Small House Holding Our Big Dreams

[Catt 8]

2 hours ago, bykaraanne said:

One more pro to a handle-less system is that your clothes won't snag onto them while walking, so less of a hazard.  

i love my handles but my contractor did point this out to me and it's true haha!

 That's why I decided not to get drawers with handles as I have a tendency to either knock into them (ouch!) or graze my knuckles and cuticles when I'm cleaning.

trcd & Ricepaperdoll: I think I really need to make lifestyle changes (start using kitchen towels!).

[Catt 8]

28 June 2016- Key Collection Day! I'm now ready to be in debt for a long long time...

Hacking will commence tomorrow (apparently it's a good day to "touch soil", so it was a good thing for me that the seller moved his altar out on a different auspicious day. My dad generously helped to 'cleanse' the house with a special ritual since I made noise about superstitions that one should not renovate during the Hungry Ghost Festival. He didn't have to since he gave me The Look of "what the...". Anyway, I'm good to go apparently. Here are some house pictures to keep you entertained until more exciting changes take place.

View of the current living room from the kitchen doorway. The windows are quite crappy but my contractor says he will look at them to assess if they can be salvaged. The grills will be removed though my dad again warned me that I would get robbed. The wall under the first window is f***ed, which I had not noticed as the sellers kept the main door open all the time. The paint is at least 6 layers thick, the plaster is crumbling and the mortar is leaking water. Yay.

 

View from the living room. Happy to see so much greenery: 

 

Two views of the kitchen. Spot that evil beam in the middle of the ceiling! Sellers tiled it up, contractor advised not to.

 

The horrifically small bathroom that is giving me a major headache now. Those pipes! That narrow space! That claustrophobic WC space! I'm hacking down 3/4 of the wall between the two toilet spaces.

 

Utility room. I find this the most pleasant place in the entire house as it has no beams, no trunking, no pipes.

 

This will be our bedroom. There's this suspended cabinet/ drawer that's located halfway up my head on one of the walls. I have no idea why they had it. Hack!

 

The 2nd bedroom. This is a big room, which will be our future living room and I'm expanding the master bedroom into this room for the wardrobe space. Look at the huge double deck/ wardrobe bed and desks that have to be removed...  

Views from utility room and kitchen windows. So one side looks towards Cantonment, and the other side looks towards just the tips of Mt Faber park.

 

I was in a state of panic last weekend since my agent first alerted me that my contractor had applied for hacking starting on the day I collect the keys (late afternoon/evening). The contractor assured me during my Happy Hour that it would be done in 2 days (key collection day ate up 1 day, we were given 3 days to complete demolition) and I had no choice but to let him and the beer convince me. He also had to convince me that it would be fine hacking around the gas meter located in the kitchen, since SP Services called me at 5.40pm ON A FRIDAY AND TOLD ME IT'S AFTER WORKING HOURS AND BTW MA'AM WE NEED TO REMOVE YOUR GAS METER AND WE DON'T KNOW WHEN WE CAN MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AND YOU CAN'T HACK WITHOUT US REMOVING IT. I was trying not to scream in the bus and long story short, after a few minor heart attacks and reciting to myself that the sky is blue and grass is green, Citigas techs are coming tomorrow morning to remove the gas meter for god knows what nonsense reason. The logic is from them is too long and I know I can stop the gas temporarily...but seriously let's not get into that. I just needed to vent.

 

Edited June 28, 2016 by Catt

[JohnJohn 13]

Congrats Catt! Your place has gorgeous views. All the best in your upcoming reno. 

[Catt 8]

Thanks JohnJohn. By the way I love your feature wall, very stylish and somehow I imagine your place very relaxing to come home to after a long day.

[Catt 8]

I just remembered that I wanted to share this in case anyone who buys an old resale house ever encounters this. I've not heard of it before, but then I'm quite oblivious to technical stuff.

One day I went to the seller's place to get a reno indemnity form signed so that the contractor could start hacking the moment I received the keys. Before I left, the seller suddenly showed me this pipe that was hidden under the joint of the Lshape cabinet where the sink and box-up of pipes met. To be honest, I felt quite fed-up, because understandably the seller wouldn't be alerting me to this when I was viewing and buying the house, but still, it was quite annoying to learn about new problems owning an old house would entail.

