Dannie

Attempting something more unique here. A straight-hung Pendant light for the dining area has been a favourite for many home-owners. I myself were looking for one from LIGHTCRAFT but the model I wanted went out-of-stock. I decided to give this model a try. BUT THIS COMES WITH RISKS! Installing this is tricky. The electrician boys - yes because they are very young people - and have left for the day to Malaysia (good one!!!) half-way into the works when my contractor said everything would be done today ........ OK enough of ranting... Oh yes, the installation is tricky (or maybe the lack of experience) as the weight slants heavily on one side. The base of the lamp is simply 3 screws. They installed it by having the 3 screws screwed into the False ceiling and onto the typical drop ceiling frame. Is this strong enough? Should they have used wooden frames instead? What should they have done rightly? Anyone can share? At the base, the false ceiling has already shown a hairline crack across the stress point. Lets hope that there's nothing to worry about. If not, I'm saving the last installment for a trip to relax...

I am concerned with regards to having the AV compartment so far from your TV. You must ensure and be familiar with the typical length of the cables for the electronics. Also, is it easy to pull the cables through the feature wall? Any openings or flip-door nicely concealed? Hope this helps!

Am taking a BOLD STEP here - Installing TRACK LIGHTING for the kitchen. I know there are camps of thoughts regarding the spread of lights. If any of you are waiting to see the end-result, IT IS HERE!!!! and will be ready when its up! Like I said, the electrical boys left for Malaysia half-way. Good one. Procured 7 sets of 7W Philips LED modules. When its is up and running I will share how it looks like in terms of illuminating the space. If the result is good, maybe this can serve as an inspiration for people wanting to venture into LEDs as general lighting rather than using it only for features such as paintings etc. So stay tuned for the results.

Have bought LEGRAND switches to retrofit all the switches in the apartment. Realised the box casing comes only in WHITE. We have a feature wall so we needed black switch box casings. No choice - it's self DIY. This is as best it can go. A few dollars for a Black Spray Can and there you have it -> BLACK switch box casings.

Ever since the tiling was done up, progress has been picking up. There are troubleshootings to attend to everyday. That's the problem in handling a renovation yourself. You got yourself to hold responsible for, not the ID, not so much the contractor. To get things done up properly, you need to pay attention to every detail and get your contractor to ratify soonest possible. Just last night, i made a visit to the apartment and in the silence of the night i discovered leakages at 3 points along the freshly put up piping. Firstly, at the newly installed kitchen sink, drips are leaking at the old joint: Second, at the MBR WC, the joint supplying the water is leaking pretty badly. To the point the floor will stay wet through the day when everywhere else has dried up: Lastly, the 2 water supply joint to the rainshower is leaking with a constant flow!!!! A little upset when I asked my contractor to have someone over this morning to fix it up before carpentry work starts, nothing happend. He was there but said its a small thing. I'm not sure if I am supposed to be comforted by it. I am holding him responsible for this. Because I am not going to pay him his last installment if nothing gets done. Anyone knows if this is a big problem? can it be fixed up quickly???????? His electricians were here to start work today. Was told that everything would be done up in one-day. So we took leave today to monitor and advise on the electrical wiring requirements. Work started in the morning installing some lights. We left to purchase new switches and some lightings and when we returned. They left. Called dear contractor and he mentions they have left for Malaysia. Good one man.

Guess what? Told the contractor to look for it and he found it!

Last post for tonight. Installation of bi-fold door for yard and the top-hung cabinet ontop of the kitchen sink (mainly to hide the pipes) Looking good and shaping up. I am eager to see the effect of track LED lights lighting the whole kitchen area. Stay tuned.

The WC, shower and piping has been done up. Toilets are our main renovation works and the biggest spending portion. We have put in alot of thought into it. 50% done up. Really hope the progress can complete smoothly. Common Toilet: MBR Toilet: Will await the carpentry work on vanity, basin and tap installation etc. Stay tuned.

Finally I get to see the Blanco Sink and the G.Ferretti tap in unity in the kitchen. Did I tell you that when the tap is on, the nozzle lights up because there is this interesting LED module inside it? Apparently water current creates some sort of stuff that lights it up.

