Noodler

Wow, thanks for your input. Didn't know this is actually the norm. How can we cover up the raw finishing and seal up the slits? Silicon?

Renovations were completed about 4 months back. Was doing some housechores and had to climb a ladder when I saw the following on my bedroom door: And this is the same for all 3 doors in the house. According to the vendor where we purchased the doors from, the top and bottom are not laminated. Is this an industry norm? I do not recall this being the norm... there are 2 slits where the top and bottom are exposed, wouldn't that be an invitation for insects? Can anyone advise what can be done?

Hi all, Would like to look for recommendations for water filter, purifier or ioniser. I did some simple research and see that the following are quite popular among new households: Culligan faucet mount filter (FM-15A or FM-25)Cleansui undermount filterHyflux undermount filter My questions as follows:Is filter necessary for the main water source (in the house) if our habit is to boil the water before drinking?Most people argue that our main water source is already quite clean, instead of filtering we should be looking to enhance the water quality. e.g akaline water. Anyone using such alkaline ionizer machines?

We did some price comparisons with the various popular shops and eventually got our stuffs from Heritage Bathroom Gallery: 718 Geylang Road, Singapore 3896036846 0148 Look for Sharrine, she is more approachable and is able to make practical product recommendations.

Contractor stuff Hacking works have commenced and are done actually. Haha. Was kinda surprised because our contractor didn't say anything. I'm quite happy we went ahead with the hacking because the whole kitchen space feels so much better. Previously, it was really small but now i love it! Thankfully no regrets. Lol. I think that's the trouble with going with a contractor. No 3D drawing for feels... only have to go with gut feel. The 2d drawings are in! We are quite happy with the overall look, barring a few minor changes. we also selected our laminates (first round), so waiting for the A4 samples before making our final decision. Next we need to go to Hafary to select the tiles for the cemented sink area. But no time... T_T||| Today the aircon guys came over and laid the piping and trunking. They will make a second trip when the reno is almost done to fix up the aircon units. I had to leave earlier before they finished but so far, it looks okay. Will probably head down over the weekend to do a check. As you can see, the stove and sink were also delivered because the contractor needed it for the cement thingy. More Purchases We got a vacuum cleaner and a kettle. Very random but it was a gift from my mom. lol. She kanchiong. Also bought some bathroom accessories (towel rack, toilet roll holder, basket) from Heritage. All fully paid. And who knew that toilet roll holder is soooo expensive?!? It was around $30+ and that's after discount. Oh well. Things to buy What's left are the major stuff - sofa, tv console, bed frame, study tables. We wanted a L-shaped table from V.hive because they had the left and right L-shaped so it could form a U-shape. It fits our needs perfectly but apparently, the left L-shaped table is no longer in production.... zzzz. Any one has any recommendations? Me and the hubs both need our own space because I'm a neat freak and well, the hubs is the opp of me. So no sharing!

Haha, i know! It's tiring for us, especially the decision making. thank you for your comment!

Ahh, noted! We weren't planning on doing it though it looks nice... Now our problem is where to put it!

Hi Gim Li, PM-ed! Btw, it's actually R. J is the boss. Haha. I got confused.

Hi Yamato, can you describe what you mean by slow? because i just ordered Crestar Skylite fans...

Love the inspiration - can't wait to watch it progress!

We finally sorted out some of the major purchases (after alot of deliberation...)! yay! Kitchen Stuff Stove from Heritage Gallery Sink from Heritage Gallery Samsung Fridge from Harvey Norman Service Yard Washing Machine from Harvey Norman Living Room Samsung TV from Harvey Norman Also finally confirmed our air-conditioning from a vendor contact we found on this forum - Mitsubishi Starmex System 3 for the 3 bedrooms and Crestar Skylite fans from Crestar directly (living room + 3 bdrooms). Prices We went to several places and compared the prices for each individual item - Gain City (not the cheapest but they had some promo going on, spend over $7000 and get a certain amount of vouchers back), Best Denki (cheaper than Gain City but can fight with Harvey Norman), Harvey Norman, Courts, and Goh Ah Bee (cheapest of all but must pay in cash). We decided to go with Harvey Norman Millenia because they are able to match the pricing of Goh Ah Bee and right now, if you use certain CCs to pay, you get the first month of installment "waived" (Maybank has no limit, HSBC $100 limit, Citibank $80 limit). What's Next... We still have to decide on the lights... so many nice but expensive choices! Also, we should be meeting with our contractor this week to pick out the laminates and other decisions! very happy that things are finally moving forward! Btw, has anyone here done the cement sink support in the kitchen? We were deciding between having the cement base with Kompacplus top or just the carpentry work.. The cement base won because it has been done that way in my parents' place and it's still okay. The only gripe we have with just the carpentry is that water may leak and affect the carpentry if not done well. hope we made the right choice

hi matchalatte! haha, i wish those were images of my home. it's taken from the internet as inspiration! ^_^

Hi Kelvin, could you share the contact for your electrician? About to start my reno soon and the quote from my contractor is on the high side. Thanks in advance!

Hi all, which is a better material: Single or double hollow? I have requested for a few quotations for the aluminum sliding windows/grilles (just for service yard), as follows: Quote A < $700 - Double hollow Quote B Mid $700 - Single hollow (claims to be factory price) Qoote C > $800 - Double hollow If double hollow requires more materials, why is single hollow more expensive than double hollow? Would appreciate if anyone can recommend their contractor if they are satisfied with their works. Thanks!

