Day 29 - Lighting works has begun....

It is day 29 of the renovation works. We were half expecting only painting works to continue today but we got a surprise.

Lighting works for our home has begun. Most of the LED Downlights and Cove Lights have been installed. We were very happy and glad that the LED downlights themselves were pretty bright and able to light up the living room comfortably; and with the cove lights it is surely bright enough if needed to light up the whole living room.

The LED downlights and cove lights for the master bedroom is also installed. We were so happy to see the lighting works; and once the switches is up, we would not need to bring a torch to our home when we visit it at night.. :)

Here are some pictures below..

Day 28 - Painting works commenced, Lighting ariived and Piping for kitchen stove and sink done...

It is day 28 of the renovation works. Painting works has commenced and the primer coat for most rooms has been done. Once that is done, another major part of the renovation works, carpentry, will begin.

Before that, the electrician will also firm down the various electrical points for the house and fix up the lighting which has just arrived today. Finally, we would be able to have lights when we visit our home. :)

The kitchen sink and stove piping are also done. Now it seems most of the jobs will slowly coincide with one another; and our ID must ensure that the works flows smoothly without mistakes.

Below are some pictures....

Day 24 - Plumbing works has begun... Shower fixtures done...

It is day 24 of the renovation works. Plumbing works for our home has begun. We saw the piping for our water supply to the sink in the kitchen has been done.

In our bathrooms, the hansgrohe shower fixtures have also been done up. With the shower system in the common bathroom and the rain shower system in the master bathroom.

Our water storage heater has been placed in the common bathroom (even though the initial idea was to have it in our kitchen). After discussion with my ID, she proposed it to be in the common bathroom because it would not make the kitchen look ugly and it would be easier to use the water piping that hdb has provided instead of extending them.

Here are some pictures..

Day 22 - Kitchen Tiling grouted and Master bedroom timber flooring almost done

It is day 22 of the renovation works. Our ID informed us that the timber flooring for our master bedroom would be done by today. At first I didn't believe it but when we went to have a peek in the evening, we were happily surprised that they have laid it nicely and left with some skirting works.

Our kitchen floor tiles are also grouted and covered nicely. A clear indication that carpentry works is going to commence soon. We also noticed that the bathroom and kitchen accessories that we have previously ordered were delivered today along with our oven and hob...

In summary, our flooring for the whole house is almost complete. :) One major part of the works done...

Here are some photos..

Day 21 - Kitchen Tiling works almost complete and Master bathroom tiles grouted

It is day 21 of the renovation works. Our kitchen tiling works is almost complete and left with grouting to be done to it. To us, we love the looks of it.

The foyer tiles are also complete right up to the door.

Our master bathroom has also been grouted. The accent looks great... feel very inviting and comforting.

Below are some photos taken (the iphone quality at night does not do the tiles justice.)...

Day 20 - Bathroom kerbs being built and Kitchen floor tiles on-going...

It is day 20 of renovation works and progress seem pretty ok thus far.

The tiling works for both bathrooms seem to be done and now they are doing the kerbs for the glass shower screen for both bathrooms. If you noticed, the kerb is being built with a recess that would accommodate the shower screen to keep the shower screen guide hidden so that it does not have sharp edges appearing. It is a simple idea but time-consuming to construct; and I must thank my ID for looking into such details for us.

My favourite place, the Kitchen, is also having its floor tiles being laid. These tiles are our favourite. It has the wood grain look but are actually homogeneous tiles. Though they cost the most, they are definitely worth it. The carpentry works would be covering all the visible wall tiles (assured by my ID) with stainless steel backing for the work areas. I am really looking forward to see the kitchen being done up... (for the whole house as well!!)

Some pictures for viewing...

Day 18 - Master Bathroom almost complete and Foyer tiling has begun

It is day 18 of renovation. All of the tiling works for the living room, dining area, study room as well as 2nd bedroom are done. :) All that is left is the grouting work for the tiled rooms.

Tiling works for the finer details of our Master Bathroom has also begun. Due to HDB rules, we have to build a kerb for our shower area in order to accommodate the glass panel. If you notice, our glass will be recessed in a gap of the tiles...

Tiling works for our foyer and kitchen has also begun. This is our favourite tile and we think it looks fantastic...

Below are the photos we took...

Day 17 - Living Tiles Grouted and Common Bathroom tiling done

It is day 17 of the renovation works. The tiling works for the house is still on-going but with good progress.

Our living room tiles have been grouted and the study room tiles have also been laid. We went and walked on the grouted tiles in the evening and I have to say its a pretty well done job considering our tiles are not glossy surfaced and hence edgier than glossy homogeneous tiles. The dining area and study room tile will soon be grouted too.

