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It's been so long since we updated and we just noticed that the photos which were uploaded onto the renotalk gallery are all gone now... Can't really remember what we had posted in the first place so guess we have no choice but to leave it as such. Anyway, the main purpose of revisiting our blog is to close this renovation chapter as all the rectification works have been completed for now. Since our last post, we had some hiccups in the post-renovation period which ultimately took more than 2 months to resolve... It started with me trying out the built in oven while cooking dinner one evening and after a few minutes of switching on the oven, I experienced a blackout. My built in oven which had been passed down by the previous owner was faulty and we decided to replace it with a table top oven. We had already anticipated something like this might happen given that the built in oven was old and hadn't been used for a long time and so, during renovation, specifically told our ID that we do not want to fix the built in oven into the kitchen cabinet in case we need to replace it with a table top oven. We had expected him to design the cubicle similar to the one which houses our microwave oven and so, it was a shock when we removed the built in oven and found this instead: We didn't even have a socket even though it was specified in our contract and the interior was totally bare. When we flagged this up to our ID, we spoke to his supervisor initially as he was out of town for the week. What ensued was a shouting match as the boss tried to insinuate that it was our fault for the miscommunication which resulted in the wrong design while we were adamant that we were not going to pay extra to fix a problem when we thought we had already made clear our design intentions regarding the space for the oven. Luckily, our ID returned to Singapore the following week and promptly promised to settle this issue for us. He arranged for the carpenter to come down to our house to take measurements of the space and ordered the laminate to be used to cover the interior of the cubicle. However, other hiccups popped up along the way as the original laminate we chose for our kitchen cabinets are no longer in production and we had to choose another laminate which is similar to our original ones. Finally, after the carpenters finished fixing the new laminates, we had to wait for the electrician to come down to fix the socket for us. All in all, the whole process took almost 3 months but the end result was pretty much to our satisfaction. We are pretty grateful to our ID for settling this for us without additional cost and we have to commend him for arranging his worker to come over and help replace a leaking bidet hose without any fuss. It has been almost 6 months since we've moved in and the carpentry has been holding up well so far. All in all, even though our renovation costs were slightly over what our initial budget was, we have no regrets going with our ID and we're thankful that we have a fully functioning house despite this being our first renovation attempt.

It's been a long journey but as of now, all outstanding renovation items have been settled. The last thing which got rectified was our study table... We started using our study table properly for the first time 2 weeks after moving in. One day, while using the desktop, my fiance accidentally hit the edge of the table and a piece of the laminate chipped off On closer inspection, we realized the edge of the table was not sealed with ABS trimming, thus making it super uncomfortable to rest our arms against and making the edge really vulnerable to chipping. We immediately messaged our ID who promptly promised to send his carpenter down to take a look. We only managed to arrange for them to come down last Saturday as we were super busy last week with first week of work/school and wedding preparations...When the carpenters came down, they decided to replace the whole laminate and add on the ABS trimming for us. This was the end result after hours of hard work. I wasn't at home when the carpenters came over and so, my fiance had to clean the room by himself after the work was done. He said it was super dirty and dusty...so thanks BB First thing I noticed when I came home was that the laminate used for the front profile of the table edge had been changed! It is the same as the internal ones used for the drawers so I was happy to accept that...my fiance didn't even noticed the difference Comparison of before and after rectification photos...the table is so much more comfortable to use now...made us wonder why the carpenters didn't put it on in the first place... Nonetheless, we're just glad it was fixed and with little fuss from our ID or the carpenters. Must really commend our ID for being so efficient in addressing our complaint even though he handed the house over weeks ago... And so, that sums up our renovation journey...(for now)

Hello! Thanks for dropping by our T-blog I think the Sealy mattress was one of our best buys! It's too comfortable and I have difficulty getting up which is bad...coz I have been reaching my workplace late since we moved in We got the prestige - hotel collection but it's best to go down and try the mattresses yourselves coz everyone has different preferences...the sales person should be able to advise you further on that

Wow, your concrete floor looks really spectacular!

