DAY 26

I opened the door this morning to quite a different scene. Overnight, so much was done. The study and bedrooms have a new floor! It was an exciting and comforting sight and the smell of new wood - which I love, who doesn't? - filled my nostrils. It was quite odd to see one side of the living room (technically the study, but it looks like one big space now) coming together and the other, still messy and a typical renovation site. It was quite a thrill to see the change and the parquet flooring all laid, taking us a big step closer towards the finish line. 

Another view of the study.

Had to tread carefully as there were many nails protruding from the floor.

Scenes of contrast.

Meg's room...

...with a view of Em's room to the right.

Em's room...

...with a view of Meg's room to the left.

Timber skirting painted in white.

How did we survive before the advent of the iPhone pano feature?

The master bedroom. I cannot wait to paint over that purple rectangle which is the single unit air-conditioning outlet.

The shower screen in the kitchen bathroom will have a corner door but it looks really tiny, just enough space for one to make an on-the-spot 360 deg turn! The floor tiles have been laid.

What lies beneath the floor trap. I hope there's a contraption to catch hairs and whatever other debris that is washed down. Right now, I don't see anything...

DAY 25

The bathroom floor of the master bedroom has been tiled and the shower area demarcated. The shower area is tiny and it will be a tight squeeze. Soaking in a tub at home shall remain a dream. 
I like that the floor traps are covered with the same bathroom tile. It looks sleek and stylish. Last night when we got there to have a look, a huge cockroach was running around because the waste pipe hole was exposed. Looks like there was a little air-conditioning work done as well. The insulated copper pipes looked neater and was fixed nicely along the walls. 

The tiled floor traps.

The kitchen bathroom had just been cement screeded when we got there last night. It looked very wet. It had dried somewhat by this morning. I believe they will tile it today.

The curb at the room doors were tidied up, ready to lay the parquet.

At Em's room.

Thick air-conditioning insulated pipes run neatly along the pocket door wall in Meg's room.

View from Em's room. The aircon units will be located above the pocket door on both sides.

CHD Concrete

We've finally found the pendant lights for our dining table. We've been looking for months but haven't seen something we both really like and last Sunday at Verde Lights, we saw these beauties (to us anyway). They are made of concrete and glass and each one weighs about 2.1kg. We will probably buy 3 of these, one in each colour and hang it over the dining table. We've not seen this anywhere except for this lighting shop in the Jalan Sultan area. 

The Idée AL Ceiling Lamp. German made.

It comes in dark grey concrete, blue and in light grey. Just don't ask how much each costs!

It uses the GU 10 LED bulb.

Quite nice ya?

Ring Video Doorbell Pro

Unboxing the Ring Video Doorbell Pro.

Yesterday evening, MJ and I went to have a look at the Ring Video Doorbell Pro. How technology has advanced! The simple doorbell has evolved into one that includes motion activated video recording of who's at your door, the ability to record the video, talk to the person, and the best part is, you don't have to be physically at home to do this! How amazing is that? Of course you have to have wifi and you have to hardwire this contraption but I'd rather have that than constantly have to recharge its battery every few months, like its other models. Also you have to subscribe to a data recording service that allows you do record and keep the video for 3 months. You can download the videos and archive them too. This is a convenient function to catch, for example, someone who's trying to vandalise or even steal your nifty looking doorbell. All will be captured on video. What's more, if your doorbell is ever stolen, Ring will replace it, no questions asked and this is a lifetime guarantee! Of course we bought the damn thing. Who can resist? Its price is also 'nice'. It costs S$379 but it comes with a transformer that is required if you want to use it in this part of the world as it is US made and caters to the US voltage. The sales rep assures us that there is no issue with using the transformer. 

It comes in a total of four different coloured face plates: Silver, white, black and brown.  The chimer can be plugged into any socket in any part of the house though you will want to probably put it in the living room so that everyone can hear it.