Another nice touch is that our common bathroom tiling works is also complete. We saw the workers grouting the tiles and the looks of our common bathroom is great. We love it.

Here are some pictures....

Day 16 - Living and Dining area tiling works almost done

Its day 16 of the renovation works. We decide to go and have a look to take a photo of our floor tiles in the day. And also to get a feel how it would look like as well.

When we got there, we saw that the living and dining area tiles are almost complete (just some minor touches).

And when we compared it to our 3D drawing, it look pretty similar and we could start imagining how it looks when all things are done. :)

Day 15 - Tiling works for Living Room has begun

It is day 15 of renovation and today is a public holiday (Vesak Day). We were half expecting that no works would be done today since its a public holiday. However, we got a great surprise.

Previously, we were a little worried that our works would be delayed as it has been a week and tiling works for only the bathrooms were done. We contacted our ID and talked to her about our concerns; she assured us that it would go accordingly to her plan but mentioned that the schedule she provided us is a guide and that works will overlap each other. I understood her point of view and let her handle the situation.

When we went to our new home in the evening, we didn't expect that there would have been much difference since our last chat with our ID. However, to our surprise, she did get to work on a public holiday. I accidentally stepped onto a newly leveled flooring which was made in prep for the foyer, leaving a light shoe impression behind. Once I realised something was wrong, I retracted my step and we viewed our unit from outside.

The main living and dining area tiling works has begun. We didn't step into the house so we are not sure about the rooms but it put a big smile on our faces. The foyer and kitchen has been leveled nicely as well.

Below is a picture update..

1/3 into our renovation works review

This is sort of a summary for the things we have done for our new home. It all started around Jan 2011 when my wife was sourcing for various designs and ID firms online; looking at the works done and various blogs and forums where much of home-owners posted their renovation works online.

She shortlisted a few ID firms and showed them to me. We discussed on a decent budget that we were prepared to spend on our renovations works (not including the items and accessories for our new home). We roughly know what concept we wanted; but like most new home-owners we are worried about being a 'carrot' being chopped by firms out there.

But we took the first step and started to approach ID firms and talk to them (through email and face-to-face). To cut the process short, we basically went with the ID which had a concept that suit our taste best and could create a 3D re-creation of how our new place would be like that is closest to our 'dream home'. The most important thing is that we are comfortable with ID and the prices quoted.

We knew from the start that our quote was priced above average; but we trusted our ID (from the works she had done on her portfolio) to deliver to our needs even down to the details of the various items and accessories required.

When the time came to confirm our designs and concepts, we were appreciative that our ID took our views into consideration and made changes to the initial proposed concept (from colors to materials; even to placement of various major items). She had an arsenal of designer materials (i.e. laminates, tiles, solid surfaces, colors, shades, etc) to show for in an event we didn't really like what was proposed.

Once the designed was confirmed, she went ahead and started getting the detailed drawings done. In the meantime, she went with us to select the fittings and accessories for our new home (i.e. furniture, bathroom fittings, kitchen sinks and stoves, ovens, etc). My wife and I also went ahead to buy the smaller items ourselves, and our ID basically informed us to send her the dimensions of the bigger items for her to take note.

We knoew we were going for quality materials; hence we were ready to fork out a certain amount for products that we knew were respectable.

All shower, taps, and mixers - Hansgrohe
Water Storage Heater - Joven
Stove and Oven - Ariston
Sink - *cannot remember the brand* but its pretty solid
Furniture (dining table and chairs, Sofa, coffee table) - Lorenzo
Washing Machine - Panasonic

Lightings - All LED downlights, several tube lights, cove lights, and 2 feature lightings

Smaller Items-
Hitachi Vacuum Cleaner
Panasonic Microwave Oven

We wanted to buy our Bosch refrigerator but the shop owner told us that we had to wait til August for the next shipment hence we didn't get it from them.

In summary, with a good ID, we were pretty assured to go ahead with purchasing most of stuff way in advance even before the works on our home has even begun. Hence, my wife and I feel that we are also paying for the service and reassurance for the job to be done.

Day 13 - Bathrooms almost done with walls plastered nicely...

Its day 13 of the renovation works and both our bathroom tiling works are almost complete. The walls for our whole house which has been hacked before are rebuilt accordingly and plastered masterfully.

We even met the uncle who was doing it (on a Sunday).

Soon our tiling works will begin for the kitchen and rooms. Can't wait... :)

Day 9 - Contining tiling works and leveling kitchen floor

Its day 9 of renovation works and seems like there is progress everyday. Our kitchen flooring has been leveled through to the service yard in preparation for the tiling works for the kitchen floor.

Tiling works for both bathrooms are on the way, with the common bathroom almost complete.

