{"id":64,"date":"2009-08-04T20:01:37","date_gmt":"2009-08-04T12:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/?p=64"},"modified":"2026-05-10T22:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T14:48:40","slug":"renovation-backtrack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/renovation-backtrack\/","title":{"rendered":"Renovation Backtrack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The renovation has already started as of this posting, but I was too busy to blog about it, so I shall backtrack a little and start with the house still in original condition.<\/p>\n<p>We bought this flat off the resale market from a local chinese lady and got our keys the day after our ROM. We liked the flat because it&#8217;s spacious and all square with no weird corners. However, the original renovation was extremely distasteful and a major overhaul was required.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_79\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6275869.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-79\" title=\"Living room, main door and bomb shelter.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6275869-300x187.jpg\" alt=\"Living room, main door and bomb shelter.\" width=\"300\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6275869-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6275869.JPG 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-79\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Living room, main door and bomb shelter.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!--more-->We will demolish all existing floor (and wall tiles) except for the kitchen which had decent cabinets. We were on a budget, so we decided not to spend on the kitchen since it&#8217;s going to get all oily anyway.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_68\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-68\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266204.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-68\" title=\"Kitchen cabinets.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266204-300x217.jpg\" alt=\"Kitchen cabinets.\" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266204-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266204.JPG 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-68\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kitchen cabinets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The toilets, however, had a really ugly colour scheme that was beyond my threshold of tolerance and they had to go. I cannot imagine myself taking a poop in such a setting. <em>It<\/em> would all just go back in.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_70\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-70\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266206.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-70\" title=\"Common toilet.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266206-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Common toilet.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266206-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266206.JPG 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-70\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Common toilet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We spent an entire day tearing out the wall-hung Ikea furnitures (cabinets, shelvings, etc.) It was quite a chore as they were heavy and mounted pretty high.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_73\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-73\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6285921.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-73\" title=\"Ikea furnitures everywhere.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6285921-300x133.jpg\" alt=\"Ikea furnitures everywhere.\" width=\"300\" height=\"133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6285921-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P6285921.JPG 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-73\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Ikea furnitures everywhere.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then, Yan Po and Hui Zhen dropped by after the KHCO mini concert on 26th July to help us out.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_65\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-65\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266201.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-65\" title=\"Staring at the fan.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266201-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Staring at the fan.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266201-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266201.JPG 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-65\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Staring at the fan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Although we have already taken apart most of the big items, there were still quite a lot of small accessories to remove, such as little stainless steel hangers in the wardrobes and some bathroom accessories that were still in good condition.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_67\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-67\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266203.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-67\" title=\"Master bedroom cabinets.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266203-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Master bedroom cabinets.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266203-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266203.JPG 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-67\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Master bedroom cabinets. Notice the walls painted in puke green.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>There were ceiling fans all over the house as well. We believe they were installed by a Malay ex-ex-owner. The two ceiling fans in the living room were pretty decent. We decided to keep it just in case, or maybe sell it, so we took out the blades. The electrician will help us remove the remaining center portion.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_71\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-71\" style=\"width: 225px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266208.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-71\" title=\"Fan blades gone.\" src=\"http:\/\/www.tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266208-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Fan blades gone.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266208-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/P7266208.JPG 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-71\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Fan blades gone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That was the last bit before we packed up and threw all the junk out. The house awaits more drilling and hacking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The renovation has already started as of this posting, but I was too busy to blog about it, so I shall backtrack a little and start with the house still in original condition. We bought this flat off the resale market from a local chinese lady and got our keys the day after our ROM. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[653,262],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-finance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3810,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions\/3810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tzlee.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}