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Ks Toh

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Everything posted by Ks Toh

  1. Ks Toh
    I don't think there is such a thing as a totally hands off approach, unless you really, really don't mind leaving everything to the ID and contractors. That means you must accept their choices and decisions made on your behalf, on everything big and small. It is not possible to agree on every detail in the contract. There will be many choice and decisions to be made along the way. There is no need to pay the ID or contractor a premium for this. I think most IDs and contractors will be happy to accommodate you on this.
  2. Ks Toh
    There are issues with LED, which you guys should be aware of. I use almost exclusively LED at my new place. A lot of them. Downlights, ceiling lights, cove lights, wall lights and spot lights. After two years, this is my experience. Whilst it is true that LED lights do not blow as often as PLC and other light bulbs, the LED lights do spoil. In fact, over these two years, the following LED lights went out for me: - Downlights - I forgot how many but I think around 4 to 5 (no particular reason) - Ceiling light - 1 (water ingress) - Wall light - 1 (no particular reason) - Outdoor Spot light - 1 (water ingress) - Cove lights - 0 In every single case, it was the driver that went out of action. The LED bulbs itself had no problem. The problem is that unlike PLC where you can just buy the bulb from any shop, for the LED driver, you need to get back the same driver. In my case, I managed to get the driver from the same shop, but I wonder what happens if the shop closes down and I cannot find a replacement driver? Maybe I have to change the whole light fitting? For some places like my wall lights, I have a set of 4, and they are not exactly cheap. For my outdoor spot light, I had to replace the whole light as the driver was not easily replaced. Someone told me you can just replace with another driver with same A. I tried, it does not work. My lights shop also told me this is not possible. And for the downlights, when you want to change the driver, you need to remove the entire light casing and down comes bit and pieces of your ceiling board. It is so distressing that I was too sad to take pictures to post. But I think I put up some milder pictures on my blog. I hear that nowadays, you can buy those downlight where it is easier to retrieve the driver. So, buy those.
  3. Ks Toh
    Luckily I bought storage heater instead of this. Looks like storage heaters still have some advantage.
  4. Ks Toh
    For standard items like TV, lights, tiles, marble etc you can buy from one supplier and get another contractor to install. But for customised items like made-to-measure glass panels, I personally feel it is better to engage a supply and install contractor, or at least a supplier who can install for you. A lot of things can go wrong or be less than complete. The glass may be scratched or it does not fit properly. Or it may not be sturdy enough etc. The installer will blame the supplier. The supplier will blame the installer. The slight savings in getting the glass direct may not be worth it. Actually, I think the correct sequence is to install the glass panels first. The fittings should be the last things to be installed in every bathroom. That has always been my practice. There are only so many locations to install the glass panels. For fittings (tower rack, soap dish, shower head etc), they can be up, down, left or right. What I do is mark out using masking tape on the wall the intended location of the fittings but I find that after installing the glass panels, I sometimes have to change the fitting location e.g. the towel rack must be shifted so that the glass door will not hit it. No need 10 years' experience drilling lah! Just make sure (a) new masonry drill bit (b) drill NOT in hammer mode © confidence in yourself. I started after being taught by my neighbour and till this date, i have yet to break any tile. I have a step by step guide on my blog here.
  5. Ks Toh
    You need to prepare for Digital TV because the existing analogue signal will be cut sometime after December 2015. Installing SCV points in your TV locations is a solution.
