adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 wah.. *envy* you really can draw..... i got an F for my art and craft in sec sch... Thanks poseidon_gal for your kind compliments. I just try to draw what I can. Visited your blog and saw that you have a nice house coming up. Wishing you all the best for that and looking forward to seeing the pictures. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinkpetter 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 adrian john YAY congrats on a good valuation price! Take care of yourself ya! I do hope your meeting with Ah Soon goes well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
praisey 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 moi bishanite for 23 years, another 50 years to go! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Metalsubzero 0 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 Welcome and Congrats adrian_john..!! Very nice sketches, I think u can take over lawry's ID liao.. Hahaha.. At least u have more ideas.. Hahaha.. Anyways, congrats on getting a good valuation price for ur current unit.. Waiting to see more sketches and pictures.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Angel81 1 Report post Posted April 13, 2009 Wao, that's quite afew contractors/IDs you've contacted. I think with ur sketching abilities, engaging a contractor will be good enough! There's no need to get an ID who will just copy your lovely sketches. Haha, we did think of doing glass sided toilet in the MBR, after staying at a hotel that did exactly that. But we realized that it's not very wise when hb got up at night to use the toilet and switched on the lights. It immediately woke me up. For a good night sleep and privacy issues, frosted glass and some walls are better. Can you imagine one of you doing some business inside and ur kids or parents walk in? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 Another updated sketch (The scan resolution was quite bad today for some reason) to visualise another idea for the TV area at the hall, which is incorporated to flush with the rebuilt storeroom. In the previous sketch, we thought it'd be more neat to just mount the TV and use some niches for the A/V appliances, but practically speaking the recessed niche-like TV console space may provide space for placement of 5.1 speakers/subwoofers and the option of not necessarily mounting the LCD TV to the wall. In addition, the recess will also allow for some storage space to put stuff like DVDs/CDs etc. I guess it can still be neatly flushed and look clean. Also featured is an attempt to visualise the possibility of a more Open Concept kitchen with a mix of full-height glass doors and a half-height glass panel. After the site visit (which I'll share more in the next post), perhaps the Open Concept may be quite a challenge because depending on the kitchen layout (e.g. placement of tall cabinets or taking into consideration wet area and clothing hanging area),having an Open Concept may actually end up looking more cluttered. Oh well, this is something we'll be figuring out and grappling with to come out with new ideas. Any feedback/suggestions/ideas is as always, most welcome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 (edited) Update on yesterday's visit to the new place. Some thoughts and challenges we gathered from the visit are as follows: - It was still abit tough to have a good idea of the open space as the house is still packed with furniture etc. Also, the owners were around so also abit pai seh to really scrutinise and snoop around. - A piece of good news, the walls are in pretty good shape so that'll shave off costs for plastering. Doors and door frames are also in pretty good shape, so basically I'll just need to spend on 1 new door and a frame for creating a new opening for the MBR entrance that was sealed up; Unless of course, we opt to replace all the room doors with veneer doors. - The perpetual Bishan beam problem is darned annoying for anyone who wishes a clean and neat contemporary concept. So I guess all the false ceiling and hacking has to be done with alot of caution. This may also pose a challenge for trunking and also flushing of furniture/carpentry works. - The window grilles are actually pretty good, wrought-iron grilles with very fancy designs on it. Unfortunately, this may look rather hard and clash with our proposed clean concept, hence they would have to go and be replaced by white powder-coated grilles and new casement windows. (Again $$$) - A practical issue to deal with is on the hanging of clothes to dry. Although there is an airwell at the kitchen to hang wet clothes to dry, however, we were told that sunlight there is very minimal and hence, the owners themselves sometimes make use of the balcony area to hang their clothes to dry as it is very airy and the sun will shine directly there for a short spell in the afternoon. Arrgh, what a way to ruin what is supposed to be cosy corner of sorts. - If the clothing hanging area in the balcony is ever required as back-up (Please don't take away my plan to hang a rattan bird cage seat!), we may not be able to level the floor to the same height at the living area, let alone do a raised platform. - Still on clothes drying, if the clothes are being hung inside the kitchen, they will hang across the service balcony. Thus, changing the kitchen entrance further is not a valid option anymore and we'll stick to the original entrance. Also, depending on layout and placement of fixtures, we may need to shift the clothing hanging point slightly. Clothing hanging may also rule out the open concept kitchen. Like the balcony, I guess it may look weird if your kitchen is open and suddenly the clear line-of-sight view is spoilt by clothes hanging inside. - 3 of the HDB sewage pipes run through near the kitchen window at the service balcony. Of course, the first thought of rectifying it would be to box them up. However, boxing them up may end up creating a more 'blocky' look. 1 or 2 pipes run through the common toilet too, but I guess it wouldn't look so bad boxing this one up as compared to the service balcony. Edited April 15, 2009 by adrian_john Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 adrian john YAY congrats on a good valuation price! Take care of yourself ya! I do hope your meeting with Ah Soon goes well! Hi Pet, Didn't end up meeting him yesterday because he fly aeroplane. Was tentatively supposed to meet at around 8-ish cos' he said that he'll call me after he's done with an appointment at Kallang when I called to confirm time in the afternoon around 4+. Waited for him and called him around 830pm to check again; he'll call back but didn't lah. This morning I called him to suan him, and he joked that he got mixed up because he thought I was actually his other customer at Block 167 Bishan, and my block 197 so similar. So he'll call me again this evening to arrange. I know he's busy, and in a sense, I'm not angry or annoyed because I'm pretty flexible as I didn't have any plans anyways and you also did share with me about his tight schedule and his appointment keeping 'power'. We'll see if he calls me back today ... Hahahahah. