hdb4ever

Mini review of electronic door systems I have always hated the need to dig deep into my bag to look for my keys when I come home from work. So when I got this place, I knew I wanted to switch to an electronic door system. But at the same time, I am paranoid about getting locked out of my own home because of some too-free hacker taking advantage of poorly implemented security features in electronic locks. Solution? 1. Install door lock systems that cannot be operated remotely over the internet! 2. Install systems from different vendors for my door and gate. So it's 2 layers of security! Door lock This is what my door lock now looks like from outside the apartment. Looks like an ordinary non-tech door lock? Because it is! The actual smart lock can only be seen from the inside of the apartment. Yes, this is the August Smart Lock (3rd generation) which I bought from Amazon during one of their sales for just below USD$100. Why I love it: Very easy self-installation: you need only a screw driver! The door automatically unlocks when I reach home and am standing in front of the door (detected via Bluetooth) The door automatically locks when I close the door I can share electronic "keys" (via the August app) to my family members, and revoke for different users should the need arise I get alerted on my phone when my door has been unlocked, and by whom! From outside, nobody can tell that the door has a smart lock! What can be better: On very rare occasions, the August lock doesn't detect that the door is closed and does not auto lock the door: resolved by locking the door manually or using the August app Ok so that's for the door - how about the gate then? Gate lock In this picture, you see two things: the Ring 2 doorbell and the Gateman Z10g lock. First about Gateman Z10g, which I engaged a seller on Carousell to install for my gate. Why I love it: Nice fit into the square metal panel on my HDB door gate, blending so very nicely (I must thank my ID for ensuring that my gate has this metal panel - otherwise, I would see a black metal box for the Gateman sticking out like a sore thumb) Autolocks when the gate is closed Accepts both a configurable PIN and fingerprint scans Opened from inside the apartment using a remote control as pictured below What can be better: The fingerprint scanner is nowhere near TouchID in scanning capability: I often find myself resorting to keying in the PIN because my fingers are either too dry or wet. In fact, my parents can't even get their fingerprints registered successfully (they don't face this using TouchID on their iPhones) On occasion, the remote does not successfully trigger the gate lock to open: solved by pressing the remote's button again. Doorbell Ok and now to what's next to the Gateman, which is the Ring 2 video doorbell that I bought online too. It is a battery operated doorbell which I installed myself outside my house (you will need to do a bit of drilling). When pressed, I get a notification on my mobile phone that someone is at the door. I also bought the Ring Chime from Amazon.co.uk so that I can also hear the bell chime when I am at home. When someone presses the doorbell, I can view and also speak to whoever's there using my mobile phone. The screenshot from my mobile phone app below is of a delivery lady for one of my online purchases. Why I love it: Relatively easy to self-install Even when I am not at home, I can view and speak to whoever is at the door What can be better: On occasion it takes a while before my mobile phone app allows me to respond to whoever is at the door, but I suppose 4G connectivity on my mobile phone is a factor Hopefully these are useful information for whoever's interested to get electronic door systems

Hi Gaddy I am assuming that your renovation is completed by now? Do share the post-renovation look!

Hi the Fanz fans I got from one of the shops atTampoi

Hi the sofa is from castlery.com and it is the Bambu sofa. I love it!

Hi maybe you can ask them to project when the meetings are likely to take place ahead of the start of renovation? For mine, we met up about 6-8 weeks before projected commencement of renovation to select and finalize tiles and about 4 weeks prior to finalize everything else including laminates, paint, lighting points etc

Hi Msblack The total cost for my renovations is about $55- 60k. Some of the works that probably contributed more towards this sum would be - Hack and redo all all tiles, and entire kitchen, bathrooms etc - Hack store room to replace with storage cabinets - Hack study room wall to replace with half glass wall - Hack kitchen wall to replace with peninsula - Carpentry at Master Bedroom, storage cabinet in place of store room, kitchen with peninsula and storage settees - Replace all electrical wiring and points, and water pipes Hope that helps!

