开工大吉 (Auspicious Start of Work)

Work on site is slowly resuming after the Chinese New Year break. It's not quite a flurry of activity, but some of these workers cut short their vacation in their hometowns up north to return to work sooner. For that we are appreciative.

In the adult toilet on the 2nd storey , there is good progress on the tiling of the wall.

In the K2 toilet on the 2nd storey (which we saw in an earlier post), the first layer of waterproof cement screed has been applied to the floor. The pipes for the plumbing are then laid, after which another layer of waterproofing will be applied.

Our tiler works on the piping in the K1 toilet.

Also on the 2nd storey, the electrical team has begun laying the casing and wiring for the electrical network.

On the 1st storey another pair of workers prepare the toilets for tiling, by roughening up the walls. There are five children's toilets plus one adult toilet on the 1st storey, so that's a lot of roughening.

In a move that's guaranteed not to delight the residents of the adjacent apartment, our demolition team turn their attention to demolishing various external structures.

Architects of yesteryears apparently have a penchant for adding superfluous structures to their buildings. And building them so solidly that they can probably withstand a bomb.

Two jackhammers working in unison can only result in a massive headache. So is it better to have only one jackhammer working at a time, or two jackhammers creating double the noise but completing the work in half the time? Or three jackhammers...

A last word on the water pipes, just to end the issue on that long-running saga. Here's the complete set of pipes with submeters to each individual unit.

Hello, Gorgeous!

The water cycle

The good people from PUB's "big meter team" were here today nice and early to install the main water meter and turn on water supply to the property. It didn't take them more than a few moments to get the job done.

See, that wasn't too difficult, was it?

So now that leaves the connection of the sub-meters supplying water to the individual units. For those who are interested in the nuts and bolts of home renovation, here's how we are progressing on that front.

The pipe connection upwards is done. Cement is poured to fill up the hole.

Not the prettiest finish, but we've treated you better than the previous person did. Please serve us well for the next 30 years.

Our guy spends another day crouched in his little nook.

By the evening, we're almost there but not quite yet. The plumbing guys will need one more day to complete the welding of the connections downwards. When that is done, another "small meter team" from PUB will come to install the sub-meters.

On the toilet front, wall tiling for the second toilet has been completed. Unfortunately the tiler will now leave for the Chinese New Year holiday, so toilet work is halted until then.

Nice shiny tiles for the K2 toilet on the second storey.

Water woes

What fun will a construction project be if it does not run into a major crisis right from the start?

It's never a good sign when the main water pipe to your building looks a little like this:

The main water pipe supplying water to the entire property. Spot the missing link.

So that was Monday. Even then, you would have thought that this cannot be a huge obstacle.  But now it's already Thursday afternoon and it's taken a belated visit by the water experts to conclude that a meter needs to be installed across that little gap. Brilliant deduction, Sherlock!

So the toilet tiles have all been hacked, and the materials for laying the new toilet flooring have been delivered to site. Joe had planned to start the wet works today, but that cannot be done now because there's no water to mix the cementing materials. And we still don't know when the meter can be installed.

Cement and sealant on site crying to be opened up.

An assortment of tiles brought in by the contractor. Goody! Looks like we're having different-themed toilets!

But the workers do what they can. Fortunately, demolition works continue at a healthy pace.

On the 2nd storey, the ceiling boards are progressively being removed to reveal a bare ceiling which appears to be in pretty good condition. That means we can consider going for an "industrial look".

The ceiling at the 2nd storey hall. Smooth!

We already have a kitchen on the 1st storey, so the kitchen on the 2nd storey will be converted to a second room for the K1 children.

It's amazing how much damage one guy and a jackhammer can do in a single day.

This is what that same space looked like at the start of the day. Yes, it's not exactly tip-top to start with.