jez2014

Hello everyone, With effect from 18 Jan 2018, it seems like Renotalk doesn't allow a user to use the PM function unless they provide a valid phone number. My husband and I have discussed this, and we are unwilling to provide a real phone number (because of the risk of personal identity theft). We will be taking a break from Renotalk until this is resolved, and we hope that all of you will have a smooth renovation journey! Also, those of you who enjoyed reading, thanks! May you all find companies that suit your design tastes, timelines and wallets!

Hi @stargazer7, I have replied to you by PM. I'm sorry but we cannot email you because then you would get MY email address, which I do not wish to disclose. I also suggest you remove YOUR email address from your post because people can then start to send you spam, or in extreme cases, try to hack into your inbox. Be wary of what you post online! @Blade07, OK! Hope you get the washing machine of your dreams! Sounds SOOOOO super aunty coming from me... how conversations have changed at our age haha! I used to talk about shoes and accessories with my friends. Now all I talk about are household appliances and baby products. And sometimes (gasp!), conversations even devolve into "which supermarket stocks the freshest fish and chye sim"... :/

Hello @blade07, Uhm... I'm not sure how you would assess qualitatively how a washing machine is holding up, but... the Beko is still working? It still spins, and the clothes feel clean. I'd say that between the two kids, two adults and 1 helper, we have been use the washing machine daily for the past 2-3 years (it''s just a matter of whose load). The Beko has never broken down, nor given any problems (yet - gotta knock on wood!). Together with the drier from Citigas our laundry is pretty much taken care of. Would I still buy it? There's actually two ways to read your question. "Would I still buy a Beko?" and "Would I still buy the exact same model and make?" For the former... I would certainly still buy it if it were still priced competitively. I DO remember a random coversation with some friend/colleague/salesperson (I forgot who) where it was mentioned that when Beko first came into Singapore a few years ago, the price was depressed in order to help the brand gain traction. I have not recently looked at washing machine prices, since the Beko has given me no reason to do so. But my guess is that Beko would have become more expensive? If the prices have gone up, I'd have to do comparisons. Kiasu Singaporean, mah. For the latter reading of your question... I MIGHT still buy the same model and make, but I would also consider one with a larger capaciity (if such a model exists). Washing machine capacity is like the balconies/service yard of a prospective home. You don't want something that's too big (paying for square feet you can't use), nor too small (can't do nuts if its too small). Right now, the washing machine we use has a very functional capacity, but there are occasions where I wish it had more capacity. For instance, when returning from a holiday (4 loads = 4 hours), or weekends where both days were spent outdoors (so many filthy clothes!). Last words: Since getting a helper, I've realized that one more criteria to consider for appliances is user-friendliness. I mean, the helper is the one dealing with the machine(s) most of the time - and I have to get something that she can operate without destroying. My hired help is not the sharpest tool in the shed. She's already destroyed a microwave, countless plates and cups, two umbrellas, part of a vacuum, two mops... well... the list goes on.

