snoozee

Buy the SIP and DIP from PUB to check of your house has any sewer line running through it and affected by drainage reserves. you can do your topo after you exercise your option provided the sellers allow for your surveyor to access the house to do the topo. If the owner is fussy, then you can only do it after you take over the house. Same as soil investigation as it is very noisy and messy so better to do it after you take over the house. You will need to apply for utilities (power and water) before doing soil investigation as your contractor will need them. Can terminate the utilities again when it’s not needed to avoid paying the refuse collection fees. if the current owner is friendly, can get them to authorize you to buy the existing plans from BCA. Else you will need to wait until you take over the house. With the topo and PUB plans, you can find an architect to design your house or find a contractor who does design and build. of cos you can skip all the above by just looking for an architect or builder now and let them do all the necessary stuff for you.

This is for how many sqf? I spoke to a contractor recently and he mentioned that construction cost for 3 storey inter-terrace is now about 1.6m. Went up a lot.

your current light point should be wired such that there is also a Neutral and Earth wires apart from the Live wire. Note that by light point, I mean where your actual light is being installed and not at the light switch.

if your LED power supply only draws 130W, then should be fine to use. But to be safe, calculate all the power drawn by all the lights in the same lighting circuit and make sure that the total power doesn't exceed 2300W. Lighting circuits are usually protected by a 10A MCB so exceeding 2300W (10A x 230V) will cause trips.

cards information can also be removed and added. while cards could be duplicated, PIN can also be given away. in any case, even if you change your PIN regularly it's not going to prevent any burglars from scaling a 1.8m high boundary wall/gate/fence. anyway card access is easier for old folks and kids to let themselves into the house rather than using PIN.

Unless the sewer line is just nice 1m inside your boundary, there's no way you can avoid the RC trench cost unless you are willing to setback you house more. Cos the regulations is that you need to setback 1m away from the sewer if the sewer is less than 3m deep. for sewers more than 3m deep, the setback increases if you do not want the trench. The "good" thing about needing to build the trench is that now you can shift the last IC to another location if you want. I think many old houses will have the last IC somewhere in between the left and right boundary lines so if the sewer line is outside, you can't really shift the IC location since you cannot access the main sewer line to create a new connection. But since you are exposing the sewer line to build the trench, you can now build the new last IC in another location (with new connection to the sewer line) so that your last IC won't end up smack in the middle of your new kitchen/yard. You will need to work with your architect and get PUB's approval for the new IC location but this can be done as I've done it for my house to shift the last IC elsewhere when the trench was built. Do note that according to PUB's regulations, the RC trench must be left accessible in case PUB needs to do any form of maintenance/repairs to the sewer line. But then I guess most owners will just cover it up after the inspection is over and approval granted. Of cos this is done at own risk since the floor would need to be hacked to expose the trench. Of cos you can always to a removable decking over it if you want so it's up to you on how to make the area more aesthetically pleasing rather than seeing raw concrete slabs which cover the trench.

If you planning to stay long term, better put in the lift now if possible rather than later since it’s going to be messy. 35k for RC trench is quite ok. Mine cost almost 100k. Did you purchase the SIP from PUB prior to scoping out the works? Cos the SIP will show where the public sewer is and you will know that a trench will be needed if the sewer is running through your land. for asbestos, many old houses come with it. I paid more than 20k to get it removed due to quite a substantial amount of asbestos existing in my original house. if you are completing everything including carpentry and fittings for 1.5M, this will work out to around 320psf which is definitely a good price in today’s market.

For an inter-terrace, the norm is to complete within 12 months to 18 months and get TOP pre-COVID. With normalisation now, this should be the timeline and not 2 years. I don’t think construction cost will go down in the near future especially the war in Europe is likely to be prolonged. With the war causing oil prices to spike, this caused cost of logistics to increase. barring a huge recession in SG, we are unlikely to see housing prices coming down. The cooling measures government put in place just stems the rate of increase of housing prices but doesn’t bring the prices down. Also for landed, there just around 80k landed houses in SG so in the long run price for landed house should go up steadily as well as long as you buy a freehold house.

Something from AliExpress don’t have all the features you need though. Haha. Installed more than 1 year already and my house is north west facing

