Week 25. 8th to 14th October.
Monday, we have the kitchen cabinet guy to come fix the kitchen cabinets. Anne is at home to supervise. They told us they were coming at 2.30pm but they showed up at 10am! It was the sub-contractor that deals with wood. I went back during lunch hour to check and discovered that the cabinet was a bit too close to the window, eating to my stove space.
I told the contractor but he insisted he didn't do it wrongly, as it was according to the plan provided to him. Well, I couldn't really decide whether my hood will really be off the alignment so I didn't argue further. In the afternoon the aluminium team arrived to instal the bottom cabinets and fix the doors.
This is what I came home to.
It is not bad.... except for small flaws on the wood and aluminium finishing.....
Nnote that the hood is still not installed... Ah Hong came to install the hood. He first drilled a hole through the wall so that the pipe can channel the cooking smoke & oil out to the backyard. It took them some time because apparently they are drilling a hole through the beam which is very very hard cement. :)
After that, he went on to hang the hood up on the wall. He measured and drilled.
After he hang it to the bracket I realised HEY!! The hood is not in the correct alignment to the hob!!!!! out by a ridiculous 4 inches !!!!! Because the cabinet is 2.5 inches too close and Ah Hong didn't measure accurately so off by another 1.5inches. Also I found SCRATCHES on the granite top!!!!!!!!! They must've scratched it when they were installing the cabinets!!!!!!!!! I became so emo after learning the fact that my hood may be permanently off the alignment and my granite permanently scarred........
What's going on in my head when I frown with a long face? My thoughts are very crazily Melanchony, pardon me if you think I'm too insane....
"I spent RM5500 on a cabinet that's too close to the window"
"I spent RM2200 on hob & hood that's going to be permanently misaligned, I cannot imagine how effective the hood will be and the cabinet is so close to the hod that's only half covered by the hood, meaning the cabinet might turn yellow sooner than normal"
"I spent RM2300 on a granite top and it now has a total of 3 scratches even before kitchen is ready for cooking - 1 very deep 1cm long, 2 minor ones but about 5 inches long"
"I spent RM1700 on the wall and because the cabinet is 2.5 inches too much to the left, it covered by extra 2.5 inches of that pretty wall"
"I spent a total of RM12k on such a tiny kitchen and it is still not perfect?!"
These thoughts drove me nuts... I wish I can be more like Joshua "It's ok la, we make do." But no!! How can I settle for this, when I know I can have better? I deserve because I designed this kitchen for 6 months and I explained it properly to the contractor, it was the miscommunication between him and the sub-contractor that caused this kitchen to go wrong.
If you take a glance at the kitchen, you might think "where's the problem? I think it's great." But really only I know how much difference that 4 inches made... We were so disappointed, we thought we could call this reno an end already.... but : ( looks like the battle is still not over. And we cannot give up.
Anyway, it was a long day, Ah Hong left at almost 8pm, thank God Anne cooked for us, we ate and went back to clean up the kitchen. Wiped the cabinets, mopped the floor.. and only got to sleep at 12am. God... please let this reno be over soon.. I really need to stop looking into reno...
Tuesday, Joshua called the cabinet main contractor Ah Poh to complain. He said he will come to meet us the next day 1pm to understand the issue and see if he can provide solution.
At night, I decided we need to settle the bathroom floors. Our bathroom floors were all stained by cement powder, the white one. No matter how many times Joshua scrubbed and wiped, using all the cleaning agents we have, the tiles are still white-ish. It looks dirty but it's not. We consulted Ah Hong, and he gave us a tin of acid. He said that will work, so Joshua did that for all the 3 bathroom floors. Joshua has to wear slippers and wear gloves while he do that, and the smell of acid is bad. He had to take breaks in between.
After that just splash clean with water followed by normal cleaning - scrub with soap. Outcome is awesome. :) The white cement stains were removed, although not completely, but we know what works at removing those stubborn stains! I am satisfied and happy that we have clean looking bathroom floors, all grey and handsome. :)
Wednesday, 1pm, we met up with Ah Poh. He agreed that it was partly his fault. The measurement he provided to his sub-contractor was from window onwards but the guy measured from wall onwards. Cut long story short, that caused the cabinet to be 2.5 inches close to the hood and then Ah Hong's 1.5 inches mistake caused the hood to be off by total 4 inches. Ah Poh said he will need to discuss with the sub-contractor and then get back to us. Really hoping for the best!