I haven't heard of the brand before also but it was recommended by a popular lighting shop we visited. So just thought to ask around. The ones I am comparing are similar in design - PO's light has 3 brightness settings that the Phillip's one doesnt have. So for a few dollars less, I get 3 settings (honestly don't require it though) and similar design and brightness to the Phillips one. But I guess I am more partial to the Phillips one because it's quite a trusted brand?

Hi lingli77, Thank you for your reply! I am not looking for downlights though... we don't have false ceiling. But will check them out!

It's been awhile (yes, that's how much we procastinate!). Contractor or ID? We didn't want to engage an ID because we felt it might be abit expensive for what we wanted and were afraid we might be swayed into paying more for things we never wanted. Besides, with many inspiration and images from the net, i think we can sort of get away with showing those to the contractor and have them do it for us. The only issue with deciding on a contractor was that your vision of your home must be very very very clear. We must really know what we want and stick to it. Unfortunately, we had a semi-clear idea of what we wanted (no false ceiling, clean lines in the home, kompacplus top, etc) and we are learning to compromise what we want in our heads with what can be done in reality (within budget!). Often times, we realise that what we wanted could not be done because of $$$ or simply because the HDB layout was not suitable. But more of that in future posts... Which Contractor? Mr K - We wanted Mr K, because he is highly recommended in this forum. We met up with him at Bedok - he's a very straight-to-the-point kinda guy. He will probably give you inputs based on his practical experience but I would feel that 85% of the design has to come from the homeowners themselves. We received his quote and sadly, we had to drop him because his prices were like those of an ID firm. D from Focus Point - He was recommended to us by a relative who had used his services for 2 homes. Overall vibe was that he was okay to do almost everything we wanted at a relatively low price. However, he didn't know what Kompacplus was and encouraged us to use postform instead. He also had no opinions on our design when we asked and we felt like it is abit overpromising. His quote is competitive but we dropped him because he was abit too eager to please and weren't quite confident in his ability. I have to state though; when we visited my relative's place, the workmanship was decent. R from Z L - We saw ZL's work in some of the blogs here and were encouraged by the fact that they use locals or malaysian workers. This is quite important to us because when HDB did the rectifications for our defects, one of the workers (from China) actually made the defect worse even when we were around. Quote-wise, his prices are very slightly above the contractor quotes but R did say that we are also paying for labour costs (locals and malaysians tend to cost more). However, when we broke it down and compared item by item, the prices were actually okay. By this point, we were suffering from contractor fatigue so eventually we chose R from ZL. He was accommodating to our time, even opening the office during his CNY break to meet with us. (thumbsup for that!) We were also abit undecided on certain points so we kept changing our minds but he was also very accommodating. Hopefully things will turn out well!

Thank you chiffon & JohnB! chiffon > if you don't have a need to move in quickly, i think can slowly take your time but set a date that die-die must shift in by. else we will procastinate forever! (that is kinda happening to us now lol)

Need some advise on the following. Ceiling Fans We visited a shop in Geylang some months back and were told that this brand (Samaire) is running on German technology, and for the price compared with other brands, is a good deal. The price is indeed lower than other major ceiling fan brands in the market. Did a quick Google search and saw that a handful of RTers were using it, thus we placed an order for it. Did not follow up with a more detailed research after that. In the process of sourcing for lightings today, we came across this shop that carries Crestar. The retailer was commenting that Samaire is made in China, and that the quality is not as good; whereas Crestar is made in Taiwan. We were then reminded that we did not do our due diligence in researching for the Samaire's profile. It seems that Samaire doesn't seem to have any online presence, and there isn't any useful reviews for reference. Any current users of Samaire care to share your experiences? Lighting Anyone heard of the local LED lighting brand PO? We are looking for round LED lights (for kitchen and dining area) and were recommended this brand @ $125, which is priced just slightly lower than Philips. Or anyone has other recommendations?

Hi, please advice a quotation for a BTO 4room (90sqm) with the following specs. 1) Mitsubishi Starmex System 3 3x 9k BTU 2) Panasonic Envio System 3 3x 9k BTU Please also include/state the warranty period, copper and insulation provided, and the possible additional costs required (if any). Thank you!

Hi, please advice a quotation for a BTO 4room (90sqm) with the following specs. 1) Mitsubishi Starmex System 3 3x 9k BTU 2) Panasonic Envio System 3 3x 9k BTU Please also include/state the warranty period, copper and insulation provided, and the possible additional costs required (if any). Thanks.

We're very inspired by many beautiful homes here! We do not have a particular theme that we like to stick strongly to so I guess what we do have is a (hopefully) cohesive design with particular design features that we love from different themes. So far, we discovered that we gravitate towards the warm wood tones/texture, matt white surfaces, black focus points, plushy sofas and cushions, some elements of colour in the form of the Legos we collect, a little nostalgia in the accessories... Here are a few inspiration we've collected;; (Actually I wasn't too excited because it feels almost daunting - more jialat than planning the wedding - but now, writing this down makes the whole experience feel a little more real! )

Hi everyone! We've been reading quite a few blogs on this forum and it has helped us quite abit. We were quite overwhelmed with the information here but nevertheless, very thankful that such blogs exists. ^_^ We recently got our keys (after 3 longgg years) and we decided we would try to keep track of our progress as we make the house a home. Here's our layout;; A typical 4-room layout. Here's to a journey of discovery!