Nipponho

Hi Mace, When i go to jalan besar, i only walked along the main road. Are there any interesting shops in the perpedicular lanes? I did not venture inside. I was at jalan besar today. I saw one shop below a HDB flat. I could not spot the block number, but i think that is the one u were talking about. There are banners advertising for cheap aircon and a POSB atm.

U can experiment. If u put 2 into 1 spot, might as well put 2 at different spot. For more even light distribution. If u scared not bright enough, u can use the max 23 watt bulb. (information quoted from my company's electrician). I saw at bugis mrt that they put 2 bulb into one casing, but their ceiling is not low.

Hi Simeiz, I think there are at least 4 shops at Jalan Besar, u can just stroll there. I also realised that their prices are lower than those at balestier. I was also interested to estimate the amount of brightness & went to find out. You can agar using your present dwelling. Find out how many lumens each bulb produce & total up. Then see how many lumens u are having presently & whether u want to increase or decrease. Measure brightness by lumens, not wattage. Some ah beng electricians also don't know about this. I also didn't know, but now i know, but i am excused bec i am not science student. More bright = more $$? I thought so too, but when i went to SP services website to calculate, looks like lightings are not expensive, less than ten dollars a month. If u want the flexibility to experiment, u can choose the philips bulbs, i think the holder size is E27, cannot remember exactly, but it is E20something. All the philips energy saving bulbs are of the same holder size. If after installing, u find it too bright or too dark, u can "pweek" out and change the bulb. Hope this helps. Me not expert, i also went to find out all these for my own installation, so i thought i can pass on some info to u.

I saw some houses using red banner but they appear to me more for enhancing than for curing. As for amulet, i saw at book store some taiwanese books teaching u how to draw for each type of fengshui cure. U can go & take a look. About $20. But if u do like this, not sure if your neighbour might retaliate. I also dont like partition immediately behind the door, but if u have to do it, u need to do it. Best is don't buy the house if u have choice. Choose those which one look, u will know direction is good or bad. But if u must buy, then bo pian, put the partition like what mace says. I dont like the idea of blockage, can't breathe. If u put altar, u should consult mace wh statue to place. If u make God of Wealth face your neighbour's door, i not sure what is the implication.

Hi Vibranz, I am referring to alignment between the door & facing of the individual unit. Not referring to alignment between the 2 doors of the opposite units. These 2 doors most of the time sure align, parallel & face each other. Visualise old 3 room corridor flats. Those with many homes along a stretch. The windows & door are side by side, & most individual flats facing is parallel, and in alignment with facing of the whole block. The 2 corner units will have their doors "sang gare", but windows are still parallel to the rest of the corridor units. I am referring to this type of alignment which is easiest & most straight forward for FS analysis. I can roughly visualise the unit that u viewed bec i had exactly the same dilemna. It was a 4 room, & both doors face each other. The stair case is used only by the 2 homes. I dare not buy bec i am not sure if this can be rectified. To me, this appears blocked. So i tried to look for one which the door & windows are not blocked for a least a few metres. Depend on whether u dare to take the risk or not.

I had exactly the same problem a few months ago. In the end, as safety precaution, I dare not buy. But i managed to find one which door & facing was favourable without such blockage. Door is mouth, windows is eyes. Mace, u say build partition, what happen if the door is auspicious direction, u build like this, it might block away. A very very very famous FS consultant in Sg says hang clear crystal. But for me, i kiasee. It's easier to buy those that facing and door is aligned. But these days, the designs for hdb & apartments are such that door & facing is never aligned.

Range limited? Really? But it seems like Harfary is the most popular. The one at Balestier is not showroom? U mean there are more displayed at showroom that they did not display at Balestier? U been there?

I noticed that Harfary prices are a little cheaper than the other 3 shops. And yes, the patterns that they have are all the same. Only prices a little difference, but also not much too. I saw so many nice designs, but regrettably, they are ceramic & cannot be used on floor. The glossy homo ones that were available were of lighter shades of beige. I don't like too light colour bec dust, dirt, and fallen hair is obvious. They don't have darker shades of beige, they only have black wh i like, but disallowed due to FS.

I have a question for Mace & Apple & whoever else who can advise. I called some contractors (not ID). Some say they get from Hafary, some from Soo Bee Huat, some from White Horse, some import their own. Those who import their own says that by doing so, it is cheaper than Harfary. True or not? I asked them is variety limited, they say no. Now confused. And hor, apple, u say standard is 20%. I asked them, they say not necessary, depends. If your info is correct, which I believe so, that means they might have eaten away some percentages. I believe not all home owners knows about this contractor discount thing. They will just accept the display price, & contractor pocket the discounts. True? Also hor, devil, white horse supplies those small white ugly square ones that u see in coffee shop toilets?

If i am not wrong, when the fengshui master use flying stars, u may not be able to agar. For each of the 8 directions, there are 3 sections, eg. N1, N2, N3..., classification on which depend on the degree. So if you agar wrongly, u can't spot water star 8, which will give you "water".

Luvshosho should buy Guru Mace lunch & engage him to deal with the electrician. Contractors will exploit those who are not so knowledgeable. I experienced it. If u appear gong gong tai tai, they will tell u a lot of nonsense, only after u ask around, then u realise the falsehoods.

Hi again Mace, I called someone who advertised 3 lines on classifieds. He quoted me 80cents psf for hacking, 1.50 psf for laying, very in line with what you thought..... BUT $2 psf for sand cost. So total $4.30 psf for labour. Anybody has engaged contractor and would like to introduce? (hopefully can get some discounts since it is a customer who bring in another customer)

Mine need to align the needle to the North before taking any reading. With the needle on the north, it is very difficult to guess the degree. Are u using those that does not align the needle to north?

