Max383

Got my common bedroom doors from Yontat Doors.... $200 each. These are cheaper plastic finishings that is designed to look like veneer... but with only 4 designs to choose from. Our master bedroom veneer door is more expensive ($300+) as we got a soild (instead of hollow) door with better quality veneer finishing.... those that you can feel the texture, like real wood! You can see them in my t-blog. FYI. Most, if not all, IDs sub-contract doors to door manufacturer.... with a mark up. Sometimes... very significant mark up. One ID quoted me $600 each for nyatoh doors... daylight robbery!! So we just cut the ID out of the picture and told him we rather choose our own doors. A little more work... but can usually save money. When we were at Yontat, we also saw contractors coming in to order doors....they quoted them the same price! No harm taking a look.

Gas dryer is powered by LNG gas. Suppose to be cheaper to operate and dries faster. But if you don't have Citygas gas pipe supply, you cannot use this option. More common is electric dryer.... some brands like EF or ELBA costs less than $400 for 6kg model. You can wall mount dryers..... just find a wall space about 55cm in width and height. Can ask your ID where can be suitable for the dryer lor. Some people buy front loading washing machine so that they can stack the dryer on top.

No website lah... just a small shop at Jalan Besar with limited product range but good prices. 131 Jalan Besar Singapore 208849. Tel : 6299 0543

Haha... finally got ms babytan on my blog! Puppy face? Well... I always ask for a puppy cut during grooming sessions and because of her small size, she is a natural!! Haha... I have started using dryer about 4 years ago... I never looked back. It has become an essential. Yes.... I can hang clothes... but dryer takes so much less effort and makes the clothes fluffy. In many cases, I don't need to do ironing. Of course, for business shirts, I still have to iron... but the effort is a lot less because it does not crumple as much. Definitely no need to use softener. The heat from the dryer will definitely kill germs as well, esp useful when u don't hang clothes out into the sun... but thats not main plus point. Rain or shine, dryer works just as well regardless. And if you need your clothes tomorrow... no problems! Pop into the washer then dryer, and you will have your clothes ready in 2 hours! It is nice to have the option to do that. Hanging clothes will take you at least a day.

Haha... better not name names lah.... it is their livelihood afterall. Better stick to good recommendations in this forum rather than bad ones.

Haha...probably. But if just two persons staying there... can cope lah. If not, when using WIW, lock the door lor. Save money mah.... also an interesting concept. Agree that one must think of practical application as well.... this will be up to individual living style. I like to toy with different ideas... not all are practical.... obviously. Haha... but always good to spend time think of different ideas on how to make your place more liveable. Many times, my ID and contractors will tell me some ideas cannot be done.... most of the time, what they meant was it has not been done before. Cause when I ask why.... they can't answer. So my advise, work with your ID to come up with as many ideas as possible.... then start eliminating them based on practically and budget. Have fun in the process! !!

Totally lost confidence from the previous ID... keep making empty promises. Can't even give me a simply work schedule... tell me he give me by Sat.... I called following Mon to ask... he say very busy.. he'll give me by next day... nothing again... so called him on Fri... can actually scold me say why i rush him? He already told me he was busy!! Gosh.... can you believe that? Every dateline is given by him, and when he slips his own dateline, can actually say I rush him. If he says Sat... I call earlier to ask, then I agree... I am rushing him. But if he says Sat... I called two days AFTER he missed the dateline... how dare he turn it around and accuse me? We even told him....you busy, we understand... but can stop giving empty promises because it makes us lose confidence in him. Yet... he continues to behave this way. So after a few of these incidents, we felt there is no point working with him. Reno work haven't start, he behaves like that... can you imagine what will happen when reno start and we pay 40% up front?? We will be held hostage! Very happy to change ID.... absolutely the correct move. Caused me a few sleepless nights though. Hmm.... guess its your place, you should decide on the common areas like living room...etc. For other areas, the person using it more often should have priority to decide (within budget of course). Meaning, the ones that cooks should have a bigger say in the kitchen, whoever's bedroom the person should have a bigger say on how they want to do their room...etc. Then at least everyone can have a say and should keep them happy lor.

There's a picture above with my washer and dryer next to the sink area. Mine is a gas dryer... only one place sells this.....Citygas. It is Rinnai brand from Japan. They are selling at $600 with some dining vouchers...dono whether promotion still on or not. However... last year from Nov 07 for about 2months till 17 Jan 08.... they have 5 sets per week selling at $399. hehe... I am the cheapo one that went to queue up on early morning monday (beginning of the week ) to buy. I was successful only on 2nd try. What to do?... poor people like me have to think of means and ways to save money. Yes.... mine's a Shih Tzu as well.... coming to 4 years old leow. My little darling girl! She loves humans.... but afraid of all dogs. Think when she was young, she got scared when a golden retriever wanted to play with her.... never recovered from the trama since...sigh. How old is yours?

