Catt
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Posts posted by Catt
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On 31/01/2017 at 9:59 PM, trcd said:This is absolutely horrifying and disgusting!! Glad that it's all resolved now.
What a nightmare when you should be enjoying the new place.
When morning comes, I'm going to scan my cupboards with a flashlight and make sure there are no tunnel bumps anywhere......
Ehh don't let my mishap worry you...I'm sure this doesn't happen all the time. I'm just unlucky this round eh.
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On 25/01/2017 at 0:41 AM, kachan said:OMG! *faints* where do you think it came from, the wood eating larvae... eeeeekkk!! i sure hope all plywood installed in your house is indeed not infested!
It came from within the wood! The eggs were already in there. Wooden pallets are chemically treated by submerging them in vats of chemicals to kill off pests and eggs. I believe a similiar process is used for plywood for carpentry. I suppose this was not done on the batch of wood the carpenter obtained and used.
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Short Update 19 Jan 2017
So I have to share all the good, the bad and the ugly right?
On New Year's Eve, I discovered that my shoe cabinet was infested by wood-eating larva which develop into beetles when full-grown. The beetle looks black and the larva is off-white. I'm not sure what species it is.
Anyway, I discovered it as there were funny track mark-type bumps under the inner white laminate of the cabinet. And holes!! and sawdust at the bottom of the cabinet. And the body of a beetle-like creature! Argggh. I threw away the body as I was too distraught. Initially I wanted to just clear out all the holes (I found about 4 holes with tunnels) and then put in wood-filler and call it a day.
Then as I was applying the wood-filler, I noticed more bumps under the laminate. Since there were already holes, I decided to cut open the bumps with a penknife. There were soft bits of pulpy wood underneath, not solid like the rest of the plywood. I didn't see anything. Then I noticed a tiny hole in the tunnel and poked it with a toothpick.
YUCK!! A larva was pulled out. I tried to take a picture of it, but since it is whitish, it is hard to see, but I could see it there, stabbed by my toothpick, glistening in the torch lighting.
After that I discovered even more bumps and just threw my hands up in the air and called the contractor. That was almost 3 weeks ago. Luckily the carpenter came back and installed a new cabinet for me. I hope it is just this cabinet and not ALL the plywood built-ins in the entire house. I will just die. I guess the wood he obtained was not treated properly. And I am lucky they took responsibility to change it as they initially came with a tube of sealant to just seal the holes made by the larva.
YUCKS See the worm??!
These were two holes made at one side of the cabinet and were smaller.
Since the carpenter came down yesterday, they also sealed the bottom of the kitchen cabinets for me (yay no more entombing cockroach fears) and fixed one of the sliding doors of the wardrobe which had gotten wonky (Apparently the pulley/wheel inside broke or went off-track).
So the only thing I have to do now is to patch the paint around the shoe cabinet myself, as they had to remove the infested cabinet and the removal damaged the paint.
Wheeew!
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8 hours ago, northblue said:By the way is it made by the carpenter or did buy it?
I bought it from Arthur Zaaro. So you go to the store and select a wood slab you like, pick the legs and they make it into a table for you.
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8 hours ago, northblue said:Very nice tables and chairs catt☺
Thanks @northblue...our first proper set!
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15 hours ago, kachan said:wah! cockroaches!!!!! i kennat!!!!!!!! on a lighter note, that table is really nice! im lost for words!
Hate cockroaches!
Thanks for the praise...we do love that table too!
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On 03/12/2016 at 11:15 PM, northblue said:Id details please for cross reference purposes. thanks
Hi @northblue and @AHbang. I used Hoong Fatt Heng.
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11 Dec'16 Update:
The final 'big' item for the house is finally here. It's a little too small since I'd not intended to use it for the living room initially. Watevs... I can always get a bigger one down the road from Taobao when I get bored of this design. This took long enough to arrive as it was out of stock during the 11 11sales.
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3 Dec'16 Update:
It's been about a month and a half since I've moved in. Slowly I see minor issues surfacing (not so much issues, more of discovering that the carpentry is sub-par). But! I've moved in, I've 'eaten the steak' so...live with it! The carpenters have indulged in a couple of shortcuts, one of which I will mention here. Under the kitchen cabinets, the cabinets are not actually 'sitting' on the cement base. They are placed on top of thin little stacked up pieces of wood (like a few smartphones stacked on top of each other). That means there is a gap between the cabinet and the base. This gap is not sealed. I discovered it only when a cockroach came into the kitchen one night and I sprayed insecticide on it. It ran under the cabinet overhanging the cement base and DISAPPEARED. That's when I got down on my hands and knees, with my face pressed to the floor, and discovered this disgusting shortcut. So the cockroach died under the cabinet and it will forever be entombed there. #%&&&^^*&$%@!!%!$ This means I will forever live in fear of roaches and other insects/ lizards creating nests under the cabinets.
