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Changbp

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Posts posted by Changbp

  2. Posted · Edited by Changbp

    Question on the pipe source for storage heater. As my heater is in the service yard, nearest point to connect to is the common bathroom sink which can totally conceal my piping.

    HDB supplied a U shaped pipe at the top of the bathroom to connect the storage heater to. But my piping would be visible. I wonder if I pipe parallel to the sink point would there be any issues? Since the elevation is also lower(pipe size also?), I'm concerned on pressure issue may be affected.

    Anyone knows?

  7. Posted

    Bought some Mirrors from Taobao. Hopefully they will arrive without breakage. 65daigou even cautioned me that they will not be responsible for any damage for international shipping. :help: Anyway I still pressed on but next time I think I will go for Peeka with better customer service.

    This one for placing beside the Main Door.

    TB2yXpRfXXXXXccXpXXXXXXXXXX_!!356573532.

    This one(smaller sized 500x700) for the master Bathroom.

    TB2Aj3EaXXXXXbPXXXXXXXXXXXX-648706957.jp

    Either one for the service yard or Bathroom.

    T2DJC7XAXXXXXXXXXX_!!391609122.jpg

    T2c.PQXcNXXXXXXXXX_!!269983519.jpg

    Keeping my fingers crossed :jammin:

  8. Posted · Edited by Changbp

    This is sort of late. I thought i should share my experience with the contractors selection. Like many before me, i contacted and met up with quite a few IDs/Contractors before settling with the current one i am using now. It was extremely tiring to run thru 3-4 hours of explaining to each of them. To those who can do more than 10... :good: You are Good!

    I thronged thru all the Tblogs from early 2012's till now and I skipped those that are so popular as I'm afraid they may have so many projects at hand and not able to concentrate on mine. As I'm naturally very into details(read picky) and would need people who would note and action on trivial stuff that i say. So here is the list.

    1. The first one was and online contractor. homedesign.sg. They had an online site with transparent pricing and had good recommendations of renovation stuff. It was a good place to go to see how much the expected reno would cost. Called up the number listed and was answered by a lady. Asked to see their showroom but was told they only had an office in NUS so requested for a meetup at a starbucks. She told me will contact me back but didn't. Either too busy or could not remember. Which may indicate could not remember the details i wanted. So strikeoff this company off my list. :bleah:

    2. Absolook - Don, This was highly recommended from a camp mate of mine. Turns out the ID is also from my camp (though we'll seen each other a couple of times but never communicated before). I went thru 2 meetups with him about 6 hours total as he was one of my shortlisted. His response time by whatsapp is within a couple of hours usually, the longest is by the next day. Generally feels ok, understood my need, able to tell me what is practical and what is not. Pricing on the higher side. Seems to be quite busy too.

    3. Divas - HS Lim. From the older blogs i chanced upon this ID. At that time he was at another company now he is with Divas. Superb response time. Replies within an hour and the fastest to provide a quote. 1st quote received within 3 days and 2nd quote within a day. As such he was one of my shortlisted contractors. He is exactly like the older blogs described, extremely polite and honest(feels like it). He is the only ID who remembers and address me by first name. Would give differing views to your wants but if you insisted he could still do it but would persuade you not to. Pricing is on the low side. However got GST. Divas also had one of the best looking showrooms among all those that i visited.

    4. Khong Yee - Dylan. Recommended from my wife's colleague who signed up with him. The most customer service oriented ID I've met and was shortlisted to be my 1st choice. All the other IDs just followed what i requested for or try to dissuade me from doing certain things the way i wanted... This one is different. He did not dissuade me on any stuff and even offered better ideas on top of mine even though that may cost more or be more of a hassle to do as its non standard :idea: . Response time is good. Replies to whatsapp within a day however it took a week to get a quote. Pricing is stiff and is on the high side. The quote threw in a lot of freebies which i don't really need as im not doing standard stuff. ie. I don't need a Blum Aventos but could not get a further discount since i'm not doing a dish drainer at the top cabinet. Their showroom cabinet workmanship totally cannot make it. I can spot uneven gaps on the cabinet joining partitions and I even "destroyed" the PDdoor when using the bathroom. The door lifted off the lower rail when I tried to open it so it may have been a case of poor workmanship. He explained that these are FOC works from one of their subcon which they no longer use. As I was still pretty keen on going with him with his excellent customer service(pre-sales, aftersales dunno), I visited one of his site. Workmanship is not too bad. Eventually as he was unable to further reduce his pricing after the 3rd meetup I thanked him and said goodbye.