At night, I discovered 3 more bags of Joshua's things in the drum room, spent time arranging them, documents, stationeries, video equipments, music stuffs... and arranged the 2 small rooms! :) Cleared the moonroom so we can start to buy a double bed.. have plans to inherit/steal a bedside table from 73. We managed to put in all the things in skyroom - luggages, extra towels, collection of suitcases, extra curtains & pillow cases, old red chairs.... this room is abit like storage room for now. :)
Empty guest/VIP room. :)
Thursday, I took MC. Flu! Need a good rest to ensure I don't fall sick while I go on my Korea holiday! :D I thank God I feel much better after a good rest.. undisturbed sleep until 9am :) So blessed. I decided I cannot let the day go to waste, so I immediately decided to not just do all the laundry and cook dinner, but to also set up the drum room!
First need to tackle the floor where carpet couldn't reach. The floor at entrance has this thick grey thing that's uneven, we thought it's cement... until I started to scrape it.. and it came off. So it is glue from scotch tape covered with cement powder. Yucks.
I tried my best to scrape everything off, after that Anne helped.. because my fingers were all numb.
Then I brushed it with floor cleaners and clorox! And wait for it to dry up. It's much better now, at least it's smooth to walk on, unlike before...
I've cleared the room, ready to lay the carpet on the floor. :)
This is old carpet gotten from 73 again. We wanted to send it to laundry shop for a good wash but they're charging RM5 per square feet, and for this size is RM230! We took back and decided to just vaccum it.
So I swept with broom first, followed by vaccuming, and did it for both sides.
Took it to the room and decided the navy blue side is much nicer.
Ta dah! Drum corner! Starting November, Joshua will start drum lessons here. :) But before that he needs to change the drum skins and polish the drum stands. We also have a white board with stand from my mum. She used to join Network 21, the Amway networking... anyway it didn't last long so we're giving the board a new purpose i.e. produce new drummers. Haha. ;) Can't wait.
After lunch, I decided to sew cushions for the S hooks in the kitchen. We hook it to the window grills and I thought this will protect it from scratches.
Metal against metal.. who knows how much paint will come off ....
I feel much more secured when it is cushioned. :D
Saturday, the carpenter came to rectify the kitchen cabinets. He's a nice old man... and hearing his explanations.. his thoughts on the kitchen.. we decided that he only need to help us relocate the hood as close to the centre as possible and leave the cabinets untouched. He agreed!
Uncle is expert in installing hoods. He knew that this piece of glass ought to be removed first. :) Thank God we have the right alan key for it.
It was a rainy day. That's uncle's car. And on the floor are his tools.
More of his tools.
He said that there will be a hole on the tile after he relocate the hood, we're fine. He used 2 long screws on the wall, and that held the hood on the wall. And by about 2pm we're done. :) Kitchen's done. :) Hood is about 3cm from the cabinet. Very much to the centre of the hob. :)
While uncle is working on the hood and Joshua observing, I had more thoughts on the drum room. Took this coffee table from 73. It was from Setiawan, same era as our dining table. :P Mainly because the small carpet could not reach the corner and the floor at the corner was really ugly, so I used this table to cover it up, while creating a little counter. Now we're using it to store our laundry accessories i.e. basket, hangers, clothes pecks.
Here are all kitchen related barang I kicked out from drum room. All going into the shelves once hood transition is done. ;)
Also took this over from 73. It was in the bedroom with my brother's junks in it for years untouched. The 1st shelf was already broken because of the heavy documents that guy placed on it. So I removed it. :)
Ta dah! :D I later on put on stickers on it to cover the holes where the screws were removed. I like how it turned out.
At 4pm, Nesh sales guy came to instal our indoor filter. He drilled holes through our cabinet for the pipes to go through.
