RimBlock

External to the unit (outside walls and roof) is Town Council. I had the same issue but when it rained, water used to come in to my old unit and leave a puddle on my master bedroom floor. Called TC and someone reapplied latex paint within a week to seal the outside wall. Didn't have any more issues after that. As concrete is not waterproof, if the latex paint wears out due to weathering then you may get this issue. Give the TC a call and they should send someone to assess and arrange repair works for you. RB

It seems they are allowed to be bought in Singapore as there used to be a store in Suntec selling replica swords although it has now closed. Not sure on the rules about importing though. If you cannot bring in handcuffs, even the fluffy kind , I would expect you cannot bring in replica weapons. Strange that you could purchase in Singapore though. RB

What is this thing called sleep..... Clearly you have an obligation to post photos before going to the land of nod... Rest well. Welcome back. RB

Ok so you chose not to do a second hole. First hole works for waterproof, second should be fine as long as contractor knows their job. Two heaters will be simpler but more expensive. You will not get a water pressure drop if sink and shower is in use apart from on the cold water flow. RB

Thinking about it, drilling through the floor for a hot pipe may worry some contractors especially if the bathroom waterproofing already done. There should be no issue if the bathrooms not already done. One cold water pipe already upstairs can work with no leak so what is the problem with two ?. I think some are just reluctant. There is no technical reason I am aware of as to why you cannot have the hot water from one storage heater up and down stairs. RB

Huh, your ID run out of pipe ?. Cold water has to go to storage water heater upstairs so hot water can come down also with another pipe using same route. Very strange. I can guarantee it can be done and it would be fine if connected in a sensible way. Would be interested what excuse your ID gave ?. Can even wire the power switch for two points if needed like the light switch up and down stairs. RB

Same person who repairs the crack if it appears in a wall. Still can fall off the wall and hurt someone if a crack appears surely. Sure so some people are not willing to correctly maintain their property and so HDB have to lay out rules for their own good which also affects people who are able to correctly maintain their property. Another examples is not being able to cross a empty road unless the green man is showing. Gvmt liking to care for its citizens treats all like small children sometimes. For spalling concrete HDB will repair. No cost, little hassle although still some people not bothered to get fixed. My personal feeling is that there should be some work that owners are allowed to do but they must sign to take responsibility for maintenance and proper care. This is only for things that are unlikely to affect other home owners. If Singapore still in wooden huts then no FT would like to come. Don't want to work in wooden office with no aircon. No wish to 'melt away' in the heat . RB

You see, clearly a rookie mistake in marriage. She will kindly tell you for the rest of your life that you got the projector, regardless of where the budget came from, as a special allowance. You can then counter with the fact that you go the tiles she wanted. You need to find an evening factor or you will owe for years for getting the projector. 10 years later when you discuss about getting something a bit extravagant and mention that you would never usually by something so 'out there' she will point out the projector you bought. Women and elephants..... remember everything and are scared of mice . RB

Just to add to this... In the UK plastering on the ceilings is very common and very rarely would result in falling plaster as long as leaks are rectified within a reasonable amount of time and large cracks are dealt with. The only time I heard about any such case (2nd person) was when a bad Artex ceiling patterning was installed. Bottom line, as long as you are not silly and repair any damage or get it repaired if you notice it then you are very unlikely to have any issues. Same with spalling concrete falling on your head although if HDB put up rules against using concrete I guess we would all be back to wooden huts...... Government agencies have to work to the bottom common denominator hence these rules for HDB apartments (and in some cases not in condos) and PUBS rules regarding positioning of electrical sockets so far off the ground just in case the elderly grandma sloshes the floor with a bucket of water to help clean it. RB

I know some other installs where the aircon trunking is run outside. What is outside your window ?. Is it possible to go through the wall under the window and then along the outside wall and back in to the toilet thus avoiding all the internal beams ? RB

Haha, all is fair in love and war.... You got your projector and she got her tiles . RB

If they all sound the same to you then get the cheapest . Seriously all should be very good at that price point so you are not likely to get any bad choice blues if you like them all equally. Sound is the same for you so it is now only price and aesthetics. RB

