kastlekonfusion

smoothen the flooring i'm not sure about lacquer as that's not what the contractor had used. He said something in Mandarin which means nothing to me as I don't understand what's he's saying! There's a coating of one kind or another. I'll have to ask the ID again. earlier today, we'd workers over to smoothen the flooring in the LR and MBR [the right side of the apartment; 1 unit of the 3 room flat]. tomorrow, it'd be the foyer, front room, kitchen and hopefully, the bathrooms and guest bedroom [the left side of the apartment; 1 unit of 3 room flat]. Even better if they could do the recess area tomorrow too. min. height clearance btw, do you have to hack the kitchen floor? is it still within the minimum height clearance? for our apartment, it was overlaid twice and thus we had to hack off everything, otherwise we wouldn't meet the minimum height clearance. as it was, we felt like being in a hobbit's house with such a low ceiling throughout. we've a 2x3room unit and when it came to the kitchen wall that the 2 units shared, we had an issue with the supporting beam which made it such that we had to raise the floor level to almost the same as before! what a waste of time, money and effort! set up anyway, what's the set up of your kitchen like?

An Indian worker came yesterday to hack the door frames for both utility rooms and we were surprised to see that it's a metal door frame, instead of the usual door frames. Interesting. Luckily the worker spoke English and it was easier to get him to clear up the mess. My maid even nagged at him and got him to mop the floor! Jialat. Anyway, another Chinese worker came today to make good the walls. I think he'd be back tomorrow to lay the pebble dashing. Silly me....forgot to take pixs of the progress....too busy unpacking.....only had time to look here when I'm having my lunch. Later lah, when I find the camera!

Hi, Have you used those pants holder like Ikea's system? Anyway, we are selling our white ikea cabinet with pants holder, wire rack, hanger bar and the hooks. It's not an ideal system for us as my husband has too many pair of pants and he finds it difficult to get the pair of pants he wants from this type of pants holder. Now we are reverting back to hangers with clips for pants.

Would prefer suspended entertainment console anytime.....looks nicer; could have soft lighting under the console; could probably put 3 little totoro figurines under there to set up a little totoro land; and the list goes on and on and on................ BUT...... we have an entertainment console custom made and it's not suspended. And it's all because of the sub woofer and that has to sit on the floor. Also, there are a few good wires connected to the SW. We have a free roaming bunny [Pistachio] and it thinks wires are like tree branches! Thus, we custom made the entertainment console in such a way Pistachio won't be able to get to the wires.

Lame frames Guess what lawry, we're having the same issue with the door frames! Now that we've moved in, we realised that we prefer to have PD Doors fixed for the 2 utility rooms. We rang up the contractor and they'd be over tomorrow to hack the frame and lay a portion of pebble dashing at the entrance of these rooms so we didn't have bother too much about the tiling where the door frames would be removed. Well, I suppose it can be dusty, noisy and inconvenient to do the doors now. So here's the thing..... inconvenience for a few days, control dust, noise factor to consider vs facing the unsightly door frame for the years to come If we leave the door frames and just plonk the PD doors on them, we will have to bear with this eyesore for the years to come. Every time when we go to the toilets, we will see this eyesore. Now that we still have the contractors popping over to do some minor works here and there, it is easier to get them to take down the door frames and lay the pebble dashings. Imagine if we can't stand this eyesore, say 2 years down the line, it will be difficult to get any workers to make a special trip up to do this minor work and probably the cost might be higher too.

Aircon / Fan Coil / Evaporator ....what is it? This pix doesn't offer a good view of the aircon but this is what I have in our pix folder which shows part of the aircon....mmm...I suppose Tom didn't pay attention to how the aircon units are installed. . Given away condenser + 1 fan coil Our previous flat owner had installed a condenser for 1 fan coil for one of the rooms. We gave that aircon away as it doesn't quite fit our needs and we can't use it in the utility room either as we have no more space for another condenser. As it was quite a new set, Nelson came to take down the fan coil and the condenser and fixed them over at our friend's new place. Not sure how much did he charge my friend for it. About the type or brand to use, I'm sorry that I can't help you with that. Perhaps you want to check with Nelson. Installation by Nelson Nelson came to run the trunking with another older man and he came back with the same assistant to re-run the trunking twice [my ID's fault - told Nelson to run the aircon differently to what we had instructed him to do so]. Last Friday, he came back with the same assistant and installed the condensers [x2] and fan coils [x5]. Pay by Credit Card We had requested to pay for the aircons by credit card in order to make use of the low interest monthly repayment plan and that's why he brought us to the supplier to get the aircons. Pay by Cash If you pay cash for the installation and supply of the aircons, I suppose he will sort it out for you without you having to go and get the aircons like we did. I think he accepts cheque too as we gave him cheque payments for the servicing of aircons for years. Nelson's contact Anyway, I have PM-ed you Nelson's contact. I have PM-ed you Nelson's contact too. Moving in soon......koon bay lok signing off.......instead of counting sheeps, end up counting outgoings

