh?

    Out of curiosity, do you or your wife go down to look at the progress of your flat daily? As in while the reno contractors are still there?

    we haben updated the pics yet... there's more stuffs done now.. one thing(reno) done but still got lots more... like furniture, electrical appliances ...wah... not out of the tunnel yet...

    when they just started work, i (only) went down abt 3x a week, mon, wed, fri... after work lor.. the reno workers usu start work early in the morn and stop @ 5pm during this time we are working so cannot go 'monitor' them...

    see if there's any deviation from our requirements.. if there is i can immediately feedback so that they can do the necessary correction work mah.. but now most things have been done liao so no need to go down so often... but we still go cc every sunday lor.. just to check the progress... we did not engage an ID so we gotta be more 'hardworking' go down and see see ourselves ... but i think even if employ ID we still gotta go down.. just to make sure there's no 'deviation' ...

    Since I typed it out for Odie, I thought might as well share with all you experienced people in here.

    Basically this is the quotation I got from my ID:

    A) Professional Services

    Space Planning and Furniture Layout

    Design Consultation

    Furnishing Consultation

    Perspective Drawing on Carpentry Works

    Materials and Colour Proposal

    Warranty with Guaranteed after Sale Service

    B) Masonry Works

    Laying of 600mm X 600mm Polished Homogenous tiles floor c/w skirting **** and dining

    Laying of HDF Laminate Flooring c/w skirting at bedrooms

    Construct 50mm cabinet base

    Construct 50mm washer base

    Construct 50mm fridge base

    Construct shower kerb at bathrooms

    Construct main entrance kerb

    Alteration of existing main gate

    C) Plumbing Works

    Replacement of standard copper piping

    Labour for installation of storage or instant heater

    Labour for installation of bathroom accessories

    Labour for installation of kitchen sink

    Laying concealed drainage pipe for kitchen sink

    Laying concealed drain pipe for washin machine

    D) Ceiling Works

    Construct false ceiling at foyer area

    Construct false ceiling at bedroom passageway

    Construct L Box light holder **** area

    Construct L Box light holder at dining area

    Construct 2 rolls L Boc light holder at MBR

    E) Carpentry Works

    Design and fabricate 20ft kitchen cabinet in ABS trimming door c/w

    Plywood postform worktop; designed handle and cutlery tray

    Supply and install stainless steel dish rack

    Labour to install cooker hood and hob

    Stainless steel panel backing at cooker hob

    Design and fabricate 8'L X 8'HT feature wall c/w laminate / veneer finish at household shelter

    Design and fabricate 6'L suspended TV Console @ living area

    Design and fabricate 6'L X 6'HT feature wall in laminate / veneer finish above TV console

    Design and fabricate 6'L wardrobe in laminated door finish at MBR

    F) Misc

    Supply and install 10mm tempered glass shower screen @ master toilet

    Painting of whole house unit's walls and ceilings with ICI emulsion paint

    Painting of all pipes, doors, door frames and gate with ICI gloss paint

    Painting or revarnishing of existing main door

    Laying of floor protections after completion of flooring

    Chemical washing for whole unit

    General cleaning upon completion

    Haulage

    G) Additional

    Laying of 300mm x 300mm matt homogenous floor tiles c/w waterproofing for kitchen

    Top up for Kitchen cabinet 5 ft

    Change to Solid Surface worktop

    65 sqf Frameless Mirror at Dining Area

    Top up for Wardrobe 0.5 ft

    Wooden Pillars for standing features

    Total 19K.

    Sounds ok so far right?

    your quote looks fine... but u gotta buy ur own cooker + hob + sink u noe right?? cos ur quotation only states labor to install only not supply...wat abt water heater?

  22. Posted

    We certainly will try with Maybank

    Thanks so much for the constructive advice! Keep em coming, bro!

    Yeah, korea is super power. I read what she did for $19 K and I was like.... :P

    bro, you did the constructed wardrobe in your MBR? Got pics? What does it look like? Coz my fiancee and I were wondering if the 1.8 K for that wardrobe is worth it. I mean, there are many rather nice ones that we saw for much cheaper out there...

    heh

    you too.

    buying a lappie?

    ya, if u buy from shops it will be much cheaper... i wanted to buy those entire bedroom set at first but wifey wans to hav WIW but our MBR design dosen't really allow it so we gotta settle for a Built in one instead... according to her mum.. a full height wardrobe got no 'gaps' (behind and on top) so wun trap dust, easier to clean... and then u wun have to worry abt dust collecting on the top of the wardrobes also...

    my wardrobe is abit on the ex side but it's done by Ho Bee.. one of the pricey ones but they are recommended by many forumers here..so far they have been good...the quality of their work is also good..

