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any one using this? good or not? any comment?

Hi... for all who will be building their house, I put all my related blogposts here for easy reference. Architect and Tender Process http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/09/house-construction-1-architect.html Demolition http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/10/house-construction-2-demolition.html Buy Sanitary Ware http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/11/house-construction-3-sanitary-ware.html Dealing With Neighbours http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/11/house-construction-neighbours.html CCTV of Sewage Pipes http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/11/house-construction-5-making-dirty-video.html Constructing Drops http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/11/house-construction-6-drops-all-over.html Waterproofing Floor Slab http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/12/water-proofing-1st-storey-floor.html Casting the Floor Slab http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2010/12/house-construction-9-milk-foam-no%7a%7ale.html The Contractor Himself http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/02/house-construction-10-my-building.html Coring the Slab http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/03/house-construction-11-coring-slab.html Managing the Team http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/04/house-construction-13-some-lessons-on.html Some Weird Quirks to the House http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/06/house-construction-14.html Roofing http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/06/about-metal-roofs.html Waterproofing Flat Roofs http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/06/about-waterproofing-flat-roofs-and.html WHO IS MY BUILDER? http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/06/who-is-panda.html Some things I learnt when waterproofing bathrooms http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/08/waterproofing-your-bathroom.html Awnings http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2011/11/reliable-contractors-1-elite-deco-pte.html Owner-Developers: If you don't make sure you have stiffeners no one will. http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2012/04/stiffeners.html http://petunialee.blogspot.com/2012/04/stiffeners.html

1.1 - To install power source to 1 No x Emergency Light 1.2 - To supply and install 8 Nos x Powerpoints (double points) 1.3 - To supply labour and material to connect electricity from riser c/w meter at unit's riser 1.4 - To supply and install earth bond in unit 1.5 - To supply LEW for electrical drawings and endorsements(CS3/5) 1.6 - To supply and install electrical cable PVC casing (2"x3") 1.7 - To supply and install 1 No x Main DB in unit (Single Phase) (24 unit size) 1.8 - To supply and install 2 Nos x AirCon Isolator(Single phase 30Amp) 1.9 - Supply and installation of AIRCON Toshiba RAVSM1403AT-SG & RAV-SM1404UT-E Electrical Diagram as follows: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B70gizvpQZwHemhKcUQtX01ldXcwUmtZZ3F4cVE2X0hwLTQ0/edit?usp=sharing Sketch of layout as follows: https://drive.google.com/a/wholesalesg.com/file/d/0B70gizvpQZwHTkdiTmQ5ZkdsSDA/edit?usp=sharing Room Size is 8m by 14m. No Partitions seperating all points. All installations within same room / area

Safe? Can you really save cost?

Hi, My condo has recently changed the managing agent to Steadlink Asset Mgt and to my horror my first conversation with new condo manager was so bad over the phone. He actually says I'm rude and arrogant. He is so defensive about everything i said and take upon everything personally. I say asking me to change my car address ( currently under my dad's name and address) to this condo just because of transponder is riduculous and stupid. He replied me saying he is not stupid...OMG since when i say he is stupid!?!?! When i told him IC shows another address cause this isnt the only property we've got...he took it personally and told me he also own a few properties. What the **** is this. Is there anyway i can do somethin about it. Apparently I've tried calling Steadlink Assest Mgt and the Executive Director Derek Lit isnt too keen to pick up my call to hear feedback about his staff. This is completely annoying!! I couldnt understand why on earth the council changed the management and THIS IS THE QUALITY I GET! Is there anything i can do? argh.. this is so frustrating!!

If any one has a decent and fairly priced electrician to recomend please send me his contact. Need to do up DB box and electricals for my office. Had taken qotes from 2 contractors, and they are asking $90 and $78 per double socket electrical point. i beleive this is high in reference from the othe forum posts? Much appreciated!

Hi everyone, Been doing a lot of research on decking as we need a fair amount 600 sqft of decking for our place. Saw that chengal wood used nowadays is the young type and warps/discolours easily. So hence finally narrowed down the selection to Accoya (Through evorich) and Strand woven bamboo (thru styleline). Was wondering if anyone has any experience with any of these 2 sorts of wood decking. Thanks!

We are the authorised resellers for Samsung TVs. Please refer to the list for the models we carry. Warranty will be 3 years cover by Samsung. Please PM me UA32EH4003MXXS UA32H4100AKXXS UA32H4500AKXXS UA32H5500AKXXS UA40H5100AKXXS UA40H5500AKXXS UA40H6400AKXXS UA46H7000AKXXS UA48H5100AKXXS UA48H5500AKXXS UA48H6300AKXXS UA48H6400AKXXS UA48H8000AKXXS UA55H6300AKXXS UA55H6400AKXXS UA55H7000AKXXS UA55H8000AKXXS UA60H6300AKXXS UA60H6400AKXXS UA65H6400AKXXS UA65H7000AKXXS UA65H8000AKXXS UA75H6400AKXXS UA75H7000AKXXS UA40HU7000KXXS UA50HU7000KXXS UA55HU7000KXXS UA48HU8500KXXS UA55HU8500KXXS UA65HU8500KXXS UA55HU9000KXXS UA65HU9000KXXS

Oh ok...no problem. It looks interesting compared to juz sticking a piece of laminate on the cabinet door

Hi , I just bought a Semi-d that comes with a Koi pond which I am not interested to keep or maintain. Does anybody knows any vendor who does removal of koi pond and how does is the estimated cost. Would appreciate any kind advice.

