Catt

26 Aug'16 Update: Oopsies, no installation of kitchen faucet today because: 1) Carpenter did not open a wide enough hole for the plumbing guys to reach their arm in to connect the faucet to water pipe (again the technicality of it escapes me, but I know something cannot reach la). 2) Plumbing guys need to buy an adapter for the faucet. Something about how the faucet pipe does not fit Singapore ones. They will all be back on Monday with the adapter and drill bit for enlarging the cabinet hole. On the other hand, my Taobao mirror cabinet has been installed: Review on this mirror LED light cabinet: There are probably 2 minor scratches on the mirror that will bother me and anyone else with OCD. Otherwise the condition is not too bad. The wiring inside is horrendous, but what do I expect with 200 SGD (inc. shipping and delivery). If I bought something of this size here, it would be $300 SGD and above. The LED lighting is okay, more for decorative purposes. You won't be able to use it for squeezing blackheads as it is not bright enough, but you can brush your teeth with the dim lighting. If the LED strip spoils, I don't know if I need to pluck it out or just leave it there and waste a light switch (located outside the toilet entrance). The cabinet itself has a switch. You can't switch on the cabinet with that external switch, only if you switch on the external switch AND the cabinet switch. The logic is baffling...but there you have it. Different people think differently... obviously I am not from this planet. My iron main gate is screwed and there is nothing the contractor can do. I've resigned myself to looking for another gate contractor and dismantling (wasting money) on this ugly one. Anyone tried this company? http://www.steeldios.com/ Some nonsense that I must go and Happy Hour off later: By the way, today my contractor claimed he paid out of his own pocket to the neighbour living below my apartment- 4 items the neighbour claimed was damaged by the leaking (e.g. a kettle?!). Some people are really just out to take advantage of others. And ah...and ah...I SAW THAT THE WORKERS USED "APPLE WHITE" PAINT TO PATCH THE WALLS WHICH WERE PAINTED WITH "SNOW WHITE". What the #@%&*!! So I'm not crazy and there's nothing wrong with my eyes! No wonder the beam looked kinda green kinda cream... I was speechless when I saw the opened tin of Apple White left behind for me. I felt a universe of silence surround me and for a moment I thought I was having a slight stroke because my brain didn't know how to react- laugh, cry or scream or ..throw the paint on myself? My final quote is $560 above the original quote, which is good in my opinion as I heard the buffer people should give is about $5000. I was also charged for the minor plaster patching works on the walls and ceilings at approx $380, so I don't owe him anything.

Hi there...I asked for roller blinds, didn't look at the curtains offered. http://www.softhome.sg/ the contact is in the website, you can look for Yong Sheng. His mobile number is at the end of the Contacts page.

Hi it is Enchanted State for the grey and Snow White for the off-white shade. If you get on the Nippon site you can find the codes.

I picked 5100 Vanilla Noir for the Caeserstone. To be honest the farmhouse sink would've been better complemented with some Shaker cabinets, but I'm fine with this too.

Thanks JohnJohn...just a simple house, doesn't have the design mastery of yours!

25 Aug'16 Update Guess who's here? One more time with feeling! Unnngggh! So...soo...sooo pretty! Went up today to meet the salesperson from Softhome to measure for roller blinds, and to provide me with a quote. He was such a sweet young thing that I felt bad making him come all the way down from Tannery Lane. Customer service was great and he seemed to be looking out for me on cost, and could advise me on the colours that would possibly match the rest of the house, as well as the type of blinds to pick. I wanted half the windows in the living room to be dim-out ones and others in front of the television to be blackout. However, he advised that if I was reclining on the L-part of the couch (far left), I would be able to see a reflection on the telly. Full blackout would render the house too dark, but if it bothered me I guess I could always roll up one side and NOT WATCH TV (light doesn't bother me to be honest since my TV is not that reflective, but I like the idea of a blackout cinema experience). Anyway, I made up my mind very quickly on some blackout pvc greyish-taupe-ish blinds. Seriously every colour I have picked for my new place is a shade that I can find in my 400-strong collection of nail polish. The quoted price seemed reasonable as I was expecting something in the 1000s (don't ask me why but I keep thinking that roller blinds and curtains are very expensive), but I guess since my windows are not that big, the total price was not as high as I thought it would be. Installation will be another 1-2 weeks from now. I know I said no more pictures until the furniture is in, but I since I stayed behind till sunset, I decided to play with the lights. I'm glad they turned out alright and the house isn't as dark (and luckily not bright!) as I thought it would be. My phone-cam turns all the lights more yellow than they actually are. The Teka hob was installed today. They forgot to plug it in, so it was a good thing my cabinet had a little pulldown door underneath to slide my arm in and reach the socket. The hood needs polishing- so many handprints Sink with the countertop on it. The tap will be installed tomorrow. Full kitchen view with the lights. I love the light effect! Sorry my wall lights are still wrapped in plastic...will only remove them after the reno is done. Our plain bedroom. Look how at how many handprints there are on the wardrobe One last look with all the lights on in the living room and hall (?? don't know what to call the ex-living room). Can't wait to move in as it looks so inviting!

