dragonnite

ehh...i google cannot find leh ? do u have a website/showroom i can go look at them ? i see that roz by hoe kee seems to be quite pocket friendly as well ... i hope so i can find one soon siah... i've been trying out some of them, and the butt test is really interesting - some of them make me feel as if my butt is going 2 fall in !

Hi May, Do you mind posting the brand of your toilet bowl ? I'm looking for that right now... thx v much !

sure...but u gotta wait til end nov cos i start in nov

No, this is not the Kraus so it doesn't come with all that. Just a basic waste thingy, not a basket strainer. Unfortunately, you cannot change it to a basket strainer.

Here you go, a screenshot of the spec sheet:

I think I've been very lucky so far then... My friends warn me of agent "patterns" but both agents I went to were the pretty honest type. Or at least, I think they were honest. Agent 1, recommended by a good friend, helped me look around for around 6 months, saw like 10 HDB flats with him but never found one that I truly liked. Very professional, but I guess his interest waned after the point I saw the 7th-8th unit. Can't blame him tho... Then I got impatient and found agent 2 - through the recommendation of a colleague who used the same firm sucessfully previously. So I called, she patiently listened to my requirements and didn't hear from her for 2 weeks. Then she calls me up, tells me of this unit but warned me of high valuation. She was lucky - showed me the first one and I liked it. I think she was also a bit shocked. However, I have to give her kudos for being very professional and responsible during the whole process - from OTP to even now, drawing up the rental agreement where I let the seller stay on a for a couple months even after the conclusion of the deal, making sure they pay me rental etc. End to end service - I think I pay the 1% commission quite worth it. Conclusion : this is all heng suay ... I have frens who gave up and decided to go it alone ...

Just to let others know of what I've come across so far (don't mean to hijack the Kraus thread) - Ideal Bathrooms (Balestier) : carries Reginox, from $180+ upwards, the showroom carries almost the whole range on display. Reginox also has a few sinks on special discount at like $180+, came across one retailer in Vertex called inzwerkx or something. Made where, I dunno ... - KHK Asia, Cendex : carries Franke sinks, they have limited stocks of a Franke PZX sink that was specially commissioned for a condo project in SG, 580x450x200mm with 10deg radius corner, i.e. not 90 degree corner, selling at $476.15 nett The Franke felt pretty solid to me, also has the epoxy layer outside so I bought it. Comes in an undermount and overmount version. The people here are very knowledgeable, so even if you're not going to buy, can just go and talk to them. As an aside, the Kohler stuff here

If you use ordinary glass, bear in mind that one has a slightly greenish tint so even if they spray pure white on the wall, there is a possibility it may not come out pure white.

The epoxy padding is for sound proofing and to minimise (not prevent) condensation, I think. From what I can see, another use of the bottom grid is to minise contact with the sink itself, especially if you are defrosting stuff (so that condensation doesn't form on the underside of ur sink) or if u have stuff that may react to the sink (e.g. a stainless steel bowl u want to leave standing for some time in the sink).

dear itsybits, as a lot of the others have said, u hv a beautiful place and u shld b proud that despite all those issues, the final result is great... i've been following your trials and tribulations and i think at this point, it is the final stretch so hang in there !

Yeah, I saw the ad for their pre-stocktake sale but the catch is they close at 6pm everyday. Sigh ... Went to see lights and didn't have the time to go there. Actually hor, China made or not is ok - Hansgrohe/Kohler are also made in China but quality is fine for their made in china ranges. Ahh, if you go see Hafele's, let me know how that goes. I've never come across that brand but I'm open-minded.

I'm thinking of going to see at KHK Asia at cendex centre - even though it is a kohler showroom, they also carry Franke sinks, which are pretty good, IMO. However, they are pricier... Franke sinks also carried by asia excel marketing at imm but not many models on display, comes in a sink + kitchen tap package, as far as I saw about a month back. My friend loves her Franke sink. I find Blanco ok only, and they don't have the size I want - Hoe Kee. I also saw about 2 months back this bunch of sinks (dun remember name liow), carried by Ideal bathrooms at Balestier. Apparently, they're just introducing them into Singapore, European made (dun remember country) and the price was in the $200+ range. Can go and take a look.

Do you have the links to the articles that talk about the rust problems ? Cos I juz googled and couldn't find any, I've also looked through gardenweb and didn't find any specific posts about Kraus sinks rusting - there were threads about Kraus but commenting on other brands that rusted tho ... This is a good article on how to take care of your SS sink though, regardless of brand: http://www.surfacefabrication.com/print/Surface-Fabrication/Preventing-Rust-On-Stainless-Steel-Sinks/1$912

thx very much !

umm,to all 23" kraus sink owners, would anyone of you mind posting the distance from the edge of your sink to the middle of the sink hole ? I want to make sure I buy the right tap with the right clearance ... thx v much !