Hi Leon & Jenna, Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Good to know what to look out for in reno. Do you mind sharing Calvin's contact and the quote with me? My email: janice_yl_tan@yahoo.com. Thanks, Jan

Hi pal, Thanks for your enquiry... :wub: appreciate very muchy.... :wub: Hv EMAILed u liao.... hope u'll save some bucks n buy me KOPI..... :dribble: pal

Kitchen

Quick update! Our renovation was completed in April and we moved in in the first week of May. Here are some shots off the photographer's screen when our ID came to take photos for their portfolio few weeks back. Quite happy with how it turned out. Living room View of kitchen from living room

UPDATES: Sorry for the long hiatus guys.... i guess i'm not keeping up with the tblog as frequently as i had wanted. We took many pictures but it's quite a chore to download them from phone to hosting site so i will probably share pics of the completed house in future. Really not much time to do these things here I'm afraid. Anyway, for people who are (still) keen to know about our progress.... We're at 80% completion of our reno. This means only minor carpentry touch-ups, another coat of paint for touching up, glass backsplash for kitchen and customised mirror for dining area and master bedroom dresser are pending. After these are done, we should be looking at the handover soon! How time flies... So far we've been really pleased with the carpentry works too... it's really nice to see a few of our ideas come nicely into fruition. There's been some minor works to be improved here and there but our carpenter and reno supervisor are usually very quick to oblige. This gives me some comfort, at least their standard of quality is aligned with mine so far!

Thanks for the tip. You will have a new fan for your blog.... Good luck with your search and thank you for helping blaze the trail.

you should budget for marble, its a worth while investment, since it can be polish whenever its dull. thou the price is high, but its value for long term

CONSOLIDATED POST ABOUT TAOBAO AND TMALL Taobao & Tmall The interest and enthusiastic in Taobao and Tmall has always been high among folks. Most can spend hours and days searching for the ideal item to purchase. Then again, some pre-requisite are required before one can venture further. Able to read Chinese, is half the job done then. The rest, there is always Google Translate. Just to pen down some thoughts and journey went thru. Searching for the dream item is not the hard part. There some many items to of various design, pattern and colours to choose from. Choosing to buy from who is the tricky part. First there is Taobao and Tmall. So what is the difference? From what I understand, Tmall are more of premium sellers. Chances of getting fake stuffs from there are lesser the sellers are more reputable, quality assurance is there as well. Then again, this does not means Taobao has no good stuffs or mainly fakes. Practice some due diligence, if an offer looks too good to be true, then mostly it is. For me I will look for those with 1) sales transaction 2) comments 3) higher diamonds rated seller. Read thru the comments, make sure the comments are coming from different names and also are frequents buyers and not some bogus buyers. Takes a little time but normally shall pay off well. Next, the interesting part, all vendors has a MSN like chat 阿里旺旺, if you are able to type Chinese, download it. You can chat directly with the seller, asking questions of your concern and clarify some doubts such as colour & dimensions (esp for wood grain furniture). And seriously, you can bargain a little as well if you are buying a few items or more, or request free delivery to an address in China. With chatting, the seller can "custom" a link for you to meet your requirement be it the pricing or dimensions. Troublesome you may say but to me, it is part of the fun of online shopping. I always chat when buying big ticket items and kinda get a little discount here and there. I was looking for some rain shower head, found this vendor, chat with him and found out that he is selling bidet spray as well but not listed on his site. So he sent me some pics, ask him about the material so end up buying 2 shower head and 2 bidet from him. He gave me a discount and I got some savings. Now he is offering me with more of his products for my consideration, send me mails with pics of some faucets and taps, will seriously consider if the price is right. Actually there is a small hiccup when buying from him, we both calculated the wrong amount to pay, I paid RMB60 more and the same evening, he refunded me straight away. If you ask me, do I trust them? Yes and no. Yes because the Chinese are slowly moving into the phase of understanding the importance of customer service, word of mouth. Passed were the days where they do guerrilla warfare, whack & run. Sometimes due to the lack of monitoring in QC, one may get a lemon item once in a blue moon. Still it wont deters me from continuing to buy from there for some items are pretty enticing. Like a study table, local prices are like $500 up to $1k or more, carpentry is like $120 per foot run, while in TB/Tmall, you can get easily for approx. $300. Making it more appealing if you are buying 2. Later I will post abit on how and who I used to ship the items. Payment to Taobao or Tmall Paying to TB and Tmall has always been a pain in the xxx. The more direct approach is buying thru agent but then agent charged a fee that sometimes makes the item no longer attractive. Eg. Peeka charges a 5% or min $5. If the item is low value, it is more contemptible to use such service. Not to forget, Peeka allow only up to 3 orders consolidation. (I think so) So another way is to use Credit Cards, which personally I avoid at all cost. This, firstly due to the unfavourable exchange rate and the 3% additional surcharge as well. So what can we do then? We can use Alipay. All you have to do is to register an Alipay account, now Alipay can even accept Singapore mobile. This is a safety security function, when paying, Alipay will send a 6 digit pin SMS to you r mobile for payment. To top up to Alipay, we can use AXS machine, to purchase Alipay Purchase Card, choosing from RMB200, 500 and 1000 to. You will have to enter your email and contact. Receipt will be issued and email sent. The email as follow: Please find your Alipay Purchase Card transaction details below. Transaction Date/Time : 2014-02-09 10:51:29 Amount Paid : SGD $218.70 Card Value : RMB 1000 Card Serial No. : 800300xxxxxxxxxx Card PIN : 2xxxxx Email address : abc123@gmail.com Contact No : 9xxxxxxx Also included are the instructions to top up in Alipay. Sounds easy right? But there are dome shortcomings as well too. 1) Unfavourable exchange rate charged. On this part, one has to do your own math, whether to buy thru agent and pay the fees/surcharge or thru this method. 2) Money top up cannot be refunded. So there will always be balance in the account. So it is better to plan and count how much you need before you top up. Personally, I will still use this method. At least I get to control what I spend, know how much I have; TB account will have record what I had bought. If received a super big lemon, I can deal direct with seller. Thru agent, there is no record unless agent able to retrieve for you but this will involve agent details such as payment, accounts etc. Any refund is also back to payee and not you. Long and tedious I feel. LATEST UPDATE Payment in TB, I understand when nowadays when you sent up a Taobao account, you will auto get a Alipay account. Alipay 支付宝 is the payment platform similar as Paypal. If you did not get the account, suggest you to get set up one Alipay account anyway. In Taobao, after placing an order, the site will direct you to payment page. From there choose this ： 海外其它地区版. From there, you will see Nets payment. Yes, Nets payment. Surcharge is SGD1 per transaction. And from here, I believe the rest is history. So there you go, Taobao made easy for all.