    5. Space N Living - Encountered the most amazing and strangest stuff here. Was walking around IMM when my wife was attracted to the IPAD displays of their portfolio. So spoke to one of the IDs that was free at that time and repeated the same wants for a good 2 hours to him. Before i left i was told that it was a busy period for them so the quote may take a week. Eventually the quote came but took about 3 weeks later. Obviously no matter how low the price is i don't think i will go with them. What is amazing is that the ID could actually remember every single item that i described and quoted to me exactly item by item after 3 weeks. :jawdrop: Non of the other IDs could send me a first quote without needing a correction even though they quoted within 3 days. The strange thing was, ID called me before sending the quote and enquired what were his competitors quoting. I replied that their quote range from $24k to $30k. :deal: and Know what? His quote is $36k! 8|

    6. Kiat Siang - Bernard. Was recommended by Wife's friend who used his service before. Very experienced and superb response. First meet up immediately on site and he could on the spot drawing 3d perspective sketches within minutes base on what i want. Extremely practical too and can advise on what is good and what is not. Price is on the high side though. Supposedly very reliable since he settled all my wife's friend's issues without hassle. Base on this point alone he was on my shortlist.

    7. Inlookz Home - Dorothy. Found her from some blogs in 2013. Initial perceptions is that she is a quick, practical, no fuss type of ID. Similar to Bernard(similar age too). We directly met on on site where she immediately noted down measurements with a laser ruler which I was quite surprised compared to others who fumble with a measuring tape when taking measurements of long distances. I went thru her portfolio... and well... its decent but nothing spectacular. She also made an arrangement to visit one of her works which was from a return customer. That i suppose would mean she is generally trusted. Workmanship is okay but nothing spectacular. I was quite particular about my bathroom tiling, and she was the only ID who combed thru the tile suppliers and sent me pictures of the tiles base on some pictures that i showed her during the first meetup. Response time was ok, generally replies by the next day.

    There should be one more ID whom i could not remember... Anyway after much consideration between Don, HS Lim and Dorothy, I chose Dorothy as I find her quite sincere on the part sourcing for my bathroom tile and that won me over.

    In the course of searching for IDs/Contractors unlike some of the other blogs that i read I have not met anyone pushy or does hard selling. Or tells you strange stuff like must buy their initial 3D before they quote the whole works so i hope you would find the above information useful for your renovation.

  9. Posted

    Choice 1 and 3 both very nice and I like the first one for its colour . Indeed your home will be a different 3 room flat from many of us :)

    BTW the view from your living is super fantastic ! Sky and green .. makes one feels calm looking at it

    Thanks, i'm leaning towards item 3 now as I just noticed that my TV is width is 1.1m and item 1's width is at 1m which may end up looking top heavy when mounted to the wall above it. Only concern with this unit is that the design is too "strong" for my living room which will be mostly grey/white.

  10. Posted

    TV console choices.

    1. Size is perfect, like the design of the console doors very much. Though seems like there is no track record of sales for this item. Wonder if I should take the risk or not? Seller reputation only 3 diamonds on Taobao. Also wonder if the bottom is high enough to fit a robot vacuum charging unit.

    T2VxYNXvtaXXXXXXXX_!!922488558.jpg

    2. 2nd Choice, same seller.

    1. T2pr1.XD0aXXXXXXXX_!!922488558.jpg

    3. My 3rd Choice. Size slightly larger than what i wanted. However this is a Tmall seller and this item has track record.

    TB2Ph4ahXXXXXXFXpXXXXXXXXXX_!!1824032859

  18. Posted · Edited by Changbp
    Fixed image links

    1st day of Work.