@ricepapergirl seeing your beautiful Hitachi fridge makes me want to see mine soon too! Can't wait to polish it (haha enthusiastic for only the first few weeks). if you see roach poo-grains you need to do a very VERY thorough cleaning of the cabinets and all surrounding areas, especially if you keep finding it in the same spots. That would probably mean it's living nearby or nesting there. I had cockroach infestation that started in my kitchen and spread into my bedroom (small 3-rm rental unit). Initially I'd just cleaned up the infestation in the kitchen- they ate through cling-film and had raised 3 generations of roaches in my sealed-up utensil box. A few days later, I was woken up in the middle of the night by a weird scratching/ gnawing noise, so I turned on the light to investigate. I found poo all over the bookcase at the foot of my bed, and slowly started taking boxes and books off the case and found another nest of roaches in my toiletry bag that I keep packed for quick work travel trips. They ate my toothpaste. As the bookcase was 4 'floors' of their private condominium, I took out all the contents and threw away anything that was covered in egg cases or poo. You need to be super duper thorough and paranoid. Clean anything and everything! A friend of mine (cleanliness freak) living in the Tiong Bahru SIT houses had a similar infestation in her bookcase and kitchen.

Good idea on the placement of the words for the unit numbers...will ask Darkling Half if she's ok with that. I don't think the windows can be filed as they look powder-coated. I just need to be careful and maybe will WD40 it to see if it helps with the tightness. I hope birds don't suicide-crash into the windows and crack them! Thanks for the Steigen link, always good to have more options! I'm only looking at manual systems at the moment due to cost and maintenance (afraid if it breaks down it will cost more to fix!)

Anyway, enough of retro old-skool stuff, if no one can understand the sign except Cantonese-readers, then what's the point?! Could you share Vincent's contact/ shop name with me? I've set an appointment with Softhome but it wouldn't hurt to get a 2nd opinion. Ezziliving sent me this when I dropped them an email enquiry. Initially I was going to go with the Tame system, but I had a really lame reason for choosing Ezziliving (I think Ezzi is an Australian system and Tame is a Taiwan system- end of the day both can be used to hang clothes up to dry). 1) The EZ Lift5 has 4 stainless steel poles of up to 1.86m in length which can be cut to size and 0.55m in width. Vertical displacement from ceiling down is 1100mm and load capacity is up to 20kgs. Arms are rust-proofed with powder-coating with the base made of UV-stabilized polycarbonate nylon. This works on a 4-gear mechanism, meaning that effort needed to pull up a heavy load is shaved to one quarter of the strength used. Moreover, the mechanism does not unlock and topple on one's head, hence this is elderly-and-child safe. This system comes with a 1-year hardware warranty. Price: $499. This will be mounted off-centre due to the ceiling light. Alternatively, ceiling brackets ($75) have to be used. Mounted with Wall Brackets. Direct mounted unto ceiling. The EZ Lift5 quoted above comes with a 1-year hardware warranty. 2). The EZ Lift 5SS has 5 poles and arms are all in fully stainless steel material. Mechanism and specs are similar to the 4-pole system. Price : $599. Brackets are required if ceiling is false or ceiling is more than 2.4m high. Cost of brackets: $90. The accessory for the Ez Lift5 to hang at least 7 bedsheets at a time yet not compromising on the laundry load is the EL5 clothes-pin. Cost is $99 per pair. To buy this together with the EL5 will enable you to enjoy is at a 50% discount which makes it a nett price of $49.50

No, no not suaku.. I'm a noob myself. If I asked them to re-tile, seal-up an existing doorway, or create a new wall then yes, I pay for specific plastering of these areas made of hollow blocks (e.g. item #32 Hacked Bedroom 1 wall surrounded broken wall to plaster good cement) . The new walls will be smooth as a baby's bottom vs the other older walls.The other types of plastering I've mentioned (and not part of the quote) is just targeted patching work (E.g. big hole/ crack in the wall that I asked them to help plaster up before painting). I believe if you request for proper plastering, they apply plaster all over the walls of the entire house (unless you specify to keep certain walls original), smooth it out, and in places where parts of a beam are uneven, they insert this 90 degree metal piece to the corners so you can have a nice straight line, and plaster over. I didn't ask for that. Windows/ gates: I was too trusting, I let the contractor find the sub-con for windows and gates. The frames of the windows and handles feel thin and 'hard'. When I try to open the windows, they are very tight (I know, new stuff right, but this one is super tight) and feel like they can cut my hands. The windows of my rental unit feel thicker and smoother (handles, glass and how the window opens). Door gate is the worst, I feel like a fool trying to be 'hipster' with those badly-made retro gates....ai ai..gates of shame... This window/door subcon is WEIRD. His sliding doors for the kitchen is fine, but others are not *roll eyes* Thanks for the praise on the kitchen, I think I'm quite happy with it as well!

