Renozilla Journey: Opening Ceremony

Whew...sorry it took me so long to put together another Renozilla post. Work's been really busy and I only just squeezed in the time to pen this post. =D Well, on to the MOMENT when we first opened the door to our first home! After collecting our keys, we headed down to check out our new flat. If your residential estate is still very new, chances are navigation will be quite challenging. Be prepared to run into blocked paths or climb over obstacles to get to your flat! >.<   Here are some things you might want to bring in preparation:

• 1 pineapple (and/or other fruits/rice/green beans/coins etc) for use when you first open the door
• plenty of water (you're going to sweat a lot!)
• picnic mat to KO on (in case you get too tired from checking defects in the flat)
• mini fan (it's going to be hot hot hot!)
• masking tape and marker pen to indicate the defects
• bicycle number lock to lock the main gate if you have defects that needs to be rectified by HDB (the service centre won't accept your key anyway)
• door stopper to keep the main door open (to let the air in or the whole flat will feel super stuffy)
• list of possible defects to look out for (here's a good list by a fellow homeowner)

  Above all, dress casually and wear comfy shoes. =D Okok, enough talk. Here's a preview of my new flat!

Living room, circulation path & kitchen entrance

 

Kitchen & service yard, bedrooms

After exploring the flat for a while, it was time to examine it more closely for the legendary defects! HDB would have given you a form to fill out the defects (and even thoughtfully provided an extra sheet in case your list runs over) so be sure to note down everything. Anything that you find amiss should be written down. Our defects weren't that serious, but here are a few ones that we found:

The loose flap beneath the utility cabinet door	Paint splatter on the door
Sloppy grout work	The top part between tiles and top panel was not grouted.
Paint splatter on the door knob	Oil stains on the window still

  Be prepared to spend a few hours there because you literally have to check every inch of the flat. This is where the picnic mat comes in handy, else you have to sit down on the dusty floor! Hehe. Don't forget to make sure that your drains are not clogged from rubbish and that the water pressure is fine. Oh, and don't forget to tap on the tiles to see if they're hollow! It's a serious matter coz they may pop up in future if you don't examine the tiles. After you've filled out the form, lock up your flat with the number lock and make your way to the rectification centre. They won't accept your flat keys, so prepare a number lock! If the supervisor is free (in our case), he will go through the defects list with you on the spot at your flat. The rectifications took only a few days to complete, quite fast...maybe due to the fact that we were the first few people to get the keys to our flat. I got my SO to go down to take a look a few days later and it appeared that they had completed most of our list except for...

My poor discoloured door knob...zzzz. Use thinner also must use carefully mah.

Don't know if we missed this out the first time, but thank goodness my SO spotted it!

  After all the rectifications have been done, the centre got us to sign off. Next up: the renovations! XD   Next Up: The Planning Starts Previously: Getting the BTO keys