Flat upgrade worth 10 days of 'suffering'

More modern and neater bathrooms with new furnishings have replaced what used to be an eyesore - cracked wall tiles and dirty, difficult-to-wash crevices that had not been redone for more than 20 years.

Mr Chua Soo Eng's family home in Choa Chu Kang was upgraded recently under the Home Improvement Programme (HIP).

The Chuas' four-room Housing Board flat is among those built between 1987 and 1997 that have begun upgrading works under the expanded HIP.

Improvements to the Chua family's flat were completed on Jan 7, after 10 days of works.

Mr Chua, 57, a businessman in the food and beverage industry, moved into the unit more than 20 years ago and lives with his wife, 57, a housewife, their 26-year old son and 24-year old daughter.

They decided to upgrade both toilets in the flat with new wall and floor tiles, new toilet bowls and sinks, as well as grab bars. It cost them about $700, said Mr Chua.

Mr Chua said the toilets now look much neater and bigger, owing to a rearrangement of pipes.

Before the upgrade, the toilet walls had small tiles that were 15cm by 15cm. Some of the fillings in the crevices had fallen off, while some tiles had cracked.

It "looked disgusting and was difficult to wash", he said.

The new toilet bowls are also more water-efficient as they require less flushing than the old ones, which had also started to show crack lines, he added.

The family also opted for a new metal gate for the entrance to their home, with one side of the gate larger than the other.

Their old gate had both sides of equal size, which was more inconvenient when carrying large boxes, for example, as both sides then had to be opened, said Mr Chua, who paid about $50 for the new one.

"Overall, the whole family is very happy with it. The 10 days of 'suffering' were all worth it," he quipped.