20 Aug'16 Update: On Saturday Darkling Half and myself planted ourselves at the site from 11 am to 5pm to watch the painters do touch-up for the paint and plastering. The walls are acceptably smooth to begin with as the previous owner had done some works, so all i needed was some patching and sanding to be done here and there. They also rectified a strange-looking wall beam that was protruding out by 1mm on one part of the wall and then fading into the rest of the wall on the other half. Told them to create an even 1mm protrusion just to balance it all out. Will take pics the next round. Around 5pm, I was brain-dead, Darkling Half was sitting on a plastic bag on the floor and snoozing while holding her tai-tai handheld fan. I was so bored I was up on the kitchen counter painting the grout line above the water pipe because I felt that asking the painters to do such delicate work is like asking them to embroider a dragon robe. I used turpentine to clean the stainless steel pipes and toilet door stopper myself and asked them to leave behind the turp, thinner and paint so I can do further touch-up myself after handover. I hope I don't have to burn up anymore of my precious weekends watching people patch the house. Electrical update: Electricians popped by to connect the hood, hob and oven. They created a socket in the cabinet for the hob (which they said must be perpetually left on- the 'control' switch for me is located in a row above the counter top). I learnt something new about wiring- the electrician's wife was tsk-tsking about the 2 pin plug that came with the Brandt hood. They cut off the plug-head and rewired it to the electrical switch they created for the hood previously. So very neat, no extra sockets, no extra trunking. Thank you for being so smart for once. They also finished installing all the track-lights and will return once more after the toilet mirror LED cabinet is installed, to connect the LED lights. I promise to stop showing the same boring pics till I get furniture in...it's just simple works in the living room which is now completed. Carpentry update: I also saw that the kitchen cabinet looks like it is placed in a slanted-manner. So the right side of the cabinet has a 1 cm or less slanted gap (which they put sealant and grouting) between the cabinet bottom and cabinet base tiles, and the left side of the entire cabinet is slightly slanted over the base. I reckon it is the entire wall that is slanted, causing such a compensation. It's not noticeable unless you have Darkling Half's eagle eyes. The front of the cabinet is flushed in parallel with the floor tiles so I don't think they accidentally skewed the entire cabinet. We, and now you will be the only people who know of this I found some deep scratches on top of my shoe cabinet. HAIZ! Forget it, will hide it under a piece of table cloth and put my plants over it. Don't know who the culprit is, but seriously how will they rectify it? Tear out the whole laminate, damage the wall in the process, get glue everywhere...or use a magic marker and colour it in? I'm at the point I can't be bothered for them to all come back in. Same goes for the wardrobe, there are a few tiny chips due to the carelessness of the other contractors, but I will overlook it as it is internal/ not eye-level. To date the reno is up to 85- 90% complete. Pending: - installation of toilet accessories (loo-roll holder, mirror cabinet with light, towel holder) - rectification of iron gate (eh I don't know what the contractor intends to do and I didn't ask him to rectify it either, just complained to him. The soldering work is like ****, don't tell me he can fix that?) -installation of kitchen counter tops Other non-contracted works pending: -Change of door lock (will contact A1 Locksmith whom I'd called for help twice to unlock my bedroom doors in the past) -House number signage (at the moment there is no unit# signage- will go Alexandra Village to source. Darkling wanted a sign that read "##楼 ####号 in Cantonese... but I told her HDB doesn't allow anything that is not in Roman numerals- she angry ) -Roller Blinds (been trying to contact Softhome, so once I obtain an appointment I hope they can come over and do measurements/ give quote) -Pulley clothes-hanging rack (thinking of using ezzyliving. I've obtained a quote from them so pending handover to have these installed in the utility room)

Hi @stray thanks for stopping by. Do note that if I'd asked for plaster works it would probably cost more. The Caeserstone may increase the quote further after handover because my kitchen counter is wider than the norm (though it was shortened in the end), so we shall see the total damage only at the end if the reno. To be totally honest don't stinge on certain basic things (like windows and gates) because the quality will be inferior and look inferior. Based on what I have, I don't think the windows will last very long... I will have to treat them with plenty of TLC. Also I have super ugly new iron gates right now (the soldering work and paint work is much to be desired), not sure how the contractor intends to rectify it. If he can't I'm burning money down the road to replace them. I regret not hacking off the main door and replacing both the door and gates from an outsourced company specialising in these items.

