shmj

This is our floor plan:

The list of the stuff that we want to do: - Redo all 4 toilets (overlay of tiles, change toilet bowl & sinks/ bath tub/ shower heads) - Polish current parquet floorings - Painting of the house (inside & outside, scaffolding) - Changing of all bedroom doors - Changing of auto main gate - Changing of front door - Changing of sliding door on 1st floor 1st Floor: - Take out all existing cabinets in the dry kitchen & redo a new one with island. - Hack away wall and floor tiles in wet kitchen, redo with cement flooring - Display cabinet/ TV feature wall - Hack away the kitchen wall 2nd floor: - Do a concrete flooring (2nd floor) to cover the Void area over the Living area, knock down a wall to extend out to the coverage over the car park to make it into a balcony. - Take out existing cabinets and hack away 1 wall to combine 2 bedrooms into 1. - Seal up 1 of the toilet door. - Build Walk in wardrobe. - Re-align bedroom door. - Build display cabinet & Bar counter 3rd Floor: - Do a concrete floor (3rd floor) to cover the Void area over the family area. - Platform bed with drawers for sister in law room - Platform bed with drawers and 2 study tables for my daughters - Hack away all cabinets & rebuild new ones for both rooms 4th Floor: - Build up one extra level with concrete staircase - Addition of 1 small store room - Addition of 1 bedroom

This is my 2nd reno blog... the 1st one was done 5 years ago... We bought an inter terrace at the extreme east and would be collecting keys on 17th Sept. "Opening & praying Ceremony" will be on 19th Sept. We started looking for potential contractors & IDs once we signed the OTP which was like about 2 months ago. Emailed & met a few IDs but finally decided to go with the 'resident contractor'... We contacted the following: ***** - was recommended by ah lao's colleague. Slow to respond. No follow up. Have to keep chasing for quotes. Quote received was market price. ID #1 - recommended by forum member... maybe he has too many jobs to do thus follow up was slow but friendly chap. When I emailed him the list of things that we want to do and the budget we had, he called to say that he can't take up the job as he is unable to meet my budget. Arc Space - was friendly on the phone but like ID #1, once he saw my to do list and budget, he say can't do. No solution offered. NicnWes - emailed them and their 'manager' called me about 5 days later... asking what my budget was even though it was in the email. Then say that he will get his Project manager to call me either on the same day or day after. The project manager took a week to call me & asked me what I have already stated on my email. NVM, I repeat again... then said that he will call me again to let me know when the quote is ready. Waited for about a week, no sound, no air. So I take it that they don't want my biz. Defong - emailed them on my requirements & budget. Again, no sound, no air. Wide Angle (ID is Kelly) - very very good service & follow up. Met me at my convenience a few times. If not for my tight budget, I would definitely have pick her. DengFeng (the one!!!) - when we purchased our unit, the current owner told us that they have a 'resident contractor' around that estate. He does the houses there and is almost around the estate on a daily basis. When we met this contractor (he is the typical loud and kancheong uncle) but was quite nice. Met us at our place and went through the list that we need to do. On areas that can help us to save costs w/o doing, he was forthright and told us that there isn't a need to spend the money to change/ redo. He showed us to the houses that he has completed or was doing around the estate and we can see the quality of the work. The house owners also happily gave him praises which made us comfortable. Needless to say, he was the chosen one.

I'll be following your blog closely too. My reno works will start end Sep. I have 4 toilets in my new place and will be replacing everything. For the toilet bowls & wash basin, I bought an American brand (can't rem the brand now)... it was going for $288 for the toilet bowl & wash basin as a set. So to me, it was a very good deal and we bought 4 sets at a go. This can help to save some costs. Also, if possible, try to look around online. Some of the items are cheaper even if you add in the shipping costs.

Your house is looking really nice! Can't wait to see all the finished works.

Hi all, we are planning to do a Black, White & Grey theme for our new home... reno gg to start 3rd week of Sept... anyone has ideas/ links for us to 'collect' designs? We are not engaging any ID thus have to be quite specific when it comes to conveying what we want to the contractor. Thanks for your help!

definitely can! I cut off about 5% - 10% off the original quote.

the kitchen stove is really YUCKS!!! I don't think they cook... so unhygenic!

