Bengologist

Yeah that's true. I even discussed with my parents to bring the small fridge (really small) in my current living room over so that those guys will have cold drinks while working under such hot and humid conditions. However no one is free or willing to bring it over, so we eventually dropped the idea.

Hahaha! I can totally feel your excitement! Remember to upload a few photos of your Taobao loots!

Haha! I managed to see them once in a while (to be exact, Saturdays) when I visit my house and I will buy a few bottles of 1.5L chilled water for them because the house always transform into a hot sauna these days. If they have not eaten, I will ask if they require any food so that I can go 'tabao' treat them. I'm also a stranger in this reno industry, so I'm only relying on my eyes to spot visual defects. Those technical defects I might require the help of my friend who's working in this industry. It might sound fun but the thought of fixing it up in my 'sauna' house this coming Vesak Day certainly scares me off. I'm praying for rain this coming Friday. Hahaha! I will upload more pics when I'm done with the chandelier.

Hahaha! That's really my big big problem, always having the urge to add VOs to my reno without peeping at the deficits in my bankbook. LOL! The vanity sets will be my last addition (I promise.........I try.............I think........should be......... hmmmmm........ )

Yup, "unwrapping presents" which is paid by my own pocket. Now no much cash left to spend cause I have not only burnt a big hole in my pockets, I managed to burn the whole pants (translate: Overspend by a lot! Hahaha!).

Hopefully I won't get frustrated trying to fix up the chandelier, otherwise I will shout at it "YOU WOULDN'T LIKE ME WHEN I'M ANGRY! ROAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!" Hahahaha! I'm just kidding. I won't harm my precious chandelier a single 'hair' even if I get annoyed during the fixing process.

Haha! Thanks man! I almost fainted when I saw so many components to the chandelier. I will spend Vesak Day trying to fix up the chandelier. If I'm in doubt, I will call for . Hahaha!

Haha sure! But allow me to recuperate some energy over the week first. Those boxes are insanely heavy!

Hahaha! There's more coming! I'm looking forward to the day when all these fittings are installed in their rightful place in the house. So excited! Hahaha!

In addition to the arrival of my local purchases, the Taobao items have also smoothly crossed the South China Sea and shown up in my Punggol flat. I must applause the effort of peeka staff in China for securing my items in layers and layers of air-filled cushion wrap during the packaging so that the protection level for the items is at its maximum. Well done! After opening up the boxes, I just browse through the items as I'm pretty lazy to fix up the parts and pieces. Shall upload more pictures after I have time to revisit my house again to join up all the small segments together. Meanwhile here are some of the photographs:- 1) The packaging of my crystal chandelier purchased from Taobao (awesome right?! ) 2) All the small components of the crystal lighting set (Yawnnnnn... I got to construct them like how I used to play with Legos ) 3) The LED lightbulb of the crystal lighting set 4) Sink Mixer from Taobao (I have gotten the same as lawrenceke. To find out how it looks like when installed, please view his T-blog - http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/59703-my-humble-abode/?p=795023)

In addition to the meeting with the ID and carpenter, I also took this opportunity to have my purchases delivered to my home. After the ID and carpenter left, I stayed on to tear open the boxes (like an excited kid on boxing day) to have a glimpse of the items which will soon form part of my house. Besides busy dismantling these boxes, I also jotted down the descriptions on all the boxes (in both English and Chinese) so that the workers will have an easier time identifying them during installation. I suppose I'm the most thoughtful client my ID will ever encounter (of course, with the exception of constantly throwing new request at him... ). These are the pictures. 1) Tecno Hob which I have ordered from Harvey Norman 2) The shiny glass surface of the Tecno Hob (can't wait for it to be installed on the kitchen cabinet! ) 3) Tecno Slim Hood (Yeahhhh! I'm a Techno person! Wahahahaha! ) 4) Blanco double-bowl sink from Heritage Bathroom Gallery 5) 7 pieces stainless steel bathroom accessories (also from Heritage Bathroom Gallery)

20th May 2013 Time for a weekly update (I wish I can do daily update but progress is not fast enough ) ! As many of you have already known by now, I had a "showdown" with my ID and carpenter last weekend to talk about the renovation issues, highlight the slow progress and discussed about the layout of the kitchen cabinets/bedroom wardrobes which requires carpentary work. Despite my constant usage of words like "showdown", "confrontation", it was just a relaxed and casual talk about my renovation project they are working on and it was so much like talking to two friends that I even had the absurdity to inform my ID of my decision to ADD EXTRA WORK to the renovation. He was like when I told him that I wanted to hack the existing toilet basins and replace with vanity sets (sink+cabinet combo). He must be thinking, "Can you don't add things one week at a time? One shot add everything will be easier for me." in his mind. Anyway here are the latest photos from last weekend. 1) L-box and false ceiling done 2) L-box and false ceiling pic 2 (from another angle) 3) Sketches of my kitchen cabinet layout by the carpenter (looks like stone-age drawings, hahahaha... ) 4) Sketches of the casement wardrobe in one of the common bedroom 5) Sketches of the sliding wardrobe and its layout in the master bedroom

Yeah! mrmerry is right! We're all here to share our reno experience and to learn from everyone. For me, I used photobucket for my images. Just upload to photobucket, copy the image url and paste it in the "image" icon in the toolbar above. Once you get the hang of it, you will find it easy breezy! Last but not least, I welcome you to RT and wish you a happy reno journey! Cheers! P.S.: Your floorplan looks pretty much similar to mine. Ha!