Some stuff I bought online: Taobao buy- LED lighted 2 door medicine cabinet. I bought one item to tryout the hassle of purchasing from TB. I had my TB queen at work guide me through the entire process. Nothing broke so that was a sigh of relief. It isn't installed yet so I can't comment if it's a good or bad buy. https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=520065968474&toSite=main Amazon buy- Bamboo chopping board. I've wanted a big chopping board for the longest time as I'd used one when I was studying overseas. But after reading all the reviews online about other types of wood, I decided to try this. It looks pretty good and I also bought chopping board oil to season it (troublesome much?!) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DUZMBP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Qoo10 buy- Proscenic robot vacuum/ mop. Supposed to arrive today. I'm deeply attracted to the promise that it can do both vacuuming and mopping, and can navigate it's own way back to the charging station. There is also a physical store selling this at IMM Jurong and my warranty is from them. http://list.qoo10.sg/item/INTRODUCTORY-OFFER-PROSCENIC-SUZUKA-ROBOT-VACUUM-WITH-WATER/464813223 I'm only left with a peephole digital camviewer to buy now. Reviews on Qoo10 are all pretty conflicting regarding screen resolution, so that's some evening homework that I have to do.

@trcd, how's the progress going? Handover already?

Forgot to add on... my new (downstairs) neighbour has struck again! After the love note on the 1st day, he came up yesterday when I was there and demanded to see my contractor. Apparently the renovation has caused his ceiling to leak again. The contractor has been handling this problem for the past few weeks so I just let him deal with it. But after the reno is done, I am going downstairs with the contractor and making that fella sign an indemnity form that everything is fine. Seriously this bugger is taking this opportunity to get $$ or new things done to his place whenever someone above his flat carries out renovation. He actually asked my contractor to compensate him for his kitchen cabinets. To which the contractor sniffed and said no, because his cabinets are 20 odd years old and chui already. Poooh! The neighbour kept quiet after that. To date my contractor has been down 3 times to patch the ceiling and will do a final check when he wraps up the reno on my house. Old houses are really leaky houses... lesson learnt, if I can afford a new place in future, not to pick anything built in the 70s and 80s!

Hi Lazyfatcat007! thanks for reading my blog. Yours was one of the first 3-roomer ones I referred to when I bought my place. It was definitely a source of inspiration and assurance that I'm not the only one having to work with an older apartment. I'm also super jealous of your bigger floor space! Ah wells...it's just me and my other half so...like my mom has repeated many times, why do I need such a big toilet..is my arse that big...why do I need a bigger house..is my arse that big (everything goes back to my rear end apparently). Yes I'm at the Crescent area...Drive has even older flats (I didn't want to fork out extra hard $$ due to CPF restrictions) and Heights is a bit inconvenient for me as I do not drive. This particular unit is 75 sqm vs the standard 64-65sqm as it is a corner unit. Still tiny but I tell myself still cheaper than a 75sqm private condo Thank you for your well wishes and I'm glad you are enjoying your beautiful new place already...can' wait for my turn!

15 Aug Update: Carpentry came in today. I'm amazed that they cut and glued the laminates on the spot... is this a usual practice? Either way, I'm impressed at how neatly they have done it. The carpentry work looks good as far as I can tell (I left while they were still fitting in the hood, hob and oven), and my dad said that the workmanship is pretty 'solid' and 'neat'. To me that just means no jagged edges to the cut laminate, no chips, no scratches, laminate and plywood joints are aligned, nothing feels flimsy. We had some trepidation about the support that was built for the Kraus sink, since it is just a rectangular support vs two Xs to support the base, but the carpenter assured us that it would hold well. I hope nothing comes crashing down when I'm violently washing pots and pans. The design is not the most modern, but I'm going to attribute that to myself since I only told the carpenter that I didn't want handles to anything (I gave up the office-lookalike drawers because I didn't want to add on more cost and wasn't feeling very confident at that point in time), and only worked with him on the modules for the wardrobe. I just chose something simple based on the IKEA wardrobe that I've been using for 4 years. Fits my stuff, fits my habit. Darkling Half doesn't seem to care I guess as long as it fits all her clothes. Or maybe she's had enough of the reno (like me!!!) and just wants something simple and move on with life. Folks are coming down to measure the countertop for Caeserstone on 16 Aug. Wardrobe WIP: Long Complaint- Paintwork and plastering (patching): We post-it-ed the entire house. The contractor said he would fix it and he said this is not the final work yet. Ok lor. You say one lor. At this point..if the flaw is tiny, I'm going to let it slide and fix it myself. His painter like sibei buay song, but the contractor is not eager to get him off this job and 'change' to another painter. Did I complain that the painter did everything he wasn't asked to (e.g. he removed my plastic covers for my wall sconces...tonight I have to go back and put it up again in case he drips paint on them) and did nothing he was asked to (e.g. sanding the pipes and doors before painting)? Good grief... Painting is bad for all doors old and new. Chips, scratches, no proper sanding (they don't use a sanding tool), thick painting resulting in bubbling and wrinkles. My main door is also not aligned to the door frame, or should I say the frame is not aligned to the door. This was a door from the previous owner. To remove and change it now would mean hacking off the frame and done-up floor tiles. The contractor is reluctant to do so, so we asked him to think of a way to reduce the gap between the door and frame. Don't know what kind of special magical skills he will have to conjure up to fix that. Utility door is made of cheapo compressed wood. Cheapo me didn't want to change it as it seemed okay initially and the contractor had told me he will get it sanded. Till I saw the bottom fringe of the door all frayed and chipped...he still doesn't want to change it and wants to sand it down. WHATEVER!!! My dad and colleagues think it is the funniest thing on earth...usually people have problems with the major works- tiling and carpentry. Electrical and paintwork are a breeze. Mine is the opposite. We also went around hammering the plate of our electrical switches with our fists to force them down properly on their base. The electricians did not use same faceplate + base so most of them are not a smooth fit. So laughable. Haiz. F-it. Small thing.

