Level Kitchen And Living Hall

[affinity 0]

Hi everyone, I'm renovating my first home and need your comments to double check my id idea

Usually the kitchen floor lower than the living hall for resale flat right? My ID asked me to hack the wall leading to the kitchen, open concept. then he will hack the kitchen floor and cabinet and lay cement over it and then "mesh". This is supposed to level the flooring between kitchen and living hall. I heard (vaguely) from my bro in law that hdb laws do not allow but id say he has been doing it for years!

Any one has any experience in this? thanks in advance

[lionfreak 0]

Hi everyone, I'm renovating my first home and need your comments to double check my id idea

Usually the kitchen floor lower than the living hall for resale flat right? My ID asked me to hack the wall leading to the kitchen, open concept. then he will hack the kitchen floor and cabinet and lay cement over it and then "mesh". This is supposed to level the flooring between kitchen and living hall. I heard (vaguely) from my bro in law that hdb laws do not allow but id say he has been doing it for years!

Any one has any experience in this? thanks in advance

i seriously think your bro in law is right bout this.. even if your id has done it for years.. the likelihood is that your reno cost will increase.. this shld be a qn of whether or not it is necessary for your living hall and kitchen to be levelled... just to be on the safe side... i think you shld go review on the hdb rules and regulations to see if it really is applicable to do so..

[ngunadi 2]

I think why this is not allowed because of the loading factor of the kitchen area.

If you use cement, the kitchen area would be too heavy and exceed the designated loading factor.

Your id might have done it many times and didn't have any problem. But, you should be on the safe side, if there is a problem, who would be responsible?

[affinity 0]

Thanks lionfreak and ngunadi for your reply.

Yah I had my doubts too. I think I'll just leave the kitchen and living hall level status quo. And yes lionfreak, you are so right to say that reno cost will go up. My id first quote exceeds my budget by 30%! Btw is this the norm with most id? They mark up high high and expect you to negotiate down? By budget $XXk means that the max right? I dun feel like going back and haggle like wet market auntie

[madwarrior72 0]

Hmm... my current kitchen floor and dining cum living area flooring are also level to the same... dun seems to have any issues on this with HDB during my initial reno 5 years ago . F.Y.I, I've sold this current house and bought a resale planning to do the same flooring renovation. 1st appointment is next week. The HDB sales inspection to my current flat had already completed and the officer did not mention that this is not allow and request us to revert. All passed leh...

Edited January 26, 2010 by madwarrior72

[melvin 0]

what about levelling the balcony and the living room? seems a lot of people have done it

[Ozzyjoe 0]

you cannot simply pour concrete cement with steel mesh on the floor to level up the kitchen & living hall. u will need to lay extruded polystyrene foam (EPF) before that process.

Nic

Wah Bro,

U contractor ah? So cheem.....

[affinity 0]

Hmm... my current kitchen floor and dining cum living area flooring are also level to the same... dun seems to have any issues on this with HDB during my initial reno 5 years ago . F.Y.I, I've sold this current house and bought a resale planning to do the same flooring renovation. 1st appointment is next week. The HDB sales inspection to my current flat had already completed and the officer did not mention that this is not allow and request us to revert. All passed leh...

Hi madwarrior72, can i check if you had to pay very much more reno costs 5 yeears ago? How's the effect?

[waileong 0]

Hi everyone, I'm renovating my first home and need your comments to double check my id idea

Usually the kitchen floor lower than the living hall for resale flat right? My ID asked me to hack the wall leading to the kitchen, open concept. then he will hack the kitchen floor and cabinet and lay cement over it and then "mesh". This is supposed to level the flooring between kitchen and living hall. I heard (vaguely) from my bro in law that hdb laws do not allow but id say he has been doing it for years!

Any one has any experience in this? thanks in advance

It's not about regulations.

It's about common sense.

Kitchens can be dirty, oily places.

Hence, sometimes people may choose to wet-wash the floor. As in use a hose and flood the floor.

Thus, kitchen floors are usually lower, so that the water will not run to the rest of the house.

