I don’t know if that’s the case for you, but in Singapore, it is customary to hire an interior designer to come up with the design for renovating a flat. This interior designer will be in charge of coordinating the work done by various contractors, such as electricians, carpenters and plumbers. Should you wish to save costs, you may engage the different contractors and synergise their work yourself. But this is way out of my league. Anyway, amidst a busy weekend in which I have to ensure the vitality of my kids, I came up with this checklist of questions. More to come:
Things to consider and take note of
Painting (Anti-mould)
- Make sure that the walls and ceilings are painted with anti-mould paint. Get a dehumidifier, if necessary.
- Again for paint, furniture and lighting will influence color perception, so you may not get the exact colour scheme you want even though you use the shades of paint that appeal to you. Be sure to choose durable paint to avoid issues like white patches too.
- To waterproof places like the bathroom, you may want to apply sealant paint. Sealant paint is aimed to fill into the pores and irregular surface of the body thereby creating a smooth finish on top.
- Ventilation is important for the bathroom. You may want to install small fans with in-built lights. Choose those that come with a controller that allow you to just use either the fan or the light.
Anti-rust
- Make sure all the hinges - including the soft closer - are made of stainless steel. Hinges should last anywhere from 2 (if put in wet area) to 5 years (Singapore is humid).
- Use stainless steel nails for false ceilings.
Storage
- To properly utilise space, opt for pull-out mechanisms instead of swinging doors. Swinging doors make it inconvenient for you to reach the back of cabinets, so you might not use the ‘invisible’ items at the back.
- If you are going to have an entryway, you should have partial floating cabinet designs. This provides space for your shoes to air out instead of trapping moisture.
Carpentry
- When installing aircon piping, don’t be fixated on hiding it behind carpentry. Instead, find the best possible functional route that doesn’t look ugly.
- Carpentry is a major expense during renovation. So, compare per unit cost such as per square feet (psf) of the carpentry work across the different quotations.
- Decide on the size of must-have electrical appliances, such as washing machines, dishwashers and fridges because this will affect the layout, as well as the extensiveness of your carpentry works.
- Is carpentry married with silicate (or humid remover) so that the various features can last at least 5 to 10 years?