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Ks Toh

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Everything posted by Ks Toh

  1. Ks Toh
    I think it is a good idea and it will work, so long as the glass door is installed above the sloping part. I discussed the importance of ensuring that there is a floor drop here: http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/62505-top-kew-drive/?p=841431
  2. Ks Toh
    Water getting clearer.
  3. Ks Toh
    I got my koi pond contractor back to redo my front pond, as it was not the "crystal clear" pond that I was promised. They took all all the fishes and put them in a temporary tank. Then they removed all the gravel and filters. They found that under the gravel, there was only one filter pipe. They added 3 more, total 4. Then they put back all the gravel and filters, and added sand and more gravel.
  4. Ks Toh
    I find dishwashers not suitable for Asian kitchens where there is heavy cooking. 1. You still need to soap and scrub off stubborn stains before putting the plates & utensils into the dishwasher. 2. Friends with dishwashers have a habit of accumulating the dirty plates before turning on the dishwasher. I find it easier just to wash the plates the moment I finish using them.
  5. Ks Toh
    I am not on SingTel but I believe you can. Just set the wireless router in your room to bridge mode. That is what I am doing. My room ports are connected to the StarHub supplied lousy router.
  6. Ks Toh
    Here's something which might interest those who cannot live without a fast internet connection. Today a parcel arrived from the UK. I thought my wife bought something from the UK using my name but she denied it. She opened it to find a TP-LINK N600 Dual Band Wireless Dual band gigabit Router. I had totally forgotten I had signed to participate in the SamKnows Broadband Performance Measurement Study, commissioned by IDA. This is the WhiteBox that I was supposed to get. (note: it is actually black in colour) I don't get paid for this. Neither do I have to pay anything. My thinking was simply that maybe if my ISP knows that I am one of those users whose broadband speed is being tracked and used for IDA reports, they will make sure mine is really fast, so that they will look good in the IDA broadband speed reports. So I plugged everything as instructed and did a speed check of my basic 100Mbps fibre connection. I don't know what to say. But I think it is a fluke because after that, I was not able to get this kind of speed, although it is still fast. If you are interested to participate, click here: http://www.samknows.com
  7. Ks Toh
    New refrigerator is now up and running .... Suitable for those with similar problem like me i.e. want a big fridge but height limitation.
  8. Ks Toh
    [back to Table of Contents] Yeah, somehow I think I made a mistake of talking about it. Surprisingly, although the Whirlpool refrigerator is shorter in height, it is much larger in capacity at 640L. Most of the Japanese and Korean side by side refrigerators I see are below 600L. The machine is made in Mexico. Although I was told that the American models are less energy efficient, it has a 4 ticks "Excellent" energy efficiency rating from NEA. The machine was delivered today. It was too big to go through my kitchen door, so the delivery men had to remove the refrigerator doors and then put them back after going through the door. And the machine fits perfectly! Right now, I have been told to wait 8 hours before turning on the refrigerator. This means 2 am!
  9. Ks Toh
    My old refrigerator must have heard me talking about it. So it chose to break down over the weekend. I rushed down to Courts. I only know of one place that sells these American refrigerators, Courts. There is only one brand, Whirlpool and one model! [back to Table of Contents]
  10. Ks Toh
    I would say that the system (bio filtration) I chose was good. However, I am not sure about the contractor. My inside pond has been clear from day one. My front pond has been unclear on and off. For several weeks now, it has been green. The contractor is supposed to come down and take a look.
  11. Ks Toh
    Removing Stains from White Marble One of the greatest problems with white marble is staining. This happened to me when the contractor did not put sufficient protection over the existing white marble floor. As I was using also using white marble floor at my previous place, I have learnt the way to remove stains. If you accidentally spill red wine onto your white marble, you will find that the colour will seep into the marble and you cannot get it out. Fear not! Here is what you need to do. 1. Get a bottle of bleach (any brand - I use NTUC FairPrice brand or Kao) and some toilet paper. 2. Lay the toilet paper over the stained area and pour sufficient bleach over the paper until it is thoroughly wet. 3. Leave overnight. Repeat again until the stain is gone, or least minimised. The picture above is not clear but I have since removed most of the stains, after doing this many times. This method works well for other stains too e.g. from the door lacquer. Caution: Someone told me not to leave the bleach for too long or it might damage the floor but so far so good. The floor looks fine even if I leave the bleach overnight. But do at your own risk!