@JohnJohn just beautiful especially that sexy mosiac wall. I'm feeling excited for you!

13 Aug Update: Painting done but I'm recalling them back to do touch-ups and plastering as the work done is lazy and bad. The place was cleaned up when we got there today and immediately we could spot a few glaring mistakes. But we've gotten this far: Can't post the other pics I took vertically since tinypics doesn't work well on this phone. Edit: I am really silly... the handshower was on the wrong setting, so after a few adjustmebts the spray is working nicely now. Thanks @ricepapergirl for that setting tip!

Wrong posting

@Changbp I guess I will have to try that on my next visit, so far I have only isolated it to the shower, the rest of the toilet's water pressure seems fine so I don't even think it's the pressure valve outside. Wah if it's really the heater I will be doubly sian! I even bought one with a booster pump for rainshower so if it doesn't work I will just find it so.... I'm just befuddled as previous instant heaters I've used do not have this super weak water pressure issue. The weakest was still a a watering can effect at least. @ricepapergirl Yes the showerhead has different settings, but even if the setting is not meant for a strong pressure, at the moment, it is literally 'drooling'. The water flows so slowly and little that the stream-lets clump at one end of the showerhead and dribble off the edge. I just find it so weird! Fingers itchy again to dismantle the showerhead but I"m stopping myself in case I damage anything. Worse come to worse I have to get a smaller showerhead as I heard a smaller one forces the water to compress and come out stronger.

I wish I didn't have to push either but seems like I'm on my own here. The contractor isn't there to check the work unless I peck at him. Ah well... I just have to keep at it for a few more weeks... I'm using a Rubine instant heater with a handshower.

Question: The water pressure from the showerhead is really poor (there are these holes where the water sprays out, but the water is pathetically flowing out instead), but the pressure of the water coming out from the shower mixer tap and sink tap is really strong. Anyone have any idea if there's something in the showerhead that I need to remove in order to improve the pressure? I'm using a Grohe Tempesta. 11 Aug Update: I should really send Darkling Half to supervise the renovation instead. I went yesterday and the main painter seemed really reluctant patch up the walls or corners. His excuse is always that the house is old.... wah...too used to working on BTOs or what? So pampered? It took me a lot of nagging just to get him to move his arse. When I complain to the contractor, he will just ask me to tell them myself. He would call them immediately to rectify, but it just annoys me that these people can be so lazy as to cut corners. Today Darkling Half went to supervise the NetLink installers. While she was there, she was scrutinizing the paint and plaster job being carried out. She really 鸟 (bird) the painters who not only peed all over my toilet seat (and I know it's them as I left the house yesterday with the cardboard box taped over the seat and today it's gone) and denied it was them, but did a pretty bad job painting the corners of the ceiling and the frame of the main entrance door. Yeah I know the door is old and the house is old..but doesn't give you an excuse to not sand before painting right?! I'm not asking for a smooth wall as I never asked for plastering of the walls, but if I see an anomaly from the rest of the surface, they should patch it, and patch it well. Not paint over bubbles and old lumps of paint. When the NetLink installers had to open up the electrical trunking to run the fibre optic cable, the main painter refused to patch up the trunking again, telling Darkling Half that she should get the NetLink installers to do it. She was so pissed off because why would Netlink installers be carrying plaster? In the end she asked another painter to do the patching, which he did. Tsk..very naughty. Super attitude... too bad for them she has worse attitude...and does look at times like an angry ah beng/ ah lian hog. SIMI SAI: The only thing I can't complain about is the tiling work and plumbing, other than that...tskk tsskkk tssskk....

