korilala

As quoted from the link, it's actually 304 stainless steel, so I do believe it's pretty sturdy, plus the fact that it's mounted into the walls and shower curtains ain't very heavy either. However, if you intend to hang quite a no. of things on it or etc, then I am not sure.

Hi there, the shower curtain rod wasn't provided by my ID. We got it online from Tmall (more reliable version of Taobao in my opinion). If you are keen, here's the link for you! http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=12443980567

Hi there, sorry haven't been logging into Renotalk for a while! anyway we got it from Royal Fanco at around $200ish, close to $300. Had to pay an additional $80 for the remote control though. The wind speed wise is really quite strong, and I usually can get by just using the Low speed. So far we have been using it for a few months, it's still working quite well and produces minimal noise. Hope that helps!

Hi mintyvintage, here's the link: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=21417287151

It's been a month or so since we completed the renovation. Everything's been good so far, but I noticed that there has been crack lines appearing on my walls in various rooms. The hub's fren also has the same problem with his BTO, which apparently is due to reno work by nearby units, but just wondering if anyone else faces the same problem here? Should I speak to my neighbours? But I am pretty hesitant as there's no evidence that it's due to their reno work and I don't wanna sour relationships either. Have contacted my ID, she mentioned that it's quite common and she was willing to do touch up for us if need be, but I don't think it's feasible either to keep asking for touch up if the cracks keep appearing? Please help!

Revealing our ID Now that the entire renovation has been completed, we will be sharing on the ID we have engaged. We engaged Dorothy Ho from In-Lookz Home. Initially when we started the planning process of renovating our home, we thought of getting a contractor (the famous Mr K/ Mr Alan), but we were intending to get a reno loan and also at that point we started seeing some not-so-pleasant reviews of them, so we were quite hesitant. Although there wasn't much review about Dorothy, but I thought of just trying my luck and go along with a female ID, as I always felt that generally females are more meticulous in their work and so we contacted her. She was very prompt in her replies and when we met up with her for the first time, she was able to catch the theme that we are keen on doing, and provided some modifications for practicability and improvement ideas on the spot. After the meeting, she sent us quotation within a week and was never pushy in forcing us to sign up, nor fixated on the quotation. In fact, she was very willing to work within our budget and provided very good suggestions on how we could cut certain costs. We first met her in February before CNY and during that period we also met up with another ID (will not be naming him) that was recommended on Renotalk. However, the ID was rather slow in getting back to us with quotations and etc, and he did not sound very interested in our project either. After discussion with the hubs, we finally signed up with Dorothy in April. As we were applying for reno loan, so we had to wait for the bank to release the cheque before we could make the payments. However, the cheque was delayed, and Dorothy only collected a small token as deposit from us and started all the hacking and etc. In fact, we only managed to get the cheque later on and paid her, just before carpentry was coming in! We felt so apologetic towards her, and also very appreciative of the fact that she has never pushed us for payment at all. In fact, it was more of me asking her when she wanted to collect the subsequent payments and chasing her to collect payment! During the entire renovation, due to our hectic work schedule, we hardly had time to visit the site and probably only dropped by like once a week. Most of the time, Dorothy will take pictures of the progress and whatsapp them to me to keep us in the loop. Also, when we had any problems or queries and asked her, she was prompt in replying and providing solution. Even though we did not include electrical work in our package (we got my FIL to take care of that as he owns an electrical co, do PM me if you want his contact, hehe ), she was perfectly fine with it and was also able to liaise with them on the various installations. In fact, she mentioned before that if we have our own contacts for certain things and wish to exclude them from the quotation, she will be more than willing to accommodate. During each stage of the renovation, she was also around to facilitate our discussions with the carpenters, the plumbers and etc. When we wanted to add on certain small items, she also agreed without second thoughts, and sometimes threw them in FOC. In fact, she also helped us with checking for defects after most of the work were completed, and she found a few that both my hubs and I missed out. All in all, I can safely say that Dorothy has really done a great job and we are so glad we chose her as our ID, despite the limited reviews on her. The entire renovation progress has been pretty smooth-sailing, and all these wouldn't have been achieved without her help. We paid a total of around 40k plus for the renovations (sorry will not be sharing any detailed quotations), though we can't say that she offers the most competitive rates around, but she has really shown her professionalism in the job, in fact going the extra mile for us a few times and we felt that we really owed it to her for a wonderful renovation experience. And with that, I think my reno blog is finally completed... for now! Hehe. Will update again from time to time in future!