Connecting it to our kitchen tap. Clean cut. Concealed water filter. :D
After he left, our turn to put in all the kitchen related things into the shelfs! :D I love it that we have much empty space, because you know.. our things will definitely pile up soon! :D
In the evening, Ah Yan my relative called to say he is coming on Sunday to repair or wardrobe! Yeay! He's coming in the morning before 9am, so I have to make arrangement to have someone else chair at the Mandarin church service. :)
And at night, we just clear the Ikea chest of 6.
Because Ah Yan is going to over turn this to screw in a white board at the back of it. This is sort of like our room divider. :)
Door frame for shoe storage space. You can see they used plywood and not chipboard.
They started with bedroom. Screwing in the chest of 6.
I was asked to clear the wardrobe.
They shifted the ugly doors to the left side and fixed the 3 new doors to the right side. Changed all the door handles and some of the faulty hinges.
Repaired the ugly drawers, faulty drawer locks and badly installed drawer basket. Also put in the plastic cover over the screws. :)
A lot of these took place after I left for church service. When I return, they were already done and are working on the shoe door and repairing old chairs.
Pardon my blur face, I was deciding how much to cut to lower our dining table. It's too high and Ah Yan was going to trim the legs for us.
This is the awesome chair from Muar! :D
One chair repaired and waiting for glue to dry.
Chopping the dining table legs. :) It's very very good wood. I heard they say it's cengal wood. It's SOLID.
Overall, Ah Yan's work is detailed and clean cut. He's very responsible and helpful. Probably because we're relative. His father is my father's younger cousin brother. :) According to him, these days if you ask for chipboard material carpentry work in Muar, people will laugh at you, because nobody use chipboard anymore!! But KL everyone gives chipboard!! Including our kitchen cabinet. -_- That's sad isn't it.... reason is labour cost here is high so the supplier has to cut materials. Sigh... Lets hope and pray that our kitchen cabinet will not be exposed to humidity and will be durable! :)
Here's our bedroom. If you look at it closely, you will notice the 3 doors on the right, the colour is a bit different from the rest. Not so clear in picture. And the chest of 6 in the middle of the room, now having a nice finishing to the back. :)
71 RENOVATION has officially ENDED!!
God, thank you for leading us all the way throughout our renovation journey. And you made it perfect by ending it 48 hours before our Korea holiday! We both agreed that it's not an easy journey, but now we look back, we noticed we have grown so much. So many things that we were fearful of, we could achieve! There were the ups and downs, but we know you're always there. Although people say we overpaid for certain things.. we know that Holy Spirit you were the decision maker. Looking at the big picture, we are so blessed to have inherited this house, and to have a generous mother that funded half of our renovation cost. And we can live in such a big house, a house that we designed and see it slowly transform from a beast to a beauty in the past 6 months. Thank you Lord.... thank you for your provision, your faithfulness, your love and mercy.. thank you. :)
We want to dedicate this house to you, for the expansion of your kingdom. We will open it up for Homes (caregroups), for leaders meetings, for church VIP to stay over .... may this House be a blessing to the community around SS15. :) May you make this House shine with your light, we pray for protection over this area.. no robberies no snatch thieves no break ins no accidents no vandalism...
Lastly, may you bless our generous mum. Grant her good health, protect her and soak her in your everlasting love.. give her the peace and joy.. that she will live her everyday to the fullest. May you grant us the capacity to earn more money, that we can save up for her retirement. She doesn't have savings for herself because she spent everything on her children.... we pray that you grant us wisdom in managing our finances, multiply what we have on hand, so that we have a safety net for her when she needs. :) May your Holy Spirit lead us... Amen. :)
Monday, we have the kitchen cabinet guy to come fix the kitchen cabinets. Anne is at home to supervise. They told us they were coming at 2.30pm but they showed up at 10am! It was the sub-contractor that deals with wood. I went back during lunch hour to check and discovered that the cabinet was a bit too close to the window, eating to my stove space.
I told the contractor but he insisted he didn't do it wrongly, as it was according to the plan provided to him. Well, I couldn't really decide whether my hood will really be off the alignment so I didn't argue further. In the afternoon the aluminium team arrived to instal the bottom cabinets and fix the doors.
This is what I came home to.
