DAY 37 OF RENO

the electrician finally found time for my unit after waiting for his arrival the the past 1 week.

busy installing dinning lights
after a quick half day work, the lights are up and ready.

my l-box and island
灯! 灯! 灯! my dollies dinning lights
rectangular kitchen light
squarish service yard light
balcony light
mini globe for store room

lights for MBR & WIW
JJ's yellow room
Jas's pink room

the lights are up, but there's still some adjustments to be made, such as position of the switches..etc. will rectify in due course.

the waiting game now continues as the factory is trying to rush the carpentry work.

DAY 36 OF RENO

ok, finally things are starting to pick up again and i hope it will be continue moving with more zest!

has confirmed with ID that the electrician will be here tomorrow to install the lights.

as for today, windows at the service yard is up.

the whole kitchen seems a bit dark after the installation. or issit due to the weather or the absence of light?
the panels looks abit tinted. anyway lets wait till the lights are up.

DAY 35 OF RENO

i cant believe that there was no work being done at site for the past 7 working days! the lights were there since 16/11 and permit for installation of the windows at service yard has also been approved. yet the house is still without any lights nor cabinets!


the 慢 慢 来 approach is really killing me!

FIRST GIFT FOR THE NEW RESIDENCE

a set of 3 wmf diadem plus cookware
i love wmf pots compared to vision or corning ware because stainless steel is indestructible! but i cant bear to part with my money to purchase a set for myself.

i'm not stingy - i'm a thrifty person! so dear friends who have no idea what to get me for my new residence, do consider the following options. thank you. thank you for your generosity.

irobot roomba 780
samsung navibot sr8850
yes, digital vacuum cleaner for a lazy housewife like me! with so many construction works going around my estate, i'll die of exhaustion cleaning the flat.

LG GC-B197WFF side by side fridge
i'm been eyeing this fridge since the great singapore sale. but drop the idea after i got a shock knowing how tiny my new kitchen is going to be. anyway, my current samsung fridge is still serving me well, so, keep the money safe deep in my pocket.

a new 8.5kg top load washer. prefer lg or samsung
but again, my current 5.5kg washer is still working fine - cant bear to spent that money and no reason for me to spent either.

why do i love lg or samsung so much?! it's MADE IN KOREA! that's why! my current lg fridge and washer are still in very good working condition since i gotten them 9 years back!

an electrical oven with capacity of at least 30ltr
this would be a nice gift for me to bake my pies, have commonly seen cornell but not sure how user-friendly it is. and i'm not sure where am i going to put this in my tiny kitchen.

anyway...when all else fail, i always welcome a gift of angbaos.

USD, EURO, UK Pounds or SGD are welcome

i seriously need these to recoup my reno and furniture expenses... kind to donate...anyone?

DAY 29 & 30 OF RENO

we went back to site over the weekend - seems like not much been changed. things have been progressing at a snail rate over the past 2 week.s

thought the damaged skirting in the living room changed, the lights are still waiting to be put in place by the electrician.

nothing's going to happened till the end of next week or worse, the week after.
it's very frustrating having to wait for the construction and installation of the carpentry.

till then... there's nothing we can do, just wait.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT - FENGSHUI

is it a superstitious act or just a religious belief - that depend very much on the individual.

me? i'm just somewhere in between. from the door opening ceremony upon key collection to having precise measurements on various carpentry work, i'm only tapping the most basic knowledge, hoping that things will run smoothly in my brand new flat.

remember the items i prepared for prayers on the day of key collection
speaking of fengshui, i gotten this new tool. older folks would use this especially when they custom-made a worship altar. another area which this tool is common used would be the kitchen, to measure the distance between the stove (fire) and sink (water) ~ as the chinese saying go, fire and water dont mix.

fengshui ruler - 风水尺
it's just like any other ordinary measuring tape, except that it's double sided. the other side of this tape show various red and black chinese character.

since i'm also quite new to this item, it's best that one consult the right and experienced person to interpret the meaning.

btw, it's not a must buy item for new residence - usually your contractor or interior designer will have one. simply tell him to build your carpentry according to the 风水尺, he will simply do the rest.

DAY 28 OF RENO

the house got it's first major wash up today. even the glass panels on the windows are wiped clean!


common bathroom, before and after washing

jas's room, before and after washing

hallway, before and after washing

living room & study, before and after washing. the windows panel are now so clear!

kitchen, before and after. even the door and windows are wiped clean.

first time stepping in the house barefooted. so nice. the tiles are so cool and squeaky clean. cant wait for the carpentry work to start.