It's been a month since my last post, and in that time I've made a few tweaks post-renovation. But first here are some photographs a nice photographer took for me! The full view of the entrance to my place. Made possible only by serious camera gear! A fuller picture of living area, dining area and where these are in relation to the entrance! Added a nice walnut bedside table on the other side of the bed even though the bed is presently still only for one! Ok now for some post-renovation additions and "hacks"! When I selected the colours of my service yard door, I thought that a dash of blue (panel) would add something to the look of the kitchen.But all my friends and relatives point out how out of place the blue panel is in my kitchen So I went ahead to change the colours on the service yard door! No, I didn't swap the panels - I simply DIYed some contact paper I got from Amazon. Since I don't have the steadiest of hands, a close look will reveal non-expert workmanship But when one does not scrutinise closely, the door now looks like it actually belongs and makes the kitchen feel more Japandi! This being the first time I am using a storage water heater, I was unprepared for the need to 1. turn it on AND wait a bit while the water gets heated before I can shower 2. turn it off after showering or else it keeps reheating the water over the course of the day, resulting in higher electricity bills The solution? This nifty timer switch! I am able to set different "on" and "off" timings for my water heater on different days of the week. Got it via EZBuy. Another "hack" that I have done affects my L-shaped wardrobe. I really love my wardrobe but what I did not anticipate was just how dark that corner space in the L would be. Rather than go through the hassle of adding another light switch for inside wardrobe lighting, I did this instead Now don't be distracted by the many (as yet) unused hangers, but instead focus on the reason why you can even see those hangers in the first place. Yes, it is a battery operated LED light strip! And since it is motion sensing too, it automatically turns on when I need to peer into the once-dark corner of my L-shaped wardrobe. I got mine via Lazada for just a few dollars. Coming up in my next update - Review of my ID and everyone else I engaged over the course of this renovation!

Lol I agree as I have 2 ceiling fan lights in the living room too! No regrets as it really helps with the air circulation

Looking forward to more updates! ?

Hi Kaiyu would you want to post a photo of what it currently looks like?

