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Hi guys, I just had shifted into my new place 6 months ago and the grout between the homogenous tile turned black. Is anyone of you facing similar problems? Any one of you can advise how to clean the grouts between the tiles? Thanks

I am just like many people, doing all sorts of research works before engaging a Renovation company for our renovation. From price to quality , these are very taxing. I am a silent reader in this forum since mid 2013, indeed this forum is the best of the best gathering infos people shared here. I also realized, there are many competitors inhere, so some are here for self promotion and some are here to comment on their competitors. I really gain a lot of knowledge in here, now is time for me to share. From searching an housing agent to my renovation finish. I will not comment on the products, shops, person and renovation work now as all these are still on going, but I have input the searching and purchasing part. Here are some tips to share, starting from a housing agent. This is just a resale 3 room, but I really want it to progress smoothly..................... so I started searching for the area I had in my mind. This way it will be easier and faster getting your desire flat. If you have many areas in mind, it will take slightly longer. For my case, I took only 4 days to purchased an unit. Please note, chose an agent who is driving. Why I said this? Try getting an agent to serve you, whatever unit you shortlisted or if the agent is hardworking enough, he/she will do the homework for you. Tell the agent what you looking for, when all are sorted out, let this agent drive you around to view all the units. I am very lucky to have this agent serving me, and very clear cut, I bought from her. Patient and hardworking is her reward and yes, she is driving. After the paper signed, basically you have 6weeks ( 1st appt ) + 6weeks ( 2nd appt )to search for a renovation company, many people use the Renotalk portal and after submitting, you will get dozens and dozens of emails and calls. From my experience, do not meet more than 5 IDs approaching you, you will get very confuse in the end. Try to contact them by emails, phones and shortlist about 5 to meet personally. See how the proposals are. This part is really taxing. I will not write anything about my ID first, because Reno is on going and I will try to update here day by day. When you had sort out who to engaged, another hectic part will be, buying things for your new house, Lighting, Furniture, Appliances blah blah........ This needs a lot of research. I read a lot here, came across a Blog a friend bought many many items from Tao Bao, at that time, I tell myself, he/she must be crazy......... But when I did my own shopping comparing products and prices, I gave that forummer a thumb up by using Tao Bao. Just said my lighting, I bought a numbers of hanging crystal pendants. I shop around in Singapore lighting house, comparing apple to apple. But the items I found is ridiculously expensive. Let's say it this way, 85% of lighting in Singapore come from China, many people do not want to involve in on line shopping is the troublesome of handling the after sales........ I am one of them. You might think, How if the items don't arrive, how if the items arrive damage, how if this how if that. If that is the case, I will say, buy it in Singapore shop paying at least 3-5 times more than you shop yourself online. For example, I saw a Crystal hanging dining table light in Singapore which offer me $880. I bought it online, EXACTLY the same light ........... for........... $220 includes shipping. Somehow, the risk is still there buying on line, this is just my call, you can always have your decision. I will update my Reno day by day. Recommend the good and Comments the bad. The Kai Meng ( OPEN DOOR ) ritual had perform, now waiting for the Reno to start in days time........... This is the 3D my Id propose and it will be exactly what I want..... all lightings and furniture were purchase before the Reno starts...... I brought my ID and show him what are the items will be like, at least the 3D came out very similar .

Hi all, I was wondering if any of you installed sliding doors (not those folding type) for your bathroom? I realised that most people today are either using HDB default doors or those half-fold-half-slide type. Is it because of the insufficient bathroom space? Please share with us! thanks!

Hi, today I had my sitting bowl toilet replace. Very satisfied with the service. The boss friendly and not calculative. Quoted me less than others by 20 to 80 dollars. The staffs were polite and friendly. Reach on time or rather 30 mins earlier after they checked my availability. Replace a few old parts and also provide a better offset/pan connector FREE OF CHARGE, which may costed at least 10. They are careful doing the work and install the new bowl nicely. Cleaned the area also. So, I am impressed with the job and think they deserved a praise. Hope others will benefit from my comment here. I get the contact from one of the previous thread which recommended Mr. Lim, 98352247. Learnt from the staff that he owns Luxury Bath n Light shop in Balestier. Doing plumbing and renovation , Siang Choon. Thanks. Cheers. Sincerely, Sean

Hi I was shifting a fridge when I scratched my tile quite badly.. The worse part is it happened in the hall. Is there anyway to touchup the tile or I have to change it? FYI it's those white tiles in fernvale flats

I am using a Rubine cooker hood at present. It is making so much noise when switched on that I am going deaf soon. I intend to look for another cooker hood, most probably of a different brand that is very quiet and efficient in sucking up the oily fumes. Has anyone any suggestions, please? Thank you. Regards,

