edenstrauss

Hi i have already pm u ah cheong's contacts, please check your mailbox. Best wishes!

Hi please check your mailbox. I just pm u after seeing this comment today.

Hi please check your mailbox. I have already pm u ah cheong's contact number. Best wishes!

Hi, I m currently in the process of installing false ceiling for my flat. Mine is an existing flat which I have already been staying for more than 10 years. U will require site measurements to determine the cost of renovation for your flat, and this applies to building back of walls too. Building back of my walls which came in the form of 2 panels of 3ft by 7ft & 10ft by 7ft cost me $1400, and this excludes billing for demolishing works (to create new door), rewiring, door frame, door, painting, skirting & replacement tiles which we bought on our own. Etc etc. U would gather that I have paid a steep pricing for restoring my bedrooms since there is no ID intervention. But I m paying for good workmanship, reliability & a systematic delivery of a positive outcome as u could see from my blog.

Hi thanks for commenting. She did all sorts of things to chase that old lady's spirit away. She even screamed at the old lady in the middle of the night when she pinched the toes of my brother inlaw & herself. And she's a real peeping Tom when anybody uses the mbr toilet. After screaming, things were peaceful for about 1 week plus then this horrible old lady came back with a crazy vengeance. She did all kinds of things including sending dining table crashing to the floor. It got so bad that the neighbours nearby put up talisman & religious gadgets above their doors. The worse part was a regular postman whose a Malay uncle remarked that when he delivered a parcel to one of my nieces whose always buying things online, he saw an old lady sitting at the sofa looking at him. But not responding when he told her to sign for the parcel. Eventually, my sister inlaw found this taoist medium with a home shrine in a landed property at Joo Chiat, somewhere behind the dumpling store at Everitt Road. She is pretty well known as the "bai yi gu niang" (lady in white) medium. She was being driven to my sis inlaw's flat in hougang at about 6 plus in the evening & she wasn't in trance. Jux like us normal folks. My sis inlaw told me that she started by burning 3 joss sticks & talking in a funny language to the Tua pekong. Then, she entered the mbr, left door opened & started talking in hokkien, teochew & all of a sudden switched to Chinese. My sis inlaw & her hubby didn't see anybody but she saw that the medium was standing near the centre and talking to nobody towards the direction of the mbr toilet. Then the old lady complained that she had no "kuo lu qian" to bribe her way to where she's supposed to go. The medium told her never to return to disturb anybody once she takes the $$ and go. My sis inlaw followed her instructions, and went down & burn the paper $$ and offerings to her. She said that it was a blood chilling moment becox there was very very strong wind while she was burning. To be very frank, I didn't believe in the "guo lu qian" thing until I heard about this story & what happened to another freak accident case I think in Clementi. The son died there as he was being ran over. Then he appealed to his father on his sufferings & eventually, a few coffee drinkers nearby caught a glimpse of his shadowy self loitering along the road... And seems to be weeping. it's scary & sad! Back to my sis inlaw's flat, it's been 4-5 years already & seems like it is peaceful but her flat remains dim. All her 3 kids are mainstream degree holders, of whom one of them is a government scholar.

Hi, did u try using magic sponge? It's made in Japan & is sold in some hardware shops although Daiso has its version which isn't as effective in its potency for erasing stains. However, I'm not sure if the magic sponge would be able to remove such bleaching stains. No harm trying. I would normally cut a very mini section of it & add water & start rubbing off stubborn stains off my kitchen floor tiles. Hope that it'll work for u too! good luck!

Hi, U could try Sim Lim Tower. There's one at either the 2nd or 3rd floor that sells all types of handles, locksets, etc. Or you could try out other hardware shops located @ China Town. good luck!

