DAY 27

Much of the debris in the house has been removed. The bags were placed at the foot of the block and by the next day, it had all been removed. I must say that the contractor has been quite decent so far, in terms of keeping the place clean and minimising mess and clutter outside of the unit. Some debris, sand and dust spills outside my direct neighbour's door but I've reminded the workers to clean up more diligently in that respect. The first of three coats of white paint has been applied and the house is slowly inching towards completion. They are targeting to finish by end October, which gives us a month to pack our stuff and put them in boxes. The big move is slowly but surely transiting from an idea in our head to actuality. 

The kitchen ceiling has been covered up. This is where we will have our clothes pole hanger and there is supposed to be two extra supports above the false ceiling to take the weight of the wet clothes hanging on the poles. 

The pipes and water tank in the kitchen bathroom have also been concealed. There is an opening to access the water storage tank in case it needs servicing in the future. MJ is not just checking it out but trying to see if the digital temperature control panel which was previously hanging from the water tank is still there. It is, and I'm not sure how they are going to take it out from there later on. I hope that they can reach it at arm's length which I doubt.

The curb has also been laid in preparation for tiling. The rest of the bathroom has been tiled.

The shower area is tiny...literally just enough for one to stand in there and make a 360 deg on the spot turn. I hope that it can accommodate the rain shower overhead extension.

The sides of the fan cove has also been covered. It was still open as of yesterday.

More bags of screed have been moved in. I suspect they will screed the living room floor in the coming days and then tile it as soon as it's set. 

Bags of 40kg "Prime Mortar Screed".

Markings on the ceiling to measure the centre of the fan soffit.

I'd never heard of this brand of paint before, SKK. It stands for SK Kaken Co Ltd. I checked it out online and found that it is a Japanese brand that is used in the field of architectural paints and coatings. It is a water-based, matt finish, synthetic acrylic resin emulsion paint for interiors. It is used as a decorative and protective finishing coat for internal walls and ceilings and provides excellent resistance against fungus and alkali; forms a flat and tough film when cured; has superior adhesion and hiding power; provides alkali and chemical resistance; dries quickly to a durable and decorative finish and is washable. Checks all the boxes for me! 

The sealer is used for interior low VOC (Volatile Organic Content) wall coatings. A water-based low odour acrylic sealer, highly resistant to surface and hairline crack; outstanding resistance against fungus and algae growth; excellent adhesion strength onto substrate and has good hiding power.

The master bathroom is posing a challenge because it may not be able to accommodate the TOTO washlet, which we wanted from the start, due to the narrow space for the WC. We've asked our designers to try to find a solution to this.

The shower area is slightly bigger than the one in the kitchen bathroom. Right now it looks awful. I hope the white will come off completely when they wash it down.

The amount of wires we have around the house is alarming. There goes our electricity bill in the future.

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 5

We were curious as to whether any work was done yesterday, a Saturday, after a rest day on Friday for Hari Raya Haji. Looks like they just moved some tools and equipment in, setting the 'stage' for the next phase - the wet works. 

Everything is coated in hardened cement and cement dust.

The balcony floor will be leveled up with the living room and the study.

The thin ceiling decoration has also been removed. I thought they were going to leave it because it would be covered up by the false ceiling. The lighting fixtures will soon go and we won't have light anymore.

The entire floors have been hacked. 

The bags of 40kg cement screed powder.

Messy!