$20k for Jurong West Executive possible?

anne, so wat time r u going to hdb tml? so r u going to open ur door tml also? hehehee... exciting hor...

when we 1st day open door, so excited, everything seems so nice, 2nd time go, c many defects, 3rd time go c even more defects!! everytime go, c more n more defects!!! hahaha...
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just now when i was at the void deck of our blks there, can HEAR lots of reno going on!! wahh.. seems like either many ppl had gotten their keys n started reno, or many ppl have problems with their wall tiles and many are hacking n redoing it thru hdb!!!
 


mine appt is 11am. actually before the collection of keys, me already went in before cos the "ku ku" contractor never lock the door. check the area looked ok, except for the common toilet door, a bit old and rusty.
 
wahh..... did u tell HDB tat your doors are unlock??? oh ya... i think i remember reading about it.... so in the end wat did hdb tells u??
 
i agree with devila... abt the 1st 2ns 3rd time.. u only see more and more defects. haa...

visited flat just now. the hacking is completed. and done 20% of the electrical works..
 
jus do a good balance with ur wish and want list, get advices from ur ID...keep a clear mind to keep within ur budget no matter wat ;p
 
sorry...can anyone enlighten me wad is screeding???

and i haven received my keys...
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Reckon I and my next door neighbour will be the last...i got a feeling i wont get mine unless his/her gate n main door gets changed...
 
fallingflakes, do u mean cement screeding? thats a kind of flooring that made of cement, normally done at balconies, or if u intend to do laminated/parquet flooring.

hi confirmed(unsuregal), whats the price for ur renovation?
 
Yane, I haven't engaged a ID yet. Cos I wanted to have a feel of what is considered reasonable before I talk to ID and contractors. Can share with me your quotation as a guide of what is a reasonable? You can PM me. Thanks alot
 
just when over to the new flat, seems like the 2nd floor carpark almost full de... so many cars!! imagin if everyone move in.....
 
hi yane, i dunno what type of screeding, cos i have been reading previous entries abt screeding here and screeding there and thus wondering if i am missing out on smthing impt...and...what is parquet floring?

btw, can anyone please share with me possible ways of positioning the shoe cabinet together with the shelter area?? FH and I are getting increasingly pissed with our ID...we never fail to leave his place feeling pissed. We are not happy with the drawings by the designer and the stupid thing is our ID said usually the designer is very busy and dun meet up with the clients one. So we printed out examples to show him the type of TV console we wanted cos the one the designer drew is too common and not contemporary, and drew examples of how we think the shoe cabinet might look good with the covered up bomb shelter. We gave those examples to give them as a guideline, and not for them to do exactly the same. Now pissed cos stupid ID said we have no design knowledge blah blah blah and dunno what we want. We told him straight if tbey dunno how to improve on a proposed guideline, why shd we waste our money on them? Other people go ID companies is cos of the design yet now we are the ones who have to tell them the design. Other people sit with designer to discuss, ours is talk to the sales person who serve us from the beginning. He had the gall to tell us they are big co, the rest are smaller co got the time for designer to meet up with the client blah blah blah. FH asked him if that means the service of a smaller ID firm is so much better than a big firm, lol.

Sorry for grumbling...just freaking pissed and wanted to vent out a bit...back to my question... we are doing a feature wall to cover he bomb shelter, but want to do a shoe cabinet together as well. If we do the whole thing it will jut out and the walk way to the living room will be smaller. If we do the shoe cabinet jut out while the rest of the area remains flat (just like the showflat), will it be better? Freaking ID said it will be ugly, want to do, should do the whole area jut out (including bomb shelter feature wall which is together) and not only the show cabinet jut out. Arrgh, can anyone please enlighten me on where to best position the shoe cabinet???