  6. Ks Toh
    I have moved in for about 2 years now, so I can share my experience with LED lighting. As you can read from my blog, I used LED for most of my lighting. Colour wise, the LED warm light is not too bad. I have no problems with it. LED does not give off heat. When I used halogen, I recall it was quite hot in some places. Electricity consumption wise, I cannot tell. As I am not able to compare with similar amount of halogen or other lights. But I assume there should be savings. Failure. This is the most distressing part. Although it is true that LED lights fail less often that other types of lights (halogen, energy saving etc), they do fail. So far, some of my LED lights did fail and when they fail, getting them repaired is troublesome and in some cases, a disaster. The problem is that most of the time (in my case all of the time) it is the driver that fails. And you cannot buy drivers the way you buy a halogen or energy saving light bulb. You need to go back to the shop. So far I have been able to buy replacements but what if the shop closes. The other problem is that for my LED downlight, in order to retrieve the driver I need to remove the entire light casing. Of course when I remove it, parts of the ceiling board comes down. It is a real disaster. When I am less annoyed, I will post more details on my blog. The above is for LED lights fixtures. For LED cove lights, I have no problems, whether with colour or anything else. They look fine. But of course, the "throw" is shorter.
  7. Ks Toh
    Long Reach Prunner For those with tall plants, a long reach prunner (also called bypass cutting fruit picker) is very useful. I first saw it in Phuket but did not know how to bring it back as it was very long. I saw it at Bedok Nursery at $150+. Then I saw it at World Farm at $68. I immediately bought it. It is very useful. It is telescopic and extendable up to 3 metres.
  8. Ks Toh
    Four Season Lime is from China where the climate is different. After CNY, you can plant the lime in the ground or continue to use the pot. They will survive but not as much lime as you first saw. The two middle ones are freshly planted from this year's. The two taller outside ones are from last year.
  9. Ks Toh
    I had no time to post this earlier. Then Mr LKY passed away and I did not think it was appropriate to post something so cheerful. Anyway, now that it is over ... Chinese New Year 2015 Every Chinese New Year, we like to put up some decorations and some pots of plants. The favourite for the main door will be the Four Season Lime. Last year, I bought from Pioneer Landscape. This year, I found the best place to buy such plants: Thong Hup Gardens at Jurong West St 25, off Jalan Bahar. I saw the biggest selection of CNY plants, especially Four Season Lime. The prices here were much cheaper than elsewhere. I bought my 12" Four Season Lime for $68. At the nurseries in Bedok, they were selling at $98 to $108. I bought two of them plus some other plants and one box mandarin oranges to add up to $200 for free delivery. Yes, these are the gigantic ones found outside banks and large departmental stores.
  10. Ks Toh
    Hi Apologies as I missed your questions. I normally buy my plants from the row of nurseries along Bedok South Road, although I also buy from Ikea, World Farm & Pioneer nurseries along Bah Soon Pah Road. I gave details in one of my earlier posts. The ID I used left his previous firm, one of the bigger ones. He is a young easy going chap and now on his own. I can give you his contact by PM if you want. I think the more important question is the tiler he uses. That makes all the difference. Not so much the ID.
  11. Ks Toh
    Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you find the contents useful. From what I know, even if you have 1Gbps, you are not going to get anywhere near that kind of speed 99% of the time because the speed of the connection is as fast as the weakest link. Most of the time, the website server cannot even give you 100Mbps. I am happy with my low end 100Mbps fibre. I wouldn't recommend ceiling lights for stairs. Yes, they can be blinding. In my case, I had no choice. In any event, I installed them quite high on the wall, so they do not shine directly into your eyes.
  12. Ks Toh
    I would be super upset with this. 1) unfortunately, this happens often if you do not have a main contractor or ID supervising everything, and different contractors just want to do their works their own way; and 2) even with ID or main contractor, it is always good to be around most of the time. It is always during that few times you decide not to be around that things will go wrong somehow. It has happened to me many times too.
  13. Ks Toh
    What I mean is that the switches look too modern for your wall paper and furniture.
  14. Ks Toh
    I keep wondering why you did not change the wall sockets!
  15. Ks Toh
    Just came across this iPhone app that is SO COOL. If I am doing renovations now, I will definitely use it. I don't even mind paying S$5.98 for the Pro version. Download the iPhone App from here: https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/roomscan-app-that-draws-floor/id571436618?mt=8 This is the Pro version, if you are interested.