Hi Kim, Do you mind posting the distance from the edge of your sink to the middle of the sink hole ? I thought I saw this measurement somewhere online but was searching and couldn't find it. Thx v much !

wow, thx 4 posting ur pix - now i have a better idea of how it looks installed. it looks really good ! I'm definitely opting for the 23" since i dun really cook so i won't need such a big sink. incidentally, did you buy a kraus tap or did u say u bought a paffoni tap or was it someone else ?

hahah, my bad...read wrongly...will ask her

Agree with you about using solid wood furniture in general - i love the rich golden hue of teak, probably affected by my dad when i was growing up. I've just placed an order for my teak dining set from scanteak as burmese teak is out of my budget for now. However, would be interested to take a look at your tv console since i'm currently undecided on whether i want to get my carpenter to custom make or for me to buy one off the shelf. i'll pm you with my email and please send me the pictures, really appreciate it. btw, according to the website, would have to call david to make an appointment - how long in advance do you call him up ?

Hi gkbt, Thanks for the info. Hmmm, so you're saying that the Jupiter and Mavello use the same filters, i.e. filter replacement cost is the same, assuming we're talking about the 5 plate system ? The lady I spoke to in Kemp told me the Jupiter appeals to people who like electronics more but I didn't have time to ask further. So that means, all else being equal, the Jupiter and Mavello from a similar price range (both around $1688, $100 difference between them, I think) are probably functionally the same ? die...how to pick ? Yep, I'm interested in the info, will drop you a pm to get the details, although I don't see why posting a 3rd party website for info here would get you flamed. Thx !

Hi, I love your paintings (the green and blue trees) and I dropped by one piece painting gallery and saw similar ones. Errrm, I think I saw a post where you said your friend bought it in Vietnam ? Any idea where (Hanoi ?) and shop name ? I'm thinking of asking friends to buy for me from there. thx !

hi kalimantan, do u hv any idea how much a 1.3/1.5m dining table would cost roughly from barossa ? i was speaking to someone in lux arcana in the furniture mall at toh guan, she tells me they use burmese teak wood as well, just the 1.5m table costs $1.8k

Actually, I was just at Scanteak at Joo Chiat Road. They're having a National Day promotion - a dining table (1.35m) with 2 chairs and a bench is going for $1199. Quite a few other deals in store, their website also has the brochure but I think it's worth a look. Their workmanship is not bad, from what I can see. Bear in mind they use young indonesian plantation teak, not the really old ones from the forest so it's cheaper. Also means that it is not as dry as the older ones. My dad used to be in the teak business - Burmese teak is the best quality (most expensive), followed by thai, indo etc. Burmese teak trees tend to be 200-300 years old before they are selected for furniture, Indo/Thai typically around 70 years. The older the tree, the dryer the wood hence harder and more resistant to bugs etc. Once a teak tree is selected for harvesting, a big strip of bark at the base of the tree is stripped away, thereby killing the tree as well as letting it dry out naturally. This takes at least 1 year, after which the tree is chopped down. Once it is sawn into whatever sizes, again, it is allowed to dry again for eveness and to prevent warpage during furniture construction. This is why if you custom make teak furniture, there is a lead time of at least 3-4 months cos this final process is critical. I think this is as much as I remember liow, sorry for boring you guys.

My 2 cts worth on mattress selection since I went through that recently too. As someone said already, dun shy, go and lie down to try ! I dun like Sealy cos it's too soft - I went to try the 12k mattress (ya, why 12k huh? )and the guy was horrified when I told him I don't like it. Same with the cheaper ones, cos their top layer too soft and plush for my liking. Seahorse is too hard for me, King Koil, Natura felt ok but dunno if I lie down on it longer, will I feel the same so I'm going back to the brand I know lor...Dunlopillo. I've also tried many Dunlopillo ones, some of them are too plush as well, cos they use talalay latex on top. I'm probably going for the Romero Premium model which is around $2599 for queen size. I spoke directly to the saleslady from Dunlopillo direct and she told me they have just had new models that came in so probably will go down and try again. Fyi, that store is in City Square Mall, I think they may have 1 other branch but not sure where. That lady is quite knowledgeable, by the name of Corrina. Ultimately, the lie down test is the best as well as your own preference. If it feels good to you, then buy it lah, nevermind what other people say.

I think I managed to answer my own questions, so just to share with the rest. I was looking at the Mavello unit. 1. Best way is to go down to the showroom to look. I realised that the countertop unit is simply that - sits on the countertop and doesn't have to be fixed in place unless you really want to, contrary to what I expected. So you can move it around if you like, but there's a requirement for an additional tap on your countertop to directly pipe the water into the unit. Either that or install a kinda "switch" to your kitchen tap but that constrains the choice of your kitchen tap. 2. Acidic water disharges via a tube out the back of the countertop unit. You can collect the water into whatever receptacle you like. 3. Yes, but different models have different advantages and technologies. However, I did not manage to get a full complete answer on point 4. Anyone comment on that ?