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Hi, I have a spalling ceiling in my flat. It will be fixed. But as I have very young children at home, I'm concerned about the smell that may result from the repair works. Any idea if there would be any chemical smell, and usually, how long does it take for the smell to go away? Would there be smell from the painting of the ceiling too? Thanks

aiyaiyai....I forgot about this thread that I started. hahaha. Ok, we went for T5 eventually, against what the ID suggested. Dunno why ID suggested T8. Price wise also not much diff? Anyway, after walking up and down Balestier searching for lights, we finally got our T5s from somewhere else. NOT Balestier. Hahaha. We bought them from Buy & Fix at West Coast Plaza. I think they have another outlet at Woodlands and TradeHub. Just want to share our experience in shopping for T5s. The shops at Balestier were quoting $25-$30 for Philips/Osram T5s. On further enquiry, we realised that the tubes/bulbs are Philips/Osram brand, but the holders are all some China OEM brand. Well, that's not a big deal to us. Everything is made in China anyway. We were prepared to go for the various In-House brands (quoted $12.50 - $15). Was at this particular shop, talked to the sales person for a very long time, decided to confirm purchase of the in-house (China OEM) T5 at $12.50, and the sales person turned around to say, oh, it's now OOS. Have to go for the more expensive In-House brand one. Regardless of whether it is the sales persons' mistake or not, it did not leave us with a very good impression. Nonetheless, tried to negotiate for a better price, since the sales person did not check stock availability before quoting us. The sales person ended up shouting at us. So, we decided not to buy from that shop at all. Unfortunately (or rather, FORTUNATELY), the other shop with the next best quote was already closed. So we left the area. We ended up at West Coast Plaza for non-reno reason. While walking around, came across this Buy & Fix. The shop's concept is similar to HomeFix. We found out that Buy & Fix sells the T5s as well! Not just the tubes/bulbs, but the holders as well...and the entire set (tube + holder) is from Osram (stamped and engraved OSRAM). And the price? Less than $20 for the 4-ft T5s. That's a better price than what the shops at Balestier are quoting for their Philips/OSRAM (but non-Philips/Osram holders) T5s!! We bought our 32 pcs T5s (there' a delivery charge of $30, but hey, already save so much compared with buying from Balestier. And if you're a member of Buy & Fix, there's a 10% discount off the purchase - even better!), and they delivered on time in good order. They knew we were doing reno and will be putting the lights in the cove lighting. Buy & Fix also included the connecting wires in the delivery. I'm not sure if the shops at Balestier charge for the connecting wires? Maybe the electrician charges for the wires...but Buy & Fix included the wires. For those who live around Woodlands, TradeHub or West Coast Plaza, can check out Buy & Fix for the T5s. For large quantities, they would need to order (but it takes about 2 working days). Cheers,

thanks for the responses. Ok, so I'm not alone in thinking that 1ft is quite off...overall works so far is ok. not that great, but not that bad either. haha. though I'm not sure how to calculate it, but using the price quoted, working out the rate for 1ft, that is $300+. My cabinet is full height type (close to 9ft tall). shall see how and try to ask for discount. hmmm....

We were quoted for a 10ft length cabinet. Price was agreed upon etc. so now renovation works is half way. cupboards are being installed. we kpo decided to go measure the lengthof thhe cabinets. realised that one cabinet was shorter than what we had agreed upon...by 1ft plus.....is that acceptable? should I be asking for some price reduction from the ID? I understand sometimes length may be more and IDs may not charge extra....so viceversa...if short by a bit, we shouldn't make too much noise. but by 1ft? Is that acceptable?

thanks all for the inputs. i made a mistake. ID quoted $1400 for painting, using Pentalite only, for my condo's size... which i think is still a bit high. so hubby managed to negotiate with ID to use the premium range and top up $100. so nett is $1500 for painting entire unit, using premium range. I wasn't very pleased, but hubby say small issue, as long as overall workmanship is good, that's more impt.

Hi, my ID is quoting us S$1600 to paint the entire unit (less than 1,000 sq ft), using Dulux Pentalite (basic) paint. Is this a reasonable quote? I checked on Dulux's website, and they charge S$1,400 for a unit that is less than 1,000 sq ft, and using Dulux All-in-1, Wash & Weat, Light & Space ranges, Pentalite of products. Does anyone know if there's a difference between getting the Dulux guys to come paint vs going with the ID? For eg, a painter tied with ID may do a few more coats, paint before carpentry and after carpentry...at no additional charges; whereas the Dulux guys do less quotes (maybe) and won't paint before carpentry works and touch ups. Or any other differences? TIA!

Hi, Not sure if this is the right place to post... Can I ask which is recommended for cove lighting? T5 or T8 tubes? With or without holder? (ID says the tubes will just be placed on the cove lighting area...is that the usual way to do it? No need to 'fix' onto the cove light bit? ID says nobody will look at the lights in there, so it doesn't matter...kinda make sense.) With or without cover? (I realised some shops charge more for tubes with cover...some say covers make the light less bright.) Would appreciate some advise. Thanks!

Before I could even sign on the dotted line with one of the above firms to engage them, the ID suddenly went MIA. The firm has no idea where the ID is.

oh sorry, I just remembered....the boss also mentioned $10 for each looping. So I guess he must be talking abt laying lighting points when he says $28 for first, $8 for subsequent, $10 for each looping?? *confused*

wwz, ahhh...ok ok. I get it. So the next shop/person I speak to, I know how to clarify better. Is it laying of lighting points or installation of lights...Hehs.

Hi, I'm a little confused. I visited a lighting shop at Beauty World (in Bt Timah) and got a different quote from what I've read on this forum. Maybe I understood wrongly... The boss said the price for installing a lighting point is: $28 for first point, $8 for every subsequent point. But what I seem to be reading on the forums is like $X for EACH point?? What am I missing here? I'm a noob... Thanks for answering my question...

Hi, I'm a little confused. I visited a lighting shop at Beauty World (in Bt Timah) and got a different quote from what I've read on this forum. Maybe I understood wrongly... The boss said the price for installing a lighting point is: $28 for first point, $8 for every subsequent point. But what I seem to be reading on the forums is like $X for EACH point?? What am I missing here? I'm a noob... Thanks for answering my question...

Hi, Is this plant (the Mother-in-Law's Tongue) plant good or bad for FS? My direct facing neighbour (our main doors face each other) has this plant placed against the parapet in between our 2 units. So I'm wondering if it's ok for FS and if not, why and what sort of cures are available for it? My husband actually quite like the looks of the plant and wants to get some for inside the home...not sure if it's advisable? I have a pic of the plant, but I haven't figured out how to upload pics. hehs... Thanks for any advise!

Hi, I'm a noob in this whole renovation thingy. Will be getting our keys in July and we have only 1 month to complete reno. As we've a tight budget, we thought we should go a la carte vs getting an ID. We've seen a few ideas and we more or less know what we want. So thinking of getting own contractors for various bits. The good thing is we only need carpentry work (and maybe to change the toilet vanity tops), false ceilings, lightings, polish existing flooring and paint whole house. Hence, would like to find out what comes first and which step to do after what etc... I know painting should be done after carpentry work is installed right? I presume curtains/blinds would be the last thing to go up? What about lights? Would appreciate some advice. Thanks!

Hi mr_pgm4, Well, upstairs has done the work...so I dun really bother anymore. Thanks for the offer!