It's been 2 weeks since the apartment was handed over to me. A few minor rectifications to be made, but that hasn't stopped me from moving in. Moving house is back breaking work, especially for a soloist!! One tip: Get a steam mop - it gets rid of all the fine dust in no time, allowing one to focus on unpacking and moving in! Anyhow, here's a look at the current state of my Japandi-styled home! But before that, let's take a look at the configuration of the apartment pre-renovation! Pre-renovation photos The protruding store room limited what would otherwise have been a spacious entryway. A view of the kitchen and service yard from the living/dining area. Viewing out from the kitchen. Yes the size of the kitchen is small. The hallway to the various rooms and common bathroom. Post-renovation photos! If you have read this far, you would have seen the journey of structural changes this apartment has gone through over the course of the last few months. This is what is looks like now, 2 weeks after renovation! I work long hours, so when I reach home I need to relax and be greeted by the sights and sounds of nature.The water feature (from Fukai) and the lights here turn themselves on as soon as I step through the door. ? Water feature all lit up! Storage cabinets that have taken the place of the store room. A view of the living room area! The "cubby" below the soundbar looked messy ?no thanks to all the devices placed there, so I covered them up with a few (inverted) baskets from Ikea! My open concept kitchen, the peninsula and dining area. A closer look at the dining area and peninsula. I am glad that I went with laminated countertop for the peninsula as it is more sturdy (scratch resistant, stain resistant and easier maintenance all around) compared to my cultured marble dining tabletop or my kitchen's solid surface countertop! A lot of people like to lament how kitchens in older (pre-2000) HDB apartments had very large kitchens compared to the HDB apartments of today. If that is true, then my apartment must have a truly "exceptional" layout with its relatively diminutive kitchen! Managed to squeeze a slim pull slide out cabinet baskets for condiments etc from Excel Hardware between the induction cooker hob and the fridge. No gas because I watched the Towering Inferno as a child and it left a deep impression on me. ? 2 more pull out cabinet baskets from Excel Hardware, this time for plates, utensils and cutlery. On the countertop are what I consider absolute essentials for soloists - a Zojirushi rice cooker and a compact multifunctional steam oven i.e.. Panasonic Cubie. Not going to show my service yard/laundry room since I have not done much work on it yet, but just wanted to say that I really love how my Varlux ceiling mounted automatic laundry rack gets my laundry out of the way! Particularly useful when I was drying my bedsheets and mattress protector! Can't imagine having to hoist those on bamboo poles or pulling them up via a pulley system! What I now have a great appreciation for - a dehumidifier for laundry! Sucks all the moisture from laundry, and ensures no smells or mildew! Really essential if you have no choice but to dry all your laundry indoors because there is nobody at home to hoist them out into the sun (and take them back in when it starts to rain!) I use a combo washer-dryer machine, but I intend to use it only for washing to save on electricity bills and minimise wear and tear on my clothes! A number of relatives walked into the glass door of my study room when they came visiting!? I think I need to paste a suitable decal on it for safety. Makes me glad that I went with a 1m concrete wall for the glass wall next to it - any lower and there might have been more accidents! Managed to get my hands on a Gerton tabletop from Ikea for the computer table! Learnt how to apply polyurethane coats on it so that it looks better and is more stain resistant. These are Ikea's versatile Ekets with their optional wooden legs. I customised a woodtop order and applied polyurethane to complete the look! Cosy/reading corner in the study. A frameless and comfortable sofa bed next to my display shelf from Castlery..pardon my mish mash of anime and non-anime figurines? A view of the hallway to the master bedroom. It's also a great place for me to put up some art pieces! Opted to place art works on picture ledges from Ikea to minimise nailing of picture frames to the wall. This way, I can also easily swap out art pieces over time. The common bathroom. Those are Ikea Ostana lights above the mirror cabinet. Going with shower curtains instead of a glass wall for the shower area means that I can swap out different shower curtains over time to refresh the look of the bathroom! Not going to show the master bathroom because it is similar in layout and just has a different art piece and shower curtain design. And finally..the master bedroom. Not many changes since my last photos since I intend to keep the look of the entire room as basic and clutter free as possible so that I can fall asleep sooner! And that concludes a tour of my post-renovation apartment! Hope you have enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing about the process! ?

Just remembered something - How has this part of the bathroom been like for you? Do you manage to keep it clean?

Thanks! The blinds are from TG Curtains and Blinds! You can search for this user on Carousell tg_curtains_blinds

Lol maybe he is using a door chain for his door? I remember the rental flat I lived in as a child had one, so we could open the door partially when talking to unfamiliar visitors. Personally I find the gate design at your place not too bad for cleaning - it's all basically horizontal and vertical bars. I am only now starting to regret the leaf patterned design on mine I also want to thank you for the very detailed postings about your place before, during and now even post-renovation. While I eventually decided not to get a 2-room flat, I found many nuggets of wisdom and have thoroughly enjoyed reading and re-reading everything you have posted.

Thank you! I did wish I did not have to though since the cost of hacking and carpentry bumped up the renovation costs by quite a bit. Then again, when I look at the results - it has been absolutely worth it!

Thank you! I take it your block isn't too far away from Yew Tee MRT either Yes I did a lot of viewings of apartments in this area before settling on this one..and from what I can tell, only 2 other blocks have 4-room flats with similar layouts!

I seriously considered Invisible Grills, but I was worried that it would not be easy to get to my windows for cleaning. Hehe I was really besotted with this pendant lamp because I wanted to bring in nature and animals into my apartment..without actually having to worry about the pets

The walk-in wardrobe looks very classy! How wide is the space in that area?

Looking good! Congrats on your new place!

Are those window grilles by the bay window? But doesn't seem to be the case because they're mounted to the wall too?