[madwarrior72 0]

Hi madwarrior72, can i check if you had to pay very much more reno costs 5 yeears ago? How's the effect?

Hmm not really leh... honestly, can't really remember the details le but paid around $36K to renovate the whole house includes, all flooring, lots of carpentry work, whole kitchen built in cabinets, stoves (my kitchen top is marble too), change all doors to designer doors, built in wardrobe, 2 toilets revamp with complete vanity top complete with shower screen and many more...but that was 5 years ago lah. I dare to say that it works out real well. So far, I've only received good comment on design and renovation from visitor. I've also manage to sell the flat at a very good price compared to others in my area on the same range of floor level. F.Y.I, I sold my flat in just 2 days at a price that is higher than our asking with only 1/2 hour of viewing time each day and not forgetting that the final buyer only did manage to buy our flat after "balloting" with other buyers that refuse to give-up...

I think most important of all, you must be comfortable in the design as nevertheless, you will be the one living in the house. There will be many many suggestions by relatives and family members but these should only remain as suggestion as only you could make the decision. It may be a few thousand more expensive now but think in the way that it is for good investment. Imagine 3K more for a 5 year staying period will work out to only $50.00 / mth investment but will definately helps to fetch more should you decide to sell the flat after 5 years. I guess, good and modern renovation does play a part in today's resale market.

All the best for your reno plan.

[olivia751 0]

Hello,

All the member here given a nice ideas about the remodeling of the kitchen. I don't know much about that but when i was going to remodel my house then many of my friend suggest me a long list of contractor. With some of the contractor i have very bad experience but some are really nice and good in their work. Some have a good ideas about the Kitchen & Bathroom Renovations , kitchen cabinet remodeling, deck remodeling etc. You can take help form their company.

Regards,

Olivia

[affinity 0]

Thank you for all your comments.

I'm weighing costs vs design now. Things like levelling the kitchen and living costs money. Though it looks good, but like waileong pointed out, it may cause problem when cleaning kitchen. I don't cook much but my PT maid likes to wash my kitchen. I really headache now... I like the design by the ID but the costs is 30% above my budget. other than the kitchen, the capentry works is already $13k. Maybe he is waiting for me to bargain like other people but I wonder if the costs can be cut down by 20% to 30%. reputation wise it means that he is out to cut my "cai tou" right?

If you have ID (or good contractor) that can offer practical design and reasonable quote, please pass me the contacts. I just an average joe trying to improve my home to livable standards. no need level kitchen and living lah.

[Clementi_PR 0]

Halo all,

Actually, one of the id i approached also suggested to make a open kitchen concept,

instead a full leveling, he suggested only 1 meter leveling from the living room.

This will give more space to the living room.

Is this 1 meter leveling also not permitted by hdb?

How come the id didn't know about this?

They are hdb license actually?

TIA

[wolflet 1]

Halo all,

Actually, one of the id i approached also suggested to make a open kitchen concept,

instead a full leveling, he suggested only 1 meter leveling from the living room.

This will give more space to the living room.

Is this 1 meter leveling also not permitted by hdb?

How come the id didn't know about this?

They are hdb license actually?

TIA

i think the ID have to submit a request to hdb for approval.

[affinity 0]

Hi everyone, I have checked the HDB rules on this topic and would like to share the following:

Source HDB InfoWEB: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/fi10/fi10324p.nsf/w/...t#FloorFinishes

- Type of Building works

Topping of kitchen floor to level with living room using extruded polystyrene foam (EPF)

- Need Permit?

No

- Subject to following guidelines and conditions

The existing floor screed and finishes are to be completely removed before commencing the proposed work

Maximum thickness of floor finish inclusive of screed and tiles must not exceed 50 mm

If the drop between the kitchen and living room floor level is more than 50 mm:

Suitable thickness of EPF shall be used such that the floor finish of not more than 50 mm laid over the EPF is maintained (see sketch Drawing 1)

Minimum parapet height should be 1000 mm, otherwise upturned railing must be provided to achieve this required height

Minimum clearance height of 2.6 m measured from finished floor level to underside of ceiling

So the expensive ID is actually pretty accurate