I'm quite suaku, so I didn't know what I was looking at. Apparently, when HDB undergoes MUP/HIP (one of these) and they change the cast iron sewage pipes to PVC ones, they do not change the entire pipe. The joints of the iron pipes are embedded in the ceiling and the floors, and those are the original cast iron bits that are left in our entire sewage piping system. HDB replaces only the parts of the pipes that can be seen above ground and below ceiling. When the seller was renovating the kitchen, his contractors were given this PVC joint by HDB and they did not know how to fix it properly as it is meant to fit into the cast iron parts left behind. It leaked from the ceiling joint, and since it was in a box-up cupboard, no one noticed until water seeped from the ceiling, exited the bottom of the box-up, dripped down the walls and leaked into the neighbour's home below. The neighbour lodged a complaint with HDB and both house-owners had to partially pay for the damage and rectification.

So now I'm praying that my contractor is very very careful when hacking around this pipe, or fixing new extensions to it. 

[JohnJohn 13]

Thanks Catt. That was the effect I was going for - my place being a haven to retreat to.

[ricepapergirl 21]

15 minutes ago, Catt said:

I just remembered that I wanted to share this in case anyone who buys an old resale house ever encounters this. I've not heard of it before, but then I'm quite oblivious to technical stuff.

One day I went to the seller's place to get a reno indemnity form signed so that the contractor could start hacking the moment I received the keys. Before I left, the seller suddenly showed me this pipe that was hidden under the joint of the Lshape cabinet where the sink and box-up of pipes met. To be honest, I felt quite fed-up, because understandably the seller wouldn't be alerting me to this when I was viewing and buying the house, but still, it was quite annoying to learn about new problems owning an old house would entail.

I'm quite suaku, so I didn't know what I was looking at. Apparently, when HDB undergoes MUP/HIP (one of these) and they change the cast iron sewage pipes to PVC ones, they do not change the entire pipe. The joints of the iron pipes are embedded in the ceiling and the floors, and those are the original cast iron bits that are left in our entire sewage piping system. HDB replaces only the parts of the pipes that can be seen above ground and below ceiling. When the seller was renovating the kitchen, his contractors were given this PVC joint by HDB and they did not know how to fix it properly as it is meant to fit into the cast iron parts left behind. It leaked from the ceiling joint, and since it was in a box-up cupboard, no one noticed until water seeped from the ceiling, exited the bottom of the box-up, dripped down the walls and leaked into the neighbour's home below. The neighbour lodged a complaint with HDB and both house-owners had to partially pay for the damage and rectification.

So now I'm praying that my contractor is very very careful when hacking around this pipe, or fixing new extensions to it. 

Hope everything goes well for you! We also had a resale flat and instead of waiting for HIP/MUP we asked our ID to change all the pipes for us (so he was the one who explained to us that even for HIP/MUP they only replace the pipes that are visible in the house, and do not touch the parts that are embedded in the ceiling/floor areas) so that we can have peace of mind. Our ID, in changing the pipes, also helped to put in more "updated" pipe configurations so that funny branching-out pipes were removed etc which made life a bit easier when putting in stuff in the kitchen or toilets.

We also specifically asked for all our pipes to be exposed to prevent future leakage issues from being undetected, but I recognize that's not for everyone.

[brightz 0]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

I just remembered that I wanted to share this in case anyone who buys an old resale house ever encounters this. I've not heard of it before, but then I'm quite oblivious to technical stuff.

One day I went to the seller's place to get a reno indemnity form signed so that the contractor could start hacking the moment I received the keys. Before I left, the seller suddenly showed me this pipe that was hidden under the joint of the Lshape cabinet where the sink and box-up of pipes met. To be honest, I felt quite fed-up, because understandably the seller wouldn't be alerting me to this when I was viewing and buying the house, but still, it was quite annoying to learn about new problems owning an old house would entail.