After he hang it to the bracket I realised HEY!! The hood is not in the correct alignment to the hob!!!!! out by a ridiculous 4 inches !!!!! Because the cabinet is 2.5 inches too close and Ah Hong didn't measure accurately so off by another 1.5inches. Also I found SCRATCHES on the granite top!!!!!!!!! They must've scratched it when they were installing the cabinets!!!!!!!!! I became so emo after learning the fact that my hood may be permanently off the alignment and my granite permanently scarred........
What's going on in my head when I frown with a long face? My thoughts are very crazily Melanchony, pardon me if you think I'm too insane....
"I spent RM5500 on a cabinet that's too close to the window"
"I spent RM2200 on hob & hood that's going to be permanently misaligned, I cannot imagine how effective the hood will be and the cabinet is so close to the hod that's only half covered by the hood, meaning the cabinet might turn yellow sooner than normal"
"I spent RM2300 on a granite top and it now has a total of 3 scratches even before kitchen is ready for cooking - 1 very deep 1cm long, 2 minor ones but about 5 inches long"
"I spent RM1700 on the wall and because the cabinet is 2.5 inches too much to the left, it covered by extra 2.5 inches of that pretty wall"
"I spent a total of RM12k on such a tiny kitchen and it is still not perfect?!"
These thoughts drove me nuts... I wish I can be more like Joshua "It's ok la, we make do." But no!! How can I settle for this, when I know I can have better? I deserve because I designed this kitchen for 6 months and I explained it properly to the contractor, it was the miscommunication between him and the sub-contractor that caused this kitchen to go wrong.
If you take a glance at the kitchen, you might think "where's the problem? I think it's great." But really only I know how much difference that 4 inches made... We were so disappointed, we thought we could call this reno an end already.... but : ( looks like the battle is still not over. And we cannot give up.
Anyway, it was a long day, Ah Hong left at almost 8pm, thank God Anne cooked for us, we ate and went back to clean up the kitchen. Wiped the cabinets, mopped the floor.. and only got to sleep at 12am. God... please let this reno be over soon.. I really need to stop looking into reno...
Tuesday, Joshua called the cabinet main contractor Ah Poh to complain. He said he will come to meet us the next day 1pm to understand the issue and see if he can provide solution.
At night, I decided we need to settle the bathroom floors. Our bathroom floors were all stained by cement powder, the white one. No matter how many times Joshua scrubbed and wiped, using all the cleaning agents we have, the tiles are still white-ish. It looks dirty but it's not. We consulted Ah Hong, and he gave us a tin of acid. He said that will work, so Joshua did that for all the 3 bathroom floors. Joshua has to wear slippers and wear gloves while he do that, and the smell of acid is bad. He had to take breaks in between.
After that just splash clean with water followed by normal cleaning - scrub with soap. Outcome is awesome. :) The white cement stains were removed, although not completely, but we know what works at removing those stubborn stains! I am satisfied and happy that we have clean looking bathroom floors, all grey and handsome. :)
Wednesday, 1pm, we met up with Ah Poh. He agreed that it was partly his fault. The measurement he provided to his sub-contractor was from window onwards but the guy measured from wall onwards. Cut long story short, that caused the cabinet to be 2.5 inches close to the hood and then Ah Hong's 1.5 inches mistake caused the hood to be off by total 4 inches. Ah Poh said he will need to discuss with the sub-contractor and then get back to us. Really hoping for the best!
At night, I discovered 3 more bags of Joshua's things in the drum room, spent time arranging them, documents, stationeries, video equipments, music stuffs... and arranged the 2 small rooms! :) Cleared the moonroom so we can start to buy a double bed.. have plans to inherit/steal a bedside table from 73. We managed to put in all the things in skyroom - luggages, extra towels, collection of suitcases, extra curtains & pillow cases, old red chairs.... this room is abit like storage room for now. :)
Thursday, I took MC. Flu! Need a good rest to ensure I don't fall sick while I go on my Korea holiday! :D I thank God I feel much better after a good rest.. undisturbed sleep until 9am :) So blessed. I decided I cannot let the day go to waste, so I immediately decided to not just do all the laundry and cook dinner, but to also set up the drum room!
First need to tackle the floor where carpet couldn't reach. The floor at entrance has this thick grey thing that's uneven, we thought it's cement... until I started to scrape it.. and it came off. So it is glue from scotch tape covered with cement powder. Yucks.
