lachesis

Hey Yuene! Long time no hear. Aww, don't feel bad about the plant. It's in plant heaven now. Haha.. President of the Brown Thumbs Club... kinda has a nice ring huh? Titan suggested growing our own herbs instead of getting random plants for our balcony... err... maybe I should let him do the herb tending. LOL. She doesn't want her own, she wants yours! My in-law's schnauzer is sure going to miss having kitties to chase. Hahaa. Oooh.. check out the new cat tree I bought for them. Hee hee Hopefully Fifi, my British Shothair will use that little cat appartment (with the round hole) to hide in - she used to run and hide in our TV console whenver the door bell rang! Hee hee.. Thanks. Not exactly walk-in.. it's just wall to wall. But I love it. Heh heh.. yeah it's very cool. One thing that would make it cooler is if it had a hydraulic hissing sound... "psssssssst'. Haha. ONE MORE DAY TO GO!!!!

Hee hee. Mr J's design. We were considering wall llights, then bedside lamps till he dropped this idea bombshell on us. We love it. Much neater and more funky. Thanks! 7 days to go!! Can't wait to see all the carpentry go up... didn't realise just how much carpentry we got! Haha... Thanks Jeffcraze. Sigh.. what to do, Titan can't siam the work seminar. Boh pian. So may not be able to unpack much on the 1st day. Will unpack in earnest from 25th onwards and over the weekend. Hmm.. my poor cats are going to be so traumatised. They're just getting used to my in-law's place. Haha. MEOW.

The Last Lap Exactly 7 days till HO. Going today to look for the lockset and handle for the maindoor - hope we can find a nice one. Since we're retaining the existing door we gotta get somehting that'll fit the door. Wall paints are up, and the place is starting to look more like a home. Loads of stuff coming in Mon & Tue - hope the sub-cons don't give J problems. Don't stress J - eat more blue pills! Showed one of my friends a photo of our wardrobe - and the person called it "it's TO DIE FOR!" - no prizes for guessing it was a girl. The best part is, cost-wise is around the same price as a normal custom-made wardrobe. Space-usage wise, pole systems aren't as efficient, since you can't really pack stuff in like you can with a normal wardrobe. But the look is.. well, TO DIE FOR. Busy busy week after HO also - furniture coming in, the new two tiered cat tree, our 50-something boxes , curtains... then the unpacking and we just found out titan's got a seminar on the day of the move, and the 1st day of unpacking!! Happens everytime we have something major happening..it's all some great cosmic joke. Guess I'll have to start the first day w/o him. Took leave tlll end Nov.. mwahahaha... To slowly unpack, enjoy the new house.. but most importantly, get away from the office! Like a getaway... at home! The NEW home

A-Lighting Service - A-Grade! After the first round of very good service recovery from A-Lighting (for our downlights), they came through again for us.. TWICE. #1 - The globe is 'SENG-EK'!! After having to go down to the warehouse to exchange the globes, as they had a lot of bubbles, we realised one of the globes was crooked! The hole in the middle was not cut in the centre, so after it was hung up it was leaning to one side. GRRR. Back we trooped to the warehouse after Alex from A-Lighting called them to make arrangements, and we finally got one that didn't have too many airbubbles and was also not to crooked. The warehouse supervisor even fixed it up to let us see! It was a lot of effort for a pair of lights, but very worth it! #2 - Kitchen Light Cover One of the kitchen light covers was slightly dented. Alex from A-Lighting had brought some to change, but the glass was green, not the normal glass coloured one we already had. He said there was no stock, but promised to get it done for us when the stock came in. Without us having to 'chase' him, Alex called two days ago, his guy came down yesterday and get light cover was replaced. Now that's what I call good follow up and service! Will definitely recommend A-Lighting to all who need to buy lights. Ask for Alex.

Thanks Fencer Actually there are no plans for a TV in the MBR at the moment. We just put in the sockets/trunking JUST IN CASE we decide to have a TV there later. If we do add the TV, it'll be like a feature in a feature - a hidden TV in our pole system wardrobe. Haha. Er, actually maybe not so hidden - since it's quite see-through.

Saw something horrifying today - thought that with Corian the workmanship would be very good. But the end of the solid surface was crooked!!! See how it's touching the cabinet near the front, but there is a gap at the back near the wall!!! But Mr Jaskel says he will fix it - so will leave it in his good hands. You DA MAN J! Separately, here is a look at our Closet Design Pole System Wardrobe Went for see through black tinted doors for the boutique look. Now we'll be forced to keep it neat Here is the wardrobe again... with the LED lights on...

