The Long and Winding Road: March 2015

When we bought the house 18 years ago, we did not do much changes to it except to extend the back portion of the house to accommodate a washing machine and wet kitchen.. As first occupier, there wasn't much makeover needed. But over the last one year, there is a problem of having always to park one car out at the roadside of the main entry road near the house. The car porch had a small patch of green that grass could not grow well because of the soil and chemical used by the developer, but the weeds had a way of finding it's way in between the gaps of the interlocking bricks at the car porch. It is not a pretty sight if not regularly trimmed and the free lance grass cutter does not seem to make it's round when his services is needed.

The solution, do a makeover of the entire frontage. Cover up the grass patch and extend the car porch and patio over the entire area. Open up the fence and replace it with a wide foldable gate. That would solve the car parking problem and solve the weed problem. We went looking for the type of tiles and got ourself a contractor that was reasonable in it's quote. As promised, he started work on 19.12.14 and it took a month for him to complete the job. December is a wet month and it had been raining ever since the work started.

The house before renovation.

Image taken from google street view.

The patio, Notice the bare patch, an area where grass wouldn't grow.

The weeds will grow within the gaps of the interlocking bricks.

Not the neatest garden.

That's the best you can grow on the grass patch.

The makeover starts on 19.2.14.

Looks like a war zone.

Demolition man.

What a quick job. It;s easy to smash things up.

Site of the old pillar that houses a mailbox and garbage bin.

Laying of concealed piping.

Sand, bricks, granite and garbage bin occupies a third of the road.

Reconstructing the main pillar at the left.

Reinforcing the pillar on the right.

Wire mesh came the next day for reinforcing the concrete driveway.

Leveling of the driveway.

Patio car porch and driveway will all be one big area.

The left pillar cemented up.

So is the right pillar.

The water filter will be relocated to the inside.

Encroaching onto the neighbouring house.

Concrete work on the floor was done in a day.

The water filter is being relocated along the side fence.

Inlet and outlet pipe are now concealed at floor level.

Three manholes are created.

Having a look at the day's work.

Concealed wire for electric gate. It's painful to see wall being hack like that.

Concealed wire track.

Leads to the right pillar.

And connects to the left pillar.

The track.

A whole is punched through the wall for the switch from the inside.

The Tiling Work Starts.

We went to Topcera Tiling showroom at Kepong and choose this tile for the floor.

The work involves detaching the base of the grill.

A mix of cement and sand for the top layer.

Cement screeding is a skilled work.

The floor must first be level.

The tiler, Ah Loong is a skill hand.

He have with him two helpers.

They just mix the cement with sand and lay it over the entire area for Ah Loong to do the screeding.

Tiles are placed just for us to get in and out of the house.

Cement screeding almost done. It has to tilt slightly to allow the water to flow out.

The tiling starts from the outside.

Ah Loong suggested we lay not in a straight line but alternating

It does looks nice laying out this way.

The drop for the wash area.

This guy has passion in his work.

That's why you start from the outside, a straight line.

That's one day of work done for tiling and top layer leveling.

The second day, the tiling already cover the entire floor space.

The skirting was also completed.

The drop area had to be done with more dexterity.

The tiling extends 4 feet outside to cover the drain.

The drop wash area completed.

The new manhole created.

For the pillar, we choose this tile from the same shop in Kepong.

For skirting and odd length, the tile has to be reduced accordingly by cutting.

A lot of cutting is needed for tiling of pillars.

The tiling work was all completed in two days.

But the problem becomes apparent when it rains.

The water could not flow out and accumulated at the gate rail.

The track is the cause because it rises higher by half an inch

That prevents the water from flowing out.

The wire is exposed as it has yet to be connected to the auto gate gadget.

Cleaning up after the worker have left for the day.

That's how it looks after partial completion.

View from inside out.

The previous neighbour had once suggested to cut down the tree because some branches encroached over his side. I allowed him to cut those branches and nothing more. This tree is part of my house.

Because of the gradient, water tends to flow outside the road all the way down.

I had inserted two pipes to trap as much water as possible and direct it to the monsoon drain.

These two pipes will be concealed and tilted to flow to the monsoon drain..

Before covering up.

After concreting.

Pipes concealed underneath.

Only two holes to draw in the water when it rains.

The cement rendering slopes to the road level.

The general design idea is surfacing.

A nice finishing to ring around the tree. It actually enhances the tree.

Because of the water blockage, a mini drain has to be created here. This was the original idea.

At the end of the drain, there is a concealed outlet pipe that leads to the monsoon drain.

That's before finishing.

That's after finishing.

That hole discharge water to the monsoon drain.

The rain came soon after. This time the water did not clog up.

But the exposed wire is worrying.

One of the whole can be covered with a sinkhole cover to trap the debris.

Picture taken during rain.

The water just drains into the hole.

The pillar lights are up. After looking at many designs, we decided the conventional round lights is still the best.

The mini drain is covered by galvanised steel cover.

It fits nicely over the mini drain.

As see from outside.

When lighted up at night.

The house is still without the gate.

Now the gate is up.

And so is the waste bin metal door cover at the pillar.

The problem is after the light is installed and electricity flowed, there is a short circuit. It could be due to the wire exposed to the rain when the current flows.

The whole thing needs to be rewired.

Because the concealed wire are now underneath the newly tiled floor, a new route is determined.

The side wall have to be hacked and wire run along it and punch another hole to access the inside.

It is a real mess.

During the renovation, I had two variation order, one was to replace the deteriorating trusses at the patio and the other was to cement render the back stair case and add a railing.

The ceiling trusses is rotting due to leaked rainwater.

It needs to be replaced.

Trusses removed.

The mark was where the trusses were.

New ones went up.

And the fan can swing from a more stable foundation.

The shellac finishing to complete the job.

The back staircase have been a neglected area.

Mosses grows on it and the mouldy steps is dangerous.

Although seldom used, it needs a simple uplift.

The steps was coated with a layer of cement.

The railing gives a sense of security at the staircase.

It now matches the neat back alley well maintained by all neighbours.

The gate is powder coated and has an opening for manual use.

The pillar that houses the waste bin at the bottom and letter box at the top.

KC just arrive from the States and was surprised to see the transformation.

This is the picture he took.

Most of the major job is done.

The tree now stands out.

Everything is good,so far.The paint job is the last bit.

The colour is old and drab.

What we have chosen is conservative colour, light beige.

We engage Tohib, a small time contractor for sub contract work. We have known him for quite a few years now and he does a good job. The light beige is what it is, safe color, doesn't bring out the house.