I'm quite suaku, so I didn't know what I was looking at. Apparently, when HDB undergoes MUP/HIP (one of these) and they change the cast iron sewage pipes to PVC ones, they do not change the entire pipe. The joints of the iron pipes are embedded in the ceiling and the floors, and those are the original cast iron bits that are left in our entire sewage piping system. HDB replaces only the parts of the pipes that can be seen above ground and below ceiling. When the seller was renovating the kitchen, his contractors were given this PVC joint by HDB and they did not know how to fix it properly as it is meant to fit into the cast iron parts left behind. It leaked from the ceiling joint, and since it was in a box-up cupboard, no one noticed until water seeped from the ceiling, exited the bottom of the box-up, dripped down the walls and leaked into the neighbour's home below. The neighbour lodged a complaint with HDB and both house-owners had to partially pay for the damage and rectification.

So now I'm praying that my contractor is very very careful when hacking around this pipe, or fixing new extensions to it. 

Hi there, just to share what i have gone through.

My unit just went through the HIP 2 months back and the HDB contractor informed that they will do a hack through when they change the piping, i.e. including removing the cast iron ''ring'' that is embedded in the ceilings between both units unless your neighbour above or below your unit opt out for the upgrading, then they are unable to perform the hack through but just cut and change the portion that can be seen in our kitchen.

For my case, my piping from the top was a cut through but bottom wasn't as unit below mine opt out for the upgrading. 

 

[Catt 8]

ricepapergirl: The pipes still look pretty new from the HIP/MUP from a few years back, so I won't be changing them. The only pipe I'm removing is an air vent one that passes through the walls housing the WC into the shower room. Thank goodness they could get rid of it as it is in an awkward "standing horse" stance and takes up a corner of the shower room.

brightz: I guess the neighbours probably opted out of it then, I heard from the sellers that the ones downstairs had the most complaints about everything. I'm fine with the exposed pipes in the kitchen, I can't imagine having them boxed up in all sorts of funny shapes like what the sellers did. Just have to paint them in some nice glossy paints!

[Cazfaith 0]

Catt, Your wall sconces are so beautiful !!!! How much did it cost u after shipping? Is the internal gold orange in colour? Or is that the light effect from the bulb? 

Edited June 29, 2016 by Cazfaith

[Catt 8]

On 6/29/2016 at 2:25 PM, Cazfaith said:

Catt, Your wall sconces are so beautiful !!!! How much did it cost u after shipping? Is the internal gold orange in colour? Or is that the light effect from the bulb? 

Hi Cazfaith, the internal is not gold orange (I feel kena cheated about that), it is the same colour as the outside. The difference in colour is due to the light effect from the bulb. After shipping everything, it cost me a nose and ear bleed. Kidding. It came to approx. $946USD for all 4 sconces including shipping and tax. I probably didn't need that many, but that beam in the middle of my kitchen ceiling says yes I do.

[Catt 8]

Yay, long post time!!

Recently I've been told that I need to have a more positive outlook as negativity affects everyone around me (seriously the point is not negativity, the point is fear. FEAR muahahahha) . I don't know why I've received that feedback as I'm a very very optimistic person. Perhaps they have translated my pragmatism as negativity. So anyway, I've been on my Zen wagon for at least 2 weeks, smiling nicely at people and melting them with my big doe eyes and I was doing really well. Till I fell off the wagon at work because some people are just so idiotic that it's hard to believe we come from the same planet. Hi everyone, my name is Catt and I'm a crabby cantankerous old fart.

I am having problems climbing back up my zen wagon. I know I should be nice to my neighbours. My parents aren't the type to mingle with neighbours as it took them over a decade to speak to one auntie on the same floor. I also have a fear of people ringing my doorbell because I don't like dealing with fervently religious people. These days I am better because I've started online shopping . So the zen wagon- I received my first love note from one of my neighbours living below me. I've been warned by the seller that this one is the most complain-y of the lot. So what do I do? I feel quite 'hot' because they wrote me to "Call ME (them)" which smacks of my school days "See Me, Mrs Chua".  I've decided to ignore them in order to stay on my Zen wagon. The contractor told me that they orange heart -shaped love note was there since Day 1. Same as how people need time to adjust and show their neighbourliness, people also have to accept that not everyone is willing to make friends immediately. Everything takes time. Mr Quite-Forgetful contractor said he would speak to them. 