Hmm..... just an idea.... ever thought of having your master room door swing the other way (swing right) and have your walk-in wardrobe opening perpendicular to the door?... meaning, when room door is opened in full.... the same door closes the opening of the walk-in wardrobe... if you want to access the wardrobe... you must close the room door, which is usually the case anyway. That would save the need to have an additional wardrobe entrance door, no? And if you don't want guests to see your wardrobe, just make sure your room door is opened in full. idea??

Not too sure about solid top's market rate today... I ruled it out very early stage because over time, solid tops will have scratches on the surface and can stain permenantly...esp white tops. Market rate for granite top is about $80-85 per foot (depending on your bargain power)... for China granite. A granite is a granite... doesn't matter where it is from, the properties are the same. Difference is just the design... European and Indian granites are more expensive ($95). Granites are very strong and long lasting stones... ideal for kitchen. My kitchen granite is China 818. It was a gamble cause we have not seen people use that design. You can see the picture in my t-blog. Most use pure China black and star galaxy black for kitchen top.... nice but too common leow and easy to see stains on top so have to clean often. My China 818 granite turns out to be very nice!... And because of the pattern... stains are not easily seen. Not only you can't bring along.... built-ins, if not maintained properly, can be an eye-sore over time. When you accidentally chipped off the laminate, knocked the corner...etc.... you have to live with the damage for a long long time, simply because it is a big and expensive project to dismantle and build a new one. It also devalues your flat if...after 5-10 years, potential buyers sees it as an additional hassle to tear down the old carpentary work, rather than an asset. More often than not, the old built-ins are a liability as buyers would likely have different taste. It is not to say built-ins are bad.... they are an efficient way to save space. But do so only if you think it is necessary. Otherwise, buying off-the-shelf furniture gives you flexibility and saves you money as well.

Yes... lots of fun to collect all the samples... then go home and toy with different combinations! The great thing is when everything is layed on the actual flat and you see it for the first time... you will have a sense of accomplishment... you chose the tiles and it looks great!!

Hmmm... din know HDB main door can be "non-fire" type. Thot all main doors must have certain minimum fire protection. For a three room flat... your quote is a little on the high side, especially the carpentary work....price of your solid surface also seems high as for that price, I think you can get granite. Per foot run for wardrobe is about $230. Instead of sliding door to your wardrobe, you may want to consider string curtains? As for TV feature wall... it is subjective. I chose to put up a simple partition wall with paint finishing... which cost me $350. Then add a TV console at the bottom for another $440. Save money and I can also bring my TV console elsewhere when I move out in the future. Too many built-ins give you very limited options in the future. However, if you are happy with your id... thats the most important. Ever toy with the idea of merging your living room and spare room? I love a big living space. Else, shift the wall to make the spare room smaller... like a study room. That will give you a bigger living space... can accomodate a larger flat screen TV!!

Wow... icecreamhouse... please try not to get too personal. vowsh is offering his views... you can disagree... but kindly refrain from insulting anyone. We are sharing experiences, such posts are counter-productive. There are all sorts of contractors.... full services verus no frills type. At the end, you get what you pay for. Some people prefer no frills because they have all sorts of ideas so they just one someone to make things happen. While others are clueless and need help and suggestions. Yes... some contractors will accompany you to the tile shop and offer advise... but very often, they offer advise just to keep you within their preset budget inside the package or quotation...and you also always feel like you are being rushed to make a decision since his time is "valuable"... not a whole lot of value add. In fact, chances are, the tile shop guy can offer you better and more unbias advise.... and I like to take my time to choose the tiles I will stare at for at least 5 years. My view... no free lunch in life. If the contractor brings you to buy lights, taps, tiles... chances are... these efforts would have been factored in, either into the package price or via commissions. I rather choose my own stuff to suit my tatse. Store owners are in a better position to offer advise. Lousy tiles or not...well... it is usually price vs quality. Many times, contractors are simply a project manager. It is not economical for him or her to do everything. Many works are sub-contracted. This is ok, as long as the contractor has good control over these sub-contractors and ensure quality work. On your own, you would not have much bargaining power over the electrician, plumber, tiler...etc. These people can make mistakes (or outright cheat u) and walk away from individuals.... but they would not want to make the contractor look bad because they depend on him for future business. My two cents.

Generally, HDB don't allow concealed piping as far as I know. But rules changes all the time... best to confirm directly with HDB. If you have to do external piping for rain show, do visit Royal Franco. Their rain shower system looks quite decent and the price is reasonable.

