beany0811

highlight continued... lounger - will be adding cushion to this and the sofas bedside table x 2 bookshelf study/computer table x 2 - one for hubby, one for wife the hubby's beloved side console

the highlight of today - our furniture! our custom teakwood furniture from ethnic moods has arrived! love them to bits... the couple which we bought them from are also really nice people they made the effort to be around during furniture delivery so as to be able to touch up any defects on the spot, and fix any problems with the furniture. also promised us they would come back after hari raya with their carpenter to do some additions to the sofa to make it sturdier, cos we told them the backing seemed abit shaky. thru' out the quotation, order processing time, response was also fast and efficient tho' they're actually based in malaysia tv console single-seaters - so much larger than the pics sent to us 2m long 3-seater coffee table carving on our dining table

happier notes - curtains installed love them! day/night curtains for MBR wooden blinds for study room roller blinds for spare room close-up of the blinds bamboo blinds for living and dining areas

progress update - end of week 10 is it us, or does our reno seem to be taking quite long? anyway, the stuff are mostly done up, except for the rectification works to be done. the marble guys came up again to see if anything could be done to improve the state of the scratches on our poor marble; but alas... harm to the marble too deepset. they told us the surface was smooth already, and that the harm to the marble was irreversible. quite upset, cos it due to pulling of carpentry across the flooring, impact of machinery used during reno, inadequate protection of the marble during reno. going to talk to ID to see how we can come to a settlement over this. even the curtain installation guys were like.... wow, those r bad scratches! apart fm that, other items should be able to be resolved soon, and we can proceed with official HO. we were there today all day waiting for delivery of our items, and the carpenter and glass guy came to touch up on some items. but the paint on some walls are already starting to pop and peel - air bubbles... gonna ask the ID to have his painters come and touch up again. the paint on the wrought iron gate is also peeling @ some areas... also gonna ask ID to get the guy to touch up lots of stuff were delivered today - curtains fm windows image put up, furniture from ethnic moods delivered, fridge and washer delivered by harvey normal and brandt, lamp from poets' design delivered, door unit signage from pang giap put up. we are generally happy with all the items except the mirror ordered fm unikhome (posted under another thread)

our mirror fm unikhome was delivered today, after about 2 months; was looking forward to having the full length mirror, but was sorely disappointed. # sales lady promised us there would be no distortion in the images on the mirror, as it would be fabricated in singapore - quality guaranteed. it was written in black n white on our invoice tt mirror image would not be distorted BUT the actual product which was delivered was sub-standard. the reflection of images in background were not straight - they were slanting to one side - even the delivery guys could see that the images presented on the mirror were distorted. the width of the frame at the top of the mirror n bottom of the mirror was also different - but we could have let that go if the mirror image was fine. the delivery guys took the mirror back; called unikhome up, and the people kept insisting that was natural image presented by any large piece of mirror; but we told them, we have bigger pcs of mirrors in the house installed by ID, and they are perfectly fine - sales girl had nothing to day. asked them why they didn't check on the mirror image before delivery, sales girl had nothing to say. then they offered us full refund for the mirror BUT their guys had already drilled two gaping holes in our wall for the mirror, the paint around that spot was already peeling, and wall dirtied in many spots. asked what they would do about the spoilt wall in the end, they said they would check with their carpenter n get back to us by mid next week to let us check on the image. they better do. it would have been fair and good if they had graciously agreed to do a round of check on the mirror, and have it replaced. but all the sales reps whom we spoke to kept insisting that all large mirrors were such, and that there was nothing wrong with it. that part was really the replacement mirror had better be of good quality! just to add: hubby was fuming mad with how the people from the company handled the matter - first, the company didn't even call within an hr after the delivery guy reported to them about the problem. No assurance given to customer for the defective goods (chinese saying: no sound, no music) - when hubby decided to call the company to check what the company would do and the status, the guy who answered phone gave lame excuse that the distortion is natural for huge pieces of mirror. hubby immediately shot him back that our display cabinet's mirror was bigger and longer than theirs. The guy changed his statement and asked what's the distance he was standing from when he saw the distorted image in the background. hubby told him that he could see the distortion very clearly even at a distance of less than 1 metre! only then did the guy said he would go check it out. - probably an hr later, the lady who attended to us when we placed our order called. she said that the mounting of the mirror could have been one of the reasons for distortion, citing the angle of mounting could cause distortion. hubby asked her if she had looked herself into a round mirror. she replied no. hubby 'educated' her that no matter how a round mirror is rotated or tilted, a mirror should only show reflections, not distortions. - hubby brought up again to her that the display cabinet's mirror backing is better than what unikhome provided. she asked if the mirror was mounted onto the cabinet. hubby replied yes. she explained that the backing of the display cabinet was flatter (in a way better) for mirror mounting. hubby told her off that her reply indicated that unikhome's mirror was not well made. she went 'yah'. - hubby questioned her about her assurance that the mirror delivered would have no distortion. she replied that the mirror was gotten from the usual supplier, so with the confidence that they had with them, she didn't check and that the delivery people should've checked. hubby told her off that it's negligence on her part, not delivery people because the stuff is sold under the company's name and her promise as indicated in the invoice. - the lady told hubby in the worst scenario, they would offer a full refund. hubby was even more upset by that because it sounded like it's too easy to make a refund. hubby asked her to come down to our house and stare at the the ugly holes drilled with him. - so patience ran out. the lady asked hubby whether he would want them to refund or rectify the problem, in a non-remorseful tone. that made hubby fume even more, telling her off that all these could've been avoided if they've done their due diligence in QC-ing the deliverables. only then did she say that she would check with the carpenter and mirror supplier and come back to us.