that is assuming the current pricing is still at $400psf which I believe should be higher due to increase in cost of raw materials as well as manpower costs. The tender amount would normally include floor finishing, electrical fittings and sanitary fittings. Carpentry work will depend on whether your architect is providing the detailed specifications and drawings as part of the tender specifications or not. Some owners would hire another ID to work on the interior finishing like carpentry so this would be excluded from the builder's tender. The architect route would be better since you have someone to project manage and look after your interests as opposed to just you against the builder when issues crop up and decisions need to be made. for the construction loan repayment before TOP/CSC, it is based on the amount drawn down till date. Say for example your total construction cost is 1M and the bank is loaning you 750K, you will need to pay the first 250K in cash to the builder yourself first once the contractor's monthly progress claims come in and get approved by the architect. The architect will then issue an interim payment certificate so that you as the employer can issue payment to the contractor. Once the "tipping point" of 250K is passed, then the bank will come in and pay the contractor based on the progress claims and interim payment certificates. So for example the contractor issues another progress claim amount of 60K after the first 250K, this 60K will be approved and verified by the architect and then the bank's lawyers. Once the bank approves of the payment of 60K, the contractor will be paid payment of 60K. Once the contractor is paid, you will start paying the principal (60K) and interest associated with this 60K on a monthly basis. When the contractor next issues another progress claim for say 80K in the next month, the same verification process will be done. Once the bank disburses the 80K to the contractor, you will technically owe the bank 60K + 80K which is 140K. but during the month, you would have paid part of the 60K and interests already so the total amount owed will be less than 140K. So for the next month, you will be repaying an amount which is slightly more than what was paid last month since you will have a higher principal sum and interest to be paid. The thing is the repayment amounts will only be calculated based on what has been disbursed and repaid principal thus far (over the total loan years and interest) and not based on the actual loan amount (eg: 750K). So your repayment amounts will increase slowly until the full disbursement is done. But full disbursement normally will not be done as banks will keep a small percentage as retention sum until the DLP is over. Even though the banks may withhold this retention sum till DLP is over, you will be doing the repayments based on the full loan amount once the bank converts your bridging loan to a normal mortgage loan. This conversion is usually done upon TOP or CSC depending on the bank. If the bank only allows for conversion after CSC, then you will still be paying the high interest rate until CSC is obtained because CSC is usually obtained months after TOP. Do also note that if you are intending to take a construction loan, you need to be aware that not all banks in SG offer. So it is best that you check out which banks offer a mortgage and construction loan else you may be stuck with a problem as the bank you borrow $$$ from to buy the house may not loan you $$$ for construction.

1.2M is based on 20 percent increase in construction cost from 2020 and today where it is likely that an inter terrace would cost 1M to rebuild in 2019/2020. an architect or builder would also likely give you an estimate based on the constructed floor area of the new house multiple by a PSF rate. assuming your 1800sqf land is having the dimensions of 20ft x 90ft, this will give you a metric dimensions of about 6m x 27.4m your max GFA may be something like this excluding the 9.5m for front (7.5m) and rear (2m) setback as well as the 7m (3.5m x 2) setback for the attic 1st storey = 6m x 17.9m = 109.3sqm = 1176.6sqf 2nd storey = 6m x 17.9m = 109.3sqm = 1176.6sqf Attic storey = 6m x 10.9m = 66.6sqm = 717.3sqf total GFA = 285.27sqm = 3070.6sqf So what needs to be done next is to plug in the PSF rate multiply by the total GFA and you can get the estimated cost. Whether you going the architect route or design and build contractor route will end up having the same estimated cost is a question mark. You might end up with the same cost for both or one higher than the other. While going with the builder router may seem cheaper or more convenient, do note that you will also need to choose the builder properly since your builder will also end up being your project manager as opposed to having an architect (whom you hire) to protect your interests. Also since builder's may give a quotation which excludes certain items so you may end up having with many VOs to top up the cost. Do note that for VOs, normally you will need to pay in cash since the construction loan will only cover what was the original quoted/approved amount. During construction, there will be times when certain things happen or there is a change of mind which results in VOs. So even if you have an architect to draw up the specifications, you are still likely to have a couple of VOs at the end of the day but the main idea of having an architect to draw up the specifications for tender is to reduce or eliminate these changes and allow a proper comparison of costs from various builders. Again estimated cost is like what the words mean is just an estimate but it lets you have an idea of what to budget for.

My gate card reader cum intercom has a metal face plate. Facing afternoon sun also. So far so good.

unless budget is not a concern, I would highly suggest you to work out your sums first. mortgage interest rate is increasing due to Feds increasing their rate by 0.5% just last week. buying a house will mean a 25% up front payment in cash/cpf with at least 5% mandatory in cash as LTV ratio is at 75% now. so for a 2.3M house (cheapest freehold inter terrace currently listed on the market based on property sites), this will mean you need to fork out 575K up front with minimum 115K in cash. The stamp duty for a 2.3M house is currently at 76.6K which can be paid via cash and/or CPF. if you have additional properties in your name now, do note the LTV ration will decrease and you also need to pay ABSD as well. Assuming you need to spend 1.2M to rebuild the entire house, banks can only loan you up to 75% of the construction cost. This means you will need to have 300K in cash to pay your contractor/consultants before the bank loan drawdowns can take place. Also bridging loan for construction usually is at a higher interest as well of about 5% until you receive TOP/CSC which is when the construction loan can be converted to a loan similar to the mortgage loan rates. So basically if you are planning to buy and rebuilt now, you are looking to need at least 300K + 115K = 415K in cash with another 536.6K in CPF/cash which is close to 1M in total. once you've worked out that finances is no issue, then you can start sourcing for your ideal piece of land in your preferred location. Ideally you should buy an old single storey house in its original condition if you have the intention to rebuilt as the pricing should be slightly cheaper than an existing 2 storey house. only at the stage when you have short listed your target land/property then should you get an architect/builder in to seek opinions on the rebuilt potential and cost.