They should be available both in screw in and plug in..... but very troublesome to change bulbs either way since you have to get as high as the light to change the bulbs from the sides. Square ones usually have a piece of glass cover which I think lowers the brightness of the light. Some of the light also "escapes" from the inside cover.... making it less efficient. I chose round ones with energy saving plug in bulbs..... very easy to change and optimises every watt of light generated. Some say the light without the cover is very glaring when u stare at it.... but why would people stare directly into the light? I have used such downlights for years and it is very bright and does not cause any irritation to me.

Any chance you are talking about "gang" instead of "gan"? Gang refers to the switch. 1 gang - 1 switch, 2 gang - 2 switches. For example, at the main door... if you need to control three types of lights, you need a 3 gang switch. Never heard of "gan".

Honestly... don't waste your time with Chew Interior... they are expensive and hardly willing to customise to your needs. They almost have the same strategy as Courts.... lots of advertisement, lots of lucky draws. But guess who eventually pays for these things?

Hmm... can't imagine height being an issue for HDB in this case.... else, the original step would have been a violation as well. GoalHome's suggestion of a wet and dry area is a good idea. Just extend the step out a little enough for people to step in front of the toilet. I am sure that's a reasonable request for HDB's approval. From my dealings with HDB officers... they are actually quite helpful and would not want to reject ideas if they are of good intentions and not violating serious safety codes. Not to worry....

Hi DLIM... FYI... I bought my downlights in a JB hardware shop near to Lorenzo JB.... including the Phillips energy saving 10W bulbs.... the downlights cost me only RM16 each. Of course, larger (18W bulbs type) and prettier ones will cost more (RMB20+) but still way cheaper than in Singapore. No sense making a trip to JB just to get downlights but if you are there on an outing anyway, why not? A light is a light... as long as you like the casing design (which I honestly don't find any difference with the ones in Singapore)... all the bulbs now come from China anyway.

Have u considered adding bricks to built a platfirm to be level with the step? It is silly I know... but should solve the problem, no? Can't totally trust those HDB drawings. Mine had my common toilet bowl on the wrong side.

Yes... it is not easy to deal with contractors... but at least you got as far as the stage of starting work! Many people's headaches came way before that.... e.g. I had to change my ID three weeks before work starts! Impossible not to have any issues lah.... afterall... it's a coordinated effort by so many parties. Sure got misunderstandings, miscomm...etc. I find that as long as you have some "buffer" to accept certain things that are less than perfect, and pick your battles on items that really matters.... things will go a lot smoother. All the best! Where abouts is your new place?

Actually, Babytan... I think you must "prepare" your dogs for the move.... though I don't know exactly how. All I know is my dog was quite moody for a few weeks after we moved. Guess part of her still thinks that it is an outing and we will go back home soon. I guess she will get used to the new place over time.... but very heartache to see her so moody. Can't blame her cause she grew up at the old place. Anyone has same experience with your dog?

My dryer is brand new....can't be sure it will continue to work as well down the road. My old electric dryer gets weaker and weaker every year. It used to take 1hour plus to dry a full load.... then 1.5hours ....and finally after 4 years.... almost 2 hours to dry the same load. Sigh.

The way I think (which I could easily be wrong...I know).... If the TV is ok for the first 2 years....chances are... there are no defects. If there are no defects, chances are..... the TV should last the average life that it is meant to last (as designed and tested by manufacturers). If so... the Plasma TV should last in excess of 60k hours (100k for new models) before reaching half life (where the image is so poor, you are better off buying a new one). And if I watch 5 hours of TV on average everyday, my Plasma should last me 33years! So if I just intend to use my TV for 10 years... ie. less than half of its theoretical useful life.... I think I am taking a calculated risk. Can anyone tell I have a philosophy background? Ha ha... I know this is just in theory. I learn the hard way when my LG washing machine broke down in less than 2 years from a one-year warranty! However... the risk taker in me still prevailed. You can also think of it in another way... say your TV cost $2000 and you paid extra $300 for 3 years extended warranty.... bear in mind.... you are paying $300 for warranty effective only after manufacturer warranty of 2 years. How much is your same TV worth after 2 years? Certainly a lot less than $2000, I bet. Say it is worth $800 after 2 years.... it means... if I were Harvey Norman... I get to spread the risks. All I need is 3 customers who buys extended warranty from me... and if only one of them invoke the warranty between 3rd and 5th year.... I can even afford to replace the TV with a new one. As you can see... I am obviously an economist at heart ... haha.... I count and count... not worth for me lah. Of course... its only for me. Paying a premium for peace of mind can be priceless for others. That, I can totally understand and appreciate. Anyone have any experience of their Plasmas breaking down after 2 years or when manufacture warranty is over? Please share...thanks.

Ha ha... I am more of a risk-taker. Manufacturer warranty is good enough for me. If really suay suay spoil after that... then good excuse to buy a new one? Hehehe...