After lunch, I decided to sew cushions for the S hooks in the kitchen. We hook it to the window grills and I thought this will protect it from scratches.
Saturday, the carpenter came to rectify the kitchen cabinets. He's a nice old man... and hearing his explanations.. his thoughts on the kitchen.. we decided that he only need to help us relocate the hood as close to the centre as possible and leave the cabinets untouched. He agreed!
While uncle is working on the hood and Joshua observing, I had more thoughts on the drum room. Took this coffee table from 73. It was from Setiawan, same era as our dining table. :P Mainly because the small carpet could not reach the corner and the floor at the corner was really ugly, so I used this table to cover it up, while creating a little counter. Now we're using it to store our laundry accessories i.e. basket, hangers, clothes pecks.
Also took this over from 73. It was in the bedroom with my brother's junks in it for years untouched. The 1st shelf was already broken because of the heavy documents that guy placed on it. So I removed it. :)
And at night, we just clear the Ikea chest of 6.
Sunday morning, he arrived with his worker. He came in a van. And also helped bring one wooden chair from Muar. Another historical furniture. Hehe.
Another one. Ah Yan kor kor used the glue that mixes the A and B parts, making it a very strong glue. According to him, after it dry up, it will be as hard as stone. The most severely broken chair was the one we wanted to use as dining chair. He not only glue, even drill in a new screw and hit down about 4 small nails to keep the wood in place!
He's the completed shoe door. Neat! :)
See the black thing at the bottom? It's like a broom, he said it's to prevent dust entering the space. It doesn't cost a lot, but I don't think any carpenter in KL will give you that!!
Chopping the dining table legs. :) It's very very good wood. I heard they say it's cengal wood. It's SOLID.
Overall, Ah Yan's work is detailed and clean cut. He's very responsible and helpful. Probably because we're relative. His father is my father's younger cousin brother. :) According to him, these days if you ask for chipboard material carpentry work in Muar, people will laugh at you, because nobody use chipboard anymore!! But KL everyone gives chipboard!! Including our kitchen cabinet. -_- That's sad isn't it.... reason is labour cost here is high so the supplier has to cut materials. Sigh... Lets hope and pray that our kitchen cabinet will not be exposed to humidity and will be durable! :)
Here's our bedroom. If you look at it closely, you will notice the 3 doors on the right, the colour is a bit different from the rest. Not so clear in picture. And the chest of 6 in the middle of the room, now having a nice finishing to the back. :)
And you look to the left.. it's our office area, our white board holding our to-do list and Joshua there, going through our outstanding tray, ensuring we pay our bills before we fly off to SEOUL!! :D
71 RENOVATION has officially ENDED!!
God, thank you for leading us all the way throughout our renovation journey. And you made it perfect by ending it 48 hours before our Korea holiday! We both agreed that it's not an easy journey, but now we look back, we noticed we have grown so much. So many things that we were fearful of, we could achieve! There were the ups and downs, but we know you're always there. Although people say we overpaid for certain things.. we know that Holy Spirit you were the decision maker. Looking at the big picture, we are so blessed to have inherited this house, and to have a generous mother that funded half of our renovation cost. And we can live in such a big house, a house that we designed and see it slowly transform from a beast to a beauty in the past 6 months. Thank you Lord.... thank you for your provision, your faithfulness, your love and mercy.. thank you. :)
We want to dedicate this house to you, for the expansion of your kingdom. We will open it up for Homes (caregroups), for leaders meetings, for church VIP to stay over .... may this House be a blessing to the community around SS15. :) May you make this House shine with your light, we pray for protection over this area.. no robberies no snatch thieves no break ins no accidents no vandalism...
Lastly, may you bless our generous mum. Grant her good health, protect her and soak her in your everlasting love.. give her the peace and joy.. that she will live her everyday to the fullest. May you grant us the capacity to earn more money, that we can save up for her retirement. She doesn't have savings for herself because she spent everything on her children.... we pray that you grant us wisdom in managing our finances, multiply what we have on hand, so that we have a safety net for her when she needs. :) May your Holy Spirit lead us... Amen. :)
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