Sometime last year (2023), we received notification that our block has been slated for the HDB Home Improvement Programme (HIP). A model of what would be done in our flats would be set up at our void deck for us to view and then we would have to vote by the end of the year.
The project would include:
- re-doing the waterproofing of all 3 toilets (2 upstairs and 1 downstairs), with the replacement of toilet bowls, sinks, and toilet doors,
- checking and fixing of spalling concrete (if any),
- changing of the main door and gate,
- changing of the rubbish chute, and
- the installation of grab bars and ramps (for wheelchairs).
We were very tempted to skip the entire exercise as we did not want to deal with the mess during and after it. However, we were warned in a letter by HDB that if we do not agree to the re-doing of the waterproofing of the toilets and if we failed the waterproofing test,
“HDB will carry out the upgrading for that toilet/bathroom.
You will be billed your share of the full cost of the entire toilet/bathroom upgrading package.”
Yikes!
To Do Or Not To Do?
It was a tough call as we had redone the waterproofing of the upstairs toilets (just the shower area) about 5 years ago. Would the waterproofing hold?
Also, we are aware that the price of re-doing all 3 toilets as part of HIP was a steal. 5 years ago, the cost of redoing the shower area of the 2 toilets had been more than $3,000. The cost quoted by the contractor for HIP which covered waterproofing, replacement of sinks, toilet bowls, and installation of grab bars for all 3 toilets was less than $2,000! So we decided to bite the bullet and get it done.
It would take 10 working days, including full days on Saturday. This meant that we had to live with the mess for 12 days since the dates given to us crossed over 2 weekends.
The original date given to us fell on 12 April, the day of AWE2024 – our ministry event held at Changi Cove! When I went down to the office to request for a change of date, the officer was very reluctant to do so insisting that we just needed to have one person to oversee the project. And where was I to find that one person?!
God was so gracious to us. The officer suddenly remembered that someone had given up their slot in March because they were away. The new dates offered were 15th-26th March. Henson was reluctant at first because he had quite a few ministry engagements lined up, including teaching at Tung Ling Bible School from 18th – 20th March.
However, I convinced him that it would be better to get it over and done versus pushing it to after AWE2024 where we also had other things going on. He reluctantly agreed.
And so it was GO!
Live in? Move out?
Then we had to decide if we would stay in throughout the project or try to find a place to stay during the project if we could even find a place to house all of us.
Bear in mind that we had to open up the flat at 8:30am daily and lock up when the workers were done by 6pm, which never happened. They almost always finish after 7pm. In fact, they finished at almost 9pm on the first day!
Since the messiest days were the first two days, it was decided that we would all stay away on those days. Then some of us moved back in.
By God’s grace, some children had rooms in NUS residences or managed to room in with friends and grandparents. Also, a dear friend had an empty room (2 beds) in her rental flat that she opened up for us to use as and when needed, which was a lifesaver.
Helpful Blog Posts
To prepare for it, I asked Google for help. It threw up 2 very helpful blogposts.
1. Home Improvement (HIP) Programme and What You Should Do by Christine Tan (May 2021)
2. We Survived Home Improvement Programme – Part 1 (Preparation) by Elaine’s Tiny World (Nov 2017)
Elaine’s posts were very comprehensive documentation split up into 4 posts. But bear in mind it was written in 2017. Things have changed a fair bit since then.
We also had first-hand sharing from a friend who also lived in a maisonette, although it was done quite a few years ago. I must say that the whole procedure has been refined over the years and I am grateful that the procedure has gone more smoothly than in the past.
Grand Plan
Based on all the information gathered, my grand plan was to move as many items as possible that were dust catchers into the cupboards. Also, the takeaway from the 2 blogs I read and my friend was that the work put in BEFORE HIP will reduce the amount of cleaning up AFTER the HIP. And it is very true!
But bear in mind that the hacking of tiles, the cutting of tiles and the mixing of cement and screed are all very dusty activities. Also, the month of March was surprisingly windy which meant that dust was constantly being blown all over, either within the unit itself or from our neighbours’ flats into ours.
Here are the things we did which helped lessen the mess.