DAY 27 OF RENO

the grilles are being installed today after we confirmed the deal with Invisys over the weekend.

can u see the grilles?
the nuts & bolts will be tighten after the wire are in place
the gap is approx 3.5"-4" apart. this is to avoid the handles on the casement windows
the hook to finalised the tension

with and without flash. did u notice the vertical thread - 'stabilizer'. acts an additional support and it's necessary if the length of the window is more than 2m
close up view of the stabilizer
but i would give it a 3.5/5 rating for their workmanship. some of the bars were slanted, and of one of it was drilled on the wrong side. the workers didnt replace instead just seal the correction with a stopper and some white silicon gel. paint on the wall and window framed peeled off due to drilling. of course, all this mistakes arent really visible unless you really pay attention to it.

anyway, the job for 3 bedrooms and 1 study room was completed within 150mins. finally, some peace of mind when it comes to my kiddos' safety.

btw, the 10mm tempered glass shower screen was also being installed today.

mbr's bathroom
common bathroom
just settled the windows, now there's another thing for me to remind the kids to be gentle with...zzz.

DAY 26 OF RENO

air con units are up today - on a rainy day. anyway, the units will remain wrapped until we are ready to shift in.

did you notice the trunking which was there before it was painted?
direct view. remember the original trunking was left hanging about 3/4 into the room - we extend the box up area up till the unit so that it seems more like a low beam.
but i seriously think that the unit need to go for a slimming session.
i honestly think that the unit is too FAT compared to my old fashion non-inverter daikin.
the aircon guys forgot to remove the 'extra' trunking. the cables are out thru the left, therefore that box u see here is actually empty.
fat unit sitting on trunking. the box here is necessary because the cables from the units are on the left. it will make a right turn and out to the corridor.
look - no trunking at all! study room's unit.
finally all the 'messy hair' are tied up nicely.
have to keep reminding ID to remind his workers to pay attention to small details such as the 'redundant' trunking in pink room. overall, with box up the place looks nice.

DAY 25 OF RENO

after confirming the laminates and designs, the ID produced the latest drawings. not much changes except the kitchen.


final decision. confirm, double confirm

DAY 24 OF RENO

since renovation began on 20 October, we had spent the past few weekends in various furniture malls and hardware stores scouting for bargains and best deal to furnish the new place. today however, we packed our lunch and picnic mats and head off to site.

we are waiting for sale reps from different company that supply invisible grilles to give us a quote to have the grilles installed at living room, study and the 3 bedrooms.

it's not difficult to track them. after all, with a search on google, there's only currently 3 companies doing it in Singapore.

1. Invisys Technology Pte Ltd
2. Invisible Grille
3. Le Gate

same window measurements but 3 different companies 3 different prices that ranges between SGD11-12psf.

the only sale rep that came prepared with his mock up grilles and various materials. no hard sale, not pushy. did his work and left. the only company that follow up with a black/white quotation after the meet up.

came with a bunch of wires and some nuts/bolts. prices quoted was the most expensive yet insisted their material is the best, price difference will not be too great between their competitors...etc etc. showroom/office doesnt seems to operate on weekend. calls to the office were directed to a mobile.

the only locally established company. cant believed the sale rep came empty-handed because her previous client taken her samples and she doesnt have any extra in her car. only picture catalogue for reference when such info can be easily obtained from their website. patiently took measurements for all 3 bedrooms despite telling her the window sizes are the same. offered to drop by again with her gears and wares.

all 3 companies gave a warranty period of 3yrs for normal wear & tear and claimed that they uses only 316 grade stainless steel.

regret i'm not in position to reveal the amount each company quoted. but do stay tuned... installation is tentatively scheduled on 15 November 2011.

window grilles - down. one more very important item left to buy.

DAY 22 & 23 OF RENO

for the past few days, we havnt been visiting the site because the painters were busy with the 2nd coat.

on friday, the carpenters came and taken exact measurements for the cabinets and wardrobes.

debris, sand/cement, all materials and rubbish including the cardboard floor protectors were removed.


the box up of air con trunking in MBR. with painting done, it's not that at all visible, unless u look closely.

the box up of air con trunking along the corridor, again, unless u look from a certain angle, this box-up looks just like a normal beam.

even the storeroom was nicely painted
partition done up and painted in the study
according to ID, the schedule for next week will be air con units installation, lightings installation and finally the big wash up.