Hi, I've PM-ed u Ah Cheong's contact number already. The cost is dependent on measurements (pending site visit), any other complications involved e.g. removal of built in doors, cabinets, any rewiring required, and types of materials used - e.g. hollow blocks, gypsum, etc. (we have requested for solid red bricks but ah cheong told us straight away that it'll not be approved for our flat as he said that ours is built with hollow blocks on the interior & only the exterior of our flat is made of solid red bricks.) But I need to highlight to you that even though Ah Cheong is a cement specialist & also classified as a contractor, he is a very qualified renovator with good workmanship & he also uses good raw materials. As such, he bills a premium over the other contractors in this industry. best wishes!

Hi thanks for visiting my blog & being so generous with your compliments! Please check your mailbox as I've already PM-ed you the contact number for Ah Cheong. best wishes to your new home!

Hi thanks for sharing. Mine is ceramic tiles but they might not necessarily be inferior. Many contractors who visited our flat told us that we have good quality ceramic & even our current contractors said that our tiling was well done. U might have mistaken our version of ceramic tiling for the flimsy cheap sort that u saw in showrooms today which are meant for wall tiling & made in china. There are many grades jux like how it is for homogenous tiles which have their problems too as there are mass imports from China. I cannot comment on other contractors' workmanship but we went around knocking on all the tiles in our flat & we detected 2 pieces that had "hollow" sounds. And thank goodness they weren't located in those bedrooms we restored last year.

False ceiling would allow home owners to conceal wirings & trunkings. It's more for beautifying & improving the appearances of homes. According to installers, L-box isn't cheap. It's there to provide more designs to false ceiling. Do u have any intentions to install false ceiling for your home?

There are many factors involved. My tiling was done by a very good contractor 10 years ago; there are only 2 hollow tiles in the entire flat. If there are many hollow tiles around, the impact of the debris dropping down while the wall is being demolished might cause tiles to crack. The ceramic tiles that we chose is of a very good quality becox I've ever dropped glass vases & glass cups onto the floor by accident but thus far, there were no cracks or chip-offs. And my demolish-er is very experienced & skillful too. For fabrication of walls, it depends on what materials u want the renovator to use. If u use gypsum board, it's not going to hurt much becox it could be removed without inflicting damages to you walls & flooring. It's alot cheaper but sound proofing properties are not as good - U'll be able to hear what's going on in the next room.

I share your sentiments! My apologies... I got carried away with my loooong story...

I think u can charge each tenant an additional $100 for the aircon. Unless they are at home throughout the day & turned the aircon, there are slimmer chances that u will see a hefty increase in the PUB bills to say, hundreds of dollars. I assume that your aircon is the energy saving version, not the non-inverter/ window unit types.

Hi I think it's reasonably priced becox the electrician who did the most recent wiring for my place is more expensive by $10-20 for each of your items.

Hi, I got my kitchen sliding door from Han Fong Aluminium - it's a dual panel becox the wall for concealing these doors (when not in use) is not wide enough. (please click on this link to be directed to my blogging entry which would show u photographs of what they did for my flat) Blogging title: Vanity Drawers & Kitchen Doors from Han Fong Aluminium Pte Ltd http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39552&view=findpost&p=716922 My dimension is smaller than yours by about 20cm both lengthwise & breadth as well. For dual panels, they are costlier @ more than $300. Aluminium casing with high-gloss PVC panels. However, if u are going for tempered glass, it's going to cost a bomb regardless of whether it's single, dual or triple paneled. If you would want it classier with timber doors, you could get your carpenter to do it and that should come with any tracks at the bottom. best wishes!

Yes which was why I thought that $280 is cheap if they were doing a proper job. I went through nippon's DIY videos on painting & there was this segment on painting metals. It shows that sanding down is required.. Otherwise, the metal parts might have a "cakey" look to it if u get what I mean... Those gates which had been painted frequently becox of loan shark harassment might end up with a "thickening" effect that looks awful as there are simply too many layers of paint over it.

Hi, Pricing would be quoted based on site measurements becox renovation is all about customisation. There isn't a fixed price for it. It's recommended that u shortlist a few renovators whom you've spoken to & felt comfortable with, then proceed in getting them to provide you with a quotation. best wishes!

that goes by site measurement & there is no such thing as a fixed price to it. U've got to get your ID / contractor to visit your premises & quote according to dimensions & other factors such as level of difficulties, rewiring requirements (if applicable), etc. And also the raw materials used eg hollow blocks, red solid bricks or gypsum boards.