Post renovation After handover was done, we engaged a cleaning service company to do a major cleanup before we shift in, based on an auspicious date we found online. We engaged Clean Homes Singapore. Their service is pretty basic, but what I liked is that there were 4-5 people doing the job at a time, so it only took around 3 hours or so for them to complete the entire clean up. Hubs felt they did quite a decent job, and the house does feel so much more cleaner after a proper clean up. We paid close to $600 (payment by cash or cheque only) for it, with equipment and all materials provided by them. ID also dropped by to collect the final payment, as well as pass us some stain removers. She also advised us to keep some tiles and the skirting for flooring, just in case we might need them. After the major clean up, it was time to unpack some of our stuff and start stocking up our home sweet home! Washing our dishes and utensils Cups and etc. \ Tupperwares and misc Pull out trays for pots and pans. Rice dispenser at the bottom. Rice cooker, water cooker, flask and some snacks currently parked at the side to be rearranged again.

Finally moving on to the most expensive part of our renovations... The WIW located inside the MBR, with see through sliding doors. View of my WIW with same internal woodgrain PVC as the study book shelves. Track lights from Chan Huat Lightings in Balestier, as it was too late for me to taobao it back from China when I finally decided on the lights for WIW. Partial see through blinds, so that more lights can enter the room and brighten it up. Someone mentioned about whether it would be too warm inside the WIW, since there's no air con, so far it's alright, and we also placed an air circulator in the WIW, so that when the weather's really hot, we will switch on the air circulator to cool down the room. Plus, the air con is quite near, so when the doors are left open, the cool air is able to enter easily. Another cheap and good purchase from Taobao! Took the hubs only 5 minutes to install and without any difficulty. To be placed inside the WIW. Completed look for the WIW. Carpet from Tmall as well. Should have ordered a longer one I feel, but I suppose it will suffice for now. Love my WIW lots, and of cos all thanks to my dear hubs who agreed to indulge me in having a whole room convert into a WIW.

Moving on to the MBR... For the MBR part, we did minimal renovation, except to flush the walls and paint one side in another shade, install down lights and ceiling fans. We also installed two way switches, so that lazy us will not have to walk out to switch off the lights. hehe. MBR with the same ceiling fan as living room, with Opple round downlights in white light (for reading purpose) Aircon is located on the right side of the room, near the toilet and also quite near the WIW area, so that the cool air can travel in as well when we open the WIW doors. Downlights in soft shade for the "feel". 12W is really quite bright though, haha. Also, as we believe that after a long day of work, we deserve a good night sleep, we decided to break our piggybank and splurge on a good king size bed and bedframe. Japanese style platform bed with storage compartments from Lux Arcana. Unfortunately, we realised Hommage also had something similar at a lower price, only AFTER we paid a deposit for this frame in TFM. Oh well, only us to blame for not doing sufficient homework. But customer service was good though, they called us twice to confirm delivery and they were prompt in both delivery and installation. Another view of the bed, this time with our king size Simmons Beautyrest Starburst mattress. We booked our mattress really early in last Nov during one of the furniture fairs, and managed to bargain for 4 free Simmons pillows from them, as well as a matrress protector.