Hi All I bought a resale flat this year and i am intending to move in soon. I've done most of the renovations but the Rod Iron gate seemed to be in okay condition, so i kind change the lock for it. As i also wanted to give it a touch up i was hoping to paint my gate. Initially i only wanted to paint some of the parts gold (basing from the original design), but i noticed that some parts of the main area are rusty and those parts are coloured green (basing on the original design). I would like to seek your advice, 1) what is the recommended type of paint to use for such rod iron gates. 2) is it advisable to sandpaper off the rust before repainting? if i sandpaper off, the areas that i didnt want to paint (green part) will be affected thus i would need to repaint the entire gate.

quartz top is up i chose Pearl White, which has specks of grey stone throughout. mr k says the pure white one can still stain but the speckly one won't... not sure how true this is but i'm not taking any risks.. haha. so speckly it is. dry side of the kitchen with the same quartz top hood and oven are wired up! there's an extra 20amp switch for the hob. the model we bought uses battery for the starter, but in the event that we switch to an electric one next time, the point is already wired. for now, it has no use. bedroom doors are installed the MBR one has a deep chip in the top right corner though.. got to get it fixed.. and the simple door handle/lock we chose pending: - wood/glass kitchen entrance door (already delivered. need to install glass panels, varnish and install frame + door) - plumbing and gas turn on (tomorrow) - kitchen glass backing - bits of carpentry (finish up shoe cabinet, missing drawer front under oven) - painting - minor rectification works and we should be done!

Carpentry installation continued 2 days after the carpenter gathered my complex requirements again for the study desk on Monday night. Sink Side of the Kitchen Cabinet TV Console Shoe Cabinet Bathroom Vanity Cabinets Study Desk

Updates Part 2 Kitchen cabinets are up too! And my lovely E F oven that was only delivered yesterday has been installed too! Top cabinets Closer view of my oven. Love the mirror glass effect! Walk in wardrobe! Blinds were also installed earlier for WIW room, as the carpentry was gonna eat into the window space. It feels good to see the carpentry up so quickly, though I believe there's still plenty of touching up to do. Did a basic check, and mentioned to ID that some of the doors were not properly aligned, and ID immediately requested for the workers to take note and rectify the mistakes. Also, the flooring in the MBR wasn't protected, and again the workers got a lashing from ID. oops. Confirmed the table top for my MBR toilet vanity top as well. Chose a shade of sparkly white and hope it goes well with my dark walnut vanity cabinet. Can't believe today marks 1 month into our renovation! It's been quite an enjoyable process so far, thanks to my ID for overseeing the details and seeking clarification with us very frequently to ensure that we are aware of the progress and informed of any big and small decisions made.

Can i hv the contact for the painter too??

hi neighbour! u guessed the block right haha how is your reno going? my husband wasn't 100% into the idea of craftbrick at first too but now we both love it hope to see you around too!!

Hehe, Thanks shawnie84! I thought so too but there is a danger here. I still have so much wallpaper leftover and i feel like pasting the whole house with it. haha

Hi supermama, Can you share contact for your grills/painter/storage rack. Cheers!

Hi All, I have a 4NG resale flat in woodlands. The two bathrooms are very tiny. I am thinking having a dedicated toilet and a shower room. Is it allowed to completely remove the toilet bowl and the pipes to make it into a dedicated shower room? Can I break the kitchen wall to create a door to the W.C.? Please see attached drawings for illustrations. Please advise.

HDB new design jin cham, no place to change oso, if change it will be diagonally with the sink. Any solution for this?

Hey guys, does anyone know what is the maximum noise level (dBA) of aircon allowed in HDB units? Neighbour complained my aircon is loud, but I said no. So I bought a SPL meter to check, but HDB don't have any guidelines on the max noise level permitted for aircon unit. They just sent people come, listen with their golden ear & pass verdict, which I defer to be unprofessional & unaccaptable. NEA has a table for permitted noise level but it's for construction work, nothing for aircon. Noise Pollution So, what can I do? With no guideline on residential aircon noise level, who's argument is right or wrong? Or HDB officer is king, what they say is must be right? Any advice?

Hi can anyone recommend a company that can repair parquet, polish floor tiles as well as general cleaing (toilets etc) at good price? I bought a resale unit that are in generally good condition so I dont need to do any major reno. Thanks in advance. Cheers

Please check my early post all contracts are there, thanks.....

Hi joshualee You can try cal Mr Tan , I have just pm you his contact , he have his own worker , is a direct contractor maybe he can help you , he do my unit 2 month ago .

lawry, thx i will check your blog now.... Back to Ikea - I like their designs really but some things aren'just aren't long lasting. I also had rust problem but with their 365+ frypan and knife. Bought them only 1 month ago and already the coating of the pan has started to peel off. Yes the peeling is minor but only after 1 month of usage? The sharp point of the knife is also already rusty. I could have dried it more diligently but I thought stainless steel doesn't get rusty? Anyway I threw both items away without getting refund cos too draining to argue with the Ikea people.