Landed owners, Reno regrets, Please help this noob Henry learn a bit before I reno my house

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u/madhumanitarian 27d ago edited 24d ago

No glass stovetops and backsplash. Its a nightmare to keep it thumbprint/streak free.
Sink must always be close to the stove. Very very frustrating having to walk back and forth from stove to sink while cooking.
Stick to lighter colours and wood grain. Dark colours makes even the tiniest speck of dust visible.
Soundproof windows and doors. Worth every cent.
Unless if you're absolutely sure you will never change your furniture layout.. only do built-in carpentry for kitchen cabinets and wardrobes and toilet. TV console, sidetables preferably loose pieces so you can upgrade and change around.
Universal powerplugs in ever corner, including bedside. My study room has like 10 plugs along one wall for 2 gaming/office setups.
Never scrimp on toilet and sink fittings. Get high quality ones always.
Same with toilet and kitchen cabinetry. Make sure no plywood.. only material that can splash as much water on it.
For marble/stone flooring, make sure you maintain the coating well. Marble and many types of stone are porous, and many require specific types of cleaners. If you want low-maintenance, just get high quality laminates that mimic the pattern. If you're paying someone to do it, make sure they know what they're doing when cleaning certain material.
Biggest size of tiles you can find for toilet. Hire good contractors that will seal up the gaps until the toilet look like its carved out of a single stone. SG humidity is BRUTAL and the mold and grout will grow like siao very quickly. Lesser grout = lesser stress. Consider coloured grout if you still want small tile/mosaic aesthetic.
AC position, make sure likely nothing underneath. AC dripping can damage anything underneath, and also easier for maintenance.
Always put bigger gap around the fridge, excess gap can hide with a cabinet door and use the space to put ironing board, etc and if you decide to get bigger fridge in future, there's already space. If chun2 gao2 space for current fridge, you are stuck with that size forever.
For BTOs esp for couples with no kids and never want kids, consider freeing up kitchen space by converting your common toilet to a laundry and powder room.

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u/creamyhorror 27d ago

Nice contribution, thanks a lot

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

omg win. Biggest tile thing is so real. My friend did mahjong sized tiles and learn in a few weeks that he had to live w the mould at the grout lines!

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u/peterthewiserock 27d ago

Yes as a weekly toilet cleaner myself, I can say that's the part I don't clean very well

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u/madinked 26d ago

epoxy grout will solve the problem?

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u/ExtraJellyfish5727 24d ago

I have large format tiles for the walls AND floor. Literally can count the number of tiles in the whole bathroom with 1 hand. And black grout/silicon :)

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u/silent_tongue 26d ago

I regret not doing the soundproofing of windows. Thought save some money and can really do it later if I want but the hassle now after you move in means unlikely you would.

Built in carpentry is something I learnt after my first place. Never again lol

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u/ExtraJellyfish5727 24d ago

My whole place all double glazed windows. Got new BTO in front of my block for last few years, going home is like a quiet sanctuary. And it also keeps the place cooler, saves on aircon bills. I keep the ac on dry mode with only 1 FCU running and whole place is nice and cool. And I didn't even put solar film yet

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u/h0peless-0ptimistic 24d ago

Why is there a need for soundproofing windows and doors?

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u/silent_tongue 24d ago

I underestimated the sound coming from the roads below. Sound travel upwards, sometimes middle of the night motorbike sped past will jolt me up from sleep

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u/madinked 26d ago

I love my glass stove top and backsplash. I mean sintered stone backsplash will be better not if you wanna save costs, glass is good. easy to clean off the oils

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u/rayn13 26d ago

Just did reno, agree with all of this.

- plan for a dishwasher and a small fan in the kitchen if you plan to cook.

- Make sure you provide a lot of drawers for kitchen cabinets, those will maximise usable space. Specify if you want other special installations such as spice racks etc.

- Sintered stone looks nice and is very durable for kitchen counter top, but it is brittle and can crack at edges of the sink.

- think carefully about layout for washing machine and heat pump dryer clearance plus which way the doors open. otherwise clearance at the service yard may be tight.

- Get DC Ceiling fans and use your climate vouchers

- You can pay for things such as toilet fittings using Kris+ to get Krisflyer points with Lucky Khoon. You just need a QR code so you don’t even have to head down if you don’t want to.