You changed our nick! My fiance thought it was another person who commented on our T-blog as he is more familiar with your old nick

Thanks panjangowner! We had to be patient as we didn't want to sour relationships while our renovation was still ongoing...although my fiance did explode a few times I think majority of the issues which cropped up happened when we outsourced work to other contractors and my ID probably did not foresee the consequences of certain work done i.e. the running of aircon pipes blocking the gas pipe. Nonetheless, we were happy that he was responsible enough to admit his mistake and try to proactively find solutions for us. Eventually, our VO came up to an additional $2K and this includes electrical so we thought it was actually reasonable. Another thing we were pleased with was his willingness to come back and rectify/touch up any areas which were not up to my expectations, no matter how minor even after we had made full payment. And yep, we weren't charged a separate design fee although I think the cost must have been factored into the final price somehow By the way, congratulations on getting your new place and all the best on your renovation journey! That's such a steal! This iRobot is really useful especially if you have pets who keep shedding fur...

Another item to strike off the list! Our new sofa and side table were delivered yesterday albeit way beyond the agreed timing I spent 4 hours waiting for the delivery guys and was worried they messed up my order again...Luckily everything was settled by 7pm; old sofa removed and new one delivered by 2 different delivery teams. The new sofa and old one for comparison...I really like this color and the stitching makes it look less plain It's also a lot more comfortable to sit on! Which makes me wonder if they short-changed us on the old set Anyway, we're just glad this whole sofa saga is officially over! View of the free side table given as compensation for the delay...it's been useful so far! We used it to eat dinner in front of the TV last night

Our other inhabitant

Thanks Luxexplorer! Good question there...the piping was done by the aircon installer and as long as it's not obvious in the rooms, I was alright to go ahead with their suggestion to pass the pipes through the lourve window in the master toilet I'm not sure what the usual practice is though... As for the sofa set, we've already confirmed delivery of the new one in light grey this coming Monday...so cross fingers that the new one will look as good!

That's a super daring concept! At least the steam won't accumulate in your toilet

The rest of the rooms have also been completed except for the dining area as Vincent realized my ID actually ran a casing within the space allocated for the blind's rod when he came down yesterday. He proceeded to drill the holes and prepare the brackets but said he needed to modify that set of blinds and so, it will only be installed next week. Our guest room where we store our miscellaneous stuff at the moment... Our study room...the book shelf was assembled ourselves as we bought it from Taobao Our master toilet in lived-in conditions...pardon the mess! The other side of our living room

It's been awhile since we updates as we've been so busy with moving in and settling down! Never imagined it would be so tiring... Since our last post, we've gone and returned from a short trip to Hong Kong. On the day of our return, we learnt from my fiance's Mum that the auspicious date for moving in as given by the FSM was 16 Dec. So, it was a mad rush within the next 3 days trying to pack our essentials and transport them to the house before the move in date. We didn't hire any movers as we only had clothes, shoes and miscellaneous accessories which could fit into the boot of my car...and so, we shifted the items from our respective houses bit by bit every day... On the first night when we moved in and my fiance took his first shower in our master toilet, he noticed the tile which was supporting the upper hinge of our shower screen had cracked! We immediately took photos and sent them to my ID. Our ID said his workers will come down to rectify together with his painter and carpenter for the remaining touch ups which were scheduled last Saturday. So fast forward to Saturday, the carpenter came in to replace the strip of chipped laminate above my oven in the kitchen and the painter also touched up those areas I wasn't satisfied with (I'm more picky than my fiance ) The glass installers also came to uninstall the shower screen so that the tiler could replace the broken tile. Luckily only 1 tile was affected and we had extra tiles left. We had to wait for at least 1 day before the shower screen door could be re-installed so we went without one for the next 3 days until yesterday. The shower screen and tiles look as good as new All in all, I'm happy that our ID was still as responsive and willing to rectify any issues which surfaced only after we moved in even though the fully payment had already been made. Another issue which cropped up just before we moved in was our ID didn't realize the base of the plasma TV given to us by my friend was so wide! The TV console he built had only 36cm of depth while my TV base was 46cm...there was no way we could place the TV on the console without risking the TV toppling over...so we had to source for a new TV. Before my friend gave us the TV, we were actually looking at getting the MiTV and now that we had to buy a new TV, we decided to just go ahead and purchase one from Taobao...we used Daigou for shipping and the TV was delivered last Saturday! We took quite awhile to un-crate the TV and even broke our hammer head in the process In the end, we were both very pleased with the TV although my fiance said he would rather pay more to get a TV locally as the self-assembly process was too tiring! Our curtains and blinds were also installed yesterday! Super happy and satisfied with them Vincent and his Mum came down and installed everything in 1 and a half hours! Without further ado, I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Congrats Yakult! Your journey is coming to an end soon Are you hiring cleaners to clean up your house before you move in?

Is your door single or double leaf? I changed my main door too and because it had to be double leafed, fire rated, it cost a bomb