K's Home

[kooky 2]

The sliding windows along the corridor which will be replaced.

[kooky 2]

Staircase is demolished.

View from the main entrance

View from the living area

[KenLui 0]

Staircase is demolished.

View from the main entrance

View from the living area

Wow kooky,

U performing super major overhaul.

U removed the first flight of staircase? Creating storage?

[myrick88 0]

Wow...I think yours is major renovation. Haha..construct roof and demolish stair

[kooky 2]

We removed the first flight (keep the 2nd flight as it is too costly to ripoff the entire stairs) turn it around which is facing the Study room. The newly relocated storeroom, its door will be facing the entrance of the kitchen.

Yes, it is a major one and is one of the reasons for the delay!

Edited March 2, 2013 by kooky

[kooky 2]

View from my main door along the corridor - he stadium and swimming can be seen.

View from the service yard - facing the multi-storey carpark. Not a desirable view but surely better than facing another HDB block.

[KenLui 0]

Wow kooky,

Must camp for your transformation.

For the staircase reconstruction, be alert of what happyang always stressed, look out for the "shou kou".

All the best for your Reno.

[kooky 2]

Mine is not really a big transformation as the layout is pretty much the same and there are not too much hacking with exception to remove the first flight of the stairs.

Thanks for the pointers and will try to read up on the 'shou kuo' thing. In the whole renovation, I have to admit that I tend to pay more attention on safety aspects (e.g. round corners against sharp corners and also on soft-closing cabinets/drawers etc). Maybe maternal instinct has got the better of me

Edited March 2, 2013 by kooky

[HappyAng 0]

Wow kooky,

Must camp for your transformation.

For the staircase reconstruction, be alert of what happyang always stressed, look out for the "shou kou".

All the best for your Reno.

Bro Ken, how to have nice "Shou Kou", I am also learning from my ID de.. Will share more photos in my T-blog on the "Shou Kou" and hope can benefit more people here.

Mine is not really a big transformation as the layout is pretty much the same and there are not too much hacking with exception to remove the first flight of the stairs.

Thanks for the pointers and will try to read up on the 'shou kuo' thing. In the whole renovation, I have to admit that I tend to pay more attention on safety aspects (e.g. round corners against sharp corners and also on soft-closing cabinets/drawers etc). Maybe maternal instinct has got the better of me

Notice that u are also doing glass railing? Just to share, we very kiasu, we use laminated tempered glass as railing. Double safety. Also take note of the minimum safety height for the railing at 2nd level.

[kooky 2]

Thanks for the tip, HappyAng. I am not sure if the contractor is going to use laminated tempered glass or just tempered glass. How much is the price difference between the two?

We do have a budget that's why we are watchful on what we are spending on as the contractor has reverted with a revised quote that's higher than what we intended for this reno; hence, we are forgoing some carpentry jobs which can be done later.

[KenLui 0]

Bro Ken, how to have nice "Shou Kou", I am also learning from my ID de.. Will share more photos in my T-blog on the "Shou Kou" and hope can benefit more people here.

Notice that u are also doing glass railing? Just to share, we very kiasu, we use laminated tempered glass as railing. Double safety. Also take note of the minimum safety height for the railing at 2nd level.

Hehe HappyAng

Actually, based on my observations, the builders for the glass railings needed to be very precise and skilled to build the three pieces of glasses to sit into the grooves that they built, nicely. I noticed they came a few times using their laser to make measurements. The challenge for them was for the first two pieces, where there is this T angle. If everything swee swee. U will notice everything very even out and from u resting your hand for the first glass to the last, there is no noticeable difference.

For my case, the second piece of glass has a very slight deviation as compared to the first.

But since not very noticeable, I let it pass and let go.

[HappyAng 0]

Thanks for the tip, HappyAng. I am not sure if the contractor is going to use laminated tempered glass or just tempered glass. How much is the price difference between the two?

We do have a budget that's why we are watchful on what we are spending on as the contractor has reverted with a revised quote that's higher than what we intended for this reno; hence, we are forgoing some carpentry jobs which can be done later.

Err... I think about 30-40% higher from tempered glass to laminated tempered glass..

Hehe HappyAng

Actually, based on my observations, the builders for the glass railings needed to be very precise and skilled to build the three pieces of glasses to sit into the grooves that they built, nicely. I noticed they came a few times using their laser to make measurements. The challenge for them was for the first two pieces, where there is this T angle. If everything swee swee. U will notice everything very even out and from u resting your hand for the first glass to the last, there is no noticeable difference.

For my case, the second piece of glass has a very slight deviation as compared to the first.

But since not very noticeable, I let it pass and let go.

I don't think I have this alignment issue for my glass railing. Because, my wifey wants wooden handrail, so the slight deviation will be sitting in the wooden handrail..

[KenLui 0]

Thanks for the tip, HappyAng. I am not sure if the contractor is going to use laminated tempered glass or just tempered glass. How much is the price difference between the two?

We do have a budget that's why we are watchful on what we are spending on as the contractor has reverted with a revised quote that's higher than what we intended for this reno; hence, we are forgoing some carpentry jobs which can be done later.

Hi kooky,

If you are more concerned on safety aspect and with very young kids and more kids to come along, advisable to use laminated tempered glass. The only difference and disadvantage will be there maybe bubble popping up due the the passage of time. I was advised on this by the glass contractor.

Anyway, think you still have time to consider.

All the best.

[kooky 2]

Ken, as usual, you are always helpful and thoughtful :-)

I have brought this up over the w/end and discussed with my spouse. He said according to his memory, tempered glass is also known as toughened glass which is widely use in homes and it is actually serve its purpose well. Many cars manufaturers are using temepered laminated technology for their windows, that's to say it is more common for industrial use which explain why this cost a lot more.

We are both pretty okay with temepred glass but nonetheless will reconfirm with my contractor when we see him this afternoon for Open Net installation.

[kooky 2]

My 20 months old miss muffet!

Edited March 4, 2013 by kooky