Even though this is a no brainer but for some reason I thought I might be able to get away without repainting, but one trip to the place and conveniently, former owners have cleared out the space so everything is very visible. I don’t know why that’s the case, recalled the same thing happening to me at my Toa Payoh rented room, never noticed stains and dark marks and all until I cleared out the room. So nope, definitely need a fresh coat. 

So googled and just picked one of the first ones in some site’s compilation of “best painting services in Singapore” lol. I mean the reviews look pretty ok (though maybe there’s a bit of filtering) but I suppose it can’t be that bad if there are enough people giving them good reviews. And they also provide handyman and electrician services so that appealed to me coz I didn’t want too many people to deal with, the logistics will be a nightmare and I am no full time ID. 

Oh so the backstory to the need for handyman also arose from my visit to the place (gosh that visit was VERY enlightening, even though I still missed some queries). The power points in the common bedroom are in a bit of awkward position for my intended layout. I kind of felt that the power points are generally placed too low for my liking (and affects furniture choice too, for instance bedside table), but this one I needed another trip to measure the actual height. There are gaping holes after the TV bracket was removed which needed to be dealt with if they can’t be reused. Shifting bedroom light switches (ideally reachable when I am in bed hahaha) was always a dream of mine. 

And on top of that I needed to install a ceiling fan which, in a bid to save three times of the cost, I had it imported from JB hahah. KDK ceiling fans are the supposed gold standard, and the approach was recommended in telegram groups I encountered as well as Winnie who passed me her contact. The only issue is that warranty may be an issue if things goes wrong but I reasoned to myself if shit does happen then it just proves that KDK isn’t very reliable at all and I should just switch to another brand instead of getting it fixed (idk about this logic, typing it out have me doubting it hahah). 

Conversing via WhatsApp, had reservations about transferring money to the shop without seeing the product but I suppose it went ok in Winnie’s case so all should be fine. I was worried about delivery actually because I thought with all the border restrictions there may be delays, and so I double checked that I can receive it by end Oct/mid Nov, and seller assured me so. What I didn’t expect was that the delivery happened the very next day after I made payment LOL. In the middle of a discussion with boss even, and the delivery guy spoke Malay only (what will happen if I don’t understand Malay huh?) over the intercom and I got all confused until I caught the word “kipas” and I’m like ohhhh. But still made the guy wait for 10mins while I hurriedly wrapped up the discussion with boss and received the fan. Had to pay delivery fee and GST in cash, I think he was a bit surprised to receive RM from me but oh well. The most hilarious part of this episode, to me at least, is because the delivery timing was so unexpected and the lack of rehearsal (in my head) meant my very questionable Malay speaking skills was even worse so I was blurting out words at random hahaha. 

But anyway I digress. Back to the painting/handyman booking. 

So I dropped a WhatsApp in September, idea is that this is also one of the first things that needs to be done and apparently a lot of people are renovating so usually need to book in advance. 

Guy called back and asked a few questions, made recommendations (e.g. need sealant, no need anti mound for ceilings etc) and quote (the electrician works are slightly on a higher side but ok la, the convenience). And recommended to do flooring first before painting because apparently the floor guy can screw up the skirting that needs repaint and he was very clear that he won’t do it. So had to text the flooring guys to change my appointment, and once that was done I confirmed with the painter. Had to pay a 60% deposit too. Actually I suppose it’s standard process but I don’t know why it feels dodgy.

So again, no need to follow up (except applying with condo management on reno dates) until closer to the date which I requested for a assessment date first before the actual job, just so he knows what’s to be done, and whether they can be done with this amount of lead time (for instance, I never mentioned my bedroom light switch dream) and quote accordingly. The actual painting job should take 2-3 days (he acknowledged that it is slower than some other people perhaps but he claims that it’s better quality work oh well. Not like I cannot wait).

Breaking this up into two parts because the kipas story took up too much airtime and it's not even part of the story.