Weeks 12 & 13 progress update Whoa just a few more days before renovation is officially over and my apartment gets officially returned to me! Let's revisit what's happened these last few weeks! First, I want to talk about.. Doors Yes, really because it is interesting! Hear me out. When I started on this renovation, I made the decision to retain only 2 items in this apartment (everything else got hacked away..$$$), and they are 2 bedroom doors. Why? Because they looked like they are still in good condition and they fit into the Japandi look that I am going for. The problem came about when I wanted to lock the door of a bedroom because I needed to store some delivered items (recall that the renovation was supposed to have ended 2 weeks ago). As it turns out: I did not receive any keys to the bedroom doors! When I called the previous owner of the apartment, seems that he had the doors changed when he moved in a decade ago. But when he finally tried to use the keys given by his contractor several years later, those keys did not work! I thought that changing the door knob and locks to the bedroom doors was a trivial matter. But the layout of these are so odd that after going to several places in search of a drop-in replacement, only a single shop had one and that cost over $200 for each door! So after mulling over it, I decided to do away with these final 2 items that I had planned to keep from the previous owner I went with a solid core bedroom door as opposed to a hollow core one. It is slightly more expensive than the latter, but is also feels heftier and blocks out sound much much better. Most importantly, uninvited guests won't be able to do this! This is what happens when you use hollow core doors: absolutely no protection from the uninvited! What my solid core door looks like immediately after staining and lacquering. Hopefully it gets brighter over the next few days? Main door has also finally been changed to a fire-rated veneer door but.. Notice a problem? No locks nor handles! ID thought that since I would be installing a digital lock, it would be better not to install manual locks in case the drilled holes don't quite match. Very thoughtful, but actually I am planning to use a digital lock that requires the standard manual locks and knobs to be installed first. Issue rectified the very next day, but I did not sleep well that night worrying about the main door that could not be closed. Bathroom doors were also installed. These are of the Slide-and-Swing type, and often referred to by the name of the company that first produced such doors here i.e. PD Doors. Compared to the standard bi-fold doors, these cost more. But two undeniable advantages are: (1) uses less space when folded and (2) has no bottom tracks to clean! They also feel sturdier than the bi-fold door that I got for the service yard. Now almost regretting the bi-fold door. That's all about doors. And now for the reason why my renovation has been delayed, ... Carpentry I must say that once the carpentry team came in, they worked like clockwork installing the woodworks and laminates piece by piece - even over a Saturday, and as late as 6pm! Remember the awkward store room constricting the entrance that was hacked away as soon as I was able to? Here is a picture of the foundations of storage cabinets built at that spot. Storage cabinets ready! It has about as much usable storage space as the store room that it replaced, but leaves a much more spacious and airy entrance to the apartment. The master bedroom got an L-shaped wardrobe with a look that is lighter than the walnut of the bedframe, but nonetheless fits tonally with the colour scheme of the bathroom door, flooring and fan too. The L shape does pose an unanticipated issue however...which I will share in the near future View of my kitchen's island peninsula and kitchen cabinets being pieced together. Yes, I have been corrected : it is a peninsula and not an island, since you can only get past it via one route. The almost-completed look. Still waiting for the solid surface tabletop to be fabricated and installed on the kitchen cabinets. I did a double take on the countertop of the peninsula and realised what was wrong: the grains were installed vertically rather than horizontally! View of the same tabletop from the side. Yes these grains are meant to be installed horizontally. But I can accept it because (1) I did not specify how the laminates were to be installed (2) I can understand why the installers did it this way: so that there is no visual "clash" with the vertical grains on the kitchen cabinets. So vertical grains on countertop + vertical grains on kitchen cabinet = better flow. All is good One tip: The edges of laminated carpentry will almost always be black because the base of laminate sheets are usually black. You only won't see this on cabinet doors and the like because these will have ABS trimmings. Black edges stick out like a sore thumb when you use light coloured laminates on your carpentry...especially white! Thankfully there is a solution to this: carpentry paint. Here's what the results are like... The wooden shelves and wooden frame by my peninsula looking amazing because..no more black edges! Not the best photo because it was taken at night, but the white laminates no longer have a visible black edge! Amazing! Kitchen cabinet looking great now that...there are no more black edges! So the tip here is..if not done automatically for you, ask for carpentry paint to be applied to the edges of your light-coloured laminated carpentry! Since we are at the kitchen cabinet, I wanted to share the height of my top-floor ceiling.. I am considered quite tall and have never had difficulties reaching for the top shelves. But it looks like I have to start relying on a step stool from now on. Also installed storage settees for the study room and living room. The settee seat/cover at the living room is only a single piece unlike the one at the study room; the latter's is longer and would have been harder to lift if it were a single piece too. I could have simply gone for more by-the-window storage cabinets, but this way I can also have more seats for guests or (most of the time) for myself to laze on. Fewer chairs/stools contribute to a more airy and spacious feeling apartment! Painting The apartment was last painted several weeks ago, so some additional areas need paintwork desperately. Remember how the shallow niche below these windows were boxed up? The box up now looks like it is a seamless part of the wall thanks to quality paint work. Similarly for the boxed up corner of my living room. All ready to hold my TV, soundbar and host of devices! Whew that was a long update. My next update will probably be post-renovation, showing what it looks like with (almost) all my furniture in place. In place as in out of the boxes and actually placed where they ought to be Till then!