  12. Ks Toh
    I read the HDB guidelines and cannot find anything that says you cannot create a drop to the shower floor. All it says is that there is no need for permit to build a kerb not exceeding certain size. As for the drop, of course you don't hack the shower floor deeply just to create the drop. What I said was to lay the tiles for the shower floor and the rest of the toilet at slightly different levels. The HDB valuer is from a property valuation company. He is there to value your property. He cannot be bothered to check your flat for irregularities. It is not his job. Last time, I hear that HDB officers will check your flat for irregularities. Not sure if they still do. Even if they do, I am sure it is for major irregularities and not things like a drop at the shower floor!
  13. Ks Toh
    For my mum's HDB flat, there is a significant drop from the room floor to the toilet floor. I am sure it should be possible to lay the tiles such that there is a small drop from the room to the toilet floor, and a further drop from the toilet floor to the shower floor. Only 1 cm drop should be sufficient. Surely, this is not against HDB guidelines? If both the toilet and shower floors are of the same level, instead of building a kerb (which is ugly), I saw at Gold Coast Australia that the tiler gently sloped the floor upwards up to the edge of the shower, creating a drop there. A bit like a sand dune. I thought that was nice and immediately messaged my ID for my last place. But the local contractor did not know how to do it (or was too lazy), so he still build a kerb for me. See whether you can do it.
  14. Ks Toh
    Ah. Not nice to post pics on other people's blog. You can check out Ergoworks website at http://ergoworks.com.sg/index.php/d2-100-fabric.html I recall I paid less than $1,000 but that was a few years back. I think Herman Miller would be several times that price. No idea whether it helps to prevent backaches.
  15. Ks Toh
    If the upper portion is not supported by a horizontal beam, or with re-bars, and is just loose bricks and concrete previously supported by the lower portion, I think you should check with your ID or contractor on whether need to remove it. Or it might one day come crashing down. If you want, you have re-erect the upper portion. For my kitchen, I did a low window that spans the entire width of the kitchen wall. There were existing high windows, so I removed parts of the wall in between the windows. The moment I removed them, the upper wall came down. Gravity. I had to re-erect the upper wall above my intended low window.
  16. Ks Toh
    True, but I prefer everything to be disclosed upfront and not hidden. For me, it is ok for the ID or contractor to charge more for workmanship, or even consultancy. But not ok if, having already agreed to pay the ID or contractor for his work, I buy things e.g. kitchen appliances worth $10,000, to find that a percentage of that amount went to my ID or contractor again (without my knowledge). If disclosed upfront, it is ok with me as I have the choice to make a decision.
  17. Ks Toh
    Paint you can transfer to small plastic bottles or throw since they will go bad anyway in due course, and you should be able to buy new cans as long as you have the colour code. Tiles you may want to keep a few good ones. You never know when you need them, and it is not going to be easy to find the same type next time, unless your tile is very common type and colour.
  18. Ks Toh
    I thought my picture above is clear? This picture taken from inside the shower. There is normally a kerb or drop in floor level at the shower area to prevent the water from flowing out. When you close your shower door, this kerb or drop should be outside the door.
  19. Ks Toh
    If ID or contractor brings you to tile supplier, the supplier normally gives him a cut. That "cut" can normally be given to you only if you go direct. Same applies for many other suppliers.