Hee hee. Thanks Yuene. In my defense I must say the cactus was placed away from the window, where it got ZERO sunlight. What kind of plant was it Yuene? I think of it this way - us women are so nurturing, we tend to over-water and over-fertilise... to the point the poor plant can't take it. Hahaha. @Kor - glad to hear your plants are flourishing. I shall remember your advice not to water and fertilise too much for the new plants we're considering for our balcony. Hmm... or maybe I'll just leave the 'gardening' to titanax. @reizz - your wife is not alone!!! We should start a Cacti-Killers Anonymous club. Hmmm or a Brown Thumbs Club. Yuene & I will be the first 2 members. Thanks for the tip. The tiles aren't the same, but will look to keeping the tiles dry - uneven tiles will definitely trap water somewhere. That's a really interesting wash basin you got there btw! This is my favourite light in the house! :wub: :wub: Today, we found out that against all hope, our water pressure is not enough for us to install a Raindance shower. So we'll go for the Croma 100 Showerpipe instead, with normal rain shower. Want to say a big THANK YOU to Mr J for really going out of his way to help us check our pressure and all the other leg work that went towards helping us make a decision on ths shower. He's da man.

Hee hee, actually we tiled 1 wall, and half of the other two with Niagara - it's not all around the bathroom. After the mosaic it's normal tiles. Love the texture and colour - it's actually the hubby's LAFS (love at first sight) tiles mah, must put more! Yup! Doing frosting on the door later - actually not much point in putting a door if it's see through! Heh heh heh... Hmm.. come to think of it, parts of the house may feel a bit resorty, b'coz we're going mostly for woody, earthy tones. There is a method to our madness too.

The tiles on the left of the mosaic are the "Niagara Antracite" (Antracite is the colour). These cost $4.50 psf. The mosaic is $12 per pc (approx 30cm x 30cm). Chose a floor tile that is $2.40 psf. Most quotations will say 'up to $3.00 psf' or 'up to $3.50' psf for tiles. Anything in excess means you have to top up. See that you are just starting out - good luck with your reno! Hey hey! Niagara seems to be a very popular choice! Can't really go wrong with mosaic.. It's pricey, but really worth every cent. Oh yeah, and the flooring was worth every cent too. Thanks! We like the flooring too. Hee hee. We're QS fans, and with the uniquely long boards, it really wasn't a hard decision. Went by the house as the light was fading today to confirm the positioning of the lights in the Living, Dining and bedrooms. Was really impressed with Mr J's planning of the lights - there is a method to his madness! Hope more the lights can be up tomorrow so can take pix.

Yeah! I like!! Can't wait for the entire bathroom to be done up. Recognise the tiles on the left of the mosaic? Hee hee hee

You can find out more on an existing thread on Quickstep: Quickstep Laminate

Heh heh. Yeah, figured it'd be easier to wipe off stains with the Easy Wash. We dropped by today and saw that the ceilings are nicely done up. And my MBR mosaic is partly up! YAY!!! Here's a look at the balcony with the windows finally removed.

It's been quiet in the house of Ne0 for a week now... Hope things are coming along well. Post pix soon!

Yeah, definitely must check - once it's installed a bit too late already! Must say, good customer service is very hard to come by these days. Kudos to A Lighting Lights are going up on Mon - will try to make sure there are pix for you to see

Day 39 - Let there be light... On Thursday, the lighting was delivered. To our dismay, many of the lights couldn't pass QC! Kitchen lights: 1 out of 2 - cover slightly bent, with some imperfections (nicks and dents) Bathroom/Utility lights: 2 out of 3 - cover can't slide off properly, imperfections on cover (scratches, spots) Globe light: 2 out of 2 - bubbles in the glass on one, spots on the other Dining light: PASS -PHEW. But can't check the crystals till the light goes up Downlights: Total 29 pieces - we only checked about 8 but ALL didn't pass. They had a weird patch on the frosting (look at the top and bottom left corners): Some had bigger patches, or in ALL four corners! After the 8th piece like this we called A Lighting to express our disappointment. They were VERY responsive. They rushed over in 1/2 hour, brought spare kitchen and bathroom lights for us to change on the spot. Then they took the 2 globes and 29 downlights, and we all drove to their warehouse. When we got to the warehouse, their guys had already opened, inspected and laid out about 25 new downlights for us to see! They opened another 4 more for us to check before putting them back one by one. The supervisor was very patient, and apologised profusely for the downlights. he said it was the oil they used on the screws that 'stained' the frosting. He even brought out another 4 globes for us to pick and choose. He explained that handblown glass will definitely have bubbles, but told us to take our time to pick the pieces we liked. As for the kitchen light, they didn't have stock of the colour we wanted, so they said we could install the light up first, and when the shipment came in, we could replace the cover. After we were done with the selection, they packed everything nicely up, and helped us bring it down to our car. I really must give credit to A Lighting. Their service is top notch, and service recovery was excellent. Plus their prices are so competitive! No regrets at all going to them.