Below are some pictures.

Day 8 - False Ceiling works almost complete & Tiling works has began...

It is day 8 of the renovation works and each day bring little surprises. We never fail to smile whenever we walk into our house (be it the mess around). We feel the warmth of our house in imagining its completed state and we can slowly see it taking shape.

When we walked in today late evening, our initial reaction was that nothing much was done. But as we explored closer, we realised that the false ceiling works were almost complete. They were so subtle that we didn't really notice it until we look closely as various parts of the house.

Tiling works has also commenced starting from the common bathroom. I guess this would be one of the most intricate works which I personally will be most concerned with.

Below are some pictures of the works...

Day 7 - Electrical wiring has started (and looks like almost complete)

It is day 7 of renovation and electrical wiring has commenced for the whole house. The wiring are done based on the drawings specifying the number of lighting we had as well as the number of wall-sockets we want.

We thought the wiring was done up pretty fast. By the time we got there in the evening around 6plus, the guy was doing up the wiring for the kitchen as well as for the main DB (but have not connected it up yet).

I think by tomorrow morning most if not all electrical wiring will be ready and our ID will inspect to see if any other points are required.

Below are some pictures we have taken of the wiring.

Day 3 - Aircon Trunking and Piping + Kitchen Windows

Its day 3 of renovation and we were very happy to see that progress seems to be rather prompt and ahead of our expectations (which is a good thing)...

When I was there in the morning 'cos my ID ask me to listen to the explanation on how the aircon trunking was to be ran in our house, I was surprised to see that the layout for the trunking has already been thought through nicely; and not only that, the work on our kitchen windows have already started as well.

The aircon guy explained how the aircon would be placed in the living room and how the trunking would be routed to 'play it safe' and not having too much unnecessary hacking done.

When my wife and I went back to have a look at our place in the evening after dinner, we were surprised to that most of the aircon trunks and pipes are routed nicely. The windows were also done up nicely with panes on runners smoothly sliding and latched nicely without gaps. Great work...

Here are some compiled pics below...

Day 2 - Tiles have arrived (along with sand and screed)

Its day 2 of the works and to our surprise, our floor and wall tiles have arrived and neatly placed in the master bedroom along with sand and screed for the layering of the floor before tiling.

Most of the hacking works are done as far as I could tell. The ID informed us that plumbing will soon commenced as well. We have decided to fit the water heater at the Service Yard area if possible so that it would not be constantly 'attacked' by the humidity and moisture in the common bathroom. However, we are not willing to sacrifice the laundry poles as well; hence our ID would get back to us on the feasibility of placing the water heater at the service yard.

3rd May 2011 - Renovation officially started

The renovation works that we have been waiting for has started. Today is the first day of the works; hence mainly hacking works and removal of toilet stuff 'cos we are replacing majority of the items.

Below are some pics of the works done.

You can see that the floor tiles are being hacked away 'cos we are using another tile over them. The wall tiles are not touched as the design we have will cover almost the whole wall tiles.

Master Bedroom Bathroom door are removed, WC and wash basin removed too.

Common Bathroom door removed, WC and wash basin removed too.

Here are the stuff that are removed from the toilets.

Check out the Colour Palette!

Before our reno works commence officially on 3rd May, we've confirmed with our ID again on the detailed drawings. We went through the choice of tiles, shelving for cabinets, colours, sizes, dimensions etc...

Somehow, I prefer my master bedroom to be painted in off white (main colour for the house) too so the 'greystone' paint originally meant for the master bedroom will replace the dining wall which was supposed to be 'sandstone' paint instead. The rest of the colours chosen by my ID remain. Must really say that she has good taste in terms of playing around with the colours, shapes and textures to ensure that throughout the house, the design theme is consistent and stands out. :))

I love Lorenzo...

Two weeks back, we finally bought our sofa, coffee table and dining set.

I'm just so glad to have found what I really like and could afford (as compared to the high price tag of BOconcept!).

Here are the items!

 Leather sofa from Lorenzo at The Furniture Mall. Set me back by $2800. I think this is a great buy given its genuine leather and firmness. We've ordered for one in grey though to match our design concept. :)

 Here's one small coffee table that could function both as a side table or a coffee table (to be placed in the centre between the TV and the sofa). Damage is only about $320 (including the glass top). Lamps not included of course!

 My favourite dining set! No..NOT the floral benches (they look dated to me). We got the dining table because it's supported by a centred 'leg' instead of rest on four legs by the side. This is mainly because we've purchased a bench to match this table and this bench will not be able to be stored beneath the table if the table has four legs by the corners. This is one practical dining set! This table plus one bench and 4 chairs set us back by $1599 only. Certainly cheaper than those I saw in Courts. :))