DP#10 (01/07/2013)

since been a month and a half since we started working on DP. and its almost done. i would safely say, 80% of what was intended can be ticked off. the last i went over to see was 10 days ago and within that time, they have painted the ground and first floor, put up most of the storage space, tiled up the outside, settled the balcony work.

initially we only wanted to paint the 'affected areas'. then i asked for all rooms they worked on to be painted - wanted more than just the 'affected areas'. then we decided to paint the whole of the first floor.  finally we added the ground floor to the mix as we saw a lot of cracks and wanted to cover them.

basically the whole of the ground floor, inside and outside, have been settled. paint works, plaster ceiling, dry kitchen stuff, take away the pebbles and tile up the courtyard area, close of the pond and put up deck and cement & tile the area in front of the deck. they even threw in a planter's box next to the front entrace as it looked a bit bare initially. i think the only thing that is ongoing for the ground floor are the kitchen cabinet (which i have finalised a week ago) and the breakfast area.

for the first floor, they have put up 2 storage space. the linen closet above the dining area and the bookshelves above the living area (though i think there's some error with the size of bookshelves that they are amending). they have not put up the storage area in the playroom and we are currently discussing the wardrobe in all the bedrooms. we just started working on that last week but they are confident that all wardrobe will be installed before the end of the month.

the major work is closing all three balconies. that took most of the time and labour. they've settled most of the work, i think, except for the flooring. they had a wee bit of a problem getting the flooring that would match the current ones so we had to resort to a 90% match, but its good enough, i think. no point  in pushing for exact match that cost a bomb. we can always work around it.

work on the garden have also started. that one i will not get into. they are a bit pushy and i cannot handle people being pushy. but as of today, i see that they have done quite a bit of work and are starting to plant the carpet grass. i think they want to finish off before fasting month begins next week.

i hope to be able to send cleaners over and purchase a few things so that i can tick off more things on the list. there are some things i know are not achievable but will try to do as much as i can so that i dont need to exert myself during the fasting month.

DP#9 (20/06/2013)

pretty much a lots been done. i've been informed that most of the work will be settled end of june, at the very latest first week of july. i can see that its going nicely, underneath the dust and rubble and covers and what nots.

for the bedrooms, the flooring is pending. they're getting in laminated flooring in as they cant find the similar flooring, they are no longer in production. cant believe how huge the rooms look like now.

plaster ceiling have gone up for the living and dining. bookshelves and linen closet above the respective areas have also started to go up, not fully done but frames are there. the drawers and doors are still ongoing.

the pebble-filled courtyard is also settled. its been tiled and 'pebble wash'ed. we decided last minute to add tiles between the living and tv area, in front of the deck. they're almost done with that, i saw earlier.

generally the whole house needs a good coat of paint. almost all rooms need them, the entrance need them too as there's shoe prints (prolly left by the guards) and the close off balconies would no doubt need them.

so...two weeks and counting, insyaallah...

DP#8 (10/06/2013)

so the dry kitchen's progressing nicely. dining area's up, the tiles are up - some dont match but what the hey, wiring's settled, cabinet design's been approved. went over to the kitchen showroom to choose the cabinet. i already know i want a black counter top and white cabinets so it was a quick visit.

the top would be black granite. its hard and sturdy and won't show every single speck of dirt. the cabinet is off white and the handles are small and safer than the ones we currently have. looking at how sturdy it will be makes me want to have an island *sobs*

i added a simple rubine oven and confirmed the double sink - love it cos its deeper than my current ones.

hopefully they will start before the fasting month.

DP#7 (07/06/2013)

been a week and the changes have been pretty significant. i went inside on monday, the house is extremely dusty and noisy (sorry neighbors!) i couldn't go upstairs because the bulk of the work is being done there.

i drove by today, the balconies that have been closed up, have been walled, windows are already in place. for the external parts, i think painting is pending. for internal parts, i think more work is coming - plaster ceiling, electrical works, flooring (which i heard is a major problem). hopefully they can get everything to match, or almost match, as in the case of the kitchen tiles.

i heard that the foyer cabinets were supposed to be installed yesterday. kinda excited to see them but, as i said, i cant go upstairs. but a quick check from the living and dining area shows that they haven't been installed. they're putting up walls at the area now though. i think the plaster ceiling will be installed soon.

i saw the planters box that was built next to the front door, nice entrance effect.

i've only got a couple of pictures today. i wanna see some more but not with the boys around.

a couple more things to get underway soon - the kitchen and the garden, hopefully by end of the month, or at least works on the garden will be ongoing by end of the month. on our side, curtains by mid-end of this month and lighting by early next month.

DP#6 (31/05/2013)

went to see the progress today. the work on the balcony is very much under way. hacking, walling (is that the word?), windowing. the main guy said there's no more hacking to be done on the house. oh wow...that's fast (or is it because there's not much work in the first place?)

anyway, currently 2 balconies have been walled up. the rooms look much bigger!

we've discussed with the main guy about wardrobe in the bedrooms. i was thinking of going around to see potential wardrobe makers towards the end of june but then i thought, why don't we just ask the main guy to do. at least he can envision how each room would look like while doing his work and he can adjust his timeline accordingly.

for the boys' rooms, we pretty much know where the wardrobe will be place according to the layout of the rooms. for the master bedroom however, the main guy suggested a walk-in wardrobe near the bathroom (when i initially wanted to put the wardrobe where the balcony used to be) complete with drawers and cubicles. i like his suggestion but would like to do away with some and add others. with this, i wouldn't need to get a chest of drawers cum tv cabinet for the master bedroom, which is good.

DP#5 (30/05/2013)

so the first guy's finished his task, the dry kitchen looks pretty much how its supposed to look like (sans the cabinet, that is). he finished all the tiling and plastering work, added cornice to hide the wires pulled from the fuse box to the wet kitchen and painted the ceiling at the breakfast nook to match the overall kitchen.

at the end of today, the dry kitchen looks like this...

they couldn't find exact tiles so they chose the nearest matching ones...

the kitchen cabinet guy have been pushing us to make a decision on the drawings he submitted soon. i dont like being pushed. according to my timeline the kitchen should be up in august. its 2 months ahead of time and my timeline and budget's gone haywire due to this.

the wet kitchen is totally on hold for now. that i will continue again after all the main work has been completed or is near completion.