Renovations and Males I've been here long enough, and read enough to know that renovations are like males. Got some will be longer , some will be shorter. Some harder, some not so hard. And one person's taste in interior design may be absolutely poison to another. Just like no man can please all women mah. Unless you are me lah. My whole office is all women, I please ALL of them leh. Everyday also have to please them... ... ... "Please may I borrow your xxx, because I forgot yyy?" KNN lao le **** forgetful sia. Why we should talk about the Budget Anyway seriously, so on Renotalk you can find ALOT of posts (My post office also maybe don't have so much posts)... and EVEN MORE sh__tposts. (My toilet also maybe don't have so much sh__t). But nobody talks about budgeting. I mean, Renotalk is probably read by young couples getting their houses for the first time. And all of us young couples are probably on tight budgets right?? I mean, the wife and I definitely were, 3 years ago! But just like the government budget... nobody seems to care man! Well, I suppose, of course there are rich AF people buying resale, paying $1million for 70-80 year lease (cough... Pinnacle cough...) but aiya, those people obviously different league lah. Those people are royalty, they swim in money daily leh... I am a peasant, I swim in misery everyday. But why Singaporeans so money minded, WHOOOOOOLE DAY can talk about money... but here nobody talk leh? I suppose its because ultimately, money is a very sensitive topic in online sphere. If I say I earn $XXX, got people will envy me, say I show off, will also have people laugh at me, say I eat soft rice, earn no enough. Online anonymous lah, easy flame. Can never make everyone song la. Why share today? Since our own renovation experience in 2015, I (the hubbs) have been wanting to post about budgeting, but le wife always strongly discourage me. She say surely tio flamed. But today... I decided to go ahead and post ANYWAY (wifey you can diam diam)... because my younger brother is going to get his resale soon... so I just spent the afternoon with him, over a cup of coffee, giving him financial advice. It stirred something so deep within me, so urgent... I had to do something... GO TOILET LAH. Coffee always gives me diarrhea man. So, since I took so many craps for the day liao, what is one more crap eh? Financial Advice - Planning for your Renovation So if you're a young couple, or not so young in age, but young at heart... and looking for some financial advice when it comes to renovations, here's my PENny's worth. P: Prioritize E: Emergency N: Negotiate... I very clever hor... I purposely choose the abbreviation PEN because it sounds like my favourite part of the body. (PEN sound like the hand lor... DUH) Prioritize When I just got the keys to my BTO, I remember worrying most about the renovation costs. All my friends had told me it would be a bomb. Most of my classmates are lawyers, doctors, working for Shell lah, oil firm, traders etc etc. So they were dropping numbers like $60k, $80k... I think one even hit the six digit mark ($100k). These were eye popping sums for the wife and I. Scared the poop out of us. Speaking of which, now is Halloween... ghosts I not scared, but $100k still looks real frightening to me. Fast forward 3.5 years later... I realize that renovation costs are only part of the equation. Unless you're lucky and you have some fairy godmother, or some second hand goods lying around, you will also need a truckful of furniture, appliances, house insurance, house installments, even electricity bills, toiletries and groceries... everything adds up! Once you start living APART from your parents even CHYE PNG becomes expensive sia. Last time my mummy always cook for me... mummy I miss your free meals T____T In our case we realized that we had to put aside about $30k for the furniture and appliances, AND expect to spend an additional $1k per month due to having to feed and clothe ourselves. Ha nah, last time at my mother's house we were leeches that ran about naked and got free food, happy? So what do I mean by "Prioritize"? Firstly, there are daily things you CANNOT avoid. Total these up first. Transport costs, utilities, food, installments/insurance, all these HAVE to be settled. When you dilligently do these sums, you may realize (like we did!) that your "monthly savings" are going to become much less than what you are currently save. Bearing this in mind... you can now... Secondly, take look at the renovation, furniture and appliances you will need. There is no point in speculating "washing machine ah... should be about $500... Sofa ah... maybe $800 lah".... just open newspapers or go online to google the ACTUAL price at major department stores lah! That way, you get the accurate idea of how much all these appliances are going to cost. You HAVE to buy them soon anyway right? So no harm, you can also do some window shopping, go to those IT fairs to start to eye the models you want! At these IT fairs, usually the husband and wife both eyeball the models, but different type of "models" ... MEN THINK WITH THE CORRECT BRAIN PLS!!!). In our case, le wife actually created an EXCEL FILE to write everything down. And this allowed us to be dead sure that everything was going to be about $30k for the appliances/furniture we wanted. Thirdly, cut away things you do NOT need. There are two simple criteria you should ask yourself: Do I need it? Can I buy it LATER? For instance, when we first moved in, we decided that we DID NOT NEED the following: 1. False ceiling, 2. Hacking away walls And we decided that the following were NOT urgent 3. Sound system for the TV 4. Cable TV box or equivalent (you know those illegal ones, cannot mention lah) Now its three years later, and I can safely say, we have NEVER needed the false ceiling and extra lights in the living room (too bright means opposite block peeping tom can see me leh) I have NEVER wanted to hack any wall... (I mean, sometimes I kick a wall by mistake, and I curse it lah, but who looks at a wall and thinks... "I should have hacked you away dammit") The above two alone are probably $10,000 or more saved. That's TWO nice, big end of year vacations! We eventually DID feel bored at home, so we got the cable box but we are SO glad we didn't get the sound system nor cable TV. As a parent of two kids, the elder son is super sensitive to noise when he sleeps, so TOTALLY cannot watch TV with volume. I consider that a couple of hundreds to maybe a thousand saved! Emergency When the wife and I finally settled our renovation budget, we kept in mind the need to have an emergency fund. So we always kept $20k untouched. Experts in newspapers will always say simi 6 months or what lah... but personally, I say keep at least $20k bah. That's because $20k is like, the typical hospital bill for mega problems. In our case, my wife discovered a lump growing and had to go for biopsy. Immediately $20k was flushed down the toilet. Thankfully it was benign, and insurance paid out... but we still needed to cough out $20k first or else maybe hospital don't want to entertain us wor. So always keep a sizeable sum for emergencies! $20k to some of you might sound like peanuts... but to us then it was alot! And if $20k is also alot to you, we totally understand you Group Hug! It was because of the $20k rule that made us cut OUT some optional stuff for the house (like the false ceiling and hacking the study wall loh). I am really glad we didn't do it!! Negotiate Well, I'm sure everyone knows that you HAVE to negotiate with ID firms and contractors. Basically, the first quotation they give you is always marked up. Maybe its to test your "sincerity", I also don't know why. But there is always room for discussion. Keep pressing for a lower price, don't be paiseh! If the firm really cannot match your price, then they will say cannot lor. Nothing to lose here. Companies will usually recommend you take things away to save costs... this is actually a good opportunity to see what things are "chop carrot" one (slang for: cheat your money). For instance, most firms we approached would tell us NOT to do false ceiling to save costs. This led us to (in my opinion) correctly conclude that false ceiling is a definite luxury, not as important as some IDs make it out to be... so that made the decision to cut it out much easier! But more importantly.... a lesser known secret is... AFTER you have chosen a comapany, you will sign a contract, this is called the initial VO. AFTER this point you MUST let your chosen ID or contractor know your ABSOLUTE final price. For instance, if the contract you sign is $30,000, you must keep reminding them that you CANNOT exceed this figure. Otherwise sometimes there is the issue of "oops, this cropped up, we have to add this this this amount..." If you keep reminding them that your budget is very tight, they will be more respectful of it. Problems will always crop up during renovations. But if any problem crops up, since your chosen ID/contractor knows your budget is tight... they will be sure to CALL you to ask you about how to proceed or not. Better to have them call you than to anyhow proceed then subsequently bill you! In our case, there were a few problems that cost us a little bit more than expected, but because we kept reminding our contractor about our budget, they were very willing to absorb some of the costs lor. Last thoughts I'm sorry if this was a useless wall of text to some people. I mean, most of the people using this forum are probably well educated and wealthy. But three years ago, I was really a penniless pauper, struggling to see significant savings in my bank account. Three years later, I am still poor - my children eat alot man. LOL, genetics proven. If you ever come into more money (say, you strike TOTO), you can always renovate again, or buy more furniture. But once you buy liao, you can't undo it. The money is gone forever man. So think about it, the next time you're considering whether to get this or that for the new BTO, or if your ID/contractor suggests "this and that". Do I need it? Do I need it NOW? Cheers!