Me too! I love all their furnitures and fittings too! Very elegantly designed like what you mention. If I'm not restricted by my tight budget, I would have bought their whole showroom and squeeze everything into my little house. Hahaha!

Hmmm.. If you happen to open renovation business, please consider hiring me, I'm pretty skilled in planning renovation schedule and organising it since I have been the one providing my ID the schedule and work progress. Hahaha! Anyway take care. Hope your renovation works will start to get better.

Hi Mr. E, I can totally understand your frustrations as I'm also going through the same process as you. My ID is pretty much silent most of the time and without me contacting him on a regular basis, he will not provide any feedback or update on the renovation progress. Mine commenced on the same date as you but the pictures I'm able to post here are merely ceiling work and a few "construction of bases" pictures. Try arranging a meeting with him to voice all these concerns as he should be made known to all these issues and understand the urgency of the situation. I had a meeting with my ID & carpenter last weekend and sorted out tonnes of issues with them regarding the renovation. I even planned out the revised schedule for him so that he can have an easier time understanding the renovation progress flow. However my situation is not as bad as yours, so you definitely need to put pressure on your ID to give priority to your renovation project. If he's not performing a good job, give the company a call and request for someone else to handle it instead. Nonetheless, I hope that this week will be the beginning of a good reno week for you. Cheers!

Wah! That's a bit far from my current workplace. Maybe I will pay them a visit this weekend, hopefully they are open on weekends *fingers crossed*.

Haha! You went down to Hommage Trading to buy the sofa? Their prices are very reasonable and their staff are the best salesperson any shop can hire because they are friendly, not pushy and able to answer queries professionally. However, they have a downside, that is any furnitures purchase will have an indent period of up to a month. I'm so sorry I did not highlight this to you. The TV console I purchased from them requires 1 month for delivery too.

I mean working in the house on a hot Sunday. Bought a marker pen and went over to my house alone yesterday to carry out all the heavy boxes from the storeroom so that I can write the description on them (in English and Chinese) and rearranging them back in the storeroom. This will enable the workers to have an easier time locating the items for installation. I'm guessing this is a process all homeowners must go through during the renovation in order to avoid any confusion or delay or miscommunication during the installation. If that's not the case, then perhaps we are the most diligent homeowners in Singapore. Hahaha!

Hardworking workers! You should probably 'reward' them a little by offering to buy them lunch or cold drinks so that they will be thankful to you and do a proper job on your bedroom despite the urgent request. Hahaha.. I suggest you do a check on the workmanship and find if there's any defects because urgent work might make them more prone to 粗心大意。I'm also rushing them to speed up the renovation process, so I'm definitely on the lookout for these. Anyway thank for your wishes. I also hope that your renovation will be smooth-sailing too! Have a great great week!

Hey autumnwind, Thanks for dropping by my T-blog and making a reference of mine on yours, I'm pleased to hear that my experience can be of a help to you and many other new forummers who are looking for lightings. Afterall, to quote the famous sentence on Renotalk -> "Sharing is caring", so please feel free to refer to any piece of information here. Cheers!

Hahaha! My ID and I have no bad blood between us, we are still having a fantastic working relationship on my renovation project. In fact, we treat each others like good friends more than an agent-principal relationship. Haha! I guess he just need a little tuning in his time management so that he can run projects smoothly while sourcing for potential clients.

Wah! Your workers are even better than me! I need to work 5.5 days.

Ha! Don't need to thank me buddy, I'm just stating the fact, your house is indeed renovated pretty well by 3D Innovative, so this directly provided me with a confidence boost for our similar ID. Yup me too! Next time if I have my own family and intend to do renovation again, I will throw in different ideas and themes to steer the dream home away from the typical home model. But for now, I'm equally contended with conventional model, as long as my folks are having a big grin on their faces every morning they look at it. Yeah, I'm glad my ID & carpenter came down so that I can have a fine conversation with them about the schedule, renovation work, modifications, additions (Haha, you didn't read wrongly, I added things yet again ). I totally agree with you on that statement "金屋银屋都不如自己的狗窩"! As long as at the end of the day, we are able to live comfortably and relax ourselves in the house, that house has already served its most important purpose. The workers doing my house renovation don't work on Sunday either. The only person working tirelessly on a hot afternoon last Sunday is.................me.

Hahaha! If it's not working then I don't dare to call MGL le. I will call them tomorrow to find out where's their showroom so I can drop by after work. Thanks for the recommendation!