Hi Apple, i believe u went to all 3, but u end up at hup kiong, means hup kiong offers u the best? OK, 20% standard, i will take note of that. The saleswoman told me is 10%, means bayday one. That means the saleswoman at harfary Thanks for your info!!

Hi Mace, looks like your charges seems in line with market. I checked classifieds this morning, it is around this price, i even saw some cheaper than yours. But i was told that apart from tiles, they still need to pay for sand, so $2.5 psf for hack & relay, any idea is that figure final? Never mind, i can call & ask during lunch. U got $1.8 psf wall tile? It does not give problem? I believe this is contractor price & not the display price. Sure, i can live with $2.20 tiles, if i can get $1.8 like yours, even better. ($$$). Where did u get yours? Hafary?

Hi Kajua, What compass did you use? Was it electronic one? I had wanted to know mine directions in degrees, but it was a conventional one with the arrows, so i cannot tell exactly how many degrees.

Haha. Being able to share is a privilege & is positive karma. Although they say cost of tiles is separate, when i select from Harfary, i will still not purchase direct from them, still go through contractor. I heard that go through contractor is cheaper than walk in. Wh shop is better? Harfary or the chinese one at the other end? But yours at 28% is quite steep. Harfary told me contractor discount is only 10%. True or not? Or is it bec u press & press & press them, that's why u get 28%?

Hi, I noticed that some contractors quote their labour separately from tile cost, which was not the norm. I called a contractor that i saw on papers and received a quotation from them. I was quoted $4800 for hacking 2 bedroom & 1 living room floor tiles, kitchen wall tiles, & all tiles & bowls in 2 toilets. This quote also include relaying the bedroom & living room floor tiles, & all tiles in 2 toilets. Kitchen walls will be tileless. Plastering kitchen wall will be separately charged. Gurus like Mace, Apple, do u think this number is reasonable? Mine is a 3 room 69 sqm. So that means for floor tiles, assuming average of $3.5 psf, i need to pay 69 X 10.76 X $3.50 = $2598 How to calculate estimate cost of wall tiles? I want to choose a cheapo cheapo ceramic $2.50. I thought of overlay, but i scared the height will become shorter, plus i am quite tall.

This afternoon, i went to read up a little. The most important thing in kitchen is the stove. Stove confirmed cannot face water. It is also recommended not to have something above that press down stove. My existing kitchen cabinet is top & bottom. I find it a waste to hack away the top, somemore need to pay to hack too. So i am thinking of moving the stove, microwave & kettle to opposite side of the wall, & i need to buy a cabinet to hold these 3 items. Anyone seen a "buy & put there" type of kitchen cabinet selling? Ikea has? If i subscribe to singapore gas, will they charge me for gas piping?

Since we are in the same situation (austere budget), can u share with me wh workshop u got your cheap top from?

Hi Mace, $160 is ok. I will go & find out which workshop sells. Wa u very knowlegeable. If i ask another person or a contractor, they will say i have to change the whole thing. Next time got anything, i ask u. I live alone, when i bake chocolate, i will not cook, so ventilator, not very necessary. I have one toilet and 1 bathroom. Bathroom is the one that clash with stove. Smell will auto go off in ten min, but if water will give problems, like mould, algae etc, so better let it dry speedily

Hi Apple, Sorry, missed your post. Your fellow forummer DIY it or get a carpenter to do it? "compared to a few hundred bucks for a new solid top AND a few more hundred bucks for new cabinet, think just replacing the solid top is more woo hua right?" <-------- I am not sure about this u know, depends on how much is "few hundred bucks". I saw on adverts, 20ft cabinet, regardless whether top or bottom, promo at $1388. So if the new solid top is $800 or $900, I will have difficulty deciding. I am single, will be staying alone, so using only one burner is still ok, my cooking is simple simple, not elaborate like Fang Tai or Yan can cook style. But if u say i seal off 2 and use 1 will affect overall FS, then maybe, i never see people do like this, but this is 1 of the solutions that i can think.

Hi Mace, Really? It looks to me like it is glued onto wall. Let me go and check it again this weekend. But possible to DIY? Any idea how much does a cheap solid top cost? For mine, the one facing the stove is not toilet, it is a shower room. I don't want to close it, not bec i am lazy, but i scare chao chao. Better to leave it open so that air flow inside and dry up the water on sink, floor & wall.

Hi Apple, The solid top looks like glued onto the wall. It is possible to remove & fix new one? Solid top cost a few hundred bucks, plus carpentry charges, Woo hua? They dig a hole on solid top & glue the 3 fire point stove onto the solid top. Many modern kitchen cabinets are like this. Some dig a hole & glue a sink. The hole is already there, cannot move. I think picture better la. I was thinking of using some metallic food cover to cover 2 fire points & i use only the point that does not directly face the bathroom.

Hi, I was trying to retain the kitchen cabinet that was left behind by the previous owner. However, I noticed that there are 3 fire points on the stove and one third of the stove faces the bathroom. I was told this is not good. I cannot move the stove bec it is embedded onto a solid top, so if i want to move, i cannot retain the kitchen cabinet. One solution is to discard the existing stove and buy a old fashioned non-embedded stove. But if i do like this, that means the solid top has a hole. What can i do to cover the hole? Any idea how much does replacing the kitchen cabinet cost? 10 feet on bottom. The top portion can be retained. Are there any bottom kitchen cabinets that I can "buy and put there" without carpentry work to stick it onto the wall? Anyone can suggest how to solve my problem?