we also requested for our marble flooring to be buffed and polished caught some roundish scratches too, and we still wanna make a last-ditch attempt to smooth out the deepset lines... this is the main issue holding up our HO now. other small items like cleaning off the paint, mending some holes here and there are fine. but the marble... hope that your floor turns out OK... esp after all the $$ spent on it. but don't grind until too much of it is worn off

ur place looks good like the rest have said, just a minor touch-up here and there will do. for the balcony area... how about wooden looking tiles? resorty and rustic will be looking forward to how u do ur place up, cos we like the resort theme too... wonder if we can achieve tt for our own place.

hey natgw, if u do go ahead to engage a PE, they have the authority to refer to the building blueprints from HDB, subject to your approval. based on our experience, we were given a letter of authorization to sign, stating that in the event tt HDB did not allow our beam to be hacked, the PE could refer to those blueprints. our appeal went up all the way to the Building Quality Department, because the demolitian was initially approved, then revoked. so if u really wanna go ahead and try, do ensure that the PE ur ID engages does all the necessary groundwork, and that they do provide the relevant documentation below is the exerpt from the rejection letter they sent us: ( sad) "We were informed that HDB's position is that there was a RC beam of 150x500 above the balcony and this beam, is not a normal hanger and is not allowed to be hacked." "We attach the plan to show the detail of the beam for your record. In brief, all work submitted by the contractor will proceed accordingly except this beam CANNOT be hacked."

hey christy, have u managed to find your glass supplier? our furniture is also coming soon; time to start sourcing for glass for the table tops too. might ask our ID if he has any contacts. will definitely use the prices you have indicated as a benchmark. if ID isn't able to give us any good lobang, might take a walk around the industrial parks... i remember seeing some ads by companies saying they do glass. will let you know if we have any findings; in the meantime, do keep us updated too

are they unable to remove the scratches inset in the flooring or they didn't buff the floor properly?

hi dyleen. i can't remember the price for the paper. we were quoted a lumps sum for the plastering and wallpaper by our ID. Can't remember the price of the wallpaper either. We only saw that the contractor was wearing Goodrich polo tshirt booy: yeah, we think so too. coz the downlights in our bedroom are using warm white bulbs. so the brown version will provide a better glittering effect

hi rasp, the wallpaper is textured. we chose it cos it doesn't look like the conventional wallpaper... saw the sample in the catalouge, n decided on this. but... there was a brown-toned and black-toned sample in the catalouge... we thot we chose the brown one, the one put up is the black one... hmm, need to try to remember the choice we made @ tt time marble polishing - according to ID, he has arranged for the guys to come down a 2nd time after the carpentry to polish the flooring again; well, it is shiny; but the "harmed" portions where the scratches are beneath the surface due to heavy impact are still there... seemingly no way to get rid of them please ensure your flooring is protected well during the entire course of your reno... even after the hacking the stuff; cos during carpentry, dragging and transporting the wood ard could harm the marble too