Ah well, I see! Good luck with the review! May I suggest though, that you don't burn bridges. You are still covered by warranty for some time mah.

Yeah, I have to agree with Clarence. Maybe some sort of communication breakdown occured, or just plain unlucky bah. I think that there's no such thing as an incident free renovation, but as long as: 1. the client is not too fussy/OCD 2. the contractor has rectified the mistakes Then everyone should be able to move on bah. TS, maybe you have not seen the REAL horror stories on Renotalk? There are people left with homes that are half renovated when the contractor or IDs abscond with the money leh! We used JE in 2014-2015 and were highly satisfied. My brother is also getting his own resale flat sometime 2018, and we would still recommend JE to him.

Three and a half years later... (From the husband's point of view) We recently welcomed a second child into our family. This predictably led the wife and I to compare our lives today, to a time when children hadn't come into the equation. Browsing through old photographs, we laughed at: 1. The years we dated Her: "Weiiii... You see, you see... Got photo evidence! Last time, you used to wear nice shirt and jeans whenever going out with me, why now always dry fit tee and shorts?" Me: "Now hot mah, wear shirt will sweat alot leh." Her: "Last time also hot what!" Me: "Global warming leh." Her: "..." 2. Our wedding album Me: "Look at our wedding photographs! We used to be so thin! I had a jawline! You had a waist!" Her: "I gave birth, what's your excuse?" Me: "..." 3.Our honeymoon, Her: "Dear, remember hor, you promised me for our ten year anniversary we would go back to Alaska!" Me: "Our kids who take care leh..." Us: "..." Parenthood and weight gain jokes aside, we also came across our trove of renovation photographs. And this made me decide to play necromancer - resurrecting this very dead thread. ======================================================================================================================================= Taobao Review Taobao is really a case of hit and miss. Some of the best AND worst buys came from Taobao. The sofa that we talked about in this post ended up being a tad too hard for us, and we threw it away after 2 years of use. That basically worked out to $200 spent over two years. To be fair, it was still in great condition, and we would have donated it, if not for the fact that we don't drive and no charity was willing to come to our house to take it off our hands. The recliner that got in the same shipment (same post) is still in use till today. I would highly recommend the recliner if its still available at the same price. The stainless steel bathroom fittings have discolored slightly, but they are very usable, and nothing that a dab of Autosol will not fix. I'd strongly advise getting stainless steel fittings from Taobao too, if you're not too anal about aesthetics. Here's how the discoloration looks: The dining table and chairs are fantastic! They have held up wonderfully! I recently went to IKEA (to eat) and baulked at the price of the dining furniture (SGD800). I would definitely buy dining tables from Taobao, given how cheap they were for us. Something like SGD200 for the table and four chairs. ======================================================================================================================================= Carpentry Review The house is still in great shape. I tidied up quite a fair bit to take the following shot, but you can see that the laminates, and the cubby hole still look quite clean. We got a domestic helper early this year (2017), and converted the study into the maid's room. I still use it for work though, and the swivel table still works fine. It's got multiple inky streaks over it (only visible on close up), but that can't be helped. Look how our kids' room has grown with them. That collection of plush toys! You could swim in them haha. Overall, its a really safe environment, and the wife and I are proud of what we did for this room (basically: we didn't do too much, and let it grow with them!). We love how there are no sharp edges anywhere. The plastic shelves that you see are from Taobao, and I would recommend getting similar shelving for those who're concerned about child safety. All nice, round edges. My wife is really thankful we got the foldable table in our masterbedroom, it has helped her immensely the past few months, when she has had to express baby's milk. Post-Renovation Follow up The post-renovation service has been GREAT! For all carpentry, JE (our contractor) provided us a one year warranty, but they continued to help us fix things in the house at absolutely NO COST. Offhand, I remember them coming thrice to fix: 1. The aluminium window grilles - the latching mechanism/keyhole got stuck and had to be replaced 2. My 3 year old son grabbed a cupboard door and fell onto it, resulting in what contractor J (the boss) called "overswing" damage to the hinge. (this was in 2016) This is how the hinge looks now in 2017, post-repair. You can see that the inner edge is slightly cracked, but that can't be helped. I'm not going to get a new cupboard door just because of a couple of chips/cracks. 3. In our master bedroom, a glass mirror in a full length wardrobe fell off after a peg came loose. (this was in 2017) This is how it looks llike now, also post-repair, 2017. 4. We also had to get JE to repaint our masterbedroom ceiling with anti-mould paint, after we discovered patches of mold and insects living in the mold! YUCKS! This cost us $200, but it was well worth it for our baby's health. For both 2 and 3, contractor J (who is a carpenter by trade) came down personally to fix the carpentry up. He has a really good memory, and could chat with me about things that we had spoken about a long long time ago (such as my colonscopy - literally we talked crap ha ha). There are MANY other things in the house that aren't as clean, or as brand new as they used to be, but we like how its turned out. It feels lived-in, and it feels like we can live here for a long time! (It really helps that there is a branded primary school nearby, which I'm an alumni of... so kids, you're definitely going to XXXX school, and we're going to live here for another 10 years ha ha) Important Disclaimer I am a perfectionist, so I touched up all the posts) even re-linking the broken images from Photobucket. As I read through all the posts we put up, I realized that I need to clarify: 1. Many of the prices would have changed since 2013-2014. For Taobao, many of the links may have expired and the RMB has appreciated against the SGD. I'm not certain that items from Taobao still necessarily qualify as good purchases. 2. I haven't kept up with Renotalk, but I'm sure that the industry must have also adjusted their prices to keep up with inflationary pressures. I'm not even sure if one can still get a house fully renovated for 25K SGD. What I'm sure of though, is that: 1. Taobao is STILL my go to website for many items. We still regularly buy small items, especially books and toys for the children! 2. Contractors are like business partners - when you find a good contractor, you have to maintain a good relationship with them! To achieve the best outcome for everyone, don't quibble too much over the small details. Some people expect a perfect, zero-mistake renovation. I don't think that's possible. As long as the big mistakes are rectified to your satisfaction, its enough for me. How about the small mistakes? Well, I see it like business - there is always some give and take. After all, your house will be lived in, and things will (eventually) become worn or chipped, or dented. By being reasonable with your contractor/ID, you ensure they will continue to help you in future (if the need arises)! I suppose that's why JE has continued to help us repair things for free, even though the warranty has expired for more than two years! Lastly, we have two kids now, so don't expect us to regularly update this. If you have specific questions about how my home is like after 3.5 years of living in it, feel free to post on this t-blog and I'll see what I can do, no promises!