- Declutter – I had decluttered the house just before Chinese New Year. This meant that I had space in my cupboards to stash away as many items as possible into the cupboards, – reducing the need to wrap the items up and dust after HIP.
- Put Up Own Plastic Covering* – We did NOT leave the house as is nor did we trust that the plastic coverings done by the workers would be sufficient. The plastic covering put up by the workers were only put up on Days 1 & 2 when the hacking of the tiles was done. After that, they removed it. Even if they do not remove it, the way the plastic sheets are put up is very dependent on how diligent and careful the workers tasked to do it are. Some workers’ workmanship was more slipshod than others.
*We bought rolls of plastic and masking tape to seal our items and drape over the cupboards ourselves. Shopee became my BFF for all things HIP.
(a) Downstairs
The night before the HIP began, my husband and I pushed all our furniture into our living room and sealed the living room off with our own plastic sheets. In other words, we made a path for the workers to go to the toilet in the kitchen. The house was not free for all to walk in and about. This prevented the dust from flying all over the house and into the cupboards.
All cupboards, including kitchen cabinets, were sealed off. The stove, oven, water dispenser, fridge, freezer and washing machine were wrapped with plastic since these could not be moved into the living room.
(b) Upstairs
When we renovated the house in 2012, we converted the ensuite bathroom to a common toilet. This was a God-sent decision because it meant that for the HIP, we could fully seal off all 3 bedrooms and allow the workers to do what they needed to do without them entering the bedrooms at all.
All bedroom and study doors were fitted with a foam door gap sealer. This provided another layer of protection from the dust. Later, the door gap sealer would be fitted onto the main door to reduce the amount of dust entering our house generated by our neighbours’ HIP.
The Actual HIP Progress
We were given a schedule of the progress and they kept to it until the last day. We were, unfortunately, not handed back the flat on the 10th working day because of the aircon trunking issue.
Apparently, the reinstatement of the aircon trunking which had been torn down for re-tiling the toilet walls, was not part of the HIP contractor’s job scope. They had to bring in 3rd party workers. These workers could not start working on the trunking until work inside the toilet was complete. This meant that they were only handed over the toilet very late in the day. So, no matter how they hurried they could not finish up on 26th but handed over the flat on the 27th (Wednesday).
Other than this issue, they followed the schedule to a tee.
The Start
They came on the first day and it was quite an event. A team of more than 10 workers entered the flat and started laying down cardboard and vinyl floor sheets for protection. Then they also started putting up their plastic sheets which were propped up by poles, not stuck on with masking tape.
And then they would mark off items in the bathrooms as “keep” or “throw”. And thankfully we had already thought of all these or we would be super stressed making decisions on the spot. An option would be to say “keep” for all items I guess. But knowing what we wanted to keep or throw helped us know what we needed to buy before installation day. We listed out the items we wanted to replace and then we had about a week to go shopping.
And then the hacking started. It was loud and it was dusty.
Bathroom Floor & Wall Tiles, Sinks and Toilet Bowls, Windows
For the floor and wall tiles, there were 3 colour combinations offered. We could choose all 3 options, 1 per bathroom but we chose the most neutral colour palette for all 3.
If you dislike all the combinations, it is possible for you to provide your own tiles, sinks and toilet bowls, and even the windows. The standard windows are the brown aluminium louvre kind. BUT you will have to purchase and ensure that these are all delivered before work starts.
Also, you will not be given a discount or given the standard fixtures for not taking up the standard fixtures. But you will still save a lot of money because the labour is provided by the HIP contractors.
For the windows, you will have the top up the difference in cost if you choose not to take up the standard aluminium louvre ones provided.
Main Door and Gate
Our current door is fire-rated but according to HDB regulations, you’ll only need a fire-rated door if your main door is along the fire escape route, within 3 metres from the nearest lift or staircase or if your flat came with an existing fire-rated door and you are seeking to replace it.
We looked at the door and gate designs and colours offered and we decided that we preferred our original door and gate. Our neighbour was rather horrified though as our door does show signs of wear and tear. I think it has character!