Today I went down to visit the new house and to check out the hacking works which are supposed to have ended yesterday. I also met the aircon contractor (told my contractor to introduce his contact to me so they can work together) and discussed with him the number of air-conditioning units I should have and how to run the trunking. I didn't want the aircon trunking to run along the bottom of the wall, but as usual, due to my everlasting CEILING BEAM problem, I had to run the trunking that was passing from the living room to the bedroom downwards near the skirting. In the end I have a sys 3 compressor generator thingy supporting my sys 2 Panasonic Econavi (I think it's 22000 btu for living room & hall, and a 12000 btu for bedroom). Asked the aircon contractor to please give me better armaflex stuff (sorry again I'm not good at technical stuff, but at the back of my readings I know they gave me the thicker tubing).

The toilet is still my biggest headache. The ground for the WC room is lower than the shower room and that cannot be levelled out as WC room's ceiling is much lower. Peeing 101 for midgets is something I've yet to master. The contractor's brother came today and he helped to solve the problem of me wanting a sink-in shower stall. So that was good. I have to try and get a pedestal basin not wider than 45 cm and the contractor is going to try and figure out if the 2nd pipe in the shower room can be moved. I also have to box up the gas pipe and meter in the kitchen which means now I will have this ugly thing blocking my lower-counter-only kitchen from the old living room/new dining area. My upper top half of the wardrobe will house a beam and renders that portion utterly useless. Luckily I'm used to a short Ikea wardrobe. Time to throw away more stuff!! I've also decided to change all the casement with top hung casement windows, into just casement windows, as they make the house look squat and dark and The Darkling Half HATES them. She thinks I cry tears of pearls (see what I did there?! Zen wagon!) and can sell them when I feel like it.

Pics to follow.

[Catt 8]

Hacking Pics

With Bedroom 2 (old room demarcated by the purple wall) knocked down to form my new living room, and the wall for Bedroom 1 (where I will sleep- Green Wall) demolished to build a new wall. The new bedroom wardrobe will start at the end of the green wall where the Bedroom 2's wardrobe used to be and extended to where the old BD2 door used to be.

 

View from the windows. The tiles and bags of sand arrived yesterday. I think that's the contractor's brother squatting there. A very serious and practical man, so it's nice when I make him laugh. I call him Contractor T's didi... I think he likes it.

 

The hacked up kitchen and floor of the utility room. Aiyah I forgot to take a picture from a different angle to show the gas pipe.

 

Next up, the hacked-through 2 toilets. So tiny I don't even know what to do.

 

The evil pipes. At this point, the "standing horse stance" air vent pipe has been removed. Now the contractor is trying to figure out how he can re-run the smaller pipe (the one closer to us in the picture) so that it creates more room for walking through. I have to have the basin on the new wall (old doorway to shower room will be sealed up) so that it's next to the shower, as the shower cannot be on the same side as the windows, otherwise the shower 'pole' will be running across the center of the window (which can NEVER be opened). Stupid right?! He asked me to make a rain shower and that earned him a withering duckface look from me.

 

That's it for now. Next is wetworks and all that tiling other stuff. I will sit tight till the contractor calls me again. 

 

 

Edited July 5, 2016 by Catt

[Catt 8]

Yesterday I went down to take a peek at the house to see what further works had been done. Contractor T's didi was there quietly doing some clean up and I was glad since we took the time to discuss the way the tiles should be laid, location of drains, and I took more measurements for a pedestal sink. Gotta live with a pedestal sink due to space constraints.  I have not bought any other stuff yet!!!! Very slow...I'm not sure when I should buy the fridge and washer since everyone keeps advising me to wait till the final weeks of the reno due to the warranty start period.

New bedroom wall and door relocation done. I forgot to take photos so I only have this one from Darkling Half.