Hi everyone, Haven't been able to check Renotalk forums as often the past week as I'm clearing massive amounts of work before our family vacation. I May go down under (punny) Update: Our contractors have become quite popular, and it seems like they are charging more as a result. One of my best friends tried to sign them up recently, but it was out of his budget. I would still recommend J&E for reliability and quality of work (everything at home is still holding up well), but I'd add a note of caution to compare prices with many other companies first - just in case you can get a better deal. Random joke of the day Q: One brown bird and one black bird in a tree in Bedok. They started some hanky panky. Who got arrested? A: The brown bird. It was trying to have sex with a mynah. We've tried to reply everyone who has posted... Hope we didn't miss anyone out!

Hello Relacker - that's really good advice! Thanks!! We actually never considered the fact that the goods would probably have been stored in warehouses for a long time. Don't have time to wash during the weekdays - but we're making it a priority to do so this weekend! We have been rolling around in dirt for the last 3 months - wonder what the little one has eaten OMG haha! The rest: Sorry for the late replies, work has been piling up recently :/ Haven't had a chance to properly sit down and use the PC for awhile now. Hope we have responded to everyone, do let us know if we have left you out Random amusing thought of the day: Work has been so busy... and today I finally got the chance to take leave but it left me unsatisfied!! I took many many leaves in fact. Still unsatisfied. Stupid salad.

Hello JohnB, Oh no! We've been reading your t-blog for awhile now, very sorry to hear what's happened. You should definitely withhold payment until they rectify everything. From what you've said I gather Keith is still working with you to sort things out - so it's not all a lost cause. Make sure they fix it up! You may also wish to start taking photographs of unsatisfactory work (I would do so if in your shoes) - because if the proverbial dung hits the fence, yoy may need to consider going to CASE and photo evidence would be crucial?

Hi everyone, I've hope I've managed to reply everyone - things have been a little bit busier this week, if I've missed you out, do let me know. zen_zen, Your inbox is full. I can't PM you, really sorry about that. kelvan, You wanted to ask something? I've PM-ed you for quite awhile, but you haven't seen the message (yet).

Hi everyone, We are having some difficulties due to the personal message system - the limit is 20 messages. Most people ask us for our contractor's contacts, and continue to ask random questions (which we are very happy to answer!), but the message limit means we cannot maintain all the ongoing conversations. We will be deleting some (not-so-ongoing) conversations shortly. If we happen to delete yours, and you are unable to reach us via PM anymore, please feel free to post on this t-blog, and we will PM you again (by deleting other conversations haha). You may have to remind us what's been said so far though, too many chats to remember everything. @_@ Have a great week ahead!

Hi suikoden, Sorry for the late reply, I saw you ask about our router before CNY, then CNY came and things got busy and forgot all about it haha. Our router is the ASUS RT-AC8U. If you apply for MyRepublic online, they will offer you three routers. This is the most expensive one. I think I picked the 200MBPS plan because they allow you to try for two months free. The service is excellent. The person was on time and efficient. So far no problems with the signal at home. I'm not sure if you should use ViewQwest, yesterday CNA issued a report on ViewQwest vulnerabilities. You can read the report here. (Edit: I am really bad with technological stuffs, so I don't understand the article fully. But you should read it yourself to see if you get it.)

Hi Jade Lotus, Your contractor is right to say that glossy laminates are easier to maintain - as they can easily be wiped down. This is especially true for the kitchen, if you cook often. The husband and I do not cook much, so we feel that matte laminates are fine. We are also prepared to live with it, if our son grows up and doodles all over the laminates. Haha. Your own lifestyle/preferences will affect what laminate you choose, so don't let me influence your decision! Good luck making the best decision for your family! Happy CNY to you

Hi Jade Lotus, They are matte white. I don't like the look of glossy laminates (somehow they look cheap to me). Is there any reason you're asking, so I can maybe help you out better? Hi khseah79, Sure! Feel free to copy any ideas you see in our home. We got most of them off the internet or at showfairs anyway

Hi MrK, We've been using the beko washer for about three weeks now; and we wash pretty often, say thrice a week or more? It's easy to use and it works fine. The clothes are clean and there's a mini-wash function that is timed for half an hour (convenient if you only have a short time to wash some not-so-dirty laundry). The husband remembers that there was some outlet/pipe that had to be changed - apparently the delivery man told him that the HDB water outlet valve is not compatible with ALOT of newer washing machine models. It's not a problem unique to Beko though, and it cost us less than $10 for the new valve (the delivery man himself supplied it, and helped us to install it). I'm not sure what else there is to say about a washing machine. Is there anything in particular you want to find out?