I will have to seal up both the cabinet bases myself with sealant. I'm NOT calling the contractor back. Disgusting.
On a positive note, my major furniture have all arrived. The Suar wood dining table and bench came today and Darkling Half was ecstatic. She chose this slab of wood for the tabletop because of this marking on it that looks like Jupiter rings to me. I know it's slightly 'odd' as it goes against the flow of the grain. But whatever right? She likes it, so there! We can stare at the rings and contemplate the mysteries of life and the universe. Other than the table, I also bought a turner stool from Crate & Barrel during a 20% sale. To me it is quite pricey, but again, I feel guilty that I've taken over the step ladder stool in the kitchen, so I'm overcompensating with a stool for her. Lazy to take pics of the stool, you can google for it! Instead, enjoy some table p**n here:
Chairs are not from Arthur Zaaro. I think I mentioned that they are from Blaufink which is located next to Arthur Zaaro. The chairs arrived yesterday.
Here are the contemplative rings of life:
P**n means excessive pics. Here's one more. Look at those markings!
One more item for the house is arriving. It got delayed due to the 11.11 Sale and Ezybuy was overwhelmed. Will post this item when it arrives and I install it in its final resting place.
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On 08/11/2016 at 0:23 AM, trcd said:Yes it did! Thanks @Catt ! An improvement compared to before (which was so wimpy...).
The water spray is definitely more powderful from those tiny nozzles!
Did you end up contacting Singapore Power to check on the water pressure?
Oh no I didn't...got lazy and contented after the shower pressure improved
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22 hours ago, fifteenmay said:Hi, Could you kindly PM your contractor details?
Thanks!
Pm-ed.
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9 hours ago, Changbp said:Thanks! So it's Kraus. That explains the price, convert to sgd plus shipping is
.
i'm gathering ideas for my overhaul of my parents kitchen and bathrooms, i like your kitchen, clean lines and very airy. Especially the way the sink couples with the cabinets. Though its out of my budget.
Actually if it's an apronfront sink you are looking at, there are plenty of alternatives. Some are firestone clay, some are porcelain. Kohler had a stainless steel one for about $750 sgd locally that I didn't go for as they had to ship it in (they were changing stock at that time) and I couldn't wait for the 3 month lead time. Here are some from Bacera if you like that original farmhouse look:
https://www.bacera.com.sg/kitchen-sink/ceramic-fireclay-farmhouse-sink/
Genova does stainless steel farmhouse sinks too:
http://www.genova.com.sg/?p=productsMore&iProduct=1063&sName=KS-133AS1
Ikea carries farmhouse sinks too.
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10 hours ago, Changbp said:Can provide the link? And How much does it cost.
Hi @ChangbpI believe I paid USD $ 619 excluding taxes (about $89 sgd). Shipping was waived as there was some mistake with my order. I got this from Amazon. You could try your luck calling up Amazon US customer service to request for a shipping waiver due to the amount.
Here's the link (I bought with a tap and soap dispenser. For some reason couldn't find one that shipped the sink alone to Singapore):
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22 hours ago, trcd said:Congrats on moving in!!!!
I must say how I love the look of the kitchen floor tiles and the bathroom tiles. Looking sweet. If I ever have another reno, i'm getting those tiles.
Thanks for the link to the shower head! I'm ordering one as I type... My water pressure sucks and it's upsetting me so much that I'm contemplating changing the whole heater. I have no idea if it's the water pressure or the water heater that is causing that... Also very awkward to ask neighbours 'eh, how is your water pressure?'
And at least you have a utility room to hang clothes! Mine will be in the kitchen. Tak glam.
I suspect it's the heater.... I have to use the booster with that showerhead to get a full flow. My other half doesn't turn on the booster as she hates the noise. But without it like not shiok! Takes so long to wash hair.My kitchen tap pressure sucks. I tried going outside to turn up the pressure... didn't realise that the pipe is 'locked'. I wonder if I can call up HDB to turn it up? I think neighbours would have the same problem.
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It's here and it's fat! Cheers to good sleep!
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16 hours ago, Changbp said:The sink looks really cool. Where did you get it from and Do you have some close up of the front?
btw, I remember you previously had issue with the subway tile corner. How did that turn out?
Hi @Changbp sorry I missed your post. i bought the sink from Amazon. Will take an up-close photo for you tonight as I'm at work at the moment.
Subway tile corners are all grouted up and at the end of the day it is acceptable. As how grout usually behaves, there will be tiny cracks in such thick grouting. I'd like to think it adds to the charm of being 'vintage-y' looking. I will probably have to patch the grout over the years if they fall out.