    Honestly speaking a built in one looks nicer...

    we've been around many furniture shops and ikea... one wardrobe of our length and ht is roughly also 1.5k+.. ours is around 7ft...

    i think i took some pics.. it's at my blog... u can click the link on my signature...

    capentry work usually cost quite a bit...so if u wan to reduce the quote, u have to reduce the amt of capentry u need lor...

    alot of things are good-to-have not must-have...

    for me and wifey, we just wan a simple and cosy place...

  23. Posted

    Ah.....

    thanks for clarifying. This is the first time we're buying property, so we're super antsy. heh heh

    But for defects, we only need to look for those defects in things that we're planning to keep right? I.e defects in say common bathroom tiles. Cause for things that we're gonna reno like the rusty steel gate (I saw another forummer talk about this), even if it's defected, I can heck care it right?

    So many things to stress about.... *sigh*

    haha i can understand i was in ur situation a few mths back... even now also ... haha still under going renos...

    for defects, just write everything u are unhappy about... like yellowish switches also can.. just write... they are FOC anyway... many ppl reported hollow tiles... oh ya do check for water seepage from the windows also... need to go to unit during rain time and observe this is a defect as well.

  24. Posted

    True, true. Great advice.

    Wah bro, I noticed that your reno costs so far are only 14.3K!! Power!

    He quoted us 19K after a lot of bargaining and give and take. We talked to him for over 4 hours during the first talk. lol. Think he was glad to say bye to us eventually.

    my reno haben include furnitures, electrical applicances and other stuffs leh... even painting i DIY.... I did only minmal stuffs... tat's why the price.. another reason is our unit is a repurchased unit... the flooring is done already so we saved on that...

    that main cost of our renos is due to the kitchen ($4k), feature wall in living room( to conceal the HHS, $2k) and the Built-in wardrobe in MBR ($1.8k)...

    add in aircon and stuffs, total amt is above $20k already...

    I took loan frm Maybank... perhaps u'll could try there as well...

    anyway just a word of caution, cheap quotes might not be good... cos they may use inferior materials... make sure u press ur ID to tell u wat they will be using and do some research here so that u wun get conned by them... some ID **** good at talking but cannot deliver... haha

    anyway $19k for doing up the whole hse is quite ok...

    u can ask korea for her contact, she renovated her EA house for $19k also... quite a bargain and she did quite alot of stuffs...

  25. Posted

    Is it? oops.... How do I set up the blog? Actually, it doesn't really matter right? I mean, the aim is to chronicle the entire process, chat with people, share experiences and to share photos right? grin. I tried to set up a blog on this server earlier, but had some problems coz the link kept saying that URL not found. So gave up and set it up in the chat zone instead. heh.

    We're going for minimalist zen - zen cause it's nice and minimalist cause we're **** broke.

    ROFL

    We're both Catholics, so we're not THAT into fengshui yet. But better to be safe than sorry right? :P

    wow.... that means we still have some time to go.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but they're supposed to hand over the unit within 3 months by right, correct?

    That means if I wait 1-2 months before getting that nice, wonderful letter, and then go down for 2 more appointments to finish up the paper work (which I assume will be evenly spread out with 2 weeks gap in between, so that will take another month), then go down to check for defects before reverting to HDB so that they can come and fix, and factoring another month for reno works to be done..... :P

    I'LL BE STUCK PAYING RENT FOR MY RENTAL CLEMENTI FLAT FOR SUPER LONG! :)

    there is no hard and fast rule that they must hand over the unit within 3 mths... like wat u said they are "supposed" to only... some fellas waited even longer... but generally i think 1-2 mths is the average lah... when u get the letter, there is a date on the letter for u to go down and sign the documents... they give u 3 mths for that, to go down and sign the papers... but of cos u can extend this as well..

    after u sign the documents ( tons of them) they will pass u the keys and the unit is urs... no need for 2nd appt...

    the defects rectification will take some time though... cos HDB assigned contractors usu take their own sweet time to do things... (for my case, mine is like that gotta constantly bug them)

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