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adidaem

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Posts posted by adidaem

  2. Posted

    I have actually seen housing agents using pictures of your house on pamphlets. One of them stated that the location was in Kovan. I don't know how they are going to answer to buyers when the house they view is not what is in the picture :(

    No kidding!!! Gosh so dishonest... Next time u see a flyer with my home pic can scan and share here?

    Also found out that ppl have been copying (or tried to anyway) my TV console design n fan circle thingy with varying degrees of success... Ok lah anyway the fan design is by my IDs so poor them. Good thing is that both are not that easy to execute. Not sure how many also try to do the "white house" concept. I should feel honoured I guess...

    My advise is really to get the Grafunkt console if you like mine. At least the build quality will be good. And I'm sure it's easy to add legs to the console so that it's higher.

  3. Posted

    Thank you again for visiting :) feel honored.

    Aiyo, we are all just fellow hdb dwellers lah. No need to feel honoured. Was just sharing some thoughts cos after staying in my place for a few years and adding some family members along the way I would renovate my place differently now. Lotsa storage would be good...

    Enjoy the process! Both hubby and I kinda missed the shopping and stuff when the reno was over. :)

  4. Posted

    Heard of a contractor that has been showing my home pics and claiming to have done up my place.

    My IDs are still In business but as far as I know MY CONTRACTOR NO LONGER DOES HOME RENO PROJECTS (he does commercial projects now). So any contractor who says he did my place is probably lying.

    I haven't been active for a while on RT but I wanted folks to know that there are some con man going around...

  5. Posted

    Hi and congrats on your new place. Just a few thoughts for your consideration after staying a few years in a maisonette...

    1. WC 3 is really really tiny. Even if you extend it (by max 60 cm only right?), I think the extension cannot be the wet area.

    2. You mentioned kids. So maybe it makes sense to retain separate wc upstairs so that next time the kids have their own wc?

    3. You may want to create a storeroom since the one under the stairs is woefully small.

    4. Would be good to have a yard for mops, pails and stuff... Maybe whatever is retained of the balcony near the chute?

    5. The dining area is really small... If you plan to use it as the living room, you may want to realign the stairs direction on the first floor (to go upwards from the kitchen direction instead of from the current dining room direction)

    Just my kaypoh two cents. :) Good luck with your Reno!

  7. Posted

    Hello to all new EM owners. Enjoy the reno experience and your new place when you finally move in. :)

    Btw, if anyone is looking for a roller shutter contractor, pls do not use Paul Aluminium. Had some problems with my shutters and they were an absolute pain to deal with. In the end we were lucky to find Ocean Newline Industries. [http://www.oceannewline.com.sg]

    I'm not affiliated to Ocean Newline, just thought to share a good vendor.

    • Like 2

  8. Posted

    Both EC and EM (central area bishan AMK etc) can have for 800k.

    Who will buy HDB EM for that kind of money with limited future increase in price (old flat somemore) where they can have EC with good up price when they reach 10 years?

    Your point being? You are not even comparing the same floor area and I'm VERY sure you cannot get them at the same price. Cos I know that an EC in a remote housing estate costs about the same as my EM in a central area, with a much smaller floor area of course. An AMK or Bishan EC costs way more.

    People will continue to buy EMs and EAs for the same reason that they always have - more space for their $. Whether it's because of 3 gen living or just to enjoy the space, different families will always have different priorities and needs.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    Hi Guys, i've been reading silently all of your EM blogs! Very naise!

    The husband and I are looking to get one. But not sure if we should just stick to EA. Considering market now, was wondering if paying 40k for a * EM is reasonable? The home we are looking at is fully furnished but like not very modern design lah. But definitely move in condition. Any advice?

    Is EA cheaper?

    Guess it really boils down to personal pref. I paid more than $40k for COV and had to gut the entire place... But I need 3 toilets... Stairs is another factor - needs a bit of getting used to and not sure if I wanna climb stairs when I am an old lady.

    Not to mention location... It's all very much personal pref IMO.

  12. Posted

    I guess both of you have very valid points.