Thanks a million!!
 
fallingflakes,
errr... sorry, i cant imagin the shoe cabinet with the bombshelter feature wall. it seems like it will definately be prutruding and eating up extra space. for my flat, the only place i can think of to put the shoe cabinate is directly behide the main door, just outside the studyroom entrance, which is opp the bomb shelter... and hence, i'll be buying one instead of custom building it... i was quoted about 1k plus for a shoe cabinate with feature wall n bench n umbralla holder, thou it will be nice, but we decide against it...
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parquet are those natural wooden slates ppl use for flooring, it needs to be polish, most condo use parquet for bedrooms. laminated flooring will of cos be those wooden slates that are covered with artifical lamination materials to look like natural wood or coloured wood. (lamination is also use for feature wall, furniture etc.)
both type of flooring, u need to do a cement base whcih we also call it cement screeding (which means smoothing n leveling the flooring using cement) if u got your keys le, u can c the difference when u look at your living room flooring which is rough n stoney while the balcony flooring which is smooth n level de.

we mention it offen cos u can either apply for HDB to do it FOR FREE for you, or u pay your own contractor to do it for u. if u pay ur contractor, it will be like $150-$250 for 1 small bedroom. u can get the form from HDB when u collect your keys or your contractor will have it. waiting period from HDB can range from 2 weeks to ___? i also donoe. if u are doing tiles for your whole flat, then u wouldnt need to do any screeding. the reason is that after the screeding, ur floor level will be slightly higher le, hence not suitable for tiling.
 
Hi Devila...errm i am kinda dumb when it comes to such things like errm, screeding...so...how come if i am doing tiles for my whole flat then wont need screeding? I'm having homogenous tiles for the living and dining area and bedrooms will be laminated floring.

you mean u are not doing tiles for ur flat??? if no tiles for the flat then..?

hmmm abt the shoe cabinet thingy...not a bad idea to put it outside the study area come to think of it...cos i am afraid the protruding thingy might look weird... and i am seriously wondering when can i get my keys???????
 
if u are doing laminated flooring for your bedrooms then u definately need to cement screed your bedrooms flooring. put it this way, when u wan to lay those wooden planks, u need to have a level up n smooth floor, if not ur thin wooden planks will break n ur floor will become uneven or hollow. if hollow, your laminted floor wounldnt last. even a tiny stone will destroy the whole laying. so it's pretty important to supervise when either ur contractor or HDB's contractor doing the cement screed. and the cement need to be somewhat dry be4 u can lay the laminated wood. wood + wet? not a good combo rite, it will rot u wood rite?

for tiles, they are thicker, much much harder, and when laying of tiles, wet cement will be spread then the tile lay down one by one, and hence, the total thickness will much thicker then wooden planks. if u do cement screed for the floor where u wan to lay ur tiles, u will have to hack it away. the max height for flooring for hdb rules is 50mm max i think... as u can imagin, tiles are hard, if ur floor is hard, it will break the tile a, hence the wet cement will be like soft clay for the tiles to 'sit' properly, and once harden, the cement will hold the tiles together.
 
some ppl, likes just plain old cement as their flooring. i think those concept are call modern concept or minimize concept?? some do cement screeding on the walls instead of the floor, (like those smooth cement walls use as divider or as feature wall u c in magazines) i even saw a design where the owner did a brick tv console n cement screed it as finishing... from the pix, i looks great. also if u water proof the cement screed, u can also use it as part of your bathroom walls (also seen in magazines! nice!) there is also this design where the whole dining table is made of cement!! definately a great money saver design!!!

for me, i'm doing marble for living/dining area, bedrooms are like u laminted. marble flooring need another type of cement... if i'm not wrong, it will be those white cement and also before laying marble, the grey cement must be somewhat dry also. same way of doing with granites floorings.

if u are custom-made your shoe cabinate, u can consider behide the main door. the cabinate can help u hide the power box and if u do a good feature wall, also hide the pipings n cables running ontop.

for me, i'm sealing up the studyroom entrance which is appox 4ft, so orginally, my custom made shoe cum umbralla cabinate will start behide the door, with the bench that fit the 4ft entrance and a feature wall looking backing to seal up the entrance. and the whole cabinate will also hide all the pipings n wires n cables that are running above it. now, i'm just sealing up the entrance, do some plain shelvings for keys n wat not, buy a ready made shoe cabinate to put behide the door
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or i will buy a 4ft shoe cabinate n fit it into the sealed entrance there.....
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Hi Ladies,

