lachesis

Hi there, Nope, the Vogue range is not the same as the Perspective. Vogue is not available outside of Europe I think. You can find it on the European Quickstep sites. Only comes in 6 colours. The Perspective comes in >30 colours, just like the Eligna.

Hi all, Today marks the second milestone in our pursuit of our new place of Zen. Get ready for my longest post yet! It's been an intense and tiring two months since we first started looking for an ID/Contractor. We weren't sure at first which to go for, but at long last the search is over. But first, here's a summary of who we've met: Peggy, Orange.Cube - Peggy was the first ID we spoke to. Very friendly, sincere and extremely patient (our 2nd meeting with her was four hours long!) Orange.Cube has a nice showroom, which sparked off a few ideas. Was willing to do up simple floorplans. Casually mentioned putting a deposit so we can view 3D drawings, but the deposit could be used for say, painting if we didn't eventually choose the company. However, the quote was on the high side, out of our budget. James, Image.Creative - The first ID of the three we contacted through Hdbay. Typical salesman pitch, which rubbed the hubby the wrong way. One salesman can smell another a mile away. Nice showroom, lots of pointers on workmanship, although we spotted a tear in the veneer door for one of the wardrobes. Mentioned that up to floorplans stage was 'free', which turned out to be a deposit that could be offset by buying things from shops in Balestier. Made it quite clear no further discussions/planning could be done without the deposit. The quote was one of the highest. Sammie, ID Emboss - The second ID thru Hdbay. Very enthusiastic, and was sincere. Came across strongly in terms of 'holistic' planning - i.e. making sure customers choose the 'right' curtains, furniture etc to complete the look. The second meeting was a bit strange though. Despite providing a furnished layout (thanks to Floorplanner), placement of some carpentry was wrong, so the quote was wrong too, which rendered the entire meeting 'useless'. The quote, which was e-mailed over shortly after, was on the high side, out of our budget. Kelvin, Renozone - The last ID thru Hdbay. Warm and down to earth. Unfortunately, had no chemistry. Felt more like a contractor than an ID, but quote was also on the high side. Angeline, Intra Design - Very professional and efficient. She knew we were fishing for quotes. She gave us hers, advised us to narrow the list down to two, and call her if we wanted to discuss her quote further. At this point, we were asking ourselves if we wanted to go with an ID. All the IDs we'd spoken to gave us quotes that were quite similar (couple of thousand give or take), and were outside our budget. None of them gave us any new revelations, just a mix-and-match design, largely based on our own ideas. Since we knew what we wanted, we decided to approach contractors. But not just any contractors - those who could do perspective and detailed drawings. 3D drawings were not a top priority, but definitely good to have. KK, Zara Interior - We'd initially contacted Dennis, but spent more time with KK. KK was very friendly, detailed, and understood what we wanted immediately with minimal explanation. The quote was within budget. The chemistry was right. Very responsive and accommodating when we made changes to items in the quote. Zara was shortlisted, and we were almost going to sign with them. At the 11th hour, the hubby decided to get one more quote from a contractor he was monitoring. Jason, Sincerity - During the first meeting, the first half hour was a bit awkward, as we'd given him a 'template' for pricing which he wasn't comfortable with. When we decided to start from scratch and walk through our requirements his way, immediately the chemistry sparked and it felt right. Not only could he understand what we wanted almost instinctively, he backed it up with sound technical knowledge. He put us at ease, and one of the main things that won us over was that he would step up and take ownership of all coordination work, even those outside his area (for e.g. he would oversee the installation of the aircon, down to the laying of trunking, instead of leaving it the aircon guys or to the home owner). Most of the other firms had said they were not comfortable to coordinate with outside parties. The follow-up meeting was equally fruitful, the chemistry was still spot on. He came across as a confident, down to earth and humble, and genuine in his wanting to protect home owner's interests (time will tell, haha). VERDICT - Jason from Sincerity is our choice.

Hey Kheng Joo, I hear you on the V-grooves. Was a bit concerned about them trapping dust, but this is a small issue - a quick vacuum will solve the problem. And you're right, it does look great on the super-size Largo, giving it a more special look. Plus, bigger boards = less grooves = less dust. LOL. The Largo also has no pattern repeats on planks and has 60 different plank variations. Aiyah, we can talk about the great things about Largo till the cows come home. Heh heh heh. My only gripe is that they are not bringing in the matching Largo skirting-boards. That would've been the icing on the cake. When looking for the flooring for our new place, we knew we would go with laminate. However, we thought we'd give the other brands a chance. We actually went around to all their booths/showrooms/offices, including some of the well known European brands. Unfortunately, their designs were not impressive. Some of the prints look like our existing Quickstep flooring. Some also boast that they have AC4 or AC5 rating, but they are not EPLF partners. In the end, we still came back to Quickstep. They are an EPLF partner, and have an AC4 rating. The designs are more modern, and they are the first to carry extra long boards. Need I say more??

Hey hey, Yeah, looking forward to seeing your t-blog Oops, you're a bit too late. I signed for the Quickstep Largo already. I think the market price is around $7.00. I was at Singapore Expo. Expo price was $6.50. You can try going thru' your ID/Contractor for a better price.