Alamak... but as you said, even if you do the anti termite treatment, if sway sway neighbour's house have and it crawled to my house, then how? Will still kenna right? Sigh... headache... to do or not to do now...

Are there alot of holes for the anti termite treatment? Do they drill only on the ground floor? We are kinda hesitating... as we want to keep the costs low thus' if possible, we will not hack away the tiles on the 1st floor... BUT if we use anti termite treatment, then I think the tiles sure have to change liao...

I also have split level at my place... might adopt your idea of doing a stretch of the steps instead....

Most welcome!

wildfaye29 - I replied you already. randomguy - whether the URA & BCA permit is required or not is up to you. IF you want to sell your property in future to include the additional space that you have build up, you will need the permit. Otherwise, even if you build up the area, next time if you sell your property, you cannot include the additional floor space. i.e. if current approved floor area is 1500sqf and aft your build up its 2000sqf, when you sell without permit, you can only sell it at 1500sqf. After doing the maths, for us, it is worth to get the proper permits. In addition, the contractor told me that there are some contractors out there who offer different materials for different cases. If doing with permit, the contractor will do it with better materials as it needs to pass BCA inspection. So you can be more or less assured that the additional level wont collapse.

For my place, I get approx. area gain of abt 1500sqf (incld the additional level). Am filling up the void spaces to gain 1 more family hall and a study cum play area for my girls. Also, extending out to do a balcony on my 2nd flr. The wet work costs (incd toilets tiles, etc) is abt 125K.

Scuba diving? When you are deep down in the waters, the under current can sweep you away without you realizing it. May sweep you so far away from your boat. (Happened to my ex and he was spent 2-3hours floating in the sea while waiting for rescuers). If something wrong with your oxygen tank, you might not have enough oxygen to carry up to surface. And the sea is so deep and mysterious. Dunno what kind of dangerous sea creatures lurked around... from electric eels to sharks to jelly fishes... the list is ever growing.

My mother in law seldom nag... its my Father in law who nags non-stop. Me n hubby ROM for abt 4yrs before we do the traditional dinner... all these while, he has been nagging, when do dinner, when hv children, etc..... I told him, ask your son.... all up to him. so hubby helped me to 'block' some out. I have a bad temper and I detest nagging. But when and if it do starts, I usually can sense... so before it starts I will find excuse to walk away. As long as I am not within the same area, he cant nag right? Now that we have 2 children (both girls), his fav question is - when is the 3rd one? Try for a boy lah. I am perfectly happy with my girls thank you. I dun need to have another boy in order for my family to be complete. Again, I am thankful that my hubby is on the same page & I usually say - ask your son. It is important to have a supportive spouse who can help to convey the little messages to your in laws. In your instance, your wife can probably help to 'remind' your in law Before you all meet up to try and not nag so much. Otherwise, you will have to pick up a new skill... "1 ear in, 1 ear out. Faster than Expressway" as Therat said earlier. Good luck!

depending on the floor area that you have and whether you would be applying for permit or not. If you are submitting for approval to URA & BCA, you'll need a PE to do up the drawings and submission for you. Mine charges abt $15K. I am only adding in 1 level (1 bedroom) + staircase & that has already set me back by about 25K.

your car porch area looks nice & long! my place can only park 1 car...

How long will your reno take? Am giving my contractors 2 mths... cos there are some A&A elements involved, they r giving me heads up, they will over-run.

I am one of those affected ones... we will only complete the house documentation & handover on 5 Sept. which hits 7th mth... according to our FS master, we can do reno b4 7th mth & it doesn't matter when its finished. But can't start during the 7th mth... so no choice.. hv to wait till after 7th mth then I can officially 'open house' and do my reno...

We eventually returned and bought our dining table from them. Hopefully, no issues with the delivery.

Anyone knows if they take in used furniture? 'cos I will hv some furniture that I wont be moving to my new place but still in ok condition...

Hi, I recently bought an inter terrace... yes, PE cost is ard $15K +/- (at least that was what I was paying) You need to have the PE endorsement to submit to BCA for approval. Especially if you are knocking off walls, adding extra floors, etc. BUT the contractor should have told you upfront even before the knocking began. Submission should be done before actual works began. What if now the BCA tells you that the approval not given, then how? jialat liao, need to rework it back to its original condition (worse case scenario)... Good luck!