Common toilet with the shower curtain railing installed by plumber. Unfortunately the shower curtain we got from Tmall was too short, so waiting for the new one to arrive! 35L Storage heater from Royal Fanco installed and ensuring it doesn't hit our 8W LED toilet light, again from Tmall Panasonic. We basically got more than half our lights there. Jomoo toilet roll holder from Tmall as well. We also got the stainless towel hanger from Jomoo as well, but we forgot to take pictures. No pictures of MBR toilet as well, cos pea brain me totally forgot all about taking photos when I saw my huge 1m long customised toilet cabinet with mirror. Will try to take one next time when I can remember! Just to add on, we also installed an additional washing point in the service yard and here's how it looks like! Figure it would be more convenient, especially when there are certain delicate pieces that might require some handwashing. Washing machine placed just opposite the washing point in service yard. Bosch dryer (which was delivered later) was stacked on top of the washer. One little rant about Bosch. On the original date of delivery itself, we received a call from them saying they have been trying to contact us for many days but to no avail (we did not receive any missed calls from them at all!) and they couldn't fulfill the delivery on the day as they were overloaded with delivery (or something like that). In the end, they delivered one day later. Was quite irritated, as it meant wasting our time going to the new place in vain to wait for them. Also, how could they simply inform us so last minute on the day itself? Boo boo. Lucky installation went fine eventually, but this certainly did not give me a good impression of Bosch. In fact, among all the deliveries, Bosch was one of the few that bailed out on us last minute.

Walkway to Study (1st room on left), Common bedroom/ baby room (2nd room on left), Common toilet (on the right) and MBR+WIW (in the middle) Entrance to the study. ID helped us fixed the door stopper so that we would not accidentally knock into the book shelves when we open the door. Sufficient space was also allocated, so that when we open the book shelves, it would not hit the air con unit either. Our customised full length work table with power points and Cat 6 internet cable for fast speed connection. We opted for the glass window concept for the study, so that again, we are able to see what's going on in the living room area even in the study. (great for supervising kids/babies, haha) Our full height bookshelves with internal woodgrain PVC. (post-its were pasted to remind ourselves of places to touch up) Close up of our LED study light from Tmall Panasonic. We choose this for the brightness, as well as the dark walnut light frame to match the theme. Common bedroom 2/ baby room. Nothing much was done here, except installation of lights, window grilles, blinds and changing of the switch casings. Full black out blinds with UV protection in baby blue, also from HM Gallery.

Continuing on... We chose soft lights for both sets of lights in the living room, with only the lights from the ceiling fans to be white ones (in case we need to read). Ceiling fan from Samaire, Royal Fanco. Tested the windspeed and it is pretty good! Downlights from Tmall again, and it is cheap and good. Paid less than 15sgd per LED 12W downlight. 42" Full HD Panasonic Smart TV delivered by Best Denki, and our Eubiq track installed as well. Alot of messy cables everywhere though. Close up of the Eubiq track. Kitchen cabinets with backsplash up. Love the white quartz kitchen top! The original kitchen was sealed, but I requested for a half glass wall so that even when I am in the kitchen, I can see who's coming back home! Our Samsung Inverter fridge with no silicon trimmings by the sides to prevent mould from growing.