Hi Dr. Anarchy We have loose pebbles at the entrance in our current place (you can see it on our blog "Moments of OM"). It's nice to look at, but a maintenance NIGHTMARE!!! i. Loose pebbles means dust, hair and fur gets trapped in the area ii. My older cat likes to throw up his hairballs in the area, onto the pebbles. UGH. iii. To give the area a thorough cleaning requires the removal of ALL the pebbles (no easy feat), giving them a thorough wash in the bathroom (that's a lot of pebbles to wash), scrubbing the granite slabs, then putting ALL the pebbles back. For weekly maintenance we use a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the loose dust, hair and fur. Think twice, thrice... four times before you decide on pebbles. A better option might be to go for pebble wash, as you still get the stone look and feel, but it's one solid piece so you don't get stuff trapped in between the pebbles. Tell the wifey.. loose pebbles = lots of vacuuming and cleaning. I learnt the hard way Oh, our timing is very close. Our 1st appointment is on the 23rd Jun. Also getting the key in Sept. Can't wait.

Kheng Joo - check out this video! Hee hee http://www.metacafe.com/watch/37264/slipper_socks/

Kheng Joo - oh yes, the one with the sponges is funny too, as is the one with the cutlery chained to the dining table. But yeah, the balloon dog one is the best! The Vogue range looks pretty nice too, and is also 9.5mm thick, like the Largo. Pity they only have 6 colours for it though. Still, the attraction of Largo is length - 2.05m! Dr. Anarchy - we are in the same boat! Installation only towards the end of the year. Super Sian. Am already so impatient to see the flooring in the new home. For your balcony, will it be exposed to rain? If yes, laminate would not be a good choice, unless you're looking at looking at the Lagune range which is suitable for bathrooms. Don't think this range is available here though. Safer to go with outdoor decking that can withstand bad weather.

Hi everyone, Am looking for this kind of BEDSIDE lamp with the swing arm (that's BEDSIDE with a "D".. lol.. the D went missing in my topic) Will attach this to the headboard. Anyone know where to get it?

LOL... thanks Kheng Joo! Had to watch it a few times.. hee hee. The golden at the end is cute too

Hi Patsy, Thanks! Yup, certainly looking forward to the space.

Yup, only limited colours now, but they are bringing in more colours in Jun/Jul. Actually found a colour we like already, but when the new colours come in will have a look-see

Heya, As my hubby Titanax mentioned, we've been using Quickstep for 7 years. We've always mopped with just water, and a little bit of Dettol. Obviously you can't flood laminate flooring, so we use damp mop only, with the 3M terry-cloth material mop. Also, all spills must be wiped up immediately. So far no problems at all. The flooring has survived THREE PETs - 1 dog, 2 cats. No problems even with the occasional pet 'toilet training' accident. Back then, we chose laminate flooring precisely because it's so scratch resistant (those who have pets will know what we mean!). We also have office chairs with rollers, and they don't leave any marks at all. All in all, we are really happy with our Quickstep flooring. It gives the nice cosy feeling of wooden flooring, without the problems of scratches, is so easy to maintain and still looks so good. In fact, we are going with Quickstep again for our new place - we like it THAT much. They have a new range of super long boards (2m) which will give a very elegant and classy feel to a room, especially if you have a big space where you can show off the long boards. It's called the Largo range. It costs a bit more, but we think it'll be well worth it. The sales manager who is dealing with us is very friendly and helpful. PM me if you want his contact.

'Ellooooo neighbour! Thanks for the warm welcome. Our EA is at Blk 13+, so we're on opposite sides of J8 and central. Used to stay in AMK in my younger days, and always liked Bishan for the general ambiance, facilities and nearness to town. We got a top-floor unit on lucky level 13, and since the block only has EAs and EMs, the lift will only be shared by us and our new next door neighbour. Heh heh. Am also looking forward to the reno. It's been interesting (but tiring!) talking to designers/contractors to plan for the transformation. Only getting the keys in late August, and can't wait already! Haha. Will have more things to post then, and will definitely take lots of pix to capture the journey. Cheers!

Hi, I think all their hobs can connect to both LPG and piped-in gas (i.e. City Gas), but if you have a model in mind can double check with them

Here's a peek at our floorplan: Here's a basic layout of what we want (we used Floorplanner - learnt about this tool here on the Forum.. hee hee): Since we sort of already know what we want, we're not sure if we should engage an ID, or just go with a contractor who can do perspectives drawings (not your PCK type!). We've spoken to a couple of IDs and were given varying quotes. Really not sure if what kind of budget we should be looking at. Will appreciate some advice on the benchmark for budgeting. Thanks! Current place - 87 sqm New place - 151 sqm Moment when we get our new keys - PRICELESS Can't wait!

Hi all, Been doing a lot of reading on the forums - there's a real wealth of info there! Thought it was a good time to introduce myself Hubby and I just bought an EA in Bishan. Our first appointment is in June, so we should be getting our keys in August. This is our 2nd home, so we really want to make sure everything is practical, easy to maintain, but at the same time not compromising on design and aesthetics. For e.g. we have a pebble-lined walk in area in our current place - nice to look at, but VERY HIGH maintenance (a fact that Hubby keeps reminding me ... "you wanted pebbles!). So NO pebbles in the new house.

Heya, Was also looking at the inner burner. I called the Rinnai showroom to ask about it. The inner burner is not wind-proof, it's just harder for the wind to blow out the flame. Am considering getting the one with the safety valve feature, i.e. if a gas leak is detected like when the wind blows off the flame, the gas will be automatically cut off. Handy for those with windy kitchens!

Hi all, Just bought a resale flat, so now going through the painful process of talking to a few IDs/contractors for ideas and quotes. One idea that came up was for this 'drop' for the shower area. Some IDs say can be done, one said it can't. What are some of the restrictions? Can it be done for the slightly older flats (those built in the 80s?) From blackcar's post, think the main thing is whether there is a drainage point in the shower area (will need to double check if there is!). Also, we intend to hack the existing tiles and put new ones, so should be ok? Think the drop is a GREAT idea, and will also look nice. Hope to get some advice.