Hacking of the kitchen wall tiles Our renovation project workers cement screed over the kitchen wall tiles. Our ID, Mr Tan said that it's better to keep these wall tiles. The bottom few are the crucial ones that they prefer to maintain to prevent having any waterproofing issues. Changing of windows We'd Decorille BestView Slide & Swing window panels installed in the lounge. It's a breeze to use them. Our renovation project workers waited for the Decorille workers to finish installing the BestView Slide & Swing window panels before starting to cement screed that side of the walls. Perhaps you would like to check with your ID or your renovation contractor when is best for Decorille to send their fellas over.

Same here, we use toothpaste to make the chrome or s/steel taps & mixers clear of water marks and make them shiny. I suppose it might be the titanium oxide in the toothpaste that does the job - like the titanium oxide is found in whitening facial products. I have not tried 3M SS Polish & Shine as I didn't pay attention that there is such a product ... until 2 days ago when I read a renotalk forum thread about cleaning agents. suah ku hor.

Don't need to wait till National Day dinner to meet the MP lah. Go to the "Meet-The-People Sessions". Check out the Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council website. I'm not sure if this is the right zone for you all here at Blk 79 :- Dr Ng Eng Hen Location: Toa Payoh Central Blk 178 Toa Payoh Central, #01-238 S310178. Tel: 6253 8600 Fax: 6253 1249. Meet-The-People Sessions are conducted every TUESDAY* from 8pm (*Except Public Holidays) Good luck! Remember to bring NRIC.

Oh dear, you sure had a bad experience with the movers! It's scary! Ask for Food and drinks?!?! Bey Pai Sey leh! So far with 3 moves done by Citimap, there was only once that we bought food for the movers and that was because they had been very much engaged with our move for the whole day, finishing almost 8pm! And it was a friend who bought the food for them [and for us too]. It was so nice of our friend that he gotten halal makans for the workers. Increase charges during move?!?! Wah! That's not nice. Btw, were there more things to move than what was quoted for? Dismantling and Assembly Charges ...mmm....I don't remember having to pay extra for the worker to dismantle and assemble our queen sized bed. Perhaps that'd already included in the quote. The fella who dismantled and assembled the bed for our 3rd move was the same fella who did it for our 1st and 2nd move. Not impressed with other movers I have not used other movers but have seen Tom's cousin's 2 moves done by another company and we weren't impressed. They charged for boxes and the moving team is not experience. They do not wrap the items and that's a big for us as we are so used to how Citimap cling-wrap everything - even bamboo sticks! Thus, for our moves, we have always called Kenny of Citimap. Review Click here for our review posted on another renotalk thread. Quotation & Boxes Click here for the quote for our coming move on Monday. Btw, we have about 20 boxes which are unpacked from our previous move. 40 boxes were sent when Kenny had his colleague came to do the estimate. Another 35 boxes were sent over just a few days ago when my maid highlighted that we had ran out of boxes to pack our stuff. Other prices quoted for other forumers' move keltong's quote - $370, 40 boxes, 20ft truck, 1 team = 5 person appreciative's quote - $650, 2 trips, 80 boxes, + piano + s.heavy king size bed to move, had problem with boxes delivery? Inflation Now that I'm looking at the quote for keltong's move, that was very much the price we paid Kenny for our 1st move when we had a lot less things to move. We moved from KimLin Mansion, ground floor, 2 bedrooms apartment to a 3 bedrooms apartment on #12 Fairways Condo [lift landing but long corridor to the apartment]. So I see, there's no much of a price increase for Citimap's service. Then 3 bedrooms apartment move to 4 bedrooms apartment for about $600; 4 bedrooms apartment move to mansionette for $750 [still have cheque butt to refer to as it was only a year ago]. Now, mansionette moving to HDB 5 room improved unit [2 x HDB 3 room flat, corner] for $750. This move will be a more challenging one as there are many stairs climbing - -> mansionette upper level down to truck -> truck unloading bay 3 flights of stairs to get to ground level of HDB flat -> ground floor up another flight of stairs to get to lift -> lift to 3rd floor -> lift landing up another flight of stairs to reach HDB unit. Chuan hor? More things to move. More stairs to climb

I don't suppose you would be watching tv whilst on the desk, wouldn't you? Like hotel room setup?