DAY 24

The pipes and one half of the floor trap were in place.I didn't visit yesterday and, as usual, went this morning instead. There wasn't much progress that I could see, except for the laying of cement screed in the master bathroom. Other that that, I could not determine what else had been done yesterday. I'd half expected the parquet to be laid when I got there but they were still piled up where it was left yesterday. 

Clockwise from top left: The WC waste pipe, the shower area outlet and the bathroom floor trap.

The kitchen bathroom,

No entry to both bathrooms to allow the cement screed to set.

Our 50L AO Smith water tank fixed to the top inner corner of the kitchen bathroom. I'm posting this photo more to see how the water pipes run to the tank and how it's affixed. The small square box hanging inside the suspended plastic ziploc is the digital thermometer.

Can't remember if this was finished yesterday. The humongous aircon casing protruding at the corner of the master bedroom. 

Thank goodness the mess is temporary...

It's status quo on the 24th day of renovations.

DAY 23

The workers continued and finished the plastering of walls on Saturday but I did not drop by as I was working. We visited last night with Em to have a look but it was too dark to take any photos. So I went this morning to drop two notes off for our neighbours and to take some photos of the house after 23 days of work has been poured into it.
Last night when we went over, we discovered a note from our neighbour slotted under our main door. He very politely asked that we ask our contractor to shut the doors to the gas and water meter closets because an occasional gust of wind will slam it shut and create a startling bang. He also asked that they clean up a bit more after they are done for the day. He noticed that the area outside his door was more dirty and so was the common area at the lift landing. I think all his points are valid and wrote a note back to him to say that I would ask the workers to be sure to do all that he asked for. He took pains to make the note sound as friendly as possible and didn't want to create any tension. 
The other note was for the neighbour right below us. The man doing waterproofing testing in the two bathrooms wanted to access their bathrooms to make sure there wasn't any leakage in theirs. He said he knocked on their doors on Friday but no one answered and I said I would write a note and leave it for them in the hope that they would respond. But when I dropped off the note this morning, I noticed that their gate was full of junk mail, including the card I'd left there to introduce ourselves and to let them know that our renovations would be starting. My conclusion was that there's no one there. The unit is unoccupied at the moment and we would not be able to do the waterproof testing. 

The 'Saying Hi' card was strewn on the floor. I put it together with my note and re-slotted it at the gate of the unit below us.

From left: the living, study and two doors leading to the kids' rooms.

The pocket door wall has been plastered and is looking nice. View from Em's room.

View from Meg's room. Now we just need to wait for the installation of the door for it to be completed.

The air-conditioning trunking is huge and ugly but I suppose it can't be helped as it has to house a few insulated pipes. I believe this on will be hidden within the wardrobe in the master bedroom.

The master bedroom with nicely plastered walls.

The newest addition to the scene over the weekend was the arrival of the parquet teak  strips  (the dark centre mound in the middle)

I like the tone of the wood and of course, the smell.

I'd mentioned to our contractor that we wanted a darker toned wood if possible because everything else was going to be in light oak.

Why No?

I think the rooms are going to smell and look good once the parquet has been laid.

All these bits and pieces of construction material are so crucial. Amazing how these little parts come together to become a beautiful and essential part of the whole.

The timber door frame protrudes a few millimetres out from the wall. I wonder how it will be flushed with the wall in the end, or won't it be?

Pano shot of Meg's and Em's rooms with the pocket door in the foreground. View from Em's room.

Pano shot of Meg's and Em's rooms with the pocket door in the foreground. View from Meg's room.

Meg's main room door in the centre and pocket door to Em's room on the left.

Waste and water pipe outlets in the bathroom. The floor was flooded over the weekend to test for waterproofing but by Monday morning, it had mostly evaporated.

Cement strengthener. Never knew all these materials existed! It's all quite interesting!

The plaster wall external angle or angle beads which I mentioned in my last post.

This single tap is where the workers get their water to do their work.