I'm back with my precious keys.. i only have 23 keys. how abt the rest of you? I just submitted my screeding form for the bedroom flooring. my conceal plan missing.. detected a few defects.. abt 14-15 defective wall tiles in toilets/kitchen. the toilet door two colours..
 
hi fallingflakes,
save cost there too...
with the grilles really hard to clean...

thanks devila, so worried as my toilet almost done...
hehehee
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fallingflakes..... kekkekeekkeke.... of cos not lah....
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doing a 4 panel glass sliding doors for the studyroom on the wall facing the dining room area. u know in that hdb showflat, the wall of the studyroom was cut in the middle and place a glass panel? for me, i hack away that wall n make my studyroom into a open concept entertainment cum study room.

anne, huh? i have total of 26 keys leh..... oh did u check the letter box for the electrical map? mine was inside the letterbox.

babu,
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hehhhehee... i'm still waiting for the toilet contractor to call me also...
 
check already, but no inside.. only yellow pages and cables and some junk... have to go down hdb to collect on friday... how many tiles are defective that they allowed you to change all?
 
mine is like 33 tiles hollow n 2 crack tilesin just 1 toilet.

anne, do try to wash both toilets. check out the water flow. mine both toilets have really bad water flow problem, so hdb will hack n change the floor tiling n wall tiling for me. oh n do try washing the toilet bowls n sink n c if any problems. also check if u balcony doors are like mine, discoloured, do try to clean it 1st to c if the alum doors can be clean.
 
hi devila, oh ok now i knw wad u mean, haha. Haiz, this stupid reno thing is giving me a headache, i hate dealing with such stuff! Now FH says dun work with this ID anymore...i hope we can at least get part of our deposit back if not i can kiss the money goodbye. Maybe can charge the stupid guy for OUR design drawings, wahahahaha~

Babu, are u refering to the toilet grilles? Come to think of it dun think we wanna do, save money is one thing, but who will clean it? The way i see my guy wash the dishes already feel like hanthump him, not to mention the grilles! If anyone know of a good part time maid in future please let me know ya? Dun understand why my mum says better to do...i don't think the future kiddo can climb that high...
 
fallingflakes, conceal plan should be the whole unit's concealed electrical layout. nowadays some of the new flats have concealed electrical points instead of exposed points and trunking. so with the layout, mayb ur electrician will have a easier interpretion of whats hidden on the walls.
 
devila,
wait awhile lah... will be settle soon i believe...

fallingflakes,
yup referring to the toilet grilles.
no one will go climb it lor.
Kids wont even dream of climbing.
check with those relatives who has small kids...
doubt the kids will wanna play in the toilet too...
hehehhee...
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oh ya fallingflakes, u already having problems with ur current ID which pose a risk of whats worse coming when u working with him for ur reno. he already siding his designer and blaming u... designer is busy most of the time, as they need to support all the salespersons' projects. but that doesn't means they got valid reason to ignore ur needs. an attractive quote should come with satisfactory design too. agree?

my current ID is a medium scale firm. the waiting time for revised design is less than a week. frankly speaking, the designer rarely hit 'jackpot' (as in the 1st design meets the clients preferance), normal circumstances they need to amend or re-propose.
 
fallingflakes, cant comment on ur flat layout for shoe cabinet placing... but for ours, its like a Z shape... mine will be a full ht 10' feature wall there with a shallow display glass shelf, linking to shoe cabinet then the sette. it looks good but of cos its expensive too. there are some cheaper alternative to do, like paintwork, using gymsum board or cheaper materials. haiz, all blame to h*b designer who design our HHS facing the dining hall.
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*nod nod head*... ya ya agree with yane... i doubt any of those ppl who design hdb flats actually live in one!!! if not, surely they should come out with more practical designs rite??!! just look at the toilets... or the MBR!!... haiz... and to think that we ourselves choose these flats to buy!!... even crazier!! kekekee....

babu, my reno, everything is sche to start on 24th. hopefully able to get approval from HDB by then.
 
yo Yane, ok its more or less confirmed, we are getting rid of this stupid ID. Dun see why we shd pay for our own design, lol, plus he talks faster than we do, and I have always thought I am already speaking at gear 5 speed yet he still speaks faster than me...hahaha. As for how to deal with that stupid goon, I don't wish to know, let FH do all the dirty work. I just hope we can get part of our deposit back. Will be meeting a contractor later, hope the quote is reasonable. meeting another ID tmr after work, hope he can provide smthing good too. Btw, just FYI, that stupid ID firm that never fails to make us feel real pissed everytime we leave the place, is located at Akira Building. You gals should know which one I am refering to...