Oh dear....I know that it's no good to have the overhead beam directly over one's bed, dining table, cooking area, etc. And it's precisely this reason that we have been wondering how to fix this problem we are having in our kitchen planning. At first the plan was to have false ceiling made to hide the overhead beam. However, when the renovation permit was issued, we were told that the flooring has to raised to hide the support beam and we won't be able to have the false ceiling in that area due to minimum height clearance issues. I didn't know until now that if the overhead beam is directly over the stove, it will affect the female owner of the house. How does it affect the female owner? Make us give up cooking?

stupid angmoh? we watched a cooking programme and the celebrity chef bumped his head on the hood! duh or what! Good to hear that they tore down the upper cabinet.

Detailed planning with Google Sketchup Tom is more detailed than I am when it comes to planning such things. He will measure everything in the house and draw all these items on 2D in Illustrator so it would be easier for us to plan where to put our furniture and the like. Can you imagine how he's like when he found Google SketchUp lately? For the first few nights, he didn't sleep much as he was checking out every possible tool in SketchUp to draw our floor plan, kitchen plan, tv feature wall cabinet and the like. This is plan that Tom had done for our kitchen using Google SketchUp:- I suppose since we are going to have cabinets made to measure, we will want to make sure we have the right space at the right place to put most if not all our stuff. Blog on Cabinetry I have just added 2 entries to my blog and I'll be adding more as I go along:- Cabinet Planning With Sketchup Cabinet Planning - Measurements Blum's Dynamic Space website Blum's Dynamic Space website is an interesting and informative read which helped in our planning of the kitchen. Perhaps you wanna check it out. Looking at Dynamic Space Zone Planner , I think our kitchen set up is perhaps a combination of 2 Lshaped and a gallery kitchen setup. I read your other post about kitchen space planning. How old are your kids? Setting "No Kids Zone" When my 2 kids were younger [1-3 years old], we set a 'no kids zone' that they understand and if they step beyond that point without permission, they would be send to the 'punishing corner' [a cosy corner with only 2 stools] Perhaps my kids are the kia si type; every now and then, I would remind them what they shouldn't do in the kitchen, ie pointing to the hob, "Mummy loves you very much and does not want you to get hurt. So don't touch this as it will hurt you badly. And this is NOT a toy." My 1st kitchen with young toddlers We didn't have an open concept kitchen as our style of cooking is rather heavy. We had fish tank that separates the kitchen and the lounge. In that way, I could keep an eye on them when I'm busy in the kitchen. My 2nd kitchen with young children In our other kitchen, they got older [4-5 years old] and was able to help out in the kitchen, ie beat eggs, wash rice, setting up the table, clearing their plates from the table and putting them into the sink. Child labour? I suppose it was quite fun for them. If you have space in the kitchen, set up a counter where they can have a bite in there or a place for them to doodle when you are busy in the kitchen. New kitchen + young adults They loved to be referred to as young adults now [14 & 15 years old]. For this kitchen, we have different work space for different purpose. Left of Kitchen On the left, that's where the preparation of food would take place and where the washing up would be done. For this area, I work around Tom's morning habit: - -- pour milk into cereal bowl -- plonk cereal bowl of milk into microwave oven to heat it up -- return milk carton into fridge -- take ReadyBrek oats container and stand near microwave oven and wait -- when milk is done, pour ReadyBrek oats into bowl and stir -- return ReadyBrek oats container to cabinet [done most of the time. ] -- then have his breakfast. This is the setup for the right of the kitchen: - Nearest to the lounge, we have a bar counter made. In that way, we need not go in and out of the kitchen so many times for serving or when we clear the dining table after meals. At that area, we will have rice cooker and probably a slow cooker for soup. Also, that's where we will boil water and make hot beverages too. And in upper cabinet, that's where we will have the bottles of alcohol for mixing drinks. We have also allowed space for a blender. In a way, it's almost like a restaurant serving ledge. Prep Sink We will have another prep sink in this area. It is rather inconvenient to have only 1 sink in the kitchen. Many a times when we needed a clean sink to prepare something, crabs for instance, the sink had some soiled crockery or the sink was soapy. Then the maid had to spend some time to clean up the sink area before we could proceed. Hob area I think we can have 4 people at this area at the same time looking after different cooking.