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 @Praisey I've been a Bishanite for 21 years now too. Not sure if it'll be 50 more years to go, but I guess I'll definitely be here for the next 10 to 15 years! Just hoping now that my 2 boys will end up in Catholic High so that I can save money and time on transport. @Metalsubzero Thanks for the compliments. Lawry wouldn't need my help, he's even better than me cos' he's got great ideas of his own and he can work them out on the 3D software, which is way more precise and proportionate. I'm trying to master it but have been quite bad at it, so I just rely on sketching. @Angel Thanks for the compliments. For the MBR Glass toilet concept, one of the ideas to work it out will be to flush a 8ft wardrobe cum TV panel parallel to the toilet wall to block out the direct line-of-sight to it. This way, the wardrobe becomes something like a WIW and creates a passage area, which we can probably shield with some string curtains. There's always blinds I guess. Wifey also not very convinced so maybe we'll end up doing what you highlighted - frosted glass and some walls .. sighz! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pinkpetter 0 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 Hi Adrian! Actually I'm a little sad you guys didn't get to meet but quite happy that you're not too upset with that. I think it's a tough balance.. we often don't want someone too busy and don't want someone who is very free to take our calls all the time too. What a headache. Anyway I DO HOPE he calls! mmm Unless your family is very big or you accumulate laundry I reckon that space should be sufficient for you to hang. But it's quite visible from the foyer area... ever thought of having it covered a little more? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
familyof4 0 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 Hi Pet, Didn't end up meeting him yesterday because he fly aeroplane. Was tentatively supposed to meet at around 8-ish cos' he said that he'll call me after he's done with an appointment at Kallang when I called to confirm time in the afternoon around 4+. Waited for him and called him around 830pm to check again; he'll call back but didn't lah. This morning I called him to suan him, and he joked that he got mixed up because he thought I was actually his other customer at Block 167 Bishan, and my block 197 so similar. So he'll call me again this evening to arrange. I know he's busy, and in a sense, I'm not angry or annoyed because I'm pretty flexible as I didn't have any plans anyways and you also did share with me about his tight schedule and his appointment keeping 'power'. We'll see if he calls me back today ... Hahahahah. he was at my place when u called!!! cos i head him say he mixed up the block numbers...but i gues he is super busy already...so sometimes he forget...can call him to remind him. I did that and today he was early Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
booy 0 Report post Posted April 15, 2009 Wow.. You are like an artist... And have a lot of ideas for your 2nd home.. One good thing abt bishan is that there's quite a few good schools for kids.. hmmm, am I a bit too early to think of schools for my kids? haha... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 16, 2009 @Pet & Familyof4 Finally got to meet Ah Soon yesterday evening and the meeting turned out really well. After I called him yesterday morning, I didn't call to remind him, but I'm glad he did take the effort to remember and he called me in the evening before popping by from Tampines. He's a very nice and friendly uncle but what strikes wifey and I is that he's indeed very sincere and experienced and has alot of ideas to offer once you show him your preferred concept, and also he's very mindful of budget and down to earth. He also suggested that I take a look at some of his ongoing work and workmanship at Fondue's house this week and assess his workmanship. I guess I will pop by there on Saturday afternoon to have a look see. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adrian_john 1 Report post Posted April 16, 2009 Wow.. You are like an artist... And have a lot of ideas for your 2nd home.. One good thing abt bishan is that there's quite a few good schools for kids.. hmmm, am I a bit too early to think of schools for my kids? haha... Hi Booy, Thanks for the compliments. Its never too early to think about schools. Personally, I moved over to St 24 from the Central (St 13) primarily because of my 2 boys (Now aged 3.5 and 1.5 years). Hoping that they can get into Catholic High and hence, it'll save me the headache of transporting them to school early every morning as my alma mater is in the East side! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
familyof4 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2009 @Pet & Familyof4 Finally got to meet Ah Soon yesterday evening and the meeting turned out really well. After I called him yesterday morning, I didn't call to remind him, but I'm glad he did take the effort to remember and he called me in the evening before popping by from Tampines. He's a very nice and friendly uncle but what strikes wifey and I is that he's indeed very sincere and experienced and has alot of ideas to offer once you show him your preferred concept, and also he's very mindful of budget and down to earth. He also suggested that I take a look at some of his ongoing work and workmanship at Fondue's house this week and assess his workmanship. I guess I will pop by there on Saturday afternoon to have a look see. Glad it turned out well Yah, he'll ask the budget and will not ask you to do things that are not needed. Like my hubby saw hairline cracks in the house and wanted to plaster, uncle says he'll touch up for us and save that money for something else. Hubby also wanted to re-run the wiring, uncle had a look and says the wiring can last us for like 10+ over years...no need for that. These 2 items saves us $5k+ for my EM already... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