Hi desmoteoh, If I recall correctly, it costs $900 for the whole house. I don't know if its considered cheap for a 4-room as, as we didn't go and compare window grille prices. Instead, we let our contractor use his own grille installation company - so we don't have the contacts... sorry I'll help you ask the next time I meet him, but it might really take awhile as we don't expect to see him until after CNY. Hope you can wait! Happy CNY everyone! (mini story): My non-chinese (ang moh) colleague ask me to teach him one important greeting/phrase for CNY. I thought about it awhile, and I said "huat arh!". He said "what"? Then I said, "yes, huat". Another "What"?... You can see how this went on for awhile. When he finally got it, we had a laugh, then he asked me to teach him another. I thought about it, and said in Cantonese, "fatt"... guess what he heard LOL Ok people! Year of the Goat doesn't mean have to eat grass. Cheers!

Hi xiaohuiis! No wonder you were asking a while ago, whether anyone managed to contact them! I suspect J might not be literate, so SMS won't work haha. Probably should have called J directly. E however, will definitely respond quickly - even if its to tell you that he's busy. We have no intention of using our house as a showflat because... I think I've written about this before, but when viewing houses - DON'T ask to see showflats. Ask to see EXISTING projects. Showflats will be done up nicely, so all the carpentry will be neat etc. Existing projects (currently under renovation type) will give you a more realistic idea of how their work is like. Don't let the ID/contractor lull you into a false sense of security with showflats! If you want to see existing projects, right now is not the most ideal time - many people aim to move in by CNY, so there's probably very few existing projects now, that are still ongoing (this should be true for any contractor/ID). But you can try your luck lah. Or if you can wait, it will be even better! Good luck with choosing your contractor/ID! Happy CNY in advance!

Hi suikoden! If you say the signal mostly drops at night, I can think of two possible reasons? Either - interference from too many devices in the house, or a bandwidth problem - too many people (both in your house and around your area) trying to use your internet service provider. What internet service provider are you with? I used to be with Starhub (at my parents' place) until last year, and I would experience a drop in bandwidth and latency at night which was VERY noticeable when the hubbs played online games or when I streamed videos. I made the switch to MyRepublic for my new house, and I've always been at full reception. With the homeplug system there is no dropped signal anywhere in the house. I'm not sure if its: a. because of the homeplug system b. because we paid more to get the most expensive router (about $200 more), with the largest signal range. (MyRepublic offers three router choices, we took the mostest maximumest one) c. because not that many people use MyRepublic There is only one SMALL issue though, my "main/big" homeplug is in the living room (nearest to house entrance), and my "small" homeplug is in the MBR (furthest from house entrance). There is a slight overlap of signals - and may require manually selecting the correct/closer SSID. E.g. If I start using WiFi in the living room, and then I walk towards the MBR, at the bedroom 2 (next to MBR), I will need to manually select the "small" homeplug SSID. Otherwise, my iPhone continues to try to connect to the "big" plug, and there is a large signal drop. I try to illustrate with a simple diagram: Entrance to House Living Room (Main homeplug and router are here) | Study (Still maximum signal from router, almost no signal from small plug) - need to select SSID of router | Bedroom 1 (Almost no signal from router, but maximum signal from small plug) - need to manually select SSID of small plug | MBR (Small homeplug is here, no signal from router) Lastly, you asked about our homeplug right? I threw away the box already, so I can't see the model, but when I went to buy at Challenger, I think there was only brand, with different prices and speeds. I also just took the most expensive one. Internet is my life haha. The front of the plug says "Aztec brand, Homeplug AV, 500Mbps". Don't know if it will help. Haha. Ya man! Eubiq is awesome! I would recommend it reaaaallly strongly on my own t-blog, but the problem is the expense, so I rather let people find it and decide on it themselves. Haha. Ok, I don't want to hijack your t-blog. Happy CNY and good luck with meeting the contractors/IDs! It can be quite tiring towards the end, but every meeting you go for could teach you something - and it might mean thousands of dollars saved!

Hi sellcsk, Yes, from what I understand, its a glass door with a stick-on aluminum frame. I saw only part of the installation process, so I'm not certain how it actually works, but when I came in the morning the door was just a ordinary glass door (I even thought that the contractor got it wrong ha ha). By night time however, the aluminum frame had been pasted on. The design is also flexible - to match our feature wall, we chose 5 x 1 (5 rows by 1 column), but we were told that practically any combination is possible. Unfortunately, I don't have the contacts of the people who installed the door. My contractor got them for me. BUT from what I understand, this is quite a "standard" door, at a "standard" price. If I recall correctly, I was quoted somewhere in the region of $800 to $900 (before discounts). Because its so run-of-the-mill, you may wish to check with your own contractor or ID - they will probably know where to get it from! Otherwise, I will try to ask my contractor for you - but I won't be meeting him for about a week. Hope you can wait!