Seems to be a fairly new model so not many reviews / opinions knocking about. By all accounts it should be quite good. Give it a demo but compare it against the likes of Denon, Yamaha and Onkyo around the same price range rather than just listening to it on its own. RB

Can, but need to check with the Boss as she has the details . RB

Cool, thanks, will take a look. RB

That is a pretty big unit you have there from your blog plans. We have a couple of 12 meter runs from the front to back of our EM. Guess the other options would be a up rated compressor, a window unit as your ID suggested or a portable unit. RB

Depends on how good you are with DIY and how many professionals you need to hire to correct a bad DIY job if you get it wrong . DIY will usually be cheaper as you are not paying for skilled labour but you are also not getting trade discount on materials. RB

We did for our first purchase and they came and cleaned 3-4 times a year for 2 years. The contract did not include the compressor outside though or gas top up (IIRC). The cleaning they do is the same as you could do yourself if you get one of the kits from HomeFix). It really is nothing special and def not a chemical clean which we have been advised to do once a year to get rid of the algae / mould / jelly build up. We use a different company now who also service the compressor as well if needed. RB

Cool, although I expect if you came to sell then they may be a bit more strict. I know of at least one place where they had to pull the cables out of the walls and remount them in surface casing before selling. Hate surface mounting...... . RB

Yeah, I guess so. Just have to find a good supplier of materials in the East. There is one in the Changi Distripark net to where my wife works that may have wood but I am not so sure as I have not been to that part of the building (there also sell tiles and furniture). The woodwork is not so difficult, just have to make sure the drilling in the wall to fix the frame doesn't shatter the glass . It will look a lot nicer though. I also would like to turn our free standing wardrobe in to a fitted wardrobe in the master bedroom as the beam is pushing it 3-4 inches from the wall. My wife has other views though and wants to keep it free standing even though we loose that space. Ahh, deep breath. The older one comes back from New Zealand tonight so no doubt he will be enthralling us with how it was 'all right' and how he did 'nothing much' and how her 'wouldn't mind" going again..... . RB

Have a look at some of the T-Blogs and see if you can get some recommendations for contractors from there. For 6K I would look at a package for just the kitchen and then do the rest later. Remember to make sure any package includes sink and taps, lighting points, light switches and electrical wall sockets, cooker and extractor (the fan thing above the cooker to filter the smoke from cooking). Call around and see what people quote. Problem with asking here is that most people do a big reno and so get cheaper prices that they would for just a one room reno. Good luck, sounds like a good plan you have to help your parents and family. RB

We have now got our ID to confirm last touch ups this Fri/Sat so that will hopefully finish off most of the work. He is meant to be coming around after work early this week to confirm what needs to be done. We have a slight leak on a pipe in the downstairs toilet. No smells just a slight marking. ID suggested some putty to patch but to be honest, I would prefer to get the pipe replaced and do the job properly. Still waiting for a quote for it. Having a few regrets about the stairs wall coving light. Just doesn't look as finished and nice as some others and really hater the recess on one side. Thinking the coving light should not have been done and the money would have been better spent on boxing up the recess to make a flat wall all the way up the stairwell. The hanging light in the stairwell provides more than enough light for that area so the two lights seem like a bit of a waste. Parents are arriving in just over two weeks and hopefully my father will be able to help put up the wooden frame around the glass walled study area and some wooden edging top and bottom of the stair wall coving light to give is a bit of a better finish. RB

Hi, Unfortunately cannot see the pics you have posted from work so will have to wait until I get home. If you are worried about the HDMI cable then just plug a dvd/bluray player in at the projector end (get someone to hold it just to test) and plug a TV at the other end. This should give you a fair idea if there is an issue with the cable and hopefully put your mind at ease, at least on that subject. RB.

Any more progress pics. Hopefully it is coming on well. RB

If you bothered to read you would see that we are not talking about multi thousand dollar transports. If you bothered to think you would possibly manage to understand that this is a renovation and not an audiophile forum. If you bothered then you may not keep embarrassing yourself so badly. Going on previous poses from you, that just wont happen though. Please keep up the entertainment. RB