Livinstyle

How long have you been using the De Dietrich hob and oven? This brand is considered top of the line... can't believe it!

Hi, do you fertilise the pearl grass? I had the same patchy problem initially with some areas going bald. I tried a few different fertiliser before i found the right one which seems to encourage growth.

where can i get it fabricated? any estimated cost? i'm looking at a small awning for the windows, around 1.5m length.

Any idea where to get metal brackets for outdoor awnings? Looking for a small one to DIY awning for windows. What material do the brackets usually comes in... aluminium, mild steel? And what is the estimated cost?

Yes, please share with me his contact and how much did it cost you. Is it a one time treatment or a package? PM me if not convenient to post here. Thanks.

Hi, did you manage to purchase the Solignum anti-treatment? Where and how much did it cost? Sent you a PM. PM me if it's not convenient to post here.

Hi chia, how are the DIY termites baits working for you? Is it effective?

Hi ynwa88, where did you get the light from? it looks like it has 3 lights that can be angled. how much did it cost?

I'm planning on using tiles for the feature wall though.

Has anybody here engaged the services of Sin Yah for aluminium works before? If yes, please advise on their service standard & workmanship. Thank you.

In general all need butter. Honey is only applied halfway through as it turns black easily, usually on chicken and meat depending on preferences. I love sweet corns, but potatoes are too filling thus not popular. Can also try portobello mushrooms, marshmallows, cuttlefish and even crayfish.

better to have dry lay. you will appreciate the importance of dry lay once you go through it. would say it's money well spent. most marbles on sale are excess stocks or project rejects. seen some marbles from polybuiliding but there was alot of marble pieces with chips. the sales there told me cannot guarantee got no chips ones... so decided to skip this risky deal. for bathrooms, will need to keep it dry else marble will absord the moisture and darken over time. personal opinion, think 300x300mm marble too small. for living, go for at least 600x600mm if your budget permits. a friend did small pieces of marbles and totally regret it.

saw it at nan wah. address: 4 Changi South Lane, 7th Floor, Nan Wah Building (near to Tanah Merah mrt)

Hi Noko, the issue bothering me is meant for the catalytic oven as the oil is absorbed into the panels. For myself, I would settle for prolytic oven albeit the higher price tag. What do you mean by 2 compressors? Or do you mean isolators? My higher AMP wires for oven is run directly from the mains. And there are separate isolators for each of the aircon compressors. If you have noticed, the built-in ovens will already have ventilation outlets catered for in the built-in cabinets. The positioning of oven next to the fridge is a common setup in western kitchens, so I guess should be ok. Except that the fridge would have to work harder to maintain its cool temperature when the external temperature rise.

thanks for the frank opinion, will take that into consideration. still deliberating over it as i usually see it in commercial buildings but rarely in homes. was thinking if this is a good alternative to wall paper.

If doing it, it's going to be tiled direct on a new hollow block wall. No issue with load factor. Yes, I would have to pay for the tiles. But otherwise, not much additional cost.

Thinking of doing a TV feature wall in tiles. Something like the photo below, but bigger area. Any comments? Feel free to comment.

Where's opicolor located? Any website? Pardon my ignorance, but i only know opi nail polish

Visited the Bosch showroom, and understand from them that this model has eco cleaning, similar to catalytic. From what i understand, catalytic would absorbed the oil, unlike the pyrolytic that is truly self cleaning. I was told no need to change the panels. But the thought of having the oil collected and reheated over repeatedly does not sound appealing or healthy to me. Not sure about the auto stop turbo fan as I did not hear anything about it from the Bosch showroom staff. Note that this model needs 16amp to run. I enquired some months back and the best quote is $1220 from GAB.

How much did you pay for the 2 rolls? What is the size? Can I have the contacts of the wallpaper? PM me if it's not convenient to post here. Thanks.

I did not engage a PE but i had a civil engineer friend to look through. We had also studied the BCA plans in details before proceeding with each of the works. It is actually not too difficult to figure out the drawings after spending some time on it. In fact, we had arrived at the same conclusion as my civil engineer friend. Even for flooring, hacking it does require some knowledge on how much to hack. Too little or too much is not good. So far no issues with the floor tiles. We tried to select European tiles particularly for flooring thought it's cost more. There is a stretch of tiles shop along balestier.