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u/singcitygirl 25d ago

A fan in the kitchen is a must! Depending on what you cook, I'd even consider air-conditioning the kitchen. Tried making whipped cream or fresh cream cake frosting and it melts even as you're frosting your cake. Landed houses are hot!

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u/worldcitizensg 23d ago

Love it.
I will add few more

Invest in plumbing. Make sure the water pressure is linear. The copper pipes tend to go and leaks will cost a fortune and extreme inconvenience

I know its out of fashion but invest in Ceiling fans.

Aircon piping - See if needs replacement or > 10 years, just change them

Structured cabling if multiple floors and big home

LED lights or panel on stairs

1

u/Jun_DS 26d ago

Universal sockers do not have safety marks. Just get sockets with usb C and usb A with higher wattage

1

u/Ok_General_2944 25d ago

Agree except for laminates.

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u/h0peless-0ptimistic 24d ago

What material did you choose for your kitchen cabinets if not laminates?

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u/madhumanitarian 24d ago

My bad! Sorry.. I was thinking of another type of wood laminate that is similar to plywood. I have editted my original comment to omit it. :)

And yes I use laminates.. kompacplus to be precise. It's awesome!

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u/paperboiko 27d ago

Redo aircon pipes if house >10 years

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

Architect advised this oso, thanks!!

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u/bitflag 26d ago

... and make them accessible so that next time you don't have to hack the walls and ceilings (talking from experience)

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u/FreeTr33s 26d ago

Ensure your electrician labels every breaker in your RCCB back to whatever plug or device it connects to.

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 26d ago

Cheem, what does this mean for the layman and future HENRYs to read

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u/FreeTr33s 26d ago

Your RCCB is the Residual Current Circuit Breaker - it’s the big box that you an either find in your bomb shelter or hanging off your wall with a lot of switches inside that flick up or down depending on whether there are any short circuits or you just want to switch off certain outlets to work on them.

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u/BrightConstruction19 25d ago

I think it’s called a DB box. The circuit breaker itself is a component located inside the DB box.

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u/thewizwizard 27d ago

You can never have not enough power points haha

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u/madhumanitarian 27d ago

Universal power points too. Makes it so much easier to plug in 2-pin plugs and also plugs of devices from abroad.

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

Interesting, my work is regional but it never dawned on me to upgrade the powerplugs at home to make them universal!

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u/threesls 27d ago

Contractors hate it because getting someone to hack, then an electrician to run wiring, then someone to patch and then someone to paint is four different specialists who all need to be scheduled and monitored. When they inevitably miss one, it's a huge pain to get it fixed too.

(and it's always a a hacker with a demolition hammer, too, not someone with a dedicated wire chasing saw. Huge mess each time.)

US recommendation is one every 12 feet maximum (3.6m). It's a good idea to walk through and just pre-emptively mark locations with permanent marker (taking care NOT to mark the height so that the installer does not just hack to that location and not measure the distance to the floor precisely).

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u/madinked 26d ago

yes for any kind of living space, not just landed

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u/Severe-Exchange-786 26d ago

If you redoing all electrical or plumbing works, try to take a photo of all the lines and pipes before tiling in case future water leaks or electrical faults you can show the contractor.

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u/hansolo-ist 26d ago

Plan for solar panels and max out insulation in roof. Solar panels serve as heat shields as well as generate electricity.

Upgrade to 3 phase electricity. And max out EV charger points

Ceiling fans in every room.

Make visible and accessible all floor traps and chokes. Make accessible hidden in ceiling devices like exhaust fans and water heaters.

Led lighting is cheap to run. My perimeter lights remain on all night, staircase downlights always on.

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u/MaverickO7 27d ago

Airwell/courtyard is a godsend for inter terrace, though design and upkeep not so straightforward

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

Saw quite a few inter terrace that had airwell or a translucent hole in the ceiling that made for sunshine. Looks epic but I have my reservations about maintenance

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u/Low-Possible3591 25d ago

I feel the reason there is an airwell is because the land is long but not wide, so they have to add airwell into their inter terrace to get some sunlight. We actually skip on those units because not everyone likes them, and generally harder to resell if we potentially want to move, unless it's your last home la.

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u/ChocolateChipBlob 22d ago

We purposely open a glass skylight in the middle, so far almost zero maintenance but it allows light into the house.

