tikiman

This morning we started our DIY with the MBR door. Sanding away the lacquer on one side of the door was fast as I borrowed my dad's electric sander using 180 grit paper. After cleaning away the dust, we can see the color of nyatoh wood. We started painting, and then we noticed that the door was cracked, just like the main door. On closer inspection, we found that the second bedroom door and lock were also damaged. TikiGrand said his present room doors are still in excellent condition after 20 years!! TikiFamily came to a conclusion that the previous owner has an explosive temper. We had earlier hoped to salvage the solid wooden doors but now, we decided to change all the doors and give our new home a brand new, happy and comfortable aura. . To cheer Tikimum up, we went back to EquipDesign to look for a door bell button and we bought this

hi gerglhc, thanks for the info. it is real tedious work, and we know. that is why very few contractor will do it. most will just ask us to change new doors. our doors are nyatoh. do you have to contact of the subcon? and how much he charge for doing the door?

Both of us are upset with our contractor today. Not that he is not doing his job, in fact he is on top of things and operation are moving smoothly. It is that he is set in his methods and not as resourceful as we hope he could be. We want our existing room doors sand-down, white-washed and matt vanish. His painter said dunno how to do it, his door vanisher said cannot do it. If tom sawyer and hucklerberry finn can do it, don't see why those guys with years of experience cannot. I feel that my contractor should take the effort to find others who is willing to do it instead of giving me excuses. Tikimum said we will DO IT OURSELVES. So this weekend, armed with an electric sander, sand paper, white paint & brushes. we will rub some elbow grease test out on one of the doors.

We went to Equip-Design @ Bendemeer to look for door knobs for the 3 bedrooms. They carry Gainsborough porcelain door knobs. We were in luck as the store is having a 40% -50% sale for most items. We bought 3 of these: RRP was $120 with privacy adapter (lock). They are having a sale this weekend, so those looking to buy old school lock & knobs do go down to take a look.

With the main light source (aka downlight) confirmed, and the spotlights to highlight key areas, the next item was to look for the accent light for the hall. We wanted 2 globe pendant lamps. It seemed like a simple design requirement but took us more than 3 weeks and more than 20 lightning shops - from Balestier to Geylang/Eunos, IMM to Jalan Besar, looking for the elusive lamps. Often, the sales person would tell us that such designs are very old and no longer fashionable. We were recommended strange donut-shaped lamps, large frosted/cracked glass globes which are all made in China to a nice Spanish pendant lamp made of bronze-coloured copper (Tikimum thought the copper lamp has possibilities as it will look even better over time with an aged patina look but it was priced close to $500 for a medium and nearly $800 for a large shade !). Finally, during a visit to one of the Chan Huat stores at Leong Hin bldg. 441 Balestier Road. Tikimum found a globe pendant lamp with a milk glass globe tucked away in a dark corner. It has a dark wrought iron chain and cap. We were very excited as it was just what we have been looking for . However, the salesperson told us that it was meant for outdoor lighting and made of acrylic. We requested the lamp to be switched on to see the light effect. On closer inspection, we were surprised that there was even illumination as we had seen acrylic lamps in another store but the light spread was rather uneven. The salesperson (Jilvan - who was very patient) informed us that it was a quality lighting made in Italy. We liked it, but it was very unconventional to use acrylic garden lamps for the main hall. That night, we checked up the company's website and specifications and discussed how to 'transform' the look. The next day, we returned to the store and made our order. An advice to those who are thinking of visiting CH to look for lighting. Avoid the main store at 391 Balestier and go to 441 instead. 441 is a better place to contemplate the choice of lighting. Less crowded and in Tikiman's opinion, better service, because at 391, a guy salesperson tried to bs him on led downlights.

LED spot light from Hock Siong.

Finally we have finalised all the lightings for the house. Other than 15 down lights from SLH, 1) 2nos LED spotlights from Hock Siong. We saw them lying around at HS, they were leftover from the pickings as there were no led driver. The holders were cast aluminum and bulbs were Philips dimmable 10W LED spot light. Got 2 drivers from SLH and tikiman tested them. Price: HS LED @ $8/ea and SLH LED driver @ 14/ea. (will post pics later) 2) 1nos of schoolhouse milk pendant light. We have a 1930s milk glass pendant light that needed some replacement parts. So off to Ikea to find parts for a hack. A BASISK pendant light did the trick. Price: Ikea BASISK @ $20 tbc...

I bought 15 pcs of down lights from SLH. I cannot remember the model number. It is exactly the same as the picture I posted. They have 3 tones; cool white, warm white and day light. Boss lady quoted $48/pcs for the 17W daylight, and she gave a 10% discount for us.

thanks for visiting our TikiHome t-blog. Have pm u my contractor info.