Hi I can pm you at your renotalk mailbox but this temple didn't impart any of these special skills to me. I always felt that it's better to have a bright home than one that is dim & dark. It does make ordinary folks feel pessimistic.

Hi u r most welcome I think it's a reasonable price especially when they didnt supply you the gate. But u might want to check with them of they are sanding down the old paint from your gate first before painting a new coat of paint. Any varnishing once painting is completed? And is it oil based paint they r using for your gate?

Hi, I don't mean to contradict what your ID has mentioned to u so I'm hoping that u wouldn't feel upset with what I am about to say. Based on my experience, there are many levels of IDs in the renovation industry. They target at different markets & as such, one ID firm might have a clientele base with demographics that differs from another. e.g. those that accepts installment payments would have a totally different customer base from another which doesn't provide installment plans & targets mainly at higher-paying customers. To cite an example, Nobel Design Holdings is a reputable top-notch ID firm which has already come that far to have their company listed & they are into niche marketing i.e. they only do renovation for private properties & are looking for a minimum down payment of say, $50k-$80k or more when we called them up for a quotation a couple of years ago. During those days, they have turned down renovation for HDB in a very polite & professional manner but I'm not sure how it is for them currently. They also offer internship & those who perform well during that short tenure might just get invited to join them upon graduation - not all ID firms offer internships. And our relatives who had their homes renovated by Nobel Holdings paid more for their workmanship than design to cut corners as paying for the design is going to cost a huge bomb. If u check with your ID, most of the ID firms would have their in-house carpenters who cut out carpentry based on their own in-house technologies (or if u like to call it "secret"). And I'm sure these carpenters who are their partners, would pick up selective assignments upon referrals outside the ID firms' domain. Chances are, it's not going to come cheaply & these accomplished carpenters who have attained the state-of-art in fabricating carpentry that aren't easily duplicated by their competitors, would be billing these external referrals a price that is a lot higher than say, mid-range ID firms (who target at mass markets). I would like to call this a competitive advantage which is why they could command such a high pricing in the industry. The same applies for a contractor as there are many levels of them & all of them command different billing rates for works done. As such, pricing varies. There are indeed contractors who charge a lot higher that renovators who call themselves IDs. And many of these so-called expensive contractors served as sub-contractors to ID firms who provide higher-end designing services where their clients pay for both designs & quality (workmanship). So it really depends : A contractor can still charge higher than an ID if he has already earned that competitive advantage in his renovating business.

Hi, I'm not sure if this is market rate. However, if the quality & workmanship good? U've got to take note that powder-coated grilles might not be as durable becox if the coating gets scratched, it'll look awful & rundown. My neighbours' 2 year old white powder coated window grilles have turned yellowy already. If u are interested in exploring another quotation from another aluminium provider, u could take a look at the following topic where I get my aluminium sliding doors from Han Fong Aluminium : http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=39552 Or if u would prefer, u could visit my blogging entry where there are more photographs on what they have done for my flat: Blogging title: Vanity Drawers & Kitchen Doors from Han Fong Aluminium Pte Ltd http://barbettey.blogspot.com/2012/05/vanity-drawers-from-han-fong-aluminium.html best wishes!

$280 for repainting in black brushed in gold is considered reasonable. You'll need to bear in mind that there is a minimum charge for these contractors for a lucrative profit margin. Many gate suppliers wouldn't even want to do the repainting unless the customer's gate has been manufactured & installed by them.

It depends on what sort of rewiring & there isn't a fixed cost. You need to get your electrician to take a look & provide you with a quotation. Chances are it's not going to cheap unless u are just relocating a few wiring points. I've just done simple rewiring for my living (& dining) hall and it costs us SGD $ 1200. There are other electricians who quoted us between SGD $ 1500-1800.