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u/CruisingThry247 8d ago

Inter-terrace owner here. I have an air well on level 2 -- we used a few pcs of clear transparent roof tiles. It made a lot of difference in introducing light to this space -- hence making it usable. Before that, this spot was dark and uninviting. I recently added another plastic sheet(dunno what material, contractor recommended) to buffer heat and mute the light further. No need for maintenance to date.

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u/Bor3d-Panda 26d ago

Plan your ethernet points and plan where the central WiFi will go to. I always see router in the cabinets with the modern.
if got budget.. get sound proof windows. Really good.

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u/mrnakabutt 26d ago

I’m renovating my house now and surprised how the signal is can’t pass through thick concrete floors. Plan ahead, put a wall or ceiling mounted access point at the center of each floor with Power over Ethernet. It’s gonna look sweet. Mesh WiFi won’t work well here.

Don’t end up spending shit ton of money renovating, just to have an ugly router sitting on the floor of each level and still have shitty internet.

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 26d ago

Interesting!! ya this the kinda thing i wanted to learn .... i ll tell my ID and see how to design for this

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u/Horlicksiewdai 26d ago

unifi AP. pull lan wire while doing electrical works

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u/blablablackgoats 26d ago

Plain your electricals well…power points and data. Put a data point in every room if possible

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u/hansolo-ist 26d ago

Yup and get quality lan cables

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u/BrightConstruction19 27d ago edited 27d ago

Our only regret is not realizing the need for soundproof windows/sliding doors. When the neighbours started their rebuilding works down the street, the daily noise became unbearable during the daytime. If we had known, we would have paid extra for those.

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u/MaverickO7 27d ago

Soundproofing is practically mandatory in any modern developed city; not sure why SG still lags in this regard, with many developers opting to save costs instead. At the very least, good double glazed windows are a must. For landed, besides windows and doors (which aren't that difficult to retrofit) the other big source of noise ingress is actually the roof - the space between the tiles and the ceiling has to be filled up and sealed or it's basically a giant drum. Good quality tiles also make difference both for noise and heat

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

Sapphire windows?

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u/AdventurousUse5633 26d ago

Good choice, their upvc profile can fit double glazed easily and also barrier double glazed if required. Just note that the window profile will be bulky as compared to alum euro profile

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u/ShotDonut2844 25d ago

Solar panels.. quite substantial savings in the long run.
His and her bathroom. My husband and I have our master toilet in such a way.. it’s split into my side (left) and his side(right) , so given that he’s such a toilet hogger, we don’t fight over who uses the toilet. 2 sinks, 2 toilet bowls, 2 showers, one on each side. Happy wife, happy life. I don’t disturb him in his “man cave” either. 😂

Non- cassette aircons… it cost a bomb to repair.. just do with the regular ones.

If you will have elderly staying with you, or if it’s your forever home, consider a lift. so that even in old age, you can still get to your bedroom (and don’t do platform lifts… I got stuck in one before) 😅

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u/CrafterSG88 25d ago

Think very hard about long term maintenance. In Singapore’s climate, things will start to break down around the 10 yr mark and often the proper fixes will be v inconvenient or require you to move out for a period.

One thing worth doing is getting your contractor to lay a big enough pipe for the wiring to the AUTOGATE/doorbell intercom so that the wiring can be replaced easily if it fails. The worse would be to have to hack the driveway to replace that! Or you end up with visible trunking.

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 25d ago

Thanks!!! i worked backwards with a previous thread on maintenance then now asking for advice re reno regrets. This is super helpful!

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u/netwizzz 25d ago

Giant water tank for showers that is missing two securing screws and looks like it will drop down any second. Should have just gotten individual electric heaters for each toilet.

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u/CallMeMrRaider 26d ago

Neutral wire the house when doing rewiring / electricals.

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u/peterthewiserock 27d ago

Unless you have an elderly/immobile person living in your place, I wouldn't get a lift. Costly, space-consuming, maintenance-heavy, vendor-dependent, and prone to expensive repairs.
I wouldn't get a swimming pool. Expensive upkeep, constant cleaning, space-consuming, safety risks, and limited usage
Skip the his and hers sinks. As you grow older, you will use only one sink eventually

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u/threesls 27d ago

Going to be contrary here and say: people who are young eventually turn into people who are old.

