House Renovation Part 2

The Chinese seventh lunar month is the hungry ghost festival and some "pantang/taboo" to begin renovation to your premise during this time is inauspicious.
My sis is worried that the work start during that month, therefore I have to asked them to postpone to the 1st August as better safe than sorry.
One other thing that I'm a little bit cautious is this year the raining season start earlier as usually it will be between October till March while May till July are generally the drier months. How things turn out fine as during the whole week for painting the weather turn out fine. My friend Chai when comes to painting outdoor, the heavy rain simply wash off the wet paint.

Always remember, this point of no return . Once the tile is plastered on the wall or floor, never think that you will ever remove or replace it , as tiles always be outdated and  no longer in production after some time.

On the front car porch area you need to pre-lay the following

1) auto gate armoured cable wiring (usually 7 cores)
2) outdoor water filter for the whole house for cleaner water . To get the inlet hose and outlet hose joint ready.
   Nowadays is essential to install filter as having a water filter no longer luxury but essential as our river is no
  longer clean.
3) Outdoor lighting and plug outlet 

Need to select wisely for tiles
1. Floor tile – Homogeneous tile
2. Non-slip tiles - Car porch and kitchen tiles- must ensure the surface is mildly rough as usually this area will be wet
   and someone could easily falls
3. Skirting - required as when you mop the floor it often hit the wall
4.Normally one half of your car porch is covered with BRC but another half is not. So better lay the   BRC than later. Your car porch when not slope properly will collect water. Again need to remind tileman on this.

Next you need to think of is how you are going to place your kitchen plan -
1-where  your sink direction will be
2-your stove - don't place too near to electrical plug
3-washing machine need standby taps suitable for washing machine and floor drain for carry away wastewater.
4-exhaust fan a must for basic smoke free kitchen and cooker hood if can afford it.
5-referigerator - where to put only can decide once you have actually brought it and must be able to open the door without obstruction.

You need to bring measuring tape to roughly measure the dimension to confirm it while buying furniture as we can only estimate only using naked eyes.

Remember
1. if you want plaster ceiling- then this has to be done first
2. plan your lighting, aircon, electrical points location - add accordingly your needs
3. price comparison on electrical and furniture shops, before buying
4. fix the air conditioner and security grills first as the touch up on painting needed once this things installed.
5. Seeking friends opinion and own judgement before purchase. Also googling for information.

Just to share my experience on buying electrical appliances and lighting.
As a general guide when buying electrical appliances we would ask what is the most popular choices and why? The salesperson then will then explain.

Ceiling fan - Before this my brother-in-law kept reminding me don't buy remote control fan, due to their unpleasant experience with it. Baby fan or low ceiling fan is prefer due to plaster ceiling will lower the height of the ceiling.

I decided to select remote control fan as

1. The regulator control fan looks plain, while the remote control fan look nice to match with plaster ceiling.
2. Fan blades is made of metal unlike previously.
3. Windy as a result of this.
4. Friend using remote control fan has no complaint.

Lighting: Some will prefer using plain florescent light but having plaster ceiling leave me no choice but use down light instead.                
When I shop around , I was spoilt of choice but note down certain lighting before making final purchase.
I need to remind myself certain light fitting was selected due to its modern and functional light and easily to to clean when required. All those using bulbs will be replaced by energy saving light bulbs. Even though it can be expensive at first but will save your money in the long run.
advice: Install also light sensor light at your front porch and back kitchen lane as this is for security purpose.
After dark it will light up the area automatically and in the morning it will go off the light automatically while you are away.

For refrigerator choose those with these advantages
1. refrigerators that use 20% less energy than models and is labelled with the 5-star Energy-Efficient Rating.
2. refrigerator using tempered glass is beautiful and lasting. Old models often has corrosive surface after a few years.

Air-conditioner. Choice between Inverter  air-conditioner and the normal unit. Inverter air -conditioner can only save minimal amount in a year. Therefore we choose the normal unit as inverter is more difficult and time consuming to repair and costly.


House security bar/grilles - important feature

Before installing security grilles you must keep in mind that while you need to protect your home front and back, you need also to allow at least one window swing open from inside. This is to allow you to escape in case of emergency.
Although other countries get an quick release device but here use a padlock or keys, however you need to placed a visible key to unlock like a breakglass for keys storage as there is no time to search for key. People will panic and cannot find them.

My next door neighbour did not think of a window escape grilles for her upstairs master bedroom which might have a problem when she need to repair or service the air conditioner later on.

House Renovation Part 1

While renovating my sis house, I came across a lot of things that need to be done.
The first priority is the budget. You may think of anything you want and the end of the day is not exceed your budget.

One of the neighbour have overrun their budget in renovation and have to temporarily abandon.
Before you hire a contractor to do renovations or repairs to your home, you must have your written approval and a signed statement from your neighbours.

A bit weird as need to get consent from your neighbours for your own house renovating but I guess this is to avoid any argument later esp. on wall fencing.

Any renovation or extension work can start, the owner must seek an appointment with the Building Inspector or Building Technician for consultation regarding the procedures involved before any renovation or extension plan can be approved.

Renovation or extension plans have to be forwarded by a licensed architect/ draftsman/engineer appointed by the owner.

Every new house nowadays requires some minor renovation prior moving in. It is more convenient to renovate first than later. After all approval done , you need to display a approved building permit on renovation from the local Council before any works can start.

If you choose to follow others saying dun waste time, waste money applying for permit is asking for trouble as next door neighbour got raided by local council but luckily she got permit on renovation. Only did not display prominently.

I was recommended a contractor by Ah Chai as his house been renovated and he is very pleased with the results. I have asked the contractor to quote the house renovation but was works delayed to a year as she is being highly sought.

She's a foul-mouthed person but very competent contractor as she has to handle a range of man who works under her directly or indirectly including plumber, bricklayer ,tileman, painter, electrician and security grill maker.

Very swift and well executed construction job by her and her man. From day one, floor foundation completed, next day brick wall has been laid and within two weeks already have building extension structure ready.

After applying mortar on the brick walls , it has to wait at least two weeks on the exterior and 3 weeks on the interior before the painter can painting the new mortar , as to let it completely dry.

...to be continue