Cleong, seriously I have fall in love with ur staircase. Hopefully I can find a contractor who can do mine, don't mind I copy your design

waaaa... drooping.. u make me wanna buy EM for my next house...

Hey cleong!

Finally, we managed to see some of your live-in pics and also the kitchen.

Initially, we wanted to have a similar kitchen layout, with the sink and stove placement... but decided to change after getting some FS advice...

btw, for your balcony folding doors... are they white-powder coated aluminium frame with glass panels kind? how much ah?

thanks!

great transformation man!!! i like lighting at the stairs but how to change the bulb from there ah??? did u keep the flooring and got it polished???

Balcony doors are white powder-coated with a very faint blue tint. Done by the same window contractor.

The staircase was quoted at $4000 + $150 to demolish most of the existing rails, as I wanted the original steel posts to be kept as solid supports. I got the staircase builder to build a wooden post around each existing steel post, secured with screws and finished with laminate.

There are six tubes inside the light box. It would require a stepladder to get to the further bulbs but for the most part, the light holders are movable inside the box and can be dragged over for changing. Its less difficult than cleaning/changing lights on a chandelier or hanging light in the stairwell, which was our other option for lighting at this area.

did u keep the flooring and got it polished???

Yes, I kept the original flooring for the upstairs parquet and downstairs marble and got them refurbished. Flooring at the toilets, kitchen, balcony and front door porch were however replaced.

Yes, I kept the original flooring for the upstairs parquet and downstairs marble and got them refurbished. Flooring at the toilets, kitchen, balcony and front door porch were however replaced.

HI bro, i juz PM u, i find ur reno is very nicely done and base on the cost of your railing and mine. I tink i got ripped off on staircase alone...others i cant imagine.

Ur cost $4,150

Mine is $4900(12mm glass panel, no wood support), $250 (removal of old railings), $850 (create concrete support for glass panels) = $6,000. WTF!!

Yes, I kept the original flooring for the upstairs parquet and downstairs marble and got them refurbished. Flooring at the toilets, kitchen, balcony and front door porch were however replaced.

Wow, the marble really looks exceptional in your after pictures. Mind if I enquire on what exactly you mean by refurbished? Did you have it polished? If so, how much does it cost to get that done?

HI bro, i juz PM u, i find ur reno is very nicely done and base on the cost of your railing and mine. I tink i got ripped off on staircase alone...others i cant imagine.

Ur cost $4,150

Mine is $4900(12mm glass panel, no wood support), $250 (removal of old railings), $850 (create concrete support for glass panels) = $6,000. WTF!!

I recall that my quote was fairly high until I did my own research into EM staircases (refer to Home & Decor's EM issue "Stairway to Heaven" or something) that I selected one that I wanted and to modify from there. I worked with the contractor discussing construction options and alternatives in an effort to ensure that the staircase is well supported, durable yet met my budget.

Wow, the marble really looks exceptional in your after pictures. Mind if I enquire on what exactly you mean by refurbished? Did you have it polished? If so, how much does it cost to get that done?

Refurbishing meant that gaps were filled in and some severely damaged parquet and tiles were replaced. They used some new tiles for the skirting of the under-staircase storeroom partition as well as the realigned kitchen entrance, but the new tiles matched well with the old. After that, its just a matter of polishing the whole lot till it looked like new. But the sheen will wear off pretty quick, and I suppose if you want to shiny look, regular polishing is required.

You can see the flooring before and after in the first two pictures.

Hi,

may i also know the cost for the sliding door for your balcony and contractor contacts. Can pm me.

thanks

Refurbishing meant that gaps were filled in and some severely damaged parquet and tiles were replaced. They used some new tiles for the skirting of the under-staircase storeroom partition as well as the realigned kitchen entrance, but the new tiles matched well with the old. After that, its just a matter of polishing the whole lot till it looked like new. But the sheen will wear off pretty quick, and I suppose if you want to shiny look, regular polishing is required.

You can see the flooring before and after in the first two pictures.

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Oops, I assumed your flooring was marble just by glancing at the sheen and reflections in your pictures..

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Oops, I assumed your flooring was marble just by glancing at the sheen and reflections in your pictures..

Hi, the flooring is marble. I got replacement marble tiles to replace what couldn't be polished or repaired.

Some overdue pictures of the MBR:

King-sized Ikea Malm bed and headboard storage combo with Ikea bedside lamps and custom built wardrobe with sliding doors

Ikea tv cabinet - used the same wood finish for the study's table and book cabinets as well.

Edited June 12, 201115 yr by cleong

I'd overlooked showing how I ran my aircon trunking - it was particularly difficult and convoluted how the previous owner had it run, and I could only slightly improve it:

The trunking runs in low along the wall from the balcony mounted compressor, rising up next to the MBR toilet entrance to the MBR fancoil. It also splits up at the top of the doorway to serve the other two bedrooms:

Showing the trunking running over the entrance along the wall. Only coolant pipes in there, because the drainpipes for the other two bedrooms run down from the white pipe you see to the left of the frame to the floortrap of the MBR

The long run of trunking causes problems and has already leaked once. The installer came back and judged that it was a combination of renovation debris and the length of pipe causing the issue.

Where possible the trunking is tucked under the crossbeams

In the next posts I will be showing some of the problems I'd encountered.