Yane, I can't visualise the Z-shaped thingy...lol

Oh and I thought I was the only one who feels that whoever design our layout is a goon! Hahahaa, so wasted, the study should face the living area instead of the dining area, that's my personal opinion. And that weird position the HHS is located makes it difficult to do a full height shoe cabinet...and I was oh-so looking forward to having individual boxes for my shoe collection...so sad...
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Btw, for those who haven't received their precious keys, latest will be by 7th May. HDB's appointed contractor is currently inspecting the flats to rectify the defects. They better do a good job...
 
aiya no wonder lah... its that ID firm ah... full of bad comments for that firm sia. really dun bluff u. i support u to change ID!
 
btw, fallingflakes & confirmed(unsuregal) if u need my ID contacts then PM seperately bah. jus thot since u have interest to know my quote, but I cant provide it to u this moment (reason being my reno still ongoing, not quite right to share the quote now. unfair for my ID, sorry), i thot u might wanto approach my ID for quotation. jus getting another opinion / quote, no obligation... im trying to blog my reno experience, maybe when its ready u gals can have a peep of my house designs
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im a referred customer. spent less than $30K all in all, already gotten my 2nd contract from ID... including all electrical and plumbing works, chosen tiles and color of paints. so no more costs or whatever. every1 can have below $30k or even keep within $20K+, just that what are Inclusive in the whole package, how much will be done that makes the difference.

my quotation is quoted before chinese new yr, haulage yet increase so badly that time... there are some discount given. so its unfair to ID if i share to every1 and presume every1 to request tat from ID lor... so hope u can understand.

ya, we did quite alot of carpentry... but nothing is done to bedroom3 and studyroom. the rest all covered.
 
fallingflakes, i suggest u read thru the rest of the forum and also renotalk forum and also all those reno blogs u can find (go yahoo.sg to search).... both forums/blogs will give u very good ideas of which company/firm to look for, wat things u should look out for... from buying electrical stuff like tv to aircon to hob n hood and even furnitures... defects u should look out for be4, during and after your reno. i've spend weeks to actually read thru most of the postings n other ppl's reno blogs. and i still refer back to those posting whenever i need to find out somethings. dont worry that some posting might be few years ago, good advise never go out of style or date de.
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seems like u dont know much yet, u and your FH better to read up 1st then when u are looking for ID or contractors, u will know wat to expect, wat questions to ask, wat loop holes and pitsfall those ID firm or contractors try to lure u into. u can even try searching for feedbacks n comments on those firms that u have shortlisted in the these forums be4 signing up or paying deposits. but ultimately, no matter wat other ppl posts, treat it like a guide or advises or suggestion. most impt is still your own gut feelings regarding IDs, products, or even designs. dont be afraid to ask questions!!

BUT do beware, too much information can also cloud your jugement de!! tat's y i'm so stresss and confuse rite now!!!
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(hehhee... i sound like an expert in reno le!! :P but the truth is, i'm also still a green horn and is in the mist of stuggling n trying to figure things out from this chaos toooo.... )
 
btw, anyone going to be at 656 this wed late morning or afternoon??? mabe we can meet up for kopi or something!! or go each other flats to 'kan feng jin'
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i always like to imagin how the view is like from other units.... :P
 
devila, u already sign up with an ID right? y r u stil so stress and confused? ;p relax, let ur ID deal the headaches for u. u r on leave on wednesday?

i agree with devila on doing ur research. i oso spent alot of time on reading up those forums and websites.. *panda eyes... but always remember those can only be a guideline. sometimes guts feeling works.
 