Yeah, the dark colour of the bedrooms are really luxurious, but dark colours can make a room smaller. Didn't want that to make our large Living/Dining look smaller, so went for a lighter, subtle but interesting colour for that area. Love the way it looks! FOUR rolls of protective cover were used to cover up our flooring! Hee hee. The area looks like a giant jigsaw, with musking tape holding the different card board covering together.

Thanks! Yes, it's the Largo range. We're using Natural Oiled Wenge for the bedrooms, and White Vintage Oak for the Living/Dining. Still waiting for Jaskel to post photos of the flooring in the Living/Dining...

Laminates (cont'd) Sneak peak at the colour of the flooring in the Living, Dining & Utility Thanks hubby for taking the photos! The installer said the flooring will be done tomorrow.

Yeah.. Progress so far has been good, except for delays caused by GAHMENT related issues - first the hacking, now the %#)!%& window. Sigh.. but .. on to happier things. Day 35 - Laminates, laminates, laminates... Today, our laminate flooring was laid in our bedrooms! The Guest Room: The Study Room: The MBR The wenge skirting

Heya! Grats on the start of the reno and tile selection We were like you - went to Hafary, chose all the tiles within 2 hours. Heh heh. Oh, waiting for HDB approval for hacking is a PAIN. May want to try calling up the TO and bugging him/her. Ours took two weeks! All the best - hope you have a smooth reno, and enjoy the transformation!

Hahaha. That was really classic man. So called 'Town Council' endorsed contractors. End of the day the endorsement doesn't mean anything. Never encountered such bad customer service. Tomorrow - laminate flooring going up! Am so excited I DREAMT about it.. LOL. Can't wait for the MBR window to be changed too, so that can finally see the rest of the MBR Bathroom tiles go up. 3 more weeks to go.

Hee hee... there is a simple solution to packing less - get new stuff instead! *evil grin* But hey, congrats guys on coming to the end of your reno journey. Enjoy your new home!

Hee hee. Thanks Patsy. The next few weeks will definitely be quite exciting. For the outdoor furniture, we've been to a couple of places to have a look, haven't really decided on anything yet. It's also about finding the right combi - looking for a square table, not round, not too short... lol. There's still time.

Yeah, this was the hubby's LAFS (love at first sight) tiles. Hee hee... My LAFS tiles turned out to be not so suitable, until we found my 'love-at-third-sight' tiles.. lol. Will have them in 2 small strips in the MBR Bathroom. Can't wait for them to go up! Rest of this week - tiling to be completed, ceiling work, plumbing Next week - laminate flooring (at last!) and carpentry. Yipeee....

End of Week 4 - Of Air con trunkings, laminates, metal accessories and lady killer... Quite a productive day we had today! Bright and early - 10am. Aircon guys came to install the compressor and lay all the trunking. Walked through the routing for gas and water pipes with the installation guy and Jaskel. Learnt that most installers will take the easy way out and run both gas and water together. Also, running them together may affect the water levelling. We decided to hide most of our gas piping in the false ceiling, and run the water piping separately. Less bulky trunking. Swee! 11am - Zoom off to Sungei Kadut to see the large laminte pieces to confirm our choice of laminates. Like our tiles, they are cosy, and of course, harmonious. Quite happy with the choices, we only had to change one particular selection. We even made it to two places before they closed at 12 noon. Break for lunch. Then off to Song Cho at KLP. Jaskel got there ahead of us, and went to rearrange the stuff in the shop to show us the configuration we were looking for. Nicely done Jaskel! Settled all our metal accessories there and then with a rather friendly sales lady... whom we noticed, was FLIRTING WITH JASKEL!!! He asked about warranty info, she gave him her handphone number! Jaskel is not just an aunty killer, he's a lady killer! Next week - finishing up of tiling, plumbing, then followed by flooring and carpentry. GO GO GO!