Grab Bars and Wheelchair Ramps
According to the Age Well SG website,
The United Nations defines a country as ‘ageing’ if the share of its population aged 65 and above crosses 7%. It is considered ‘aged’ if the share exceeds 14%.
Once the share reaches 21%, it is ‘super aged’.Age Well SG
- Singapore took only 19 years to go from ‘ageing’ to ‘aged’, and reached this milestone in 2017.
- We are projected to attain ‘super aged’ status in 2026.
- By 2030, 1 in 4 citizens will be aged 65 and above.
I guess it is with this development in mind that the HIP provides grab bars and wheelchair ramps as part of the initiative. We chose the most basic of the packages offered which meant that each toilet upgrade comes with one grab bar only. But you can pay to have up to 10 grab bars installed. We declined the wheelchair ramp.
Rubbish Chute
We chose not to change our current stainless steel rubbish chute to the new aluminium rubbish chute as it is smaller in size than our current rubbish chute and also because I do not like the design and look.
Application of Slip Resistant Treatment to Toilet Floors
We declined this as:
- the tiles did not feel any different with or without the treatment, and
- the staff at the mockup flat informed us that the treatment only lasts 2-3 years. And as the treatment wears off non-uniformly, the floors will look like it is stained. And this is true as I have seen it happen in my parents’ bathroom floors.
Installation of Fittings
Installation of all bathroom accessories and fittings was scheduled for the day before the handover. For this, someone needs to be present the whole day as the workers will need to check with us on the placement of the bathroom accessories (bathroom shelves, water heater, toilet roll holders, mirrors, etc).
We took advantage of the upgrading to change most of our bathroom fittings, including our water heater.
We had a built-in cabinet that had to be torn down. At first, they told us that we would have to reinstall the cabinet ourselves as they would not be preserving it for us (ie they would just hack it down). After some negotiations, they agreed to try to preserve it for reinstallation. However, in the end, we decided to just buy IKEA cabinets as our built-in cabinet was already 12 years old and some of the hinges were rusty due to the humidity of the bathroom.
So it is possible for them to help you dismantle and then reinstall your built-in cabinets IF they are in good condition.
Glass Screen and Door
For our shower area, we had a glass screen and door which had to be taken down. Due to how the wall tiles were laid, space in the upgraded bathroom would shrink. This meant that our original glass screen and door would not be able to fit into the new space. Don’t ask me how and why this happens but our upgraded bathrooms were indeed smaller width-wise!
For convenience, we asked the HIP office to recommend a contractor to help measure and custom-make a new glass screen and door. It was not cheap!
An alternative to getting new screens and doors would be to get the contractor to come in and cut the screen to size so that it can fit into the now smaller bathroom. This was risky so we decided to just get a new set.
Cleaning Up After the Handover
It is true. The hard work done before the start of HIP paid off. Cleaning up was not as bad as anticipated. I did the cleaning up myself. You can hire workers to come do it for you but the quotation I got started from $500! And cleaning up the walls of the flat was an additional $140. I will pass on this!
The HIP workers helped with the teardown of the flooring as well as took down the plastic sheets we had put up. And then they threw everything we didn’t want/need for us.
I used wet wipes liberally on all surfaces. Then I hauled my Rainbow vacuum cleaner out and vacuumed the house. Then 2 rounds of mopping. And we were done.
The main parts of the house felt a bit dusty for a day or two – settling of the dust from the environment. The insides of the cupboards were surprisingly dust-free.
But the floors of the toilets did feel dusty for slightly over a week. This is expected. Spraying the floors with water daily helped to settle the dust faster.
For the installation of the replacement wall cabinets we had to wait a while for IKEA to deliver and install for us. Then it was another round of cleaning and spraying.
Can I repeat myself? The work done BEFORE HIP (decluttering, sealing up most of the house yourself, etc) helped reduce the need for paid help in cleaning or feeling like death after cleaning up.
Problems
Yes, there were problems. The workers are after all working on a very tight schedule. And workers being workers meant that there will be times that corners are cut when they think they can away with it. So if one is not eagle-eyed, slipshod workmanship can easily be missed.