    The HTB and I weighed up the pros and cons (he's the type who cannot tahan the heat) but due to budget constraints as well as the fact that our unit is quite 'airy and breezy', we've decided to opt out of the air conditioning for the first level. We've gone with the ceiling fan + standing fan option for the first floor so we'll observe the situation first. But like what vanessa said - if all else fails, let's escape to the rooms! :dancingqueen:

    My unit is one of the most windy apartments my contractor/IDs/relatives/friends have encountered, but can still be uncomfortably warm in "summer" months when there is no wind. Had a few recent house parties and I actually sort of regret not installing AC in the kitchen too. You can't quite install ac easily post reno so do seriously consider having AC installed. It's those times when you need AC that you'll seriously miss not having one I think.

  13. Posted

    Hi 3Dyms,

    Thanks for your warm welcome and suggestions. I am also going with the very open concept with not walls separating kitchen, balcony and living. Like you I will also have an air-con compressor up in the balcony area to power the upper level rooms. For the lower level I will only be using ceiling fans. I foresee only using air-con on those very hot nights for sleeping and wont really be using the living room at those hours. Thus I am hoping to get the same roller shutter as Adidaem's as they have a setting with tiny gaps opened. I hope that will be enough to dissipate the heat generated.

    AC downstairs is important leh. Like when there is haze... Plus hot days of course.

  15. Posted

    Hi Fellow EM owners,

    I need some advice.

    We are planning to change the orientation of our stairs. Only the bottom half to be exact. I have seen it done previously but now for my submission, I am having some problems.

    The entry of the stairs is now facing my main door, and I would like to change it to face the kitchen instead. We do have a PE ready to endorse but now we are told we need to get approval from BCA? That would take 2 months and another 8k. ;(

    We wanted to work around it by adding an additional flight of stairs to join the landing and covering up the original bottom half so that technically, we are not changing the structure and orientation by hacking.

    Now we are stuck since adding another flight of stairs requires BCA approval.

    Try contacting kooky to ask how she got hers approved?

    http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/58892-ks-home/page-4

    Pls let us know how it turns out and good luck!

  16. Posted

    Hi Vdubber,

    My unit originally came with roller shutters and I almost wanted to keep it. Until someone pointed out an important fact. I'm doing an open concept when there are no walls separating kitchen from living area and service balcony. But... My aircon compressor for level 1 has to be installed within the service balcony. Problem - if my aircon compressor is there, and its raining, I'll need to close the shutters to prevent rain from splashing in. With the roller shutters down, there is no way for the hot air from the compressor to escape. This will totally defeat me having the aircon switched on. To go around this problem, I removed the roller shutters and installed 6 panels of top hanging windows. The compressor will be installed such that the fan will be blowing out wards and the top hung window where the compressor is, will be kept open. The rest of the 5 panels will be closed. This way, I also hv sunlight coming in on raining days and it won't feel so dark. You can refer to my T-blog link below (page 5) for pics of the windows at the service balcony and page 6 for my kitchen extension into service balcony area. Just wanted to highlight this in case you are going for total open concept too.

    Actually we keep a small gap open if we still want the aircon. No problems with this arrangement. Installing glass means some slightly dangerous cleaning or learning to adapt to dirty window panels... Not a fan of either so I will still go for shutters. With windows the effect is quite different vs opening to the sky. Anyway am not a fan of the toilet windows opening into an enclosed balcony concept.

    My balcony is tiled so no problem with it getting a bit wet. In fact we chose outdoor tiles cos we expected the balcony to get wet (and so wanted less slippery tiles).

  17. Posted

    Hi Guru, just asking if anyone have changed their EM staircase to Spiral type before, like the one show here. Cheers.

    My IDs told me that this unit came with a "fishbone" stairs which they retained, but had to repair most of the structure as the "bone" wasn't in great condition.

    http://www.atelier-ma.com/en/projects/116CLEMENTI2.php

    Polls: To raise or flatten the balcony deck?

    In my design brief to ID, I had spec for an extended raised timber deck for my balcony. I was trying to create a very open feel of a semi outdoor space inside an apartment. I had seen from photos of another EM doing that and took a liking to the idea.