Last bits of reno Backtracking to my last post was around early June after the installation of the air con and replacement of the scratched window grilles. So after that, the hubs and I kind of "dropped" the reno supervision and went for a trip, leaving everything in the hands of our ID to settle for us. By then, outstanding items were only the kitchen glass splash and a few minor installations. One thing I would really like to highlight about my ID is, she took the initiative to inform us when the MBR basin we bought was defective (apparently the base was not well cut?) and that installation of the basin in the long run would cause leaking problems. First, I really appreciated her effort in informing us, as she could have simply just installed the basin for us. But not only did she not do that, she also sourced for an alternative basin for us while we were still overseas. She whatsapped me a few different kinds to show me too, and in the end she actually REPLACED MY DEFECTIVE BASIN FOR FREE with another one she bought on her own for us. Hubs and I were really touched by her sweet gesture. I am not sure if any other ID would have simply done the same, but this is our first home reno, and we really appreciated her going the extra mile to help us. Rectification works - carpentry, painting, doors Fast forward, we came back in Mid June and by then it was mostly rectification before handover. Most things were quite well done, except for bits and parts of the carpentry, painting and doors. And so, we spent a few days with the various groups doing up the minor touch ups. We were very pleased with the ID subcon's professionalism. Firstly, the carpentry side came in the afternoon and started working on the parts we were thought could be done better. They stayed all the way from 12plus in the afternoon till 8pm just to up the defects (eg. doors were not aligned properly, weird sounds when we opened the drawers etc). Actually we were quite surprised, because we thought usually they will try to argue and convince us that it's the "norm" for certain defects to occur and etc, but no, they took all our feedback and redid every single bit we mentioned. Not only that, the boss also came down personally to inspect after his workers were done, and only left after we confirmed that we were able to accept the rectifications and everything was up to our expectations. Same went for the painter who dropped by to help us with the touch up. He ensured that we checked every part of the touch up we requested, and that things were alright before he left. Previously, there were some parts of the painting that had slight bumps and it looked funny, so we got him to sand the area away and repaint it. Again, no arguments or anything, he simply helped us to sand it away and repaint without second words. For the doors, after reading through some T-bloggers' entries, I realised that many IDs/contractors do not have the habit of painting the top parts of the doors, citing that it won't be seen anyway. But I believe in the idea that when you do something, you do it properly and totally. So when we realised that the top parts of the doors were not painted, we informed the ID who in turn got the painters to paint it. However, they did not do a very good job, as the colors were not very even. Also, there were parts of the WIW sliding doors that wasn't painted evenly, with tiny bubbles formed on the door frames. According to ID, it could be because the door wasn't sand properly before painting, and thus the unevenness. Again, when the doors subcon came over for rectification work, he redid everything without complaining and repainted the top of the doors as requested. So within a total of 3 days, we managed to finish up the entire rectification work and the house was ready for handover! After the wall of text, pictures! View from entrance of the door. To create the 玄关(ganken effect) of a Jap home, we used tiles for the foyer area. On the left, our mid height shoe cabinet. We sealed the original kitchen entrance (which was where the shoe cabinet was) and relocated it. Built full height mini storage space to flush the wall with our study, and in missing in picture below the lights will be our dining table. Lights from Tmall Panasonic. Our customised TV floating console that is linked to our settee. Venetian blinds from HM Gallery. Pardon the mess, our sofa from Hommage, placed in front of the study. On the left is the settee cushions which came along with our customised settee. Close up view of our sofa from Hommage. A 2.5 seater with our chosen fabric color to match the flooring and color scheme.

Thanks for the compliment! As for the air-con company, I think so long you are able to check on them during the installation and make sure everything is alright, things should turn out fine. Usually things cant go too wrong with constant supervision, lesson learnt from renovating the house! All the best.

The space is quite alright, maybe 2/3 size of a regular room? We did full height book shelves at the back of the study, and with our customised study table, still feels okay, at least more than 1m of space from bookshelves to study table. As for aircon units wise, cos one of my bedrooms is converted into a WIW and we shifted the MBR door forward to combine the WIW and MBR, so we only did system 4. 1 for living room, 1 for study, 1 for common bedroom and 1 for WIW+MBR. If u are considering 5 units, maybe better to get 2 sets of System 2/3?

Hihi, I got my window grilles from Teck Guan Aluminium. You can look for Albert (I think he's the boss) at 9150 5525. He's mainly Chinese speaking I think, middle age uncle. I paid a total of around 1.3k for my white powdered grilles. Oh, and yup I did hire a cleaning company after renovation. (It just seemed too much to have to clean up the entire dusty house ourselves after handover, and we didn't really have time either, cos rushing to move in on "auspicious" date.) Was recommended Mrs Sparkles, but they were fully booked, so we went with Clean Homes Singapore instead. Paid $589 for full post-renovation cleaning and sanitisation, they did quite a good job according to the hubs who was there to supervise.

It's been awfully long since I last updated! *sweeps cobwebs away* Renovation has been COMPLETED and handover has been done since last week. Most of our furniture have also arrived, except for our dining table which we have YET to purchase and simply too lazy to go and select/ purchase. All in all, we are very pleased with our ID and will definitely recommend her to our friends and family members. Will update more tonight with pictures and details!

We took a reno loan n included vinyl flooring in the entire ID package. Didn't wanna opt for laminate as it wasn't waterproof.