They were mostly minor issues that don’t affect how things work but there are certain things that were not acceptable.
(a) Unlevelled Kerb
The biggest issue we had was the unlevelled kerb to the common toilet. This was not easily noticed when the floors were covered up with cardboard and vinyl. But once they were removed on the last day, my husband noticed it immediately. One side of the kerb was much higher than the other side. They had to hack and redo the kerb. Yes, more dust and more mess.
(b) Cracks on Tiles & Walls
There were also cracks on our floor tiles and walls adjacent to the toilets. The deal is that they will replace the cracked tiles for us with our original tiles. But as mentioned, we renovated our house in 2012. The old tiles have long been thrown out. So now we have to live with cracks on the tile outside the toilets.
(c) White Paint Only
The walls adjacent to the toilets had slight cracks too. The workers plastered them up and re-painted the walls. BUT they painted it WHITE. Our walls are yellow. Again, they could help us paint it in yellow but we would have to go get the paint for them to do so.
White paint was also what they gave us after they installed the new windows to the kitchen toilet. Bugbear of ours? They aren’t even neat about the paint borders. They could at least have given is a straight border.
Still, we give thanks that these are minor issues. A few neighbours complained about their chipped and scratched parquet floors. Another had her window panes thrown out when she specifically told them that she wanted to keep them. Another friend told me that her walls leaked water when they turned on the water supply for her. Yikes indeed!
Post HIP
We are told that the warranty is for one year only. BUT it only begins when the entire estate is done with HIP! In other words, since we were the first block to start, we will get at least 6 more months of warranty compared to those who were last in the queue.
In the meantime, our toilet seats are already showing signs of yellowing! When we complained, the worker insisted that we just needed to clean it “better” ie scrub harder, which is ridiculous since we did not have to scrub harder with our 12 year old toilet seats!
Not sure what we can do about this. I am monitoring it and if I need to provide “feedback” I shall have to do so. Sigh.
Managing the Mess While Living In the Flat During HIP
So how did we manage to live IN the flat while HIP was ongoing? Two key things I felt contributed most to reducing the massive clean-up after HIP were wet mopping at the end of each day and sealing up most of the house with plastic sheets the whole time HIP was ongoing. Many of my neighbours merely wrapped their furniture with plastic. This meant that dust was swirling all over the house all the time.
Wet Mopping at the End of Each Day
I wet-mopped once the workers left for the day. Not of the entire flat but the pathway into our bedrooms.
The workers were supposed to sweep and mop the flat at the end of each day but they usually “forget” to do so. I agreed to let it go once but found that it was very difficult to clean up if they hadn’t mopped at least once through. So I had to insist that they do so even as they tried to excuse themselves because it was late. It was after all part of their job scope.
I bought many, many packets of wet wipes to clean up so that I could just wipe and throw. Otherwise, I would have to haul and change buckets of water with the traditional mop and bucket system.
No one was allowed into the house until I had done my own mop-through of the house. We took off our shoes and changed into disposable bedroom slippers bought from Shopee to wear around the house. Despite the mopping there were still a lot of fine dust, cement, and even sand on the floor. Then we went barefeet in the bedrooms. This reduced dust being brought into the bedrooms and beds.
One of the workers told me, “Sister! No need to seal the bedrooms. Not dusty anymore! Only dusty on first 2 days when we hack the tiles.” This is soooo not true. Dust was generated when they mixed the cement in the house and when they cut the tiles to fit around the toilet fixtures. I am glad I did not heed his advice!
The Porta-Loo
In the old days, there was no porta-loo in the flat. Showering and toileting had to be done in the porta-loos set up in the void deck. Since then, many improvements have been done – Thank God!
We had a porta-loo with a shower set up in the kitchen. It is only to be used at the end of the day as the workers have to set it up to drain into the sewage hole after they leave. It is very helpful if you do not wish to use the common shower or toilet facilities at the end of the day. Or if you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. For us, we chose to use the common shower facilities and toilet downstairs at the void deck.