    My ID strongly disagree with my concept citing, "We are not convinced the raised timber deck extending to the toilet is ideal for the design circulation for the unit. We feel visual separation between the toilet and interior space is already apparent with the use of different flooring finishes without raising the level, and the spaces are better integrated if they are on the same floor level. Nevertheless we will design (although reluctantly) for the raised timber deck all the way to the toilet since you had strongly requested for it."

    Now I have mixed thoughts, should I listen to the professionals who spend all their working time planning space for others? Or should I go with my own preference since I will be living in it?

    Any thoughts and comments from fellow forumers here will be much appreciated.

    I do think the different material is sufficient without requiring a raised platform and I have concerns re:

    - practicality - having a deck recessed makes more sense given the location in the balcony. It does rain... And you wouldn't want rain flowing into your kitchen or living room. Unless you install windows, then it defeats the whole outdoor purpose ya?

    - toe-stubber - raised platforms can be a love or hate thing, and I belong to the latter after visiting a few units with raised decking. Moldy belows aside, if the wood warp or loosen then it is awful not to mention fairly dangerous/painful to step on (again, from visiting units with raised decking that are a few years old)

    - mold or creepy crawlies in the empty deck space - mmm just gross.

    But it is your place so do go with whatever you like. Most importantly that you like your place anyway, not whether others will.

  21. Posted

    yup, I guess so.

    Don't hv floor plans... Just some pics:

    I'd mentioned earlier that I'll love to see the floorplans for those rare HDB apts with lofts... some pics to show you what I mean:1916 sqft / 178 sqm 'penthouse' in 851 Hougang Central851-hougang-central-1916-sqft.jpgSource: http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listing/for-sale-loft-mais-851-hougang-central-52907832141 sqft / 199 sqm 446 Bright Hill Drive (not stated as 'penthouse' but from the pics I'm guessing it is)446-bright-hill-2142-sqft-pic1.jpg446-bright-hill-2142-sqft-pic2.jpgSource: http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/listing/hdb-for-sale-blk-446-brighthill-drive-3096754

  23. Posted

    adidaem, thanks for the warm welcome and friendly introduction of this neighbourhood!

    I had tried the famous steam chicken rice stalk at blk 153. In fact, we go there for lunch very frequent as my husband love the chillies sauce and ginger paste to go with the chicken.

    I had tried the Lor Mee last weekend with my sister and mum and indeed it's worth the queue.

    There are a few fishball noodles stalls and we have yet to explore all of them to find out which is the one that suit our palate.As for the herbal hor fun, ermm......I didn't notice there is any. I will need to pay more attention next time when I am there again.

    Hardware store near the 7-eleven, yes I do need to buy some more stuff and would be handy since the shop is just stone-throw away.

    Have a pleasant Tuesday!

    There is only one famous one I think. The one formerly from Margaret Drive. Almost always long queue. On the right hand side when you come up from the escalator, can't miss it...

    As for the herbal horfun, it's with the black signboard right at the end of the market near the exit to the MSCP. The uncle is really old (80s) so the stall is sometimes closed. Love it tho, and dunno where else to find something similar. Usually if they have stocks (some ingredients start to run out before 1 pm), I'll get the chicken, duck and pork ribs combo. Some customers love the chicken feet too judging by how many I see asking for them, but not something I have/would try...

  24. Posted

    *hi-5* :drunk:

    Yah... me don't like the bulky look of the Honeywell too. Would have preferred those slim line and super 'chio' looking ones. HEPA filter usually is good enough. But me is super KS mommy. So functionality won over aesthetics in my case.

    Ya... Actually I prefer Panasonic looks wise but can't find any mention of HEPA filter in their machine. N Sharp has humidifier and negative ions and 10 year filter (don't want to take risk of hunting for obsolete model filters x years down the road). So Sharp win lor.

    Did you consider any other models before choosing Honeywell? Sounds like you did lotsa research! Think I also saw Hitachi, Blue Air, Electrolux, Novita... But some failed on looks and others on filter type and life span.

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