Hi Mannequin. I used Hoong Fatt Heng http://www.hoongfattheng.com.sg/ Since I'm at it, I'll just type up the quote and share with everyone. To be fair to the contractor, I won't be sharing the detailed cost break-down as there were items where I am sure the contractor had cut the price for me and areas I am sure were pumped up. He had also absorbed a few things that I mentioned offhand since he did not make any other changes to the quote despite me prompting him. I was more concerned about the overall quotation amount and things that it included that the the ID companies could not include. Not included: Electrical cost is never the same for each client since it depends on how many lighting points, sockets, cable points you install, For the air-conditioners, I'd ask him to recommend someone he worked with before so that was excluded from the overall quote. I paid them separately. Main thing to understand is that you get what you pay for. There were items which were of basic quality because he fit everything into his final quote, and I accepted it because of my budget. Also, I was very finicky with the quotes during my search for an ID/ contractor, but right now I'm operating on the premise that this is the overall final quotation amount and that there is a method to the madness eventually. He also threw in some stuff (e.g. shampoo ledges made of granite- not in quote) that if he DARED charge me I would be counting beans with him (e.g. I didn't even use up to $3.00 for 2 types of tiles and he quoted me at $4/$3.50. My kitchen and shoe cabinets, and therefore Caeserstone, ended up shorter and the quote was not amended, and so on). Give and take and I will just let it go. FYI I did not bargain with him at all for the final quote. S/N Description 1 Kitchen entrance both side wall to hack off 2 Kitchen entrance hacked wall surrounded broken wall to plaster good cement 3 Kitchen existing wall & floor tiles to hack off 4 Kitchen part of wet area floor to lay waterproof chemical with cement 5 Kitchen floor to lay 300 x 600 floor tiles - Max tiles@$3 to $3.50 6 Kitchen wall to lay 300 x 600 wall tiles up to ceiling height except cabinet portion no new tiles - Max tiles@$4 (Subway tiles) 7 Kitchen floor to use HDB Approved Prepack 2 in 1 cement & labour to plaster 8 Kitchen wall to use HDB Approved Prepack 2 in 1 cement & labour to plaster 9 To supply & change 1 set stainless steel dustbin 10 To construct 2" height cabinet base top plaster cement - 26ft 11 2 toilet existing wall tiles & floor tiles to hack off including W.C & basin 12 2 toilet wall to lay 300 x 600 wall tiles up to ceiling height -Max tiles@$3 to $3.50 13 2 toilet wall to use HDB Approved Prepack 2 in 1 cement & labour to plaster 14 2 toilet floor to lay waterproof chemical with cement 15 2 toilet floor to lay 300 x 300 floor tiles *I used 30X60 eventually 16 One bathroom entrance divider to lay tiles 17 Bathroom to construct shower kerb / drop-down kerb with tiles 18 2 toilet floor to use HDB Approved Render 2 in 1 cement & labour to plaster 19 2 toilet centre partition wall to hack off 20 Toilet sewerage PVC pipe to box up using cement board & tile up * this was FOC but eventually I did not want a box up anyway 21 2 toilet centre hacked wall surrounded broken wall to plaster good cement 22 Existing bathroom entrance to seal up with hollow blocks & plaster cement 23 Hall & 2 bedroom existing floor tiles to hack off 24 Hall & 2 bedroom floor to lay 600 x 600 glossy floor tiles with skirting - Max tiles@$3 to $3.50 25 Hall & 2 bedroom floor to use HDB Approved Prepack 2 in 1 cement & labour to plaster 26 Utility room existing floor tiles to hack off 27 Utility room floor to lay 600 x 600 glossy floor tiles with skirting - Max tiles@$3 to $3.50 28 Utility room floor to use HDB Approved Prepack 2 in 1 cement & labour to plaster 29 Existing Bedroom 2 T-shape wall & 2 entrance door frame to hack off 30 Hacked Bedroom 2 T-shape surrounded broken wall to plaster good cement 31 Existing Bedroom 1 partition wall to hack off 32 Hacked Bedroom 1 wall surrounded broken wall to plaster good cement 33 To supply material & labour to construct hollow blocks wall & compound plaster at Bedroom 1 34 To supply & install 1 set wooden door frame with Veneer door at Bedroom new Entrance * I did not pick veneer eventually but it didn't matter as the price was pretty neutral 35 Existing Bedroom 2 wall to hack off for Bedroom 2 new entrance *this was a mistake and not removed. But because he gave me wardrobe sliding doors instead of casement doors without increasing the quote I just let it slide. It's not a big amount. 