Is there a RC there? Perhaps they'd assist with the signatures. There is a common issue that the block of residents are having. RC = Residents' Committee = looking after residents' interest, isn't it? If still cannot work, then attend the "Meet the Minister" session together. Any of you watched "I Do, I Do"? Whenever I see the "Meet the Minister" poster, it made me think of that movie.

This is exactly the reasons why we didn't want the contractors to mount these fittings for us. Tom's meticulous in this aspect and he'd rather do it himself. As for me, I'm always finding ways to 'control the mess'. & I have a suggestion:- Buy another 2 or more hooks like the ones in your pix and mount them at different heights. Tom consoled, "that would make the error seem intentional!"

Oh dear lawry, so sorry to read of the problems that you had with your renovation. Do you happen to know the bi fold door installation company who did the doors at your apartment? Perhaps you can talk to them direct and see what they can suggest to rectify the problem. It's unfortunate that you have only discover this eye sore recently. If I'm in your shoes, I'd insist that they rebuilt the door. I don't think it's all that difficult to replace the black tiles in that area. What's their excuse? I wonder if it helps if you write to your contractor formally and give them a time line to rectify the problems.

It's not a silly question lah..... We all hope that the ball dropping from the table won't damage the cement screed flooring. However, looking at the flooring of those pool pubs that we frequent, we foresee having to make good the flooring after a few years. Thus, we explored the hardiness of many types of flooring. Carpet This is Pistachio and he will be the Tang Jiong [lounge master in Cantonese]. So, no carpet for the lounge. Checkered Plate When we first met Mr Tan of Atlantis Lifestyle, he had even suggested getting checkered plates done. I thought it would be really cool but Tom said it's not good for us to put such metal stuff in that area due to FengShui reasons. Cement Screed + Metal Strips Mr Tan then suggested putting these metal strips and create sections of cement screed floor. It's easier to rectify and make good a section than having to redo the whole flooring. I can't remember what other reasons for making these sections but Mr Tan explained that he had always done cement screed flooring for many places when he was younger and that it's better to do these sections.

I suppose there are a few ways local cabinet makers would make this type of flip and slide cabinet door. I have seen a sample at Atlantis Lifestyle showroom (IMM) and didn't quite like that one as it does not slide in easily. I can't remember for the life of me where I have the one where there is a guide so the door slide in easier. Ikea maybe? As for those hinges & flap system for the upper cabinet, I find it tiring to pull it down. Anyway, such are things one must highlight to the cabinet maker/ID/contractor as they won't know that's what we prefer. Perhaps I'm the fussy pot - I specified where I want certain type of drawers & cabinets; the interior dimension of the spice and condiments cabinets; pantry cabinets [must fit toyogo boxes]; etc. Well, we will be the one using the kitchen and surely, we know the workflow in the kitchen that we are used to better. Good Luck to your renovation!

Indeed! A good thousand odd difference! We spoke to many sales persons at the aircon shops and superstores. They are rather reluctant to quote for just the aircons as most probably earn from the installation. Anyway, we will be arranging to buy the aircon systems with my friend, Nelson, later. Would you want Nelson's contact number or where we will be buying the aircons from? DSA ... not KKF lah. KK can liao. At other forums, we are known as KK for short; so much so that after all this years, they still calls me KK when we meet in person. Anyway, this is a plan that I did so Nelson can see how we would like the job done and as you can see, it's a HDB flat:-

I had 4 Ikea home office furniture cabinet with roll up cabinet doors and such doors were difficult to handle after awhile. It was quite an effort to roll up to access to the cabinets and the same to pull down to close the cabinet. After this experience with the roller cabinet door, I made a mental note not to use such again. For our renovation, we went shopping and saw a few of such roller cabinet doors for kitchen. I noticed that Ikea's roller cabinet doors displayed are a much improved type. However, we reckon that we will probably have the same problem with these doors over time, especially in the kitchen when there is a higher possible chance of the inner tracks getting stuck with grime. [see picture with the bread] Click here for more pixs That's the flip and slide cabinet door that we will be using for the spice & condiment rack.