Hi how is your experience with the igloohome smart lock for your door so far? Am also wondering - did you also install a smart lock for your gate?

Just wondering - is the ledge for the aircon compressor beyond this window? Does boxing up seal access to the compressor?

Thanks for sharing YishunBTOguy. Your place has a very clean Scandinavian look. Btw is this a 36sqm 2-room flat?

Weeks 10 & 11 progress update According to my schedule, my fully renovated apartment was to have been handed over to me by today. Unfortunately, it seems that the laminates that I had chosen for my carpentry are out of stock and will be here only slightly more than a week from now. Projecting a few more days after that for installation of carpentry and then fabrication of my kitchen's table top after carpentry installation, looks like it will be another 3 more weeks Anyhow here're some updates since my last post. First up, final tiling works! All damaged tiles were replaced, including the one in the common bathroom here which was broken by aircon trunking. No trace of there ever being any damage! Skirting was also done for the areas at the walls that were boxed up. Strictly speaking not necessary, but it does create a more uniform look for the walls all around. The formerly protruding outlet pipe for the service yard basin has been moved - and it is now right below it! Lights and ceiling fan installation also took place! One of these things is not like the other..because these are ceiling lights from two brands: Fanz and Rubine. Yes they look the same, but functionally (for equivalent models from both brands) here are the differences in a nutshell: Rubine is cheaper than Fanz, but.. When you turn on the Rubine, it only turns on the fan function and you need to use the remote to turn on the light; the Fanz turns on the light and fan at the same time, without need for a remote When you turn on the Fanz, it remembers the last light and fan setting; not so with the Rubine The maximum light setting from the Rubine is noticeably dimmer than the Fanz While both can be bought in Malaysia, only Fanz has a Singapore-based service centre "Nuff said. Anyhow because the lighting on the Rubine was so dim, I had to arrange to use a Fanz light module on the Rubine ceiling fan. It did require some DIY soldering though. The blades look really good but are only faux wood though, unlike.. The ceiling lights like this one. Tri-colour and with a real woody frame! The view of the entryway from my apartment entrance At the end of a walkway, more wooden lights greet me at the entrance of my master bedroom. Here's a close-up! Lights certainly enhance rooms! And so do window dressings like blinds! Here we have the installer from TG Curtains & Blinds efficiently installing quality blinds at my apartment. A close-up of the Venetian blinds for my living room windows. Faux wood (for easier maintenance ) and fabulous looking! Entryway lights looking even more amazing with blinds! Dining area lights. No those aren't real birds perched on the branch. Another view of the living room lights, ceiling fan and blinds. See-through roller blinds for the kitchen because it just needs to cut down the glare without making everything darker. "Zebra" blinds for the rooms. Walnut blinds for the master bedroom to match the queen-sized walnut bedframe! Since I received a couple of PMs about the bed frame, here are some close ups! Unlike most other wooden storage bed frames that I have seen, this bed frame is sturdily constructed all around. Not only that, the headboard holds a generous amount of storage too! Ok that's all for now. Looking forward to the end of my renovation!!