soulforger

Hi May, sorry for late reply, been busy for many things lately, haha... our contractor help us get the door and from the catalog, he seems like getting it from Acme design

Move Into Our House - 15 Dec 2016, Day 55 So with the renovation completed and lived in for the past 15 days, I'm confident to said we are more than happy with the final outcome and this should be the last post (with furnitures) to conclude our renovation journey Review of Happy Lodge We are grateful we have found a competent contractor without hassle to work with, there's no need to chase them for anything since they're highly effective and get everything done in due time, their quote is reasonable price (not necessarily the cheapest but certainly the most detail) and they are willing to listen and prompt at responding, they listen to our ideas and point out what is feasible and what is not and even offer some alternative (e.g. kitchen swing and slide door. Ray is also very helpful, when we ask for help, he will be willing to drop by and help out whenever he's available.

Move Into Our House - 30 Nov 2016, Day 40 Our friend helps us to check the auspicious date time to move in, though the furniture haven't arrived yet, we've decided to do the ritual as this is once in a life time event and worth to take leave to just do it The day before we have mix uncooked rice, salt, tea leaves and scatter around the house. The process of scattering the "Rice" means sowing of wealth around the house and the "salt and tea leaves" means purify the negative energies accumulated during the previous owner’s stay. Good luck begins on day one, We light up the stove at the door, and make sure the charcoal is set alight and burning brightly! Before we step in, we roll a pineapple into the house while saying “huat ah!” to welcome wealth and prosperity into our new home. We then retrieve the charcoal stove, bring it to the kitchen and use it to cook red bean soup.

Renovation Progress - 28 Nov 2016, Day 38 We have asked our aircon vendor's help to install the electric clothes hanger, it's quite heavy and really grateful for their help

Hi AHbang, sorry for late reply, been busy ever since we move in to our new house till now, haha... Here is the taobao link to the pendant lamp and the cost is RMB499 蒂凡尼田园贝壳led三头吊灯

Hi pjsh, I've pmed you my contractor contact, have posted the quotation on page 1 and the cost is close to 30k without doing toilets. We put a built in cupboard around the kitchen pipes which is accessible for future inspections and maintenance. For now it looks like space wasted and we will think of ways to better utilize the space

Thanks! We've been busy with furniture delivery, clean up and moving in for last few days, will update more photos soon

Hi Jerrick, I'm mister, not sister, haha... I've shared the detail quotation on page 1, the total cost is close to 30k without doing toilets since we will proceed with HIP, the estimation for doing 2 toilets will be around another 10k. Wish your all the best with your renovation and hope to see your progress here soon

We use 12W LED downlight, the living room is bright enough even with just 4 downlights at the corner

Renovation Progress - 26 Nov 2016, Day 36 Renovation done with plumber install the sink mixer, paint touch up and put on kitchen sliding & swing door. get the washing machine and fridge delivered by mega discount store and perform first round of clean up. Plumber has installed our Blanco Spirit-S pull out sink mixer, very solid build and looks very stylish, it has a smooth action and the pullout is extremely useful from prevent water from spill out. We bought Electrolux fridge and washing machine, the ETE5720AA fridge comes with auto ice maker (still have to fill water bottle though) which is quite handy. We also bought the SimpleHuman bag dispenser, this holder is really a wonderful buy, it looks slick yet hold loads of carrier bags and they are so easy to pull out. Kitchen - Install the Slide & Swing door Final round of touch up paint, really love the charcoal slate color, you may think that the dark grey will make the room smaller, but it is an interesting versatile neutral color which just make other things pop

Ikr, the marble flooring is so beautiful after polishing!

Thanks! It looks cozy because no furniture yet, hopefully will still feel cozy once we put in furnitures, haha.

Renovation Progress - 24 Nov 2016, Day 34 Judging our renovation will be completed 20 Nov, we have request Vincent to proceed with curtain installation. He has scheduled 24 Nov 11:30am, since we don't have much annual leave left, we have gave him the number lock passcode and he proceed to install the curtains on scheduled date. I'd expect some may interested to know his contact after seeing his work, his phone number is nine three eight four nine two two eight, if you would like know to know how much we spent, please pm me, thanks. Living room - The door smith is installing the gate and door at the same evening and tied the curtain to right hand side to not hinder his work... Master bedroom Bedroom 2 - Found this color looks much nicer than the MBR curtain, haha.