    Suppose to start at auspicious time 11-12noon but a screw up already happen even before I reached the place. ID whatsapp me to informed there was no power!?!?... Ok, after calling the BSC, in the end luckily it was found that the mains circuit outside the house was not activated and that fixed the problem. Strange the SP booklet stuck to the CB inside the house clearly states that water and electricity are already activated. There was no water too :curse: ... but that's another story.

    Started hack works at 1105am. I have also arranged to meet Aircon guy at 11.30pm. Never realised the ID also arranged the Plumber and Tiler too. All 3 came at the same time and with my phone keep ringing, it was chaos for a while. The hacker was asked to come back again later while the plumber started removing all the bathroom stuff and we talked to the tiler on my ideas for the bathroom tile overlay. Unfortunately for Tim(the aircon guy), he was the last to arrive so he had to wait... Thanks for his patience to wait for his turn to discuss on aircon piping route so everything panned out nicely.

    This is going way way faster than i thought. Just on day 1, all demolition, WC and sanitary ware removed. Storage heater mounted, Tiling and Aircon discussed. I didn't even clearly see who were the plumbers... they left as quickly as they came. I only realise after talking to Tim about the aircon water piping to the toilet and I noticed the toilet was unusually bare and that the WC, basins are already in the bomb shelter.

    Demolition - the way the wall was cut up and broken off in squares makes it look like carrot cake frying process.

    med_gallery_71361_926_49172.jpg

    Done hacking.

    med_gallery_71361_926_7981.jpg

    The View. (Pics are taken from the skygarden a couple of floors below mine). if only I had a balcony... :sport-smiley-018:

    med_gallery_71361_926_102598.jpg

    40L AOSmith digital storage heater in service yard.

    med_gallery_71361_926_123660.jpg

  23. Posted · Edited by Changbp
    Fixed image links

    Yeah was afraid the 3rd one may be too overwhelming for my design so ended with buying the classic ones. Couldn't decide :dunno: which of the 2 to buy so bought both to see if the actual item would be a better match to my shaker style kitchen cabinet. One of them will probably end up on carousel after ... or use for a handle makeover the next year :notti:


    Just realised i've been yaking away without posting my floor plan. Not much demolition, just hack 1 wall between Bedroom 2 and living room and erect back an 800mm height wall and close the opening with framed glass panels or sliding windows :D:jammin:.... Yes... between the living room and the bedroom i am thinking of putting in powder coated 4 panel sliding windows. Very Unorthodox... I wonder if this is possible?


    med_gallery_71361_926_37402.jpg



    Anyway... Here's the concept for the Kids Room which is bedroom2.

    Room Color
    Its either pure white like the following pictures below(maintaining may be a problem :deal: ) and with just 1 small wall section on the right side of the window having wall paper with light brown/yellow/cream tint with some squirrel running after acorns (something like ice age)

    Lights:
    1 Main light and probably some fun lights on the wall near the bed
    This is the main light. Just ordered this one with remote for infinite color + dimmable.
    TB2cgNQcFXXXXbIXXXXXXXXXXXX_!!2006036857


    The bed...
    Since childhood i've always yearned to sleep in a loft bed. No chance though... So getting one for my kid to sleep & play in sort of fulfils my childhood dream.

    This will be placed with the position of the bed perpendicular to the master bedroom wall like in this E.ko picture. Unfortunately putting it parallel to that wall like the 2nd picture will open up more space in the center of the room but I will no longer be able to open the cupboard.

    Its either to buy the Kimono E.ko series, or a cheaper option which needs some DIY to make it look attractive would be an ikea Kura hack.

    Series_Eko.jpg

    Captura-de-pantalla-2015-09-15-a-las-22.



    The Wardrobe.

    Shaker Style with bookcase. This will be on the right side of the door as in this picture by the association.
    med_gallery_71361_926_164201.png



    Full height built in cupboards and kids room doesn't seem to gel. So have to incorporate some fun elements in it.
    Replace the knobs on the cupboards with this cute ones. I bought from Excel hardware but regretted a week after as i later saw on TB selling @ 1/8th the price of excel.... Bang balls :curse: .


    med_gallery_71361_926_317828.png

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