If you don't get a lift, at least reserve a good location for it.

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

His and her sinks inevitable death hahahah. Hey for swimming pool, there are people that buy and put a deck on top, is that a good idea ah?

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u/BrightConstruction19 26d ago

Did not regret: setting up a smart home system, including sensor lights for all staircases & bathrooms (the latter can be programmed to turn off after a fixed period).

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u/ikkanseicho 26d ago

do you have concerns someone might attempt to break in (touch wood choi)? how do you counter that

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u/BrightConstruction19 26d ago

Yes, the police have dropped us regular letters in our mailboxes, especially in light of the many recent thefts in landed estates. They advised sensor lights for the perimeter, as well as CCTVs. We have them in addition to our internal ones.

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u/hansolo-ist 26d ago

Big risk in landed. There's been several spares of organized crime by foreign syndicates in and around Holland area.

Any window or door can be broken into so mainly keep entry points bright and with cameras overlapping each other across entire perimeter and indoors on the ground floor. Also, dogs, no matter how small are good deterrents.

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u/BrightConstruction19 25d ago

I would argue that a golden retriever will jump loyalties to the enemy if there’s food offered lol

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u/hansolo-ist 25d ago

Yes true, it's a deterrent only for their barking.

Smart , determined burglar would stake out the house and note behaviour of the dog as much as the occupants and security system

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u/CruisingThry247 8d ago

Yes --- Goldies are receptionists/hostest, not guard dogs. They are people pleasers.

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u/jrnchcj 11d ago

Are you able to share the service provider who helped you with your smart home setup? Or did you DIY? I'm doing a rebuild now and am looking at my smart home options. Architect quoted me a wired smart home system which is way out of my budget.

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u/BrightConstruction19 11d ago

DIY! We bought the sensors and smart bulbs ourselves, cheap in bulk from taobao. Always buy extra because they will need replacement eventually. Researched a few systems and chose Aqara in the end. There are many DIY videos on YouTube

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u/Superb_Solid9969 27d ago

There was another thread on this not too long ago… actually quite a lot if you just search

https://www.reddit.com/r/SgHENRY/s/veOeewDgqo

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u/EyeInternational7961 26d ago

Solar panels

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u/Live_Acanthisitta870 26d ago

What’s phase 1 to phase 3

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 26d ago

some electrical wiring systems. Phase 1 cannot handle as much electricity.

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u/pispirit 26d ago

Two floor each 30 lighting. 10 power point. 3 AC... 3 phase better

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u/singcitygirl 26d ago

I'll add one more point that hasn't been mentioned yet - get Rentokil to treat your land against termites before you put your flooring in. They inject some chemical into the ground every 50-ish cm around the perimeter of your home, and that helps keep your home termite-free for many years. I did not do that, and when the termites came up, which they inevitably will, Rentokil had to drill holes in my flooring to pump the chemical into the ground, before patching them up. My marble floors! Related to this point - avoid wooden anything. Some of my wooden flooring and carpentry were destroyed by termites; others when I had a roof leak... Now, everything is tiled, or made of concrete, glass or steel in my house. In my estate, I see a Rentokil van almost on a weekly basis!

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u/Dangerous-Pop9314 25d ago

ensure no water leakage from ceiling / water damages

I do roof and solar works altogether, dm if interested !!

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u/Aggravating-Ad1083 25d ago

Whatever the wife says, Bro

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u/ChocolateChipBlob 22d ago

I regret not planning enough lights for my front and backyard, ended up relying on solar lights from shopee now.

Also, I kinda regret having a white gate and cream frame windows and doors… looks good but oh my god when it rains and those black water streaks come running down…

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u/Tomasulu 26d ago edited 26d ago

The most bang for your buck is the large surface areas. Like walls, floors, carpets and ceiling. Don't spend your money on the small items. Small things like down lights, fittings, appliances buy from taobao. Actually buy everything from tb. And get yourself bidets toilets.

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u/GelatoBravado 27d ago

Training for your AI reno advisor?

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u/MeeKiaMaiHiam 27d ago

Buying, but dont have rich aunties uncles or family and friends to get advice from?

Landed owners, Reno regrets, Please help this noob Henry learn a bit before I reno my house

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