if you can't find the plug, then just put newspaper or styrofoam into the pipe then pour cement in to create a seal. this is a common method done by contractors

assuming this is the carporch roof terrace, it is not allowed 99 percent of the time. if someone complains to URA then the owner will need to remove. for the 1 percent, there may be already existing landed housing areas which does allow for this covering so houses in these areas would be allowed to have these built. contractors will just do what they are told and paid to do (after TOP/CSC). they won't care about the legal aspects since ultimately its the owner who is responsible and not the contractor who does the job.

if you know how to DIY can DIY. need to seal the sanitary waste pipes properly as well as terminate the water supply..

the market for these products isn't big in SG. private landed houses number less than 80k. for commercial usage, don't need so much features and functionalities also. either fingerprint/keypad or card/keypad usually will do for commercial applications. so if there's no demand of the products, why would anyone bring the products in and risk not being able to sell them? the product that is brought in today might become obsolete in 6 months or 1 year when newer products come out in the market. unfortunately if you are unable to DIY and self support, then best to find products are are readily available locally rather then getting a fancy system which you may end up needing to pay a premium for someone to help you troubleshoot in future.

yes, the button is similar to the break glass box. anyway the break glass box is not for outdoor usage so unless you want to put the box inside another waterproof box else it may cause short circuit when wet. search on aliexpress. there should be some products which fit your requirements.

I don't have the numbers but I would say expect to pay at least 20 percent more now compared to 2019/2020 prices. Meaning if 2019/2020 the PSF is about $350, you are looking at a PSF cost of about $420 today. below is the tender price index from BCA which basically shows that there is a 20 percent increase in 4th quarter 2021 prices against prices in 2019/2020. see the below tables on how raw material prices has increased from 2020 till today. Cement price has increased by about 20 percent, concrete price by about 10 percent and steel rebars pricing by almost 70 percent. If you look at the text in red, BCA is expecting further higher raw material prices due to the fact that we are importing in all the raw materials and oil prices (needed for transport) has increased due to the war

Suggest you buy your DVR first then decide whether you need to modify it or add fans to the cabinet. Adding fans is useless if there's no outlet vent and cutting out holes may allow sound to exit which brings you back to square one. relocation of electrical sockets in a room is not difficult. But if concealed then more problematic since it involves hacking the wall then patching back and painting. Very messy job. Easier to just run extension with surface mounted trunking. Adding another set of sockets is also ok as long as the entire circuit isn't overloaded. Must check the overall electrical plan to see the socket to be extended already has how many other sockets in the same circuit. Usually electrical sockets are installed with a 20A MCB on the DB side so if there's already devices pulling high amperage on the circuit, then not advisable to add more sockets as this can lead to overload and tripping.

fans are normally connected to the main board using removable connectors. If you die die don't want to hear any fan sound then just disconnect the fan connector. Of cos you risk overheating of the device in the long run depending on which fan(s) you disconnect. I believe some NVR will have fan to provide for overall ventilation and some might also have fan to cool down the main chip on the main board. Again if you are keeping your NVR in an enclosed area, why be so bothered about the sound from the fan. It's not as if the fan is generating sounds which are as loud as a busy highway or MRT running on the tracks.

Look at it this way. You already signed the contract with the builder and I assume it is without having the fixed total contract sum for everything all included. So even if your builder quotes you additional 100k for the pile caps which you feel is unreasonable, what can you do about it? Your house still needs to be built right? Unless you want to terminate your builder and find someone else to take over the project which will give you more headache and delays to project start and completion. this is why it’s always better to go the architect route to have the architect draw up all the tender specifications and requirements and builders tender the total project sum from the tender documents. This way, you won’t run into the problems you are facing now with uncertain costs. Sorry to say but you are kind of stuck with no choice but to accept whatever cost your builder quotes you even if you think it’s unreasonable.

if you think it's unreasonable, then get hold of the foundation plans from the PE and send to piling companies to request for quotations and see what they come back with. every project is different due to soil conditions as well as the number, depth and type of piling required so I don't think anyone can tell you if the 61K quoted is reasonable or not.

haha ok. perspective playing tricks on the eyes. you got permission to cut down the tree in front or it wouldn't affect your driveway access?

should be side view. very expensive house.🤑