Hi suikoden! Excited for you and your hubbs! For budget wise, since you have time, I think just go and get as many quotations as possible - and make sure they are itemized. Then you can compare items for each contractor and/or ID. Make sure the quotations mention the dimensions (feet), so that you can compare the per foot cost (for a more fair comparison). If not, ask them to redo the quotation for you. Your question number 6, I can answer! Hehe! For our home, we run a Aztec Homeplug system. Not sure if you have heard of it before. Can buy from Challenger. There are two components to the Homeplug system. I don't know what they are called, but in my own words 1. The big homeplug (main thing, need one of this only) - $79 2. The small homeplugs (can buy as many as you need) - $39 The big homeplug needs to be placed as near your to your wireless router as possible as you will need connect it to your wireless router with a LAN cable. (It will come with the homeplug when you purchase). Your big homeplug must also be inserted into a wall socket. Note that your wireless router will already need one wall socket. So you can use the same socket (with an extension plug) or make sure you get your contractor to build an extra socket side by side. Here's an image of how the set up looks like (top view). The yellow wire is the LAN cable, and it connects the WHITE big homplug to the black wireless router. The black plug in between is the power supply for the wireless router. (Our wireless router is in a sad corner of the living room floor because we wanted to buy a cabinet to put it in, but haven't gone to buy one yet.) Despite our router being on the floor, our signal is always at a maximum, thanks to the small homeplug! (next paragraph) The small homeplug is simple. You just plug it into a electrical socket in the room/s that require better Wifi coverage. Here's an image of how the set up looks like (our house runs the Eubiq system - the metallic strip is just a normal electrical plug). This photo is also taken from the top view (and its upside down, sorry!) The big homeplug will receive signals from your wireless router and transmit these router signal to the small homeplugs VIA THE ELECTRICAL WIRING in the house! Since it runs via electrical wiring in the house, there are no need for messy wires. I find it hard to describe, so you may want to go to Challenger itself to better understand how it works. Its AWESOME. We got one big homeplug and one small homeplug for a "package" price of $99. One small homeplug is enough for us, because it can be unplugged and moved around the house.

Hi everyone, thanks for following our journey. It's now come to an end. Unless we realize we've forgotten anything, we aren't likely to make any further posts about our house. You can find pictures of our completed renovation as follows: Final Pictures of our Home a. Study - Here b. Living Room - Here c. Kitchen - Here d. Bedroom 1 - Here e. Master Bedroom - Here f. Toilets - Here g. Final budget + Our moving company + Sofa pictures! - Here Hope you've found what we've written helpful - both of us work in jobs that require us to patiently help people, on a day to day basis... so your smile and thanks would really make our day! Good luck with your own homes!

Mega Insomnia. The wife talks in her sleep. Tonight is about a rocking chair. This is definitely better than one night (long time ago), when she pointed to the ceiling and said there was a boy staring at her from the ceiling. At that time, we were newly weds and I hadn't yet figured out that she sleep talks. IT WAS FREAKING SCARY CAN! Whole night couldn't sleep! Belated replies We're really sorry this comes so late but... @Andey Kurniawan: You let us know how the grooves cut into the carpentry are done! Thanks for letting us know about the routing bit (hope I spelt it right!). I never knew how it was done, but we liked the thought that went into the process of fabrication! If its easily done, hopefully other Renotalkers can tell their contractors to do the same for their carpentry work P.S. Your name suggests that you're Indonesian! Let me practice my Bahasa Indo - Saya pernah belajar Bahasa Indonesia untuk salah satu kursus di dalam Universitas. Tapi, sudah lama, jadi ada banyak kata yang saya sudah lupa. -Phew- It's been a long time since I took that university elective module. @unfinished: Hi, you requested for close up photographs of the finish and carpentry? Yup, we will post those up along with the completed home photos next weekend. I must say however, that photographs can be doctored. So even if I post very good quality work, you can't take it at face value. Furthermore, you and I might have different opinions about what constitutes "good" workmanship Nothing beats going down to visit the contractor's EXISTING renovations and seeing the work for yourself. Note that I say "existing" and not "showflat". No point going to see their showflats - of course done up nicely, what. Current projects will give a better idea of their handiwork. @Doris Chin: You asked about our Taobao sofa? Yes! The sofa is unwrapped. I would highly recommend it to others (at the price). My wife thinks its a little bit "hard" to sit on, but I cannot complain for the price we got it at. I will take pictures and put them up together with the completed house (you guessed it, also next weekend). @feb029@hotmail.com You asked about the technogas induction hood? We haven't used it, and we had an unfortunate accident (see previous post here). It's been replaced, but we are waiting to move in properly before using it! Next weekend I'll let you know as we're throwing a small housewarming!