The renovations is slowly coming to an end! ID says that probable handover date will be around mid June or earlier, I can't wait! Air con installation This was the part that gave me the most headache throughout the renovations. It finally came to an end (I hope!) yesterday when they completed the second installation of the air con units. They arrived at around 4plus as arranged and worked till close to 7pm before they finished the job. There were mainly two guys handling our installation of the System 4 units. When they arrived with our units, they actually asked if they could have their lunch first before proceeding with the installation. They seemed quite nice and entertained our questions, as well as took care to make sure they do not scratch the carpentry accidentally. Installation wise, seems alright and pretty neat and aligned. They also did a basic test run for us, and passed us some vouchers for servicing, although they were very honest and told us that it would be much cheaper to engage air con cleaning companies to do the servicing instead of going back to them. After the entire installation, they helped us to wipe the units first, to clean away any fingerprints, wrapped up the units with plastic covering, and taught us how to remove them at the end of our renovations. All in all, despite the glitches in the arrangement for installation, we are still quite pleased with their final services, and the workers were pretty friendly and all. One of the workers installing the aircon unit in the living room and balancing the unit with his head. Completed installation in the MBR, and the wind was soooo cooling and comfy after we spent 2 hours in the house without any fans! And so... the air con company we engaged is actually CT Air con, located in Sin Ming area, just opposite Hommage. To be fair, despite their pretty screwed up appointment dates (need to confirm installation dates early as they are VERY packed), the customer service was rather good. They tried to accommodate to our requests and slot us in for earlier dates, and they were quite prompt in their replies. Also, when we purchased the air con system, they gave us a free $200 (or $300 I can't recall) NTUC voucher, which they allowed us to exchange for a cash deduction on the final price instead. Only down part is I think the workers' schedule are very packed (overheard them saying they have been working nonstop since morning), and last min appointments are very hard to secure. So I guess, if anyone wants to engage them, do make sure you book your appointments early. Window grilles installation This was actually a contact passed to us by my dad. This company has been around for 20 over years, and apparently they never do any promotions or advertisements, so usually their clients are through recommendations by friends. The boss came down each time personally to meet us, and he is always super punctual! In fact, first time we arranged to meet him at 3.30pm, he was already at the site even before we arrived. He was quick in giving us the quotation, and installation was completed around a week after quotation was given and final site visit was done for measurements. In fact, he only collected payment from us AFTER the entire installation! We were so surprised, since usually companies all require us to pay some form of deposits before they start work. Anyway the grilles were installed last week, but we noticed a small problem with one of the grilles, so we got the boss to come down again to check, as well as make payment. Thin, fine scratch on the grille. After we showed him, he immediately ask his worker to take down the grille and promised that he would replace it asap. True enough, he called us this morning and informed us that he will be sending the new grille up today in the afternoon. Also, as the process of powder-coating the grilles involve movements of the grilles from one place to another, he mentioned that it is likely that there might be fine scratches at certain parts of the grilles, which cannot be helped, but he will be coming over to help us inspect and do any touch up if required. The boss also assured us that in years to come, if any part of the grille starts malfunctioning, we would only need to top up his transport fee, he will come over and help us with the repair without charging. We are really glad to have taken up my dad's recommendation, and it was a breeze working with him!

Updates Part 2 Kitchen cabinets are up too! And my lovely E F oven that was only delivered yesterday has been installed too! Top cabinets Closer view of my oven. Love the mirror glass effect! Walk in wardrobe! Blinds were also installed earlier for WIW room, as the carpentry was gonna eat into the window space. It feels good to see the carpentry up so quickly, though I believe there's still plenty of touching up to do. Did a basic check, and mentioned to ID that some of the doors were not properly aligned, and ID immediately requested for the workers to take note and rectify the mistakes. Also, the flooring in the MBR wasn't protected, and again the workers got a lashing from ID. oops. Confirmed the table top for my MBR toilet vanity top as well. Chose a shade of sparkly white and hope it goes well with my dark walnut vanity cabinet. Can't believe today marks 1 month into our renovation! It's been quite an enjoyable process so far, thanks to my ID for overseeing the details and seeking clarification with us very frequently to ensure that we are aware of the progress and informed of any big and small decisions made.

Updates Part 1 ID texted me yesterday to update that some of the carpentry had already arrived yesterday, and when I went down with ID to check on the place, I was surprised. The workers are really fast! Let the pictures do the talking! Shoe cabinet with half done partition Living room grilles have been installed yesterday. The white powder coated grilles look good! Construction of settee and TV console in progress Study bookshelves in the midst of construction Close up of the bookshelves internal PVC. It's the same for the WIW!