We have been checking shops in Balestier, Geylang and Eunos for the past 2 weeks looking for lighting fixtures - LED downlights and feature lights. This is by far the most tedious and painful (neck) search for the house. Downlights As downlights will be the main light source for the hall, dinning and kitchen, we wanted the following - 1) Color of the light - we prefer daylight (4000K-4500K) because it produces a natural color skin tone, and it natural & gentle on the eyes. 2) Amount of lumen - we needed the main source of light to be bright with at least 700 lumen / lightsource. 3) Singapore safety mark - the TikiFamily is not kiasi, it is due to housing insurance. In the event of electrical fire, insurance may not cover when there is usage of non-certified electrical fixtures. This is especially so for concealed lightings. The first 2 criteria are easily met by various lighting shops we visited. There are so much variations to choose from. However, after close inspection, we noticed most are direct imports from china without any electrical safety certification from Spring. (I assume that large manufacturer ie Osram, Philips and Megamen have safety mark certification, but their downlight are expensive). Today, we were driving along Sembawang Road and I suggested to my husband to drop by Sembawang Lighting House to take a look. The boss lady showed us a product that has just arrived in the shop yesterday. A downlight that is produced by a local SME, Combglow Lighting. It meets our requirements; Daylight color, 17W and judging from brightness, definitely over 800 lumen, and its drivers has a safety mark. It also looks nice with a glass and cast-alu casing. The boss lady was not pushy and gave us a reasonable price for the lights.

Today we found this in the yard area. apparently we had a visitor who stayed over the weekend when it was raining heavily. my contractor found her napping on the bags of cement in the hall. This afternoon I saw her peeping in hoping for an afternoon siesta. But she left when there were too many people in the apartment. Looks like we got a non-paying tenant.

will post more pictures of the toilet when its finished. I are not using an ID, so we get dirty look from the contractor when we give our non-standard requirements, but he tries to accommodate.

thanks for dropping by our T-blog. Happy to share what we have found in our reno journey as we learn from others too. There were even drain style floor trap. very cool, but our contractor will give me a "duh" look if we ask him to install them. Another important thing to note, if there is stainless steel parts in the drain trap, it must be removed before the chemical wash. Otherwise the it will corrode and rust.

thanks for the advice. will do that

we are using a dark grey homogenous tile with a raw granite look. ( anti-slip too). This tile will also be used in the yard and as a border for the peranakan design. while shopping for our bathroom fittings at SSC, we chance upon floor trap made of faux stone. @ $75/set, the price is over the moon. My contractor said a plastic one cost $4 and a stainless steel is less than $15. Being the down to earth person he usually is, he ask me if I really need this to cover the drain holes with it. He said if I buy it, he will install and bring his other clients to see . We were not prepared to pay for the most expensive tile in the house. Few days later, went to Geylang to see other bathroom stores. We chance upon another type of floor trap with a tile insert at Heritage. It allow is to have a seamless floor look. Damage $28/set.

thanks for the vote. wish you all the best. looking forward to reading it on H&D

Nice laminate. could you share the name of it. thanks

The surrounding will be grey tiles that looks like cement screed. the space is 100x130cm, hence can allocate only 24 full tiles. it is located at the front entrance. before the first step. thanks for the reply. my hubby and I feels the same way too... just dunno which to choose currently. Contractor said that there is still time to decide as it will be the last place to lay tiles.

sorry miss the post. will pm u.

Hacking was completed on schedule today. The workers were so efficient, they have cleared all the debris, and moved the raw material into the hall. Tilers will be starting with the bathroom wall tomorrow.

nice design for the cabinet . Would like to ask who did you get to do your window grills? I am in the process of doing my place.

hi tessina, its the same tile but laid differently to create visual expression. Left has 4 full diamonds, Centre has 6 full diamonds, and Right has 3 full diamonds. Can't find your t-blog. Am interested to see how you did your place since we have the same layout.

Hi June Hope the leak by the window has been resolved. I'm currently doing my reno and did considered changing the original HDB windows. My contractor had advised me not to change as they are still in good condition and newer windows may give problems in future if not installed properly. I am also looking for supplier for curtains/blinds and have always loved the black and white look. Could you share who quoted you for the bamboo blinds and the rates quoted? Thanks ! Tikimum http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/61971-reno-for-tikihouse-tampines/

Last night, my husband took a photo of the cement tiles and arrange the design using photoshop. Bro/sis on renotalk, which arrangement do you think is nicest? tikimum

At An Huat, both me and my husband immediately knew which design we wanted. On our first visit, the boss told us he someone had reserved the remaining pieces. We were pretty disappointed, and went to Unlimited (another cement tile shop) to look for the same design. Unfortunately, Unlimited had limited design to choose from, and it did not have what we wanted. On our second visit to An Huat, we saw the reserved pieces are still there. The boss told us we can have it if we paid on that day, as the person who has reserved did not confirm the order. What luck . We also bought rectangle white tiles for the toilet. Tikimum