If Only I could Turn Back Time "If only I could turn back time..." There's a very soulful song by Aqua (wah eons ago!) with those words. I remember this song well, because it was the song that was playing on the radio the day my wife was due to give birth. Sian. Regret that successful sperm. (She was having contractions, I am having confessions). LOL. Things that could have gone better - Lessons we learnt when dealing with Contractors Anyway, after working with JE for the better part of 3 months, here are our top FIVE biggest regrets. Like any good radio top hits countdown, we have songs for each! 5. Punctuality "I will be right here waiting for you..." and "Twenty five minutes too late..." A painful and strange mash up of Richard Marx and MLTR plays softly in my head whenever I have to meet JE. Actually, Contractor J is generally punctual. Contractor E on the other hand, (who is the 2nd IC) is quite terrible at keeping time. When E says he is arriving in half an hour, I usually go and have lunch, then put my baby to sleep, then take a bus to my new place - just on time to meet him. Ok perhaps its abit of an exaggeration, but contractor E is definitely not punctual. We were quite miffed when, on one particular appointment with City Gas, E was so late that the City Gas people packed up and left without him ever arriving. We had no clue how to lay the piping, and we couldnt advise the City Gas people without E being around. Of course, contractor E apologized profusely, and after THAT experience, he was generally never that late again. Why is contractor E always late? Your gas is as good as mine. Haha. 4. Updated Variation Orders A.B.B.A. sings for you "Money, money, money..." I miss Mambo T_T We made a number of changes midway through the renovation. Although we pressed Contractor E (him again!) for the updated Variation Orders, they never came. So when the final Variation Order came, we realized it was quite significantly over budget. The good news is, when we explained to them that we had constantly chased them for the updated Variation Orders AND we stood very firmly by our budget, E was understanding, and quickly came down on the price. A compromise was quickly and painlessly reached. Also, to be fair to Contractor E, they are VERY busy. Our secondary school classmates are trying to sign them up for their renovation, and they were told to be prepared to wait until April for works to start. Luckily they are in no rush to move in. Punggol mah. Who wants to move in quickly to Punggol? -cricket chirping in background- IMPORTANT advice: Whatever ID or contracting firm you choose, please insist on updated Variation Orders at every step of the way! The final Variation Order we received, although shocking, was not something we could not afford. I'm certain however, that there are many people who are cash-strapped (Not poor, mind you! Maybe stuck in stocks, or they own a car or something) If a few extra hundreds will matter to you, make it clearly known! Chiong sua time (hokkien: literally charge hill, meaning in the army) anything happen better check with RO, CO etc Phua Chu time (hokkien: moving house) anything happen better check the VO. 3. TV point (Master Bedroom) "You change your mind, like a girl changes clothes..." Katy Perry. In case people think we not hip enough. Like any typical Singaporean auntie, we changed our minds at the last minute. If you don't believe me, check out any sale lor. Some auntie in the queue will surely either: a. Run out of the queue to grab something else "eh xiao di (mandarin: little brother) ah, help me chope awhile". OR b. Throw something out from her cart. "This one not cheap enough, dont want lah". If you need further proof that Singaporean aunties change minds at the last minute, just drive along the PIE. There will be some siao lang (hokkien: mad person) who will cut across all three lanes just to get to an exit, then decide against it and filter out again. Usually woman driver. HO HO. I open can of worms here. But my wife say I drive like gu niang (mandarin: effeminate lady), so don't worry sistas, I got your backs here. So what did we change our minds about? Well, at the very last minute, we decided to build a custom table for the master bedroom - above the existing TV point. The wife's first thought was aiyah, we don't watch much TV anyway. After the table was fabricated and mounted however, the hamsum hubbs (yes, yours truly) decided he needs TV in bed. Can watch A-pian (mandarin: literally A-movie, meaning kinky shows.) HOHO. The walls had been painted and the electrical wiring had all been done. The TV point was below our table. No choice. Cannot rewire. What to do? Drill into the table and box up the wires lor. Were not particularly fussy about how our bedroom looks eventually it will be a mess anyway, but this is something we would advise other Renotalkers to carefully consider. Where do you want your TV?? While the living room TV point usually makes -some- sense, the bedroom one is usually too low - so if you wall mount a TV in your MBR, the wire will be dangling from wall to TV point. UGLY! HDB, why you so bodoh! 2. Taobao Adam Freeland comes to mind here. "We want your soul..." Online purchasing has become buy buy buy! Madness! They want my soul! And like bargains with the devil Sometimes you get lucky, other times you get burnt. Enough has been said in this post here. Some hits, some misses. We had a sinking feeling (haha). One last piece of Taobao advice to dish out is very related to the number one regret in our countdown (in blue font, below) 1. Timeline "Dont lose your way, with each passing day..." Hands up if you know Diana Ross. Okay. I see you. And you. All you old, wrinkly hands. We didn't get a timeline from Contractor E when work commenced. Again, to be fair, J and E are VERY busy, and we are the chin chye (dialect: flexible, reed in the wind) type of couple. So although Contractor E apologized at least thrice on three different occasions for not drawing up a timeline for us, we felt no need for one, as we were already halfway done with the renovation by then. Towards the end however, excitement builds up. Which reminds me of my colonoscopy two days ago, where excrement built up. Maybe it was the excitement (or the excrement) but the past two weeks we have felt very anal about the handover. We couldn't wait for the finished product. There were significant delays at the end - one of which was totally unforeseen. A worker cracked the tempered glass of our induction hob by mistake. The company immediately offered to replace one for us, no questions asked. But it took time for the glass to come. No glass, cannot cook. No food, cannot stay. LOL. Also find it funny that glass coincidentally ends with a$$. My colonscopy. HOHO. BUTT alas! The Taobao regret and this Timeline regret combined put us into deep $hit. Our forwarding agent, 65Daigou has a clause whereby defects must be reported within three working days of receipt. I'll give you an example of why this matters: Worked Example 1 Your contractor says the house will be ready by Monday and asks you to deliver the sofa on Monday. You diligently do so. 65Daigou delivers as planned on Monday. But wait! The Contractor experiences a delay. So your sofa sits in a box in your living room until Friday, when the Contractor can finally open it. You open it on Friday and find it comes in the wrong color. Kenna sai! (This post full of $hit. The sofa color also look like $hit LOL). You report this to 65Daigou, but basically youre screwed and waiting for goodwill on the forwarding agents part, because it is past the three day deadline to check for defects. Like I've said, we are actually a very easy going couple, so we dont really mind. The color is dark brown instead of light brown. We'll see what can be done. But those of you who are more anal retentive should take note of this: Make sure you contractor sticks to the timeline, especially for you to check for Taobao defects! Summary So you have it! Our top few regrets, in our Renovation process. We've also tried to give a fair appraisal of J and E. Not everything was a bed of roses. Sometimes got dung beetle hiding inside. Our Home (Photos) Our last post wont have much text. We've already reserved many posts - and we will use those to post pictures of our completed home. We will post these next weekend. Lastly, for those who want to know the contacts of J and E, youre free to continue to PM us (though we probably wont check often), but honestly, J and E are well known in the forums. You'll find them if you look Our swan song I walked past a senior citizens karaoke session near my block... Eternal flame: "Close your eyes, give me your hand dah-ling, Do you feel my hard big thing..." True story. @_@