Hi Home Owners, I have the unfortunate experience to realize, post renovation, that my kitchen needs a dedicated exhaust system rather than just relying on natural ventilation and floor fans, or a bigger meaner cooker hood. I'm looking for someone to provide & install exhaust fans in false ceilings, ducting under beams and drilling through wall cabinets, using inline fans and T/Y duct joints as necessary. Preferably a one stop shop who can work with false ceiling and cabinets and boxing up new ducts laid. Would appreciate recommendations of any quality vendors. Thanks!

Hi all! Appreciate ur help in helping me find the right oven. -What are the things i should look out for when i buy an oven? - What brands are known to last long and serves its purpose. - whats the prince range normally for a good oven. -what are the functions i should look out for that should have in an oven - What questions should i ask the sales asst? - Where can i get great deals for oven. -digital ovens or the normal ones better Thank u so much!

Wanted an opinion. We are building an attic as A/A to our corner terrace. The back of the house faces an open field serounded by trees. Does it seem weird to have the open terrace at the attic the back of the house instead of front ?

Is your property a "Rear Garden" or "Front Garden" ?

NO! I and one of my friends were conned by JB contractors. and I think a few of them in the forum were too ( just search for it within the forum, and u will know). not trying to break their ricebowl, but really, this is for your own good. I learnt this lesson myself. for JB contractors, most will come in late and go back early using the excuse of 'avoiding the jam at causeway'. and it really pissed me off when I call them, I got the Malaysia ring tone. at least engaged a sg based contractor.

One side of my swing driveway automatic gate stop working last year February time. The repair man said the motor was spoiled and it was repaired. After that only about 6 months, it had problem again. First, the same side cannot be fully opened. No it can be only opened a little bit. Every time, I need to manually push it to open fully. I called the vendor Lam International who provided the gate and did the repair last time. They told me to get repair again but with only 2 month warranty. Somehow I believe that it will be spoil again soon after repairing it Do I have to repair and pay about $250 every half a year for the gate? Should I change the motor to new one? Will it be better that I will not need to repair it for at least 5 years? Should I change the only spoiled side or whole system? The gate including iron and wood is still in very good condition. Thanks for your help!

can la cos that's what i intend to do. I've seen EMs doing it

Check the hdb resale transaction to see if your overall price is reasonable for the location: http://www.hdb.gov.sg/bb33/ispm051p.nsf I paid $20k COV and I think it is reasonable 'cos my overall price is about there.