Taobao/Qoo10 Purchase Round 2 Purchase on 11 Nov, to be updated

Have pmed you the contact

Based on previous quotation and we've expected 5-10% more than our budget when we opt in those items. Received the final quotation yesterday for last 10% payment upon completion and to our surprise the total doesn't exceed our budget (30k), hahaha...

The house seems like very well maintained, all the best for your renovation!

Renovation Progress - 19 Nov 2016, Day 29 The renovation has been completed by 26 Nov yet we are rather busy with furniture/appliance delivery arrangement and all the cleanup, will try to keep the blog as updated cause all furniture and appliance should be deliver by these 2 weeks and we will move in by early December, haha. So for day 29, Happy Lodge has done the marble floor polishing and install kitchen top, at the same day we proceed to install Ikea blind and decoration paintings **** room. Living room- after polishing can clearly see the reflection! \ Ikea Hoppvals blind, found it quite unique with cordless shades and very easy to operate. Kitchen - Install Quartz surface with L shape extended, the starry night series is beautiful with twinkle star effect, you may saw similar effect on floor tiles at Changi airport terminal 3 before exit to bus stop.

Slightly more than our initial budget (around 5-10%) because later on we have opt in for few optional items (e.g. acid wash kitchen and toilet flooring, upgrade paint from ICI pentalite to Delux wash & wear, get new main gate and door, change the kitchen sliding door to slide & swing door, add 1 more power point, get BLUM lever for dish rack and DTC slow close track, box up trunking etc). But I think the detail quote really helps to prevent/minimize any surprise, at least for our case, most of the cost increase is due to us opt in for better options. Only at one point we found the lighting installation charge at updated quote (electrician update Ray after job completed) become much higher than first quoted, upon checking the quote ourselves then find out Ray quotes base on previous number of lighting points which is part of our fault for overlook the quantity lah, haha...

Thanks for the complement and I feel the outcome is simple and nice, haha. Vincent has put on the curtains on 24 Nov, rather busy for last few days and will post more photos soon!

Yeah, really satisfy with happy lodge's workmanship, everything goes smoothly without hiccup.

1. I would say the pole rack is quite sturdy, for it to be steady require some technique, when install have to push the pole up and extend the pole to full height so when release the spring will hold it in place firmly. 2. For capentry work, we are quite satisfy with his work but maybe we rush him to get the cabinet done asap, there are few minor issues like some scratches, board not place evenly and he has fixed those immediately. We use Blum lever at dish rack and DTC slow close track runners at drawers, those hinges we feel are quite good quality but not sure are they using stainless steel screws or not lah, haha. 3. Contractor covers warranty for overlay tiles but not for vinyl floor tiles at kitchen/toilets (we initially wanted to use vinyl tiles for kitchen and drop it because no warranty), they've inspect for hollow sounding wall tiles and recommend to hack/even surface then overlay the wall. For floor they did the inspection and compulsory to do water proofing to provide warranty.

Renovation Progress - 14 Nov 2016, Day 24 To our surprise, the carpenter is rather fast and fabricated the kitchen cabinet in a week time and install it on 14 Nov. The aircon vendor is also quick, we told him the aircon has been delivered on 12 Nov and next Monday he has get all the aircons installed.

Renovation Progress - 12 Nov 2016, Day 22 On 12 Nov, Ray has arranged worker to install window grilles. Being effective person ourselves , we have arranged store room racks, aircon, washing machine and fans delivery at the same day. Bought the rack and ladder from Storerack, they called us to confirm the timing and come on the dot. The aircon, washing machine and fans delivery also come at about same timing so lucky no need to wait... Since afternoon we still got time, we have tried to fix the display shelves on the wall and boy, this is quite a tough job and my wife laughed me for bring trouble to myself, lol...

Renovation Progress - 01 Nov 2016 to 05 Nov 2016, Day 11 to Day 15 The Happy Lodge is highly efficient and work very fast, almost too fast too furious. The painter has painted the whole house with oil base sealer and everything starts to look more neat now. Let's there be light, on 04 Nov, the electrician proceed to install the lights. Me and wifey really like this pendant lamps but feel the daylight less romantic so decided will buy warm white bulb later. At the same day, tiler has lay the homogeneous floor tiles at front entrance steps, kitchen wall and built the hollow block sink. At 05 Nov, we met the carpenter to discuss the kitchen cabinet and Ray said the progress will slow down because have to wait for carpenter to fabricate the kitchen cabinet yet he said will ask the carpenter to expedite for us.