Today I went down to Universal Union to look at taps, shower stuff, toilet bowls, heaters, hobs, chimney and oven. To be honest I have no idea if I'm getting a good deal purchasing from them, but after discount they do cost less than what I can find online. For the 3 items below they promised to sell for below $2200. I can't recall the exact amount but the chimney was originally priced at $1000++ and the Teka hob was approx $680 at the Teka boutique. As I intend to get my toilet sink, shower set, taps, mixers and heater from Universal, I think i should be able to bargain for further discounts.

Hob    Teka CGW LUX 60 3G AI AL TR CI
Oven    Bosch HBN331E1K 66L
Hood    Brandt AD1189X

Since I'd budgeted for more per item, the pricing feels reasonable to me I guess.

I had to leave quickly as the heat in Geylang was getting to me. Spent only a minute in Wasserbath (next door) because they are nuts... weak airconditioning and they tied their main door open. 

Toodleloooo!!

[Catt 8]

Wednesday 13 Jul'16 Update:

Went to the house and spoke to the electrician (husband and wife team). Was quoted $60 for a double socket. I think that's fairly reasonable since my colleague's ID quoted her 70-90 for double sockets.

Total for electricals scared me a little, but I have to absorb the impact since Darkling Half wants plenty of sockets (again, we have been deprived of substantial sockets for 7 years..so what can I say) in the kitchen for her use. I hear her saying things like...oh but I need a socket at the prep area for blender (which we do not own one of..so..err...trying to tell me something?)...oh TV area better have more, one socket for each appliance...etc. Friends, I did convince her that there would NEVER be enough sockets, sooner or later you will find a multi- extension plug growing out of the wall. So electricals came up to about $3k +. I"m not saying it's expensive as we did have more sockets than I estimated, and installing things like 2 ventilation fans and a lighted medicine cabinet did add to it as well. She also made a duckface when the electrician's wife (the sharper and smarter one of the pair) told her that it was illegal to have outlets placed 30cm above floor level. Apparently HDB requires 50cm above ground. She mentioned it could be done, but we have to bear the risk. Law-abiding me persuaded Darkling to stay with 50 cm (but seriously half the homes I've lived in and been to are 30 cm above floor  ) and she was NOT happy. Too bad!

Also met the windows/ sliding door/ door gate guy. I forgot that unit numbers can be built into the gate. So now I'm lazy to convey that message to my contractor and halfheartedly thinking about buying my own sign instead. My unit has two unit # signs, one given by HDB (old and yellow sign) and one that the previous owner stuck to the current gate. Not nice!

The contractor also handed me a binder book of laminates (Arova brand) to review.

Here are some pics:

Toilet tiling half-done. Grouting not done. Mixed reviews from friends and colleagues. Older colleagues dislike the tiles. Feedback is that it looks like a badly-done paint job. Younger colleagues love the tiles for the swirls and the variation patters. Nevermind, the people living in the house like can already. From a side view with the light halfway down the wall, the tiles look uneven (yeah I made a duckface to the tiler on this), and I was already told beforehand that this could happen due to the type of tile used (long). After grouting it might look less obvious. I may have the same issue with the subway tiles (short but plentiful). So basically they are telling me tiling is uneven no matter what is selected. Errr...let's see what happens after grouting.

 

My pathetic attempt at matching kitchen cabinet laminates with the countertop and my peculiar floor tiles.

I like "Ground" but am worried it will make the kitchen look very dark. "Gainsboro" is a warm grey which might counter the darkness. 

 

Not too sure about our wardrobe. It's sliding doors and I'm afraid of big panels of solid colour. Maybe something woody and light (Laricina) ? There's texture on this, so I'm still deciding if it will be a hassle to clean. Tried my powers of Manja to get the contractor to change white laminates within the wardrobe to grey or black. I"m not very good at the skill of Manja but it seems to have worked some. since the contractor sort of grunted in a 'I give up' manner. Thank you daddy for allowing me to practice on you for 35 years. 

Ok, will update with more pics and less words next time. Hopefully everything is tiled up by Saturday!

PS: They managed to 'realign' the annoying pipe in the toilet. So now there is more walking space between the WC and the wash basin in the shower room.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Catt