I do not know if they have any package. Usually, Kenny would come over to look at what we want him to move and give us a quote. Minor Move - Toh Tuck to AMK To move the following items from Toh Tuck to Ang Mo Kio for $150: Cabinet: Vhive Shoe Cabinets [3 doors] x 2 unitsTV Console [2 drawers] x 2 unitsSofa: XZQT Day BedTable: Coffee Table [1 drawer, 1 side table] Major Move - Toh Tuck to Telok Blangah Crescent The major move from Toh Tuck to Telok Blangah Crescent would cost us $750. So far, we have gotten 40 carton boxes to pack our stuff. We'd be needing perhaps another 20 more. Scary when I look at the inventory spreadsheet that I have created: Appliances: Fridge Appliances: Fridge Mini Appliances: Microwave Oven Appliances: Washing Machine [3kg] Appliances: Washing Machine [8kg] Appliances: TV - Sony Bravia D Series 40” Appliances: TV - Samsung LCD 21” Appliances: Entertainment System - Panasonic Amp & Receiver Appliances: Entertainment System - Panasonic DVD player Appliances: Entertainment System - Panasonic VCR player Appliances: Entertainment System - Starhub Hub Station Appliances: Entertainment System - Klipsch 6 speakers Appliances: Entertainment System - Klipsch Sub Woofer Bed: Vhive Queen-sized Bed Cabinet: BarangBarang Bedside Cabinet Cabinet: Ikea Brown Shelving System w/castors Cabinet: Ikea Cabinet [4 glass doors] Cabinet: Ikea Chest of 5 Drawers Cabinet: Ikea Multi Drawer Unit Cabinet: Ikea Pantry Cabinet Cabinet: Ikea Shelving Cabinet [4 doors] x 2units Cabinet: Ikea Suspension Filing Cabinet x 2 units Cabinet: Ikea Tall Drinks Cabinet Cabinet: Oriental Cabinet of 13 drawers Chair: Ikea Office Chair Chair: Ikea Office Chairs [no wheels] Chair: Ikea Typist Chairs Chair: Vhive Office Chairs x 2units Desk: Idre Desk [Metal legs; MDF] x 2units Desk: Ikea Computer Table [Metal] Desk: XZQT Desk [3 drawers] Shelf: Ikea Billy Bookcase Shelf: Ikea Billy Bookshelf Shelf: Ikea Green Shelving Unit w.Castors Shelf: Ikea Lack Wall Shelf Shelf: Ikea Shelf Stool: BarangBarang Brown Wooden Stool Stool: Vhive Brown Stool [Aluminium legs] Table: Dining Table (Marble) & 6 chairs Table: Mahjong Table [Foldable] Wardrobe: Ikea wardrobe system [1 door] Wardrobe: Ikea wardrobe system [w/trousers rack] Worktop: Movable Worktop [1 drawer; 2 shelves] Worktop: Movable Worktop [5 drawers; plastic] Light: BarangBarang Bamboo Light [2 bulbs] Light: Ikea Round Wall Lights x 3 units Light: Ikea Stand Lamp [Metal] Mirror: Black Frame Mirror [small] Mirror: Black Frame Mirror [big] Mirror: Frameless Mirrors x 6 units Mirror: Metal Frame Mirrors x 3 units Planter: BarangBarang Wood Planter Rack: Ikea PVC Movable Clothing Rack x 3 units Rack: Shoe Rack Screen: 3 Panel Screen [no fabric] and the list goes on! I have yet add in the kitchen stuff; boxes of PC parts and such [Tom's hobby]; etc. No wonder my mum's complaining that we have so many things like we have 10 sons and 9 daughters at home! PS. Not to mention stuff for 7 bunnies and possibly more bunnies if we start fostering them again.

We bought the flat liao leh. We blur blur lah....didn't tell the seller's agent about us having an agent friend that we want to represent us. It was only when we rang him back to accept the seller's offer that we told him of our intention but he told us it's not possible. Anyway, Tom and I decided that it's the most ideal flat at the location where we want and we felt very comfortable in