yane, ya lor... still so lost... still cant decide whether to get techno or rinina or fujiyo hob & hood, mitshibish or toshiba aircon, storage heater or instance heater n the brand, cant decide fanco or crestar ceiling fan, and many many more!!!... as i said, too much information n feedback le!!! and worst!! there is never the perfect, money worth product!! it's either product A good at this bad at that or product B bad at this good at that..... HAIZ!!!!
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and and and, there is always the buget hanging over my head like a knife ready to drop....
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my working hours is flexible type. just tat will be at 656 on wed cos i've appointment with my ID in the afternoon for viewing. so was thinking if anyone wans to meet say late morning or late afternoon for kopi or chat chat will be great
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i have gone thru that stage!!! thank goodness... i have done some homework on those appliances, we can share info if u wan.
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can PM me... i believe u are looking for Inverter aircon? there are always reasonably price and good products tat can match ur budget as long as u open to choices. read more! ;p

we not so good-life, wed daytime still be slogging in the office. hahaa
 
devila,
good luck... hope u can get your permit...
how abt rectification by HDB??? when can they finished??

the rest of the reno, ask Yane... very experience...
hehehee...
 
yane, babu, hdb ppl already c my flat le... so they allow me to do both the reno n hdb also will do the rectification at the same time. so no need to wait for hdb rectification to start or finish 1st. finger cross tat everything can be done smoothly........ as for all those other extra stuffs, reite now, my head is bursting from too much infor n feedbacks le... ya, will pm yane for more advise!!
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presently, the thing i need to make up my mind fast is the aircon... so which one do u gals think is better? ya looking for inverter aircon sys 3 most likely. also upgrading the insulator to 1/2" class 1 or class 0, outlet piping to 16mm, n the copper piping totalline, i understand 23" one is better?????

will also be getting a btu 12000/13000, the other 2 x units 9000/10000 btu de.... the bigger one for MBR. any comments/recommandations???
 
devila, if u asking for my opinion... and IF u dun have urgency to move in, i will strongly encourage u to let h*b rectify the defects then officially let ID start ur reno.. if not, at least until h*b has almost rectifying most of the major defects le then start ur reno... there will be lots of nonsense coming from the h*b wan... i tell u, i have lotsa experience liasing with them. let me give u 1 eg. u will probably have padlock from ur ID to access ur flat right? h*b only have ur house keys right? if scenerios like h*b need to go in work b4 or after ur ID workers have left, they will sure blame u for not opening doors for them and left without doing any work. alot more eg to give u.

for Inverter units, u muz calculate how much power u need and where are the furnitures then i can advise u better. and no, gauge 23 is not the better one. gauge 22 is the utmost good one, but non-inverter unit no need to use 22. i have mine from Allbest IMM. there is this very nice salesperson, sincere and knowledgeable... he don't mind ppl to ask ard for quotes and compare, he will share his knowledge from u even b4 u signed with him... if u keen to approach him, i can give u the details.
 
devila,
u not working right??
for HDB, normally, no one encourage to buy inverter. unless those wanna earn money one...
unless u not working and air con turn on 24hrs a day, an inverter will be good.

If you are only at hm from 7pm to 7am, then those normal will be fine... weekend on 24hrs is fine.
We spoke to many ppl and those sell air-con one, all the same thing. you have to decide.

as for reno, if you can afford to wait for HDB to rectify the problems, do wait.. cos you nv know what will happened. speak to HDB contractors. ask them to start this week and i think all start at same time, before 24th can rush finished for u... for us, mr lee, know that we need them to complete by end of apr, they taking their own sweet time to do... haiz...
 
well as u all noe, i'm rushing for time. i had chain n lock my flat with a number lock which i had inform HDB, Mr Lee and my own contractor. mr lee n hdb officer said that since they will do the kitchen walls, toilets walls n floor, as long as my ID dont touch those areas can liao.... true???
 
devila, true. BUT if either party lost their tools or ur hse got another defect or faults, who are u going to pinpoint? if things goes smoothly, then no problem, if got, then u can arrow anyone, cos they will shift blame.
 


definately lah... one of the headache thingy... but but but, i truely am press for time. i need to try complete my reno lastest by mid june. no choice lah... do do tell me wat to look out for thou... i am thinking about the sand n cement thingy... so i told my contractor that i will give him 1 bedroom key for him to lock his equipment n materials. hope tat will deduce the chance of lost materials. wat else do i have to look out for???
 
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