With your tight schedule, it will be advisable to include a penalty if contractor is unable to handover on time. Most contractors are very busy now, probably due to the buoyant economy and year end rush. Unless you are doing very extensive hacking and wall construction, else i think a PE may not be necessary. It is not cheap to engage their services. I think it hovers in the region of 5k. Not absolutely sure as I did not engage PE. You can buy the structural plans from BCA. Prepare to spend a few hours there going through the plans. Most experienced landed homes contractors would know what to look for in those plans. Some IDs I spoke to have very limited experience with landed homes. And the workers engaged to do the demolition works only follow simple orders. Some contractors or IDs are not even at site to supervise the workers, so can imagine the risk involved. As it is your house afterall so it's better to take more care. Did heard some tilers comment on White Horse tiles, so not considering it though it is cheaper. I believed what your ID meant is the cut of the tiles. May not be visible to most as it can be only 1mm. But imagine 1mm offset for each tile. When it comes to laying a large area, then the effect will be more visible. White Horse is having a sale now. When compared to the overall renovation expenses, the cost difference of the tiles is rather insignificant. You can try tiles from Soon Bee Huat. Cost wise they are more competitive than Hafary in my opinion. But gotta bargain hard for the discounts. Each of these tiles shops have special tiles unique to them. Particularly for wet and outdoor areas, we try to select european tiles whenever possible. You are changing flooring to homogeneous tiles? Removal of granite tiles will cost more than normal tiles. If you're opening more windows for natural light, then maybe your granite floor won't look so dark. You can also reconsider the layout of your house. I had initially wanted a complete layout change but as I worked along, I found a more workable layout with lesser major works. This also brought down the renovation cost. Windows and doors quote will depend on a few factors. The colour, thickness and profile selected. Nokomis: It may sound kind of superficial, but a lot of my decisions are based on personal gut feel on the person. Of course also in discussion with my better half. Choosing a honest contractor who won't cut corners is probably the most difficult part. I had spoken to about twenty companies before deciding on which contractor to use. Most of the specifications were refined as we source for quotes.

Do study the structural plans and drawings carefully as you'll be repositioning the granny's room, make sure your contractor knows what they are doing. A missing column or beam can be disastrous. Depending on your selection of materials, that will also form bulk of your cost. Are you planning on retiling your first floor with homogeneous tiles or marbles or granite? Redoing kitchen is also another big cost. At half the price may be more difficult, but 100k may be more achievable.

I had also originally intended to engage the service of the kitchen specialist and spoke to a few but none came close to my requirements. Maybe because of my design background, I'll run into the details of each design and layout. I am design trained and had worked as a designer. But had left it long ago to climb the corporate ladder. My house project has made me return to my first love! For the kitchens, I will have a nice pretty dry kitchen based on my cooking likes and dislikes, habits etc. But will retain a small wet kitchen for helper. Can't bear to have anyone abusing my kitchen. I understand that most waterproofing last for about ten years or so. Hence, you may want to consider waterproofing treatment. There are also different treatments for indoors and outdoors. I engaged a GC, and hire some sub-cons. Not all are receptive, and lots of communication is needed. Some contractors are pretty stubborn and set in their way of doing. Not an easy task convincing them to do it your way. We go down to the site at least once a day, sometimes more. One way to control cost is to know what you want and specify them in your quote request. That way will be easier to compare quotes. Schedule is one major problem. Mainly due to the unexpected difficulty and condition of the house. For instance, we found that most of the walls we wanted to demolish was constructed with concrete which was a nightmare to hack. All tiles and sanitary fittings were selected by ourselves. All from different shops. None of the shops had all the ones we wanted, so that needed more legwork and coordination. Sanitary fittings will all be installed by the plumber. Unfortunately my contractors have indicated to me that they are already full with projects and not willing to take any more in.

Yea the new developments stairs are steeper. That kind of give me a danger feel and yes I find it more difficult to climb the stairs. Hopefully would be in time for Chinese New Year. You will have lots of fun decorating up your pretty place.