A&A or Rebuild old 2 story Semi-D?

[snoozee 97]

41 minutes ago, Adrian Lim said:

I’ve got an old 2.5 storey and trying to get it to 3.

Is your house in a 2 storey or 3 storey landed zone? Since you mentioned it is already a 2.5 storey house, most likely it is in a 2 storey zone and you cannot make it into a 3 storey house through A&A. 

The only way you can get an "additional storey" within a 2 storey zone is to tear down and rebuilt based on the new envelope control and squeeze in an addition floor between.

[yoongf 11]

https://www.ura.gov.sg/maps/?service=LHA

[Goodenf 3]

Hi all, 

this tread is particularly of interest to me. I recently found on property guru a corner terrace house  I would consider to buy. It is a very old unit currently housing workers quarters. I have a few concerns need address before I dare make the offer.

1. I do not wish to make an offer only to find out I have foundation issues and structural issues which are big cost ticket items to fix. But the owner agent tells me Iit is not industry practice to add these as deal breaker in the OTP to get full refund of deposit.

1. I will have to be able add another 1/2 floor to it (currently 2 floor) to make space for my family. . I think it is legally allowed since the neighbor is a 2.5 sty. I need to know if the current structure will allow this addition or if I need to do a recon which I'm trying to avoid due to budget. 

can someone give me some advice how I should proceed please?

thanks.

[snoozee 97]

On ‎1‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 8:26 PM, Goodenf said:

Hi all, 

this tread is particularly of interest to me. I recently found on property guru a corner terrace house  I would consider to buy. It is a very old unit currently housing workers quarters. I have a few concerns need address before I dare make the offer.

1. I do not wish to make an offer only to find out I have foundation issues and structural issues which are big cost ticket items to fix. But the owner agent tells me Iit is not industry practice to add these as deal breaker in the OTP to get full refund of deposit.

1. I will have to be able add another 1/2 floor to it (currently 2 floor) to make space for my family. . I think it is legally allowed since the neighbor is a 2.5 sty. I need to know if the current structure will allow this addition or if I need to do a recon which I'm trying to avoid due to budget. 

can someone give me some advice how I should proceed please?

thanks.

I might be wrong but I think the only way to determine if there's any problems with the existing structure is to get a PE in to take a look.

whether the house can take another 1/2 storey or not also need a PE to verify from the existing structural plans which need to be purchased from BCA with existing owner's authorization.

[Nelson Chua 0]

Just do a A & A will do

[sillbeers15 7]

I've successfully completed my Reconstruction project to my 3 storey Semi D well within my budget and am somewhat reluctant to share the contact of the contractor I've used cause I do not think there is such a thing as a perfect contractor. All I can say is four of my neighbours also employed the same contractor to carry out A&A and recobstruction work after I've completed mine.

Perhaps I can share my experience with all rather than contact of contractor.

It is important to set one's expectation right before the start of the project and communication is important. I am a beliver of laying down specifications and requirements as detail as possible before entering into any writtern form of contract. Through this forum I've purchased the Renovation accessociation contract to be used as template and modify the contents before finalizing it with my contractor. Even that, I cannot cover all corners but eliminate miscommunication as much as possible. I took the project as a passionate task to materialise my vision in the project rather than finding it as a chore. I sketched and labelled all the exterior, interior space with dimensions and specifications. I provided clear locations of power sockets, lighting points, cable tv, len points. I've provided water pipe routing diagram, aircon compressor & blower locations myself. The architect drawings translateed my ideas and I do site visits daily over the 1.5 years period to ensure all that I've wanted was properly translated into progress.

For those owners that are uncertain about whay they want and do not know what you do not want, it is best to employ an architect to safe guard your interest. The downside is you need to pay for the services.

[snoozee 97]

23 hours ago, sillbeers15 said:

I've successfully completed my Reconstruction project to my 3 storey Semi D well within my budget and am somewhat reluctant to share the contact of the contractor I've used cause I do not think there is such a thing as a perfect contractor. All I can say is four of my neighbours also employed the same contractor to carry out A&A and recobstruction work after I've completed mine.

Perhaps I can share my experience with all rather than contact of contractor.

It is important to set one's expectation right before the start of the project and communication is important. I am a beliver of laying down specifications and requirements as detail as possible before entering into any writtern form of contract. Through this forum I've purchased the Renovation accessociation contract to be used as template and modify the contents before finalizing it with my contractor. Even that, I cannot cover all corners but eliminate miscommunication as much as possible. I took the project as a passionate task to materialise my vision in the project rather than finding it as a chore. I sketched and labelled all the exterior, interior space with dimensions and specifications. I provided clear locations of power sockets, lighting points, cable tv, len points. I've provided water pipe routing diagram, aircon compressor & blower locations myself. The architect drawings translateed my ideas and I do site visits daily over the 1.5 years period to ensure all that I've wanted was properly translated into progress.

For those owners that are uncertain about whay they want and do not know what you do not want, it is best to employ an architect to safe guard your interest. The downside is you need to pay for the services.

Actually all the specifications would have been listed down in the tender documents that the architect will do up for prospective builders to quote for the job. If the project requires an architect’s services, it would be better to engage the architect directly rather than going the builder route since this will mean the architect is protecting your interests.

Going the direct builder route would mean the architect is “appointed” by the builder so if anything happens, you have no one to protect your interest esp if the documents are also not in order. 

[sillbeers15 7]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:29 PM, snoozee said:

Actually all the specifications would have been listed down in the tender documents that the architect will do up for prospective builders to quote for the job. If the project requires an architect’s services, it would be better to engage the architect directly rather than going the builder route since this will mean the architect is protecting your interests.

Going the direct builder route would mean the architect is “appointed” by the builder so if anything happens, you have no one to protect your interest esp if the documents are also not in order. 

To employ an Architect is the safer and hassle free route. You will need to employ an architect to 'project manage' for you.

For me, reconstruction was a passion I've always wanted to do it once in my life. Therefore I planned out all things and carry out on site project supervision daily. It was fun for me and honestly I wanted my way of things to be done. I've challenged the engineer over removing unnecessary columns at unsightly locations and redesign the staircase accordingly. I've challenged the contractor on using 12mm glass panel accordingly to specification written in contract earlier against the acrylic he wanted to conveniently substitute it with. I've seen too many home owners pass the decision making rights to the contractor under the understanding of 'trust'. It often started with miscommunication and eventually ended with blaming the contractor for  being untrustworthy.

[Alwaysb 0]

On 9/4/2017 at 3:43 PM, C Clement said:

Hi I am new to this group.

just did a $300k A& A to my  IT,  including Strutural,  add a toilet, some extension front & back and  total Reno and a 3 phases 60A , rewir d whole house with Cat 6A Lan, ....  I think is $$ well spend.

too many ideas to share but don't know how to share lol 

Hi, can you recommend who you engage? I am also looking for extension just front and back. And adding toilets.