The attached shower is supposed to dispense hot water but ours did not. Showering with cold water in March in Singapore is no big deal. BUT there was nowhere to hang my clothes or towel inside the porta-loo. And honestly, the toilet bowl looked very dingy. So after one night of using it, we all decided that we would just use the common shower and toilet as much as possible.
Also, there is no flushing system in the porta-loo. You would have to spray water with the attached hose or shower hose until all waste flows into the sewage. I felt that not using it reduced any possible smells or leakages.
Communal Shower and Toilet
Because we were one of the first few flats to start off HIP, the communal shower and toilet facilities were more than acceptable. There were 6 stalls, 3 for females and 3 for males. There was a toilet stall (with toilet paper & soap), a shower stall (had hot water, strong water, & soap) and a combined shower and toilet stall for those who may need a larger space (eg for the wheelchair-bound).
They were cleaned a few times a day and toilet paper was replenished regularly as well.
Study and Rest Area
We only used the house to sleep. All schoolwork, computer work or ministry work that needed to be done were done in the Study Area (room) set up at the void deck.
Rows of tables and plastic chairs were set up in the Study Area with many power points available for charging. There was free wifi access as well but one had to go into the office to request for the password.
The Rest Area (room) was set up with a few sets of sofas and quite a few padded/cushioned chairs (not plastic). A neighbour was seen all stretched out and asleep on one of the sofas to the horror of one of my children as he had placed his feet (with shoes!) on the handrest of the sofa!
A security guard sat outside the Study and Rest Area to record our entry into the rooms, as only residents affected by the HIP were allowed to use the rooms. However, depending on who is on duty, you may or may not be required to record your presence.
We are grateful for these rooms as they did provide a much-needed respite from the noise, heat and dust of HIP. We are very grateful that we did not have to look for a place to work/study.
Laundry
Getting laundry done was a hassle and expensive too! We used the coin-operated laundromat down the road. At first, I was doing it daily – using both the washer and dryer since there is nowhere to hang our clothes. But realised that it was costing me a bomb! On average, I was spending $12-$15 per day! So I cut it down to once every 2 to 3 days.
But while I could pack the washing machine, ensuring that the clothes dry properly with a fuller load is a challenge since you can’t overpack a dryer. Sigh. And I really dislike drying clothes with a dryer. There would always be an item or more that shrinks.
Meals & Drinks
Since we had no access to a fridge, all meals had to be bought. Talk about MSG-overload! So grateful that all allergies were kept at bay.
And as we all know, March was a hot and dry month. For convenience, we bought 600ml Fairprice Drinking Water by the carton every other day or so. For ourselves, and the workers. We would leave the carton in the flat for everyone to help themselves to it. Buying the 1-litre bottle carton would be cheaper but who wants to lug around a 1-litre bottle?
We Survived HIP While Living In the Flat
Thanks be to God, we survived the entire ordeal. We now have brand new waterproofing on all 3 toilet floors, and new bathroom fixtures. Apparently, HIP is done every 30 years. So those whose flats are 60 years old can look forward to another round!
Another benefit resulting from the HIP is that we got to know a few more neighbours as we had to congregate at the Study or Rest Areas for 2 weeks. From our own informal survey it seems only a handful opted out of it. One used his bathrooms as storerooms (!), and a few just moved in or had recently renovated their place (less than 3 years).
Things I Bought
Here is a brief summary of what I bought and used and their usefulness or not.
- Plastic Rolls – I bought those which had masking tape on one side.
- Masking Tape – these will cause the paint on your walls to come off, depending on the state of your wall paint. Some parts of our walls peeled off very badly while other parts were totally fine.
- Door Gap Sealer – I felt that the foam ones were better than the vinyl ones but used the vinyl ones for our main door as the gap between our door and gate was narrow and couldn’t accommodate the foam seal.
- Wet Wipes – I thought it would be cheaper off Shopee but my neighbourhood shop sells the same brand for just $1 and I could use my CDC vouchers!
- Magic Mop Stick – in the end I did not use them but just got on my hands and knees to wipe the floors as the bumpy vinyl flooring used made the wet wipes curl off the stick!
- Disposable House Slippers – very helpful!
I hope what I have documented can help someone else who is due for HIP in their estate.