36 To extend Bedroom 2 with hollow blocks wall & compound plaster 37 Cement works to install 1 set new wooden door frame at Bedroom 2 new entrance *same as item 37. Essentially I believe I 'paid' for my sliding doors out of item 35 & 37 38 Kitchen & bathroom to change new stainless steel cold water 39 To run hot water stainless steel pipe at bathroom 40 Plumber to install 1 set storage heater 41 Plumber to install 1 set W.C & 1 set wash basin 42 Plumber to install washing machine in/outlet pipe & install water tap 43 Plumber to install sink in/outlet pipe & install sink tap 44 Plumber to install spray jet, toilet roll holder & toilet accessories 45 Whole house 3 rooms, kitchen & hall wall & ceiling to paint 1 layer undercoat sealer paint 46 Whole house 3 rooms, kitchen & hall ceiling to paint using Nippon Matex White & wall to paint using Nippon Vinilex 5000 emulsion paint (Max 5 choices of colour) *He did mention it didn't matter if I wanted to add in more paint colours. Our quotation was so loose that he was happy to throw in a bunch of stuff without officially charging me. 47 Whole house door frame & PVC pipe to oil-paint / lacquer - include all doors 48 To supply & install tempered glass swing glass door at toilet entrance - Sandblast glass 49 To supply & install aluminium black frame clear glass panel sliding door at kitchen entrance 50 To supply & install 1 piece fix panel tempered glass at bathroom shower area 51 Bathroom & toilet to install black frame top hung glass window - Total 6 number opening hole 52 To supply 2 set KDK Brand Exhaust Fan 53 Existing kitchen cabinet to tear off & clear away 54 2 bedroom existing wardrobe to tear off & clear away 55 1 double deck bed & 3 desks to tear off & clear away 56 Hall L-box holder, false ceiling & room cornices to tear off 57 To fabricate & install kitchen bottom cabinet with ABS trimming in laminated finished & internal carcass in white PVC finished (Max laminate selection@$60) - Left hand *he also agreed eventually to change the internal laminates at no-extra charge to black or grey. But because I changed my mind about the external laminates, I left it as white. 58 To fabricate & install kitchen bottom cabinet with ABS trimming in laminated finished & internal carcass in white PVC finished at right hand side (Max laminate selection@$60) - 10ft 59 To supply & install slow motion hinges & tracks for kitchen cabinet door & 1 row drawers - DTC Brand *not Blum but I don't really care. Nothing lasts forever. And it's very cheap. 60 Kitchen cabinet table top to install Caeserstone table top at right hand bottom cabinet - 5100 / 5003 column *these were the model codes. 61 To supply & install slow motion hinges & tracks for kitchen cabinet door & 1 row drawers - DTC Brand *right hand side 62 Kitchen cabinet table top to install Caeserstone table top at left hand side bottom cabinet - 5100 / 5003 column 63 To fabricate & install low height shoe cabinet in laminated finished & internal carcass in white PVC finished (Max laminate selection@$60) - 4ft 64 To fabricate & install master room casement door wardrobe in laminated finished & internal carcass in white PVC finished (Max laminate selection@$60) - 10ft *changed to sliding, no change in cost 65 Master room wardrobe door & 1 row of drawers to install slow motion hinges & tracks - DTC Brand *again he seemed very chin chye as I had two rows of drawers. Let's wait till handover and see if I get slapped with a different bill. 66 Master room wardrobe internal to fabricate 1 set tofu column *didn't add cost for 2 tofu columns instead of one 70 To apply HDB permit FOC 71 Provide haulage & clear renovation debris 72 Whole house wall tiles & floor tiles to chemical wash 73 Supply paperboard to cover floor tiles *he did but this is quite nonsensical as the cover is...might as well don’t cover…waste money. I had to pay for this! 74 Main gate change to wrought iron gate*not wrought in the end as I chose a smooth iron with different design. Cost didn't change 75 Added on later: Toilet PVC pipe to move in near the big POC pipe 76 Added on later: Kitchen, 2 bedroom (he just couldn’t get it into his head there was no 2nd bedroom, but I know he meant the pre-existing ex-bedroom windows), utility & hall windows to aluminium tinted glass swing out windows Total: $49530