Renotalk. After this, I no talk I now have a real home to clean, and a baby to wean. So I'm going to have to make this quick, and use this post to discuss four things: 1. Reveal our final renovation budget, and some tips 2. Talk about our movers - they are a team of ex-drug addicts and/or ex-convicts who have turned over a new leaf. 3. Tips for moving house 4. That Taobao Sofa 1. Our final renovation budget The final cost of renovations came to an auspicious $28,888. Our initial budget was $25k, and we could have stayed on budget had we: a. NOT installed the glass door for the kitchen (about $800-900) b. NOT installed the folding table for our MBR (about $500) c. NOT built the full height cabinets in baby's room (about $1.5k) Most of the above was added as an afterthought. We compared about 7 quotations from different companies, and I remember contractor JE's prices - for some items, they are actually mid range (means, not cheap), but they seem to be quite cheap for carpentry. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO BARGAIN! Our final renovation costs was $31++k, but we bargained this down to $28,888. Even our initial quotation from JE was about $27k, but we bargained that down to $24,888. Throughout the WHOLE negotiation, we were very clear that our budget was $25k. You need to let them know. PLEASE BUDGET FOR APPLIANCES. Our household appliances, air con, TVs, Eubiq system and random crap (like cleaning towels, mops, decor items, storage boxes etc) easily cost us $15k in total! 2. Our Movers (really moved us!) They're called the Gethsemane Ministry. You can read more about them here. There is a similar moving team called the Helping Hand, you can read about them here. Both are Christian/Church affiliated organizations, and although we are both NOT Christian, we feel that they are worthwhile causes. The moving fee also seems reasonable. Gethsemane Ministry charges $300 per 15 foot truck, and Helping Hands charges $400 per 15 foot truck. Service: Gethsemane Movers Gethsemane Ministry is wonderful to work with! They are so polite its almost funny! All these big burly men with ang kong (dialect: tattoos), then speak like elves and tiptoe gently in your house dancing like pixies... Two to three weeks before moving, we called them to make a "survey/appointment". They will come to your EXISTING place, to see how much furniture and/or stuff you have to move. Based on what we showed them, the estimated one 15 foot truck would be enough. We were given an afternoon slot, 2pm. They provide exactly 30 boxes, and additional boxes (if required) may be purchased at $2 each. The boxes are of a good size, but a little on the short side. Some of our taller items had to be packed in our own boxes (we have alot of boxes from our Taobao adventures). The only minus point of the whole experience was that they were held up by their morning appointment. Apparently the morning home owner had a couple of furniture to dismantle and reassemble, which held them up. Bo pian. Wait lor. They arrived close to 4.30pm. The team was 8 men strong, or 8 strong men, both sentence structures work . Armed with their trolleys, they shrink wrapped our bed and everything was moved from our existing flat (parent's place lah) to our new BTO in about an hour. Much WOW! They were also very careful with our fragile boxes - something I liked. They made sure the fragile boxes were the last to be loaded, and also the last to be unloaded. Not that there's any advantage to being last - but at least they were aware which were fragile! The final cost was indeed $300, no hidden charges. As a token of goodwill, we gave each of the movers a nice red packet... drink. HAHA. Kidding. Got both packet drink and red packet lar. 3. Tips for Moving House We thought we would also share some simple tips when moving house. Not saying that we are very smart, we just happened to read them! 1. Newspapers. Few months before moving, you can start to store newspapers. Yes. No more selling to the karang guni for twenty cents. In fact, if he comes to your house, you ask him to sell you big stack for twenty cents. See he happy or not LOL. Newspapers are a very cheap way to stuff boxes so the contents won't shake around, and for regular items, can absorb some shock. (Bubble wrap is still MUCH better for very fragile items - I won't recommend newspapers for fragile things.) 2. Label. Every box you pack should be labelled with its contents - so you know which to unpack first. For example, on moving day, you dua lau sai (hokkien: big diarrhea), you better know quickly which box contains your toilet paper. You should also label the ROOM it goes to. That way, you can get the movers to put the boxes in the correct rooms for you, rather than everything dump into the living room and "later then sort". 3. Red color paper or tape. Use red papers or tape to tape up the boxes with fragile items so that the movers know at one glance which to be more careful with. It also helps YOU to watch what they are doing with those boxes, and quickly "oei" them, if they are too rough with those. 4. Penknife! You will definitely have a hand carry bag - I mean, some super valuable things like gold bars, or ultra sensitive company or state secrets in your laptops. Bring a penknife or scissors ALONG in that HAND CARRY bag. You don't want to pack all your penknives and scissors away nicely, then move liao... how to open the boxes? -cricket chirps- 4. That Taobao Sofa Here are photos of that Taobao Sofa. For $300 including shipping, its reasonable. We got fabric, which has washable covers, and the sofa came assembled. You just have to "click" things together. You can see the hook for yourself, later. The material is sufficiently comfortable. Feels like fabric, loh. It's quite a good size, and comes with a pull down cup holder. We were a little disappointed that the holder didn't come with circular rings, for cups - but then we realized this way it can hold BOWLS lol. Maggi and TV. My favourite. This photo is taken from the top view, the brass/metal thing is what the sofa parts/modules go into. That's all from us, I had alot of fun doing this! Reminds me of the days back in school, when blogging was popular haha. Ok! Good luck with your own homes