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2 hours ago, slashmylove said:Don't know if you'll see this, but could you share where did you get the laptop stand from? Ikea?
@slashmylove yes I got it from Ikea. Can't remember which one of our creative Renobloggers actually hacked an item similar to this with marble paper and spray paint, but that's when I fell in love with it. Unfortunately I do not have his diligence!
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Today we went and bounced around on mattresses...seriously who cares about what positive or negative ions...our bodies just want what they want. In the end the bodies chose an expensive super long name Simmons Beautyrest Recharge Star Obsessions mattress after rolling around on all big 3s ( Serta, Sealy, Simmons) in different sleeping postures. I'd better have a full 7 hour deep sleep on it. I'd better live in this house till I have 3 million bucks.
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Before & After Continued...
Kitchen:
BEFORE (blurry pics are from the valuation report)
AFTER
Toilet/Shower room:
BEFORE
AFTER (actually nothing has changed since I took the last reno pics..toilet only... don't think there's anything spectacular).
Ok let me take a moment here to gush about the showerhead which I bought from Qoo10. This is my 3rd showerhead since I've been really displeased with the water pressure and amount coming out at my floor level. I went through a Hansgrohe and the original showerhead that came with the Rubine booster pump instant heater. Together with this Qoo10 showerhead and the booster pump, I get a really decent amount of water for my shower. Wish I could do the same thing for my kitchen tap.
Utility Room:
For completeness, here's a photo of our utility room now. We didn't change anything except to paint the walls and re-tile the floor. I also re-purposed the utility room into a pseudo sun-room. Initially I was worried that I had misjudged the use of the room as a sunroom because it is tiny. I was afraid clothes wouldn't dry fast enough. After a week of daily laundering, I'm confident to say that it takes cotton tees 2-3 hours to dry fully and jeans take 6 hrs to overnight. The wind coming in from Mt Faber/ Telok Blangah Hill is pretty strong.
There are two racks in this room (one is hidden behind the wall to the right), and the reason why we have one rack positioned in front of the door is because it didn't occur to me to install the ceiling clothes rack towards the left rather than right side of the room. If I put another rack on the right hand side of the room, it will hinder the lowering of the rack.
See. Never Plan Properly. But if I have folks over for a party, I guess I will close the utility room door. Out of sight, out of mind.
That's all folks!
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Update 21 Oct'16:
I guess I won't be logging in or updating as often since my renovation is completed (except for some really minor touch-up to the front door my dad is working on). I've moved in for about a week, and by now, have gotten rid of majority of the packing boxes. Today I can finally sit here and take a break from all the moving and unpacking madness.
On the whole, I think I built enough storage. I don't like having too many build-ins and to a certain extent regret building-in the shoe cupboard because I can't move it... There's more than enough storage space in the kitchen for all my pots and pans and extra Pyrex mixing bowls and bakeware that I ordered on Amazon. I still have empty drawers and cupboard shelves despite only having bottom cabinets.
The only place I wish I had more storage is my side of the wardrobe. I've put a couple of my dresses and ONE handbag at Darkling Half's side. She has resorted to EXTORTING WARDROBE STORAGE RENT from me.
Here are some before and after pictures of the house. My apologies if some of the pictures look skewed or stretched as I'm not a great camerawoman.
Living Room:
BEFORE (blurry pics from the valuation report)
AFTER
Bedroom 1 (the larger bedroom):
BEFORE
AFTER
Bedroom 2 (master bedroom)
BEFORE
AFTER
I bought these 2 new night stands from Ikea. Darkling liked them so I broke the non-Ikea furniture rule the 2nd time. I BUILT THEM MYSELF CUZ I'M SUPER BUTCH LIKE THAT. Actually I just like building stuff.
Here's my temporary/ permanent make-up corner. Initially I wanted a vanity table. But I kinda like how I can hide my clutter behind the wardrobe door and also have less furniture in our already minute bedroom. I simply removed a shelf in the wardrobe and stuck the lamp and hairblower into the cavity. The only peeve I have is the wires sticking out everywhere.
Sorry that it is really less than ideal for a vanity table, but it serves my purpose. I have my makeup in the drawers and the pouf is the perfect height for me to sit and put on my face.
Before and After to be continued in next post....
Brand new beginning
in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB Resale Renovation & Interior Design
Posted
@trcd why would you have to restore it? I'm curious as you know I knocked 2 into one since one was a WC room and the other a shower...not WC in both toilets. My friend sold her 3 room corner which she had joined 2 toilets into one. She didn't have to restore. Or are you worried it's harder to sell having only 1 toilet?