Hihi, just wondering... will your top wardrobe doors actually hit the light when u open it? cos it seems rather near!

We finally had time to pop by the new place yesterday! The flooring is all done up! Close up shot of the living room + study flooring Darker shade of flooring for the bedrooms Grohe shower sets for Common Bathroom (Left) and MBR (Right) installed. Just can't seem to capture a good shot of the fittings somehow... maybe it's the time that we always drop by, so hard to get a decent shot! Most visible trunking in the entire house at the MBR. Sigh! Today's the day for many many deliveries! BUT Hoe Kee just called yesterday and informed us that my Fujioh glass hob is OOS and they have no idea when new stocks will come in! So they offered us an option of getting the white glass top instead (which they claim is a new color) and we got to top up $30. Felt rather annoyed, but we didn't really want anymore delays especially when ID just updated us yesterday that carpentry should be in within 3-4 days' time. Oh well, at least I guess the hob will flush well with my white Quartz top! Oh and lastly, any tips here on what to look out for/ check on carpentry? Hubs and I are total noobs, so will really appreciate any good advise! Thanks!

4ddd: I would prefer not to disclose the company's name yet, as they have not completed my installations and I really hope they won't screw up anymore on this job! Hope you understand!

Updates updates. The hubs and I must be one of the slackest homeowners! We haven't visited our new place for more than week to check on the reno works! Work has been really crazy and I guess we decided to just place faith in our ID to help us settle everything. So far, toilet WC and shower sets have been installed. Photos were sent to us by ID to update us. Common bathroom basin and tap Master bathroom WC and shower set. Can't wait to head down and personally look at the new shower fittings! All the Grohe taps and shower sets are finally up! First round of painting has also been completed and the house looks bright and cheery now! First round of floor washing was done on Saturday as the Vinyl flooring was scheduled to be laid yesterday and today. Initially we planned to visit the new place over the weekend to check on the washing and see if we needed to do our own cleaning as well, but alas we were too busy, and now I can only pray that the cleaner has done a good job and our Vinyl flooring will be laid smoothly. ID was there to supervise as well, so hope things turn out well! Originally we signed up with HERF and paid a deposit, but eventually decided to forfeit the package as the price quoted by HERF was really too high, comparing it to the Vinyl package offered by our ID. Also, HERF did not include skirting installation, but for the one quoted by my ID, skirting is also included. I understand that some people did mention before that skirtings are not necessary for HERF flooring, but we prefer to have skirtings to cover up those small unsightly gaps, as well as give ourselves peace of mind in worrying that ants/insects might find homes in these little holes in future. Vinyl flooring for the bedrooms and skirting For the living room, we picked a very pale shade of beige so that it can complement our dark walnut shade carpentry work. For bedrooms, ID suggested a warmer shade (darker colors), and we liked the idea, so altogether two different shades to separate out the living room and bedrooms. No pictures of the Vinyl flooring for living room as ID didn't send us any. All the flooring stuff to prepare for the laying of the Vinyl. Looking forward to seeing the end results! On a side note, despite the smooth progress so far, we are quite irritated with the air con company. In fact, I feel very sorry for the sales people as they probably will need to handle a lot of **** work caused by their technical side. Initially the air con installation was scheduled on yesterday at 2-3pm, then they called and say that due to some delays, they would only be able to reach at 4pm, which we thought was still reasonable. BUT, they ended up calling us at 6pm and said they would only be there in 30 minutes' time and ID side refused to let them carry out the installation, as it was supposedly past the official working/renovation hours. Also, we couldn't risk letting them enter the place and install the units without any supervision as the flooring was done halfway, plus we had quite a bit of stuff in the house too. NOW, they are saying the earliest installation date they can offer us is NEXT MONTH! We are in the midst of arranging the earliest date for installation, and hopefully something can be worked out soon. Sigh, that's like the major hiccup in our renovation progress so far. Other than that, we are probably looking at receiving the carpentry by end of this week, as well as get our window grilles and blinds up! Cross our fingers for a smooth and easy renovation!