I had such a terrible day at work today. Before I turn in, let me de-stress by updating the progress of the unit in case you may be following this t-blog. This is how the TV-console in MBR will look like when it is hung up. It is up there temporarily. Requested for it to be taken down this week so that we can run some wiring and mount the TV-bracket as well. Why did I choose this laminate? I should have put in more thought into the design. Oh well... I am liking the study room book shelf! Looks very sturdy, practical and very much how I drew it. The color scheme is modern and striking.

Can try mine. You may be interested to check my t-blog to see their works. Contractor: Alan - Nam Hin Bee Kee 9856 8258 (easy to work with contractor) Windows: Ah Soon - 8338 8877 (great workmanship) All the best!

If you want to manage your own reno works through contractor and not ID - you can contact and try speaking to mine. He's still currently working on my unit. Can check my t-blog for updates. His name is Alan from Nam Hin Bee Kee. His HP: 9856 8258. He's easy to speak to and that is important when managing your reno. If you sms him, you got to content with the reply "K"... haha but that's his style.... SO far I enjoyed working with him... All the best!

Alamak. Took out two sets of downlighting for carpenter to cut the hole mount. When I returned to check, one set left. The other went missing. Can I claim from contractor? It's really not my fault.

Hi Raygon. These are all from IKEA. left behind by previous owner.

Wow!!!! Our floor plan is 99% same!!!! Congrats and I love the 3D. I'm doing up my unit now too. Got a tblog too.

The TV console for the MBR was delivered also: A refresh on how it should look like: However, I nv planned how the wiring should be done and it was decided on the day of delivery. Till now we have not really decided how to solve this problem. The carpenters drilled some holes but I am still worried about ease of use. Best thing was that they drilled a hole on the TV mount area without looking at my mounting bracket! In the end, mine was unusable because of the current hole and the screws are all mounted on the centre area. I needed a new on that is wider for more stability. Called all the electronics majors like Harvey Norman, Gain City, Challenger and COURTS. For a 42-inch TV, the range of brackets typically costs $120. In the end, with some simple internet research I got the BEST DEAL IN TOWN. Went to this warehouse store in TOH GUAN CENTRE. Its called Planet Element. Bought it from Tony. A fantastic and friendly person. They do installation for you also for a fee. WEBSITE Guess what? I needed a bracket urgently and I managed to get him to open shop for me on a sunday! He drove all the way down to open shop once I made an appointment to meet up on Sunday afternoon, all within 30min of my first call to him. Next time when I decide to mount my living room TV I am sure to go back to him for brackets and service again! In the end got this heavy duty one which the electronics giant sells also. Just that I bought it at 30% CHEAPER!!!! Got the middle row, third from the left, with the many holes in the bracket. This is suitable for TV wall mount which is onto wooden console with wirings the run into the console rather than hanging down.

Next completed item is the Washing Machine Kerb. Nicely done up too! Pardon the darkness. No lights yet at the yard. Have also tiled up the area in front of sink. After the black glass is up, this area can be used to place stuff on eg. washing liquids.

Phew! Its been a week of dropping by the apartment and looking into areas to right any wrongs. With regards to the MBR toilet, realised that the tiling of the kerb around the PVC pipe has been done up nicely BUT wrongly. Informed contractor and it was nicely redone accordingly. Above it the wrongly done kerb. The actual one is supposed to follow the shape of the cabinet which is more of a rectangular shape. Of course, my contractor got it redone within 2-days. See below. Anyway, the toilet has been tiled up. Contractor called me to discussed about edging of tiles at right angle. Because the surface has a different tone against its inside, he suggested using PVC edging to form the right angle. Good point raised. They did up the wall cavity as per my drawing and the result looks good. Below here is the tiled up Common Toilet.

looks very good! keep us posted on progress!

Hihi! Not sure if you are interested but I'm selling a pull down system. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=47352&st=0&gopid=699239entry699239 Full stainless steel and can last for long! Brand new. If interested maybe PM me?

http://www.chanhuat.com.sg/ One of its flagship stores have a gazilion lights! It's the one where there's a flight of stairs to go its showroom on level 2.

I'm not too sure. I called my contractor to look into it. Let's see what he does to delight. :/

Also I think if you are not getting an ID but a contractor to do up the unit it can keep cost down. (like me) cheers!!

If the toilets are not being hacked and retiled I think it's possible. You have some fair bit of carpentry but I feel it should stay around or below 20k. Just a guess!

Sigh. In the latest visit, my brand new window had a handle smashed off literally. This is very upsetting...