Progress Report

Floral la#inate on living roo# bay window, still #issing its cushions

woody-feel kitchen cabinet, still #issing its doors & a glass backing

built-in shoe cabinet right by the entrance

dining settee, still #issing its co#fy cushion seats & a #irror

beehive-look-alike feature wall & tv console (still #issing a glass panel)

Finally posting another update on #y reno progress after so#e ti#e. Reno progress is good and though there are so#e hiccups with the di#ensions of the carpentry and the backsplash of the kitchen cabinet, it looks like all this will be settled by next Wednesday. The latest 2 proble#s though are in the bedroo# wall and the cooker hood.

After quite a bit of rain last week, it appears that the botto# wall surface of the #aster bed roo# is wet. Our ID suspects a proble# with the waterproofing and we have just reported this to the HDB service centre. They have pro#ised to send so#eone to rectify the proble# by drilling the wall and inserting so#e waterproofing che#icals early next week. Hope they do keep to their schedule or it will #ean a delay of the laying of the la#inate flooring and the built in wardrobe.

The cooker hood (Turbo brand) has started to rust after just a few weeks which is pretty ridiculous. Going to call up Gain City to co#plain and see what they say. Also posted photos of the 3/4 co#pleted reno above (#y cousin has constantly logged on to check on the reno progress and noticing a co#plete lack of updates, she finally s#sed #e for updates. So here they are:)

IDs and Contractors

Like#ost people, we went through the tiring process of talking to quite a few interior designers/contractors to select the right one to renovate our flat. Ulti#ately, we selected Willia# fro# Plush Living as he gave us a nice 3D drawing based on our selected colours and the#e. The price was also reasonable and we felt co#fortable talking to hi#.

The rejected ones:

1. Rest and Relax (Cadence) - Was nice talking to her but price was out of our budget.

2. Orange Cube (A#os) - Was quite i#pressed with hi# but price was out of budget just like first one.

3. OneInchSquareFeet (Adeline) - She offered ideas that were different fro# others in our first #eeting and pro#ised a free 3D drawing in 1 week as well. However, the 3D drawing took 2 weeks to produce and we also felt that the first #eeting was a waste of ti#e as she did not incorporate any of her ideas into the design as well. Quotation was on the lower end but effort into the 3D drawing was a let down.

4. Wilhun (Wilson) - He was a contractor who recently co#pleted the renovation for #y parent's flat. After #eeting hi# the first ti#e and requesting a quotation, he actually stood #e up for our second appoint#ent, not turning up at all and not answering calls at the sa#e ti#e.

5. ????(Ah Beng) - Although he was reco##ended in the foru#s, it was not to be as we rescheduled appoint#ent after appoint#ent and failed to #eet up. Once we could not #ake it, another ti#e, he had so#ething urgent to attend to and twice he was sick.

We spoke to another 2 as well, but honestly, they were hardly worth #entioning and cannot re#e#ber #uch of the#. Finally, after talking to 8 ID/contractors over a period of 4 weeks, we finally signed with Plush Living. Attached are the 3D drawings fro# Plush Living.

The Journey to a New House + Floor Plan

I guess I should start how everyone starts. Sharing about how I got #y flat and then co#plaining about how tiny a new HDB flat is, and sharing the floor plan to justify #y grouses.

After deciding to find a place we can call our own, looking at the crazy property prices in Singapore and our own savings, #y wife and I inevitably ca#e to the sa#e conclusion that #ore than 80% of Singaporeans did. We could only afford a HDB flat. It was a toss up between a 4 roo# flat near Bedok, where #y parents lived and a 3 roo# near the central area, where #y in laws were. Both cost about the sa#e price and so the decision was between the convenience of living near the city vs a bigger living space.

Having said that, we ended up actually balloting for a new 4 roo# flat in Punggol instead. This was totally #y idea. I liked the location of the new HDB develop#ent which was just beside the #RT, plus there was the hype of Punggol 21 and I figured that in the 3-4 years that it would take to build the flat, there would already be #ore a#enities in the area. #y wife however felt that Punggol was pretty #uch at a godforsaken location in Singapore. Anyway, unfortunately for us, as it is for #ost people, the $10 registration fee that we paid for balloting went to the goven#ent's coffers without us getting a decent queue nu#ber.

We were however second ti#e lucky when we took part in the Oct Sales of Balance flats last year. We targeted the 3 roo# flats on the banks of the Kallang River. By the ti#e the ballots closed, I figured we would have a 50% chance of getting what we wanted. Our chances were doubled since it was close to where #y in laws stayed and it see#ed that the people balloting appeared less interested in flats in the area.

It was with delight and relief when we finally received a letter fro# the HDB with a good queue nu#ber and we pro#ptly went to select our flat in February this year. The proposed co#pletion date was April 2012 but it was co#pleted early and we got our keys in #id June.

We knew a 3 roo# flat was s#all, staying in one currently, but we didn't figure it would be that tiny. On paper, it had a bigger floor area than the older 3 roo#s but with additions of a passage way, service yard and co##on bathroo#, the living dining roo# was about the size of the kitchen in the older flats.

First Post (Reno Already started for 2 weeks)

A little late in starting this blog but it was all I could do after a very hectic few weeks of searching for IDs/contractors and furniture. Now that part of the dust has settled, it see#s like a a good ti#e to take a breather and update on the progress of the reno. Oh, btw, did I say that one of the letters on the keyboard was not working? That would be the letter between 'l' and 'n'. Since this blog appears to have the irritating habit of not allowing one to copy and paste letters, I will have to substitute every of that letter with a # instead.