  16. Ks Toh
    When I stayed at a few days in a motel in Yokohama, Japan, the innkeeper gave me an A4 piece of paper with detailed instructions and told me to study it carefully. The instructions were so detailed to the point of being ridiculous. Every morning before the designated time, you had to bring the specified type of recyclables to the recycling point. You could not cheat because the items had to be in clear transparent plastic bags and the recycling point was visible to everyone. It was really too difficult for visitors like me.
  17. Ks Toh
    I put the empty plastic bottles into my blue recycling bin. In Singapore, it is fairly easy as you do not need to sort out the recyclables. You can put glass, paper, plastic and metal into the same bin.
  18. Ks Toh
    Recycling Over the weekend, I visited the farm to buy some potted plants and organic liquid fertiliser for my vertical garden. I brought along some of their empty organic liquid fertiliser containers, as it was printed on the containers that I could get $2 off for each empty container I returned. To my surprise, the assistant who attended to me appeared genuinely shocked when I produced the empty containers and asked for $2 off for each new container I was purchasing. It seemed like I was the first person ever to ask for the $2. He referred me to the female supervisor who promptly proclaimed that the price of $6.80 they were selling was already $2 discounted off the normal price of $8. This is exactly the same sales tactic used by LPG suppliers like Union Gas and Tan Brothers. I don't know why Singapore merchants never honour promises. I did not bother to argue with the supervisor. Did not bother to tell her that the price label on all the containers and on their website was normal $6.80. I did not want to quibble over $2 (total $6 as I had three bottles) or look silly in front of other customers. So, i just paid up. But I purposely take back my empty containers (they did not ask anyway) to throw into my recycling bin back home. I also did not bother to tell her that she undercharged me $1 each for 5 of my plants (I normally would have). I wonder if perhaps there is some scheme by NEA whereby the merchant gets some incentive or grant for this kind of recycling scheme. So the merchant pretends to implement it or merely pays lip service?
  19. Ks Toh
    Nurseries at Bah Soon Pah Road (off Sembawang Road) In my earlier posts, I named a number of nurseries that I frequent: Pioneer, Far East Flora, Lai Seng etc. One of my favourites is World Farm (Hua Hng) at 15 Bah Soon Pah Road. This place is just next to Khatib Camp, opposite Dieppe Barracks (my former reservist camp!). They have a wide selection of potted plants and prices are usually cheaper than your neighbourhood nursery.
  20. Ks Toh
    Hi, I posted his contact here. After the initial repair, the yard roof continued to have small leaks. All the other places were fine. The contractor came back at least twice. Currently, there is still a small leak sometimes at the yard roof when it rains. But it may not be the contractor's fault. Short of changing the entire roof, it is quite difficult to arrest the leak completely for this roof. I would still recommend this contractor as he appears decent. There is no harm asking him for a quote.
  21. Ks Toh
    If the shops quote you $1,500, how can that be cheating? His cost may be cheaper and more expensive than $500, depending on his overheads or source. At most, he is expensive. Mobile Air is totally different. If you agree on a price of $950, then after the customer pays you $950, you demand another $1,500, that is cheating. It is criminal. Anyway, if you could DIY, it is definitely a good choice. No doubt about it. I also DIY installation of blinds before. Some easy, some difficult.
  22. Ks Toh
    I think "conned" is too strong a word. These people need to earn a living. They have to charge for their services. But of course if you can DIY and save money, good for you!
  23. Ks Toh
    Click Here
  24. Ks Toh
    Hi I have no idea of the properties of the Sovacryl I used. It looks like a thick grey membrane. Not sure what you can do with your tiled roof terrace. Lay wooden planks over it? My roof terrace floor is like this.
  25. Ks Toh
    Mine are in the sheltered yard. So no issue. I am not sure if these are waterproof. By the way, I realised the brand is Keter. Maybe we are referring to different products. http://www.keter.com/products/xl-utility-louvre-cabinet#main If you need to discuss further, better do it at my blog.
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