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY EVERYBODY!! LONG 8 Aug Update- Happiness and also complaints about Kah-Chng DNA I went down yesterday to watch the electricians install the lights. I'm more concerned about the wall sconces than the rest, Sat there for almost 3 hours then was told they would only install them on Wednesday.... DLS!!! However it was good that we were there since the aircon dudes came to finish their installation and the carpenter made a surprise visit and we were there to clarify some queries he had with regards to the placement of the drawers, small pullout pantry... oh gosh anyway he just needed me there otherwise he had no idea where the sink/ tap was, and I wouldn't have been able to remove the soap dispenser. I'm not interested in the soap dispenser, so if anyone is interested in having a Kraus Soap Dispenser (https://www.amazon.com/Kraus-KSD-30CH-Soap-Dispenser-Chrome/dp/B00364J20Q/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1470713057&sr=1-7&keywords=Kraus+Soap+Dispenser )please PM me and I'll be happy to let it go at $10SGD. It came as part of the set with the Kraus sink and tap. I've included a pic of it below, taken next to a Samsung S6 Edge as comparison. The top is heavy steel and you can either fix it directly onto your countertop (drill a hole) or if you have a tap that comes with a plate, it can be fixed in that too. I also had the chance to use a hammer to break open parts of the walls under the windows that the contractor claimed his plasterer (??) had patched up, but when I tapped the walls with my fingers, the plaster sounds hollow. If I leave it, it will eventually pop up more due to humidity, crack and then crumble. So familiar with this since I like peeling plaster off walls in my grandpa's shophouse as a kid. I'm not aiming for a smooth plastered look as I didn't ask for complete plastering work. But if there are big holes or deep nicks, I expect those to be filled. Anyway here are some photos of the progress made since 1st Aug 2016: Electrician who does remind me of Ren (actually closer to Stimpy, in terms of thinking) doing up the holders for the track-lighting. I'm being mean but really this is mild in comparison to the urge to kick out the stand from under him. GRRRR! He and his wife have finally finished patching up most of the gaps between trunkings and the ceiling. The switches are not what they showed me (think big and clicky-noisy) but I will have those changed sometime in the future if they really irk me. They fixed in the ceiling lights. Anything that is a ceiling light is either a square light or a small/big round light except for the foyer. I'm simple like that. Maybe I will take those lights down after I move in and spray paint the frames in black. I heard that Alexander Village is selling them in black frames..but I'd already made my purchase from Chan Huat. Boo-ya! The staple lights: Foyer light that Darkling Half wanted (it's really the oddest light out of all- doesn't match in colour nor design... but ssssshhhhhhhh...): The way the toilet looks now with the light installed. I chose a Warm White led ceiling light, smaller than the kitchen ones, with one for WC side and one for the shower side. I'm really please with how it turned out! BTW look at the mess on the floor. Same goes for the living room. I was really peeved about how the contractor allowed his workers to DRIP plaster everywhere! He said it would all come off when he does his final cleaning/ acid-wash, but it's just annoying how messy and dirty people can be. Got cardboard they don't want to use. ALSO THEY PEED IN MY TOILET BOWL AND SOMEONE TOOK OUT THE TOILET SEAT TO USE!! I quickly washed the seat and then wrapped it up in a box with tons of tape. Wah lao eh! Not say you cannot use my toilet bowl, but I don't need the DNA of your ka-chng on my new toilet seat la!! Luckily Darkling Half was not there to witness it. I think I'm like a kitten next to her when she explodes. The chickenwire glass that was cut for the ventilator fan cracked. This is not acceptable even though the contractor tried to say that chickenwire glass will not break due to the wires embedded. Luckily my dad was there to insist on him changing it as I'm at the point I'm just..whatever!! I just want to finish reno and move in. Over it! I'm not saying that my contractor is a terrible contractor as he does get things changed and rectified promptly at my request... it's just tiring to keep finding fault and I feel like a total fussy b***h when I have to ask for this to change, that to be patched, how come this..how come that....it goes against my base chin-chye character. Some wall colour pictures. They did a first coat for the feature colour walls in both the living room and bedroom. Both rooms mirror each other in that I only have 2 walls painted in Nippon's Enchanted State, and the rest are done in Snow White (an off-white creamish shade). It's hard to capture the colour as it comes off as grey here, but it's a warmish, very very light taupe-ish type of neutral shade. I really like it. It might look a little purplish as they painted over the pre-existing purple walls. Living Room Bed Room with a cavity for the wardrobe to be built into. I forgot to take pictures of the subway tile corner grouting for the beams. It turned out okay, no sharp edges and it's not noticeable as it is white grout. Grout being grout cracks, so I may have to patch it over the years...but everything is transient in life, including grout... Edit: Sharing the small pullout larder/ spice holding basket that I bought from Excelhardware. You can definitely get cheaper stuff from Taobao or Qoo10 but if you're lazy like me or you need something in a hurry you can order this from their site and the deliver was really fast (the day after I placed order). It's not a good picture of the entire thing but I will take a complete one after it is installed into the kitchen cabinet. I bought the larger one at 400mm width.