Chunky Monkey

I can't recall which thread it was that I commented about the height required, for my contractor to run 3 rows of mosaic tiles across the walls of my master bathroom. The height of my WC cistern is 735mm, and my DH and I had thought that 1000mm would be sufficient to not only stay clear of the cistern, but also provide the visual separation from the top of the cistern. But it turned out that the shower mixture (on the other side of the bathroom) will be installed at the 1000mm mark, and hence, I will need to raise the height of the my mosaic to 1100mm instead. It's terribly frigtening to get these things wrong but it does give me the sense of accomplishment when my main con and I can thrash things out before actual work is done. No hasty acts, and less pain.

Oh I see what you mean. Sorry about that misunderstanding. Well, that's the risk private home owners have to take. And that's why contractor selection has to be really careful, and where possible, check the credentials of the contractor. My neighbour paid one guy to do his landscaping for him, and paid upfront, thinking it was a straight forward job. That guy disappeared. Disgusting.

LOL! I sure don't want to be in your situation. Check your water inlet tap. Is it turned to the max? It just might be your toilet bowl design. What is the brand of your toilet bowl, by the way??

I think it's a function of the price of the reno, and with private properties, costs can escalate. But yes, I agree. Contractors tend to be more insecure with private home renos. Kia Si is what I call them.

http://www.eastloc.com/stainless_steel_glass_hinge1.html The hinges/glass clamps I have is long horizontally like the last one in this webpage above. Mine is stainless steel (do not accept chrome) and has a soft closing like the one described above. But unlike what is shown in this picture, my hinges are in one solid piece, and not joined like what it is shown.

I just paid another 15% today. So total, it's already 50% and tiling has just started.

Any plumber. Call Masebe Plumbing and Electrical Services. Call to enquire for a quote first. I hope they don't charge ridiculous prices.

squashy, I have no experience with the top and bottom hinge kind of installation, so I am in no position to comment on it. As for the side hinges, which is currently fixed on my shower room's frameless glass door, I have to comment that there is a big difference in the hinges in your pictures compared to what I have. My side hinges are actually very long side clamps. About 8 cm long but they have a very slim profile. And I believe it is the broadness of the clamps that help to give the glass door ample support and so it can withstand daily opening and closing. My glass door is already about 8 years old. Ask for the weight of the glass and check with your contractor the maximum weight it which the side clamps can withhold. Make sure you don't get cheapo China made clamps. They are not very durable. If you are free, go to Geylang and look around hardware shops that sell lock sets etc. You will see loads of clamps available. And you can ask questions about what is best suited for your use.

Is this standard only applicable to HDB?

I didn't pay my contractor a cent until the day he arrived at my house to lay the floor protection, and also pray to 'Tua Pek Kong" to ask for blessings to start reno. I paid him 35% as per contract.

Indeed. I am keeping my fingers crossed those light fixtures we bought (other than downlights) will blend nicely with the new and old furniture. If any one of them sticks out ackwardly, I will have them changed.

I only recommend Corian and LG. Expensive but worth every cent.

I am using SingTel Broadband and am very happy with the speed and service. (Gotta check type of plan. Speed depends on what plan you have.) I have a couple of friends using Starhub Cable and they often cry murder because it's very slow. (possibly neighbours stealing their internet connection)

oh. Can you DIY? It's not so difficult. Saves you the money.

applefreak, you are absolutely right. But we are not arty farty people, and so we are not going to have creative light fixtures. Zilch. Luckily for us, my DH and I are a super pragmatic couple (much to the frustration of our extended family! LOL). When we choose lightings, we think about who's job it is to clean and wipe the light fittings. And since neither of us want to waste our time cleaning, we are going with downlights all over the house. LOL! That's why no chandeliers for us either. (it's such a fad) There will be some areas where downlights would not be possible, and hence we'd to choose some external lightings. And even so, we chose very simple designs that are easy to open, when we need to replace the bulbs.

I think you need to conceptualise what you would be doing in this balcony area after you internalise it by building up windows. For a fact that you will be spending money to install windows all around, you should consider using this area as as dry area, and integrate it as part of your living room. And yes, level it to the living room floor. The cost would be worth it. Laying the same floor tiles as the living room's would give one the perspective of a bigger space, and that's a real plus if you want your home to look bigger. I suspect once you internalise your balcony area, you will make proper use of this area, and not leave it out open, even in bad weather. So, you will not need to worry about the need to keep rain water out.

If anyone's looking for chandeliers, and would like a additional place for price comparison, check out National Electric on Geylang Road, between Lor 22 and Lor 24. I saw some very pretty ones, with and without the shades. I have no perspective of the prices because we were not looking to get any chandeliers.

I can't believe I missed this thread of yours, zirhk. You already have a strong neighbourhood watch team going on here! LOL!

It is not a good idea to ask your contractor or glass supplier NOT to put the tempered glass logo on your tempered glass. They could well supply you a normal piece of glass and charge you the price of tempered. The logo is colourless anyway, so I can't imagine how much of an eyesore it can be. It's better to have, than not to have, in my opinion.

6 Nov 2007 Rise and shine (well, not quite. It's raining) early in the morning. DH will take some time off in the morning to accompany me to Geylang (definitely not a place for a woman to be there alone). We are going to our favourite lighting shop. National Electric, on Geylang Road, between Lor 22 and Lor 24. Will update the prices here later in the evening .....

Then $45 would be a steal. Hardly likely IMO.

My postform doors are made of plywood, not compressed wood like those used by Ikea. In any way, postform is not popular these days because the designers feel that postform has a dated look. My new kitchen will have doors with ABS trimming.

I think you have answered your own question. And yes, air-conditioning the living room when you have a party/gathering is definitely great. On a day to day basis, a good ceiling fan or couple of floor fans would suffice.

Do check if this $45 per light includes the light fixture as well as labour, or just labour are you indicated. If it's just labour, it's bad news. "labour" to install each down light should be between $8 - $10 each. "cost of each down light" - max $30 each

All Sunday (4th Nov) afternoon and evening, my husband and I were at Classic Furniture (Tg Katong Shopping Complex) to review and confirm our kitchen design with our designer. This was probably the 3rd time we had gone through the kitchen plan and I am hopeful that installation would be swift and painless. We discussed the locations, sizes, clearance, buffers etc etc for my main contractor to build cement bases for the kitchen, as well as positions of sockets, telephone and tv points. And went into great details working out the size of my kitchen island and the various sizes of pull out baskets underneath it. The original plan was to have an island that is 1.8m long but we toyed with increasing it to 1.9m long, so as to fit an additional pull out basket. We tried to work that in, into the floor plan but it proved a bit too tight for my husband's comfort, and so we reverted to 1.8m once more. With a 1.8m island, we can have a mobile unit that can slide over the island as well as a side row of cabinets. This versatility made my husband really happy. It was his idea afterall. I was told by my designer that they can no longer take new bookings because they are way too busy, and the factory is over worked. I am glad I put down my downpayment 2 months' ago to secure my delivery. I spent some time searching for a few glass contractors and faxed to them what I required. This experience says alot about the companies who responded, and those who didn't. It was a pleasure speaking with companies who were not only prompt in their replies, but also keen to make a sale. I cannot believe that in this time and day, there are actually companies who cannot be bothered i.e. "sorry, the sales person didn't come in today. He/she will get back to you tomorrow". Sorry too. I can't deal with such tardiness. I am already satisfied that I have a few quotations to compare and I think I should be able to come to a decision soon ....