hey forkie, we asked about the track - ID said need to check with his carpenter - we'll let you know once he gets back to us. just one point... u said u wanna install the track for ur main door - but fm what i see, the track has to be embedded in the door frame - not sure if it can be done for the main door frame. no harm giving it a try tho

progress update - end of week 9 nothing much is happening now... HO didn't happen yesterday cos there are still areas which need to be worked upon - touch up on paint work, cement grouting, blah blah blah. we asked for the dining light to be installed properly - the metal structure of the holder is sticking out of the false ceiling, which we've read fm other t-blogs it shouldn't be the case. once the unit has been done to their picky owners (us!) requirements, we can happily do the HO. the place has been looking the same for the past 2 weeks, hah. this is probably as far as it goes. only difference is the pasting of wallpaper in the MBR. now looking forward to furniture! wallpaper @ mbr - does it look too dark? its supposed to be quite sparkly... but can't see that yet... maybe needs the right lighting close-up of wallpaper

hi forkie, just wanna find out if u did anything to your cement groutings on the floor - ur grouting lines look very white and outstanding, like ours - some parts super white, some look as if grouting not filled. tiler said it was cos of the acid wash. he was there to patch it up today when we left the unit. hopefully it can be mended properly, else the grouting lines will look super stark in some area, and non-existent in others. r u going to get ur ID to do anything about the grouting lines?

hey sixer, did ur marble polishing get rid of all the scratches? ours only managed to get rid of the hairline scratches - the ones which kinda harmed the marble "internally" could not be removed, tho ID said he had already arranged for polishing twice. a sample of one of the tiles below... there are many more around the house so wanna find out from you if ur polishing managed to make the floor flawless one of the "harmed" marble tiles

how much was it to have them install the kitchen? speed of construction is amazing. but what impressed me was the coloured interiors... not the usual white PVC interiors most carpentry comes with

czg82, does ur contract with ur contractor state "general cleaning" - if it does, its a good base to start on negotiations with him on state of the house.

hi forkie, we bought the system-4 compressor SCM80ZG-S and the fancoils SKM50ZG-S + SKM35ZG-S + SKM28ZG-S. the last 2 are used for the spare room and study room respectively. havent really tried running them hard. so the reviews will have to wait. so did you get the same set too? thanks for the compliments on the feature walls. thankfully. all of the feature walls turned out fine else will be for the amount that we topped up as for the door track, i'll have to check with my ID and hopefully i can revert soon as he may have to check with the carpenters

hi zapped, the kitchen glass panels was custom made and part of our ID's design to allow more light source into the kitchen. cost wise, i cant really remember the price. but we're assured by our ID that the glass panels were tempered glass

wow, tt's a very big change from the previous balcony! does ur living room have other windows? else like u said, could be pretty dark cos the light source has been compromised. standing fan would be prettier, imo lah... get those copperish looking ones? saw the rest of your pics, looks good. aiming to move in once the 7th month is over too?

actually we would also like to know the way its done. are rectifications done b4 or after the handover? our ID told us the house would be ready for handover tomorrow he said he would pass us the key and lock it so no one else would be able to go in. so we start looking for defects after tt, get them to do rectifications, then when we're finally happy with everything, then pay up the last payment?

both of u seem to be super hands-on on the stuff in your house it will def create a stronger sense of belonging. glad to see things progressing along, seems super fast! btw, is tt formica laminate u used for your kitchen? is it exp?

hi vjammy, we got our crestar airwave 56" for $200+ from Chan Huat Balestier. can't remember the exact price with GST. for fans, you may refer to the below thread on the discussion http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20451

thanks new... basically, if the storeroom doesn't fall apart, the wife is OK with it. hehe the hubby feels the gypsum board is not of quality material tho... cos quote stated tt all carpentry in "solid plywood". this doesnt quality as solid plywood to him, he feels it is mushy inferior stuff. but as long as we dun go crashing into the wall, it should stand for the next 20yrs, right? *cross fingers*