  20. Ks Toh
    Hi Just stumbled onto your blog. I know you already messaged me and I replied. But i feel that since you paid for Blum (and they agreed to change?), you should insist on Blum. Otherwise, you will always regret every time you open your drawer. Every time you show your kitchen to friends, you have to explain: I paid for Blum but etc etc..... It is very 'sian". Happened to me before. I paid for some expensive toilet seat but they delivered a cheaper version. Because some time had passed, I let it past. But for several years, every time I sit on the WC, I cannot help but think of it. I don't know if it is true that fabricating this was more expensive than Blum. Most likely, it should be cheaper. It does not make sense for a worker to spend more money to do something when Blum is cheaper. Perhaps, they forgot you wanted Blum.
  21. Ks Toh
    Seems to me that your vacuuming and mopping was not a very good job.
  22. Ks Toh
    Upon your return, please remember to drive into the Red Channel and declare your purchase. GST is payable at Singapore Customs for goods exceeding S$150 if you are away from Singapore for less than 48 hours. They will check your passport to verify this. We drove into the Red Channel to declare the fan and went to the customs office. The customs officer explained that if the travelers are a family unit and the goods meant to be shared, she can allow the value to be split amongst the family members. However, in our case, she said we were not related and how can the fan be shared between the two of us? But Anyway, as the amount was just above the limit, she let us off without having to pay GST. If in doubt, it is better to declare and maybe pay just the 7% rather than risk a $10,000 fine and jail.
  23. Ks Toh
    The main difficulty when you drive there is just after you exit Johore customs. It is very confusing to me. When I went there, I took the wrong exit and ended up on the elevated Eastern Dispersal Link. Sort of like you want to go to Suntec City but you forgot to exit at Rochor and ended up on the Sheares Bridge. You can see Suntec City down below but you cannot exit. Anyway, these are the instructions from some website to get to Tebrau Highway: For a video, look at this (not by me):
  24. Ks Toh
    Nice that some of you find the information here useful. Here is another piece of information which is more than a year old but i hope it is still relevant. Buying KDK Fans from JB Many of you must have read that KDK fans are selling in Johor at about half the Singapore price. As I was intending to put many fans at my new place, I thought I could save some money buying the fans from JB. So, I went to YES Electrical Supply in JB. Some other people mentioned going to a Tampoi Lighting but i think YES is nearest. Address is 22 Jalan Serampang, Taman Pelangi, 80050 Johor Bahru. Off Tebrau Highway just after Plaza Pelangi. Not difficult to find. It's shown on Google Maps. You can call them at 07-3339900. Open 8 am to 5 pm Mondays to Fridays. Close at 1 pm on Saturdays. You should call before going to ensure that they have ready stock. Price is indeed half the price in Singapore. Sensa 4 - K14Z9 (V56VK) was RM470 while Sensa 5 - K15Z9 (V60WK) was RM550. That works out to only S$188 and S$220 based on my exchange rate of 2.505. The hook was not included in the KDK box but the shop supplied it free. The shop will sell to you but will not deliver to Singapore. They are not allowed to. Warranty is not valid for Singapore. In the unlikely event of problems, the shop says to call them and they will determine if it is product or installation problem. If product, you can take down the fan and bring it back to them. Design and specifications wise, there appears to be no difference between the Malaysian and Singapore models. The shop says they are identical Except for one thing which nobody seems to have mentioned or have a problem with. Colour. The Malaysian models come in different colors. For the above two models, they come only in Titanium Silver and no White. The blades looks grey to me. Not sure if the colour is the same as Singapore's Grey. Anyway, my better half wants only white, so I returned home empty handed. My friend bought one as he wanted Titanium Silver.
  25. Ks Toh
    I doubt meeko and retchlow are Alan in disguise. That would be quite a wretched and meek thing to do! (sorry, couldn't help it. Trying to inject some humour into an otherwise most unfortunate situation). They are probably just very lucky to have different experiences. I am wondering if either or both of the following are possible explanations for the quite different experiences: 1. Some contracts were under quoted and the contractor is not so interested? Like the way some town councils award contracts to the lowest bidders who under quoted and these contractors cut corners? 2. The contractor sub-contracted the entire works to a sub-contractor? That is why you see him only 2 to 3 times during the entire renovations? But he seems more visible at other sites.
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