home-to-be is a 5-rm resale flat in bishan... honestly, we never expected that we would end up in this estate.

but the world is always full of surprises

below is the original floor plan of the flat; will be posting more pics on the headaches that have plagued (and are still plaguing) us, and the layout we will be looking forward to when reno is complete.

Your place square square layout, easy for furniture planing.

welcome, bishan is a great estate...

source of headaches: BEAMS

being an old flat which is more than 20yrs, the ceiling of the place is uneven, and lower than that of what we usually see in flats which are 12yrs or younger.

we were told that overall height of the place would be compromised by about 6cm (low).

coupled with that, beams and more beams ran all over the place.

1. previous owners tore down the original storeroom, leaving a gaping beam running through the kitchen

2. beam @ the foyer and cutting between living room/dining room - we can lay our palms flat on it!! (SO LOW)

3. beam supporting the balcony doors - potentially compromise layout, as we wanted to level the balcony to increase effective dining room area

BEAMS... headaches and more headaches

congrats on getting a place and starting the blog

... wow. when I was looking for a place I didn't see such layout... would have been good for my family, though the beam thing is really a prob I guess.. mm

source of headaches: BEAMS

being an old flat which is more than 20yrs, the ceiling of the place is uneven, and lower than that of what we usually see in flats which are 12yrs or younger.

we were told that overall height of the place would be compromised by about 6cm (low).

coupled with that, beams and more beams ran all over the place.

1. previous owners tore down the original storeroom, leaving a gaping beam running through the kitchen

2. beam @ the foyer and cutting between living room/dining room - we can lay our palms flat on it!! (SO LOW)

3. beam supporting the balcony doors - potentially compromise layout, as we wanted to level the balcony to increase effective dining room area

BEAMS... headaches and more headaches

your floor plan now that I look at it reminds me of blk 179 where i used to stay... well, I think if they didn't tear down, there wouldn't be beam for 1. Like to see picture of what you mean by 2. Is it really concrete or it was lowered by previous owner?!

take some pictures and show us

Edited July 7, 200917 yr by merryman

Congrats on your new place Beany!

Glad to welcome another fellow Bishanite. I'm located currently at 197. Your layout looks similar to those around the St 11 to 13 cluster.

Yup, agreed that the perpetual Bishan Beam problem always gives owners a headache. Looks like you'll have to plan a good false ceiling layout to minimise it. Hope you don't have those exposed pipes running across your living area too.

Look forward to hearing your plans and seeing pics.

source of headaches: BEAMS

being an old flat which is more than 20yrs, the ceiling of the place is uneven, and lower than that of what we usually see in flats which are 12yrs or younger.

we were told that overall height of the place would be compromised by about 6cm (low).

Hi beany0811, older HDB flats all have uneven ceilings. You can patch it with plaster. And yes, depending on the condition of the ceiling, you could lose a few cm.

hi all, thanks for the well-wishes.... got the keys to the place end june, and reno has just started.

we will be flushing the beams with false ceilings for some areas... hopefully it wun look too low and caved in @ the end of the day!

the good news is.... we have gotten the approval to get rid of the beam supporting the balcony doors, so that area won't look as if its been cut into halves. turns out it isn't an RC beam, but a stiffener.

a few pics of the place as it was when we got the keys.

LIVING ROOM

DINING AREA

BALCONY (with beam across living and stiffener @ balcony)

KITCHEN

this is the niche which used to be the storeroom... and with the beam

KITCHEN

another view of the long and narrow kitchen

Edited September 20, 200917 yr by beany0811

Hi beany0811, older HDB flats all have uneven ceilings. You can patch it with plaster. And yes, depending on the condition of the ceiling, you could lose a few cm.

hi sohck, rem my posting you n commenting our houses have almost the same layout?

rather similar, isn't it?

was hoping to get a few tips from you on how to minimise those ugly beams and getting around the low ceilings

CONGRATS on your new house! Will be keeping watch on your reno developments! It is weird that the ex-owner 'combined' his storeroom as part of the kitchen. Made it looked like a little dark corner.

Maybe we don't use much of the kitchen. But I surely prefer a storeroom so that I can throw in my rubbish and big electrical stuff that I hardly use

Congrats on your new place Beany!

Glad to welcome another fellow Bishanite. I'm located currently at 197. Your layout looks similar to those around the St 11 to 13 cluster.

Yup, agreed that the perpetual Bishan Beam problem always gives owners a headache. Looks like you'll have to plan a good false ceiling layout to minimise it. Hope you don't have those exposed pipes running across your living area too.

Look forward to hearing your plans and seeing pics.

hi AJ, yeah, we're on st 13 cluster and pretty near you. your block's location is excellent. Shop&Save and KSL is right opposite!

yeah, the beams caused some new strands of white hair :S both of us tried so hard to work around these irritating beams when we brainstormed our layout. eventually, we gave up and adopted the last resort, i.e. lowering of the false ceiling.

as for exposed pipes, we have 2 in the balcony area, which we intend to box up

Hi Beany! Another Bishanite here.. I'm at St24..

Your place looks big, beams have been a big headache for me as well.. Managed to hide some, but I swear I will never want to get another house with so much beams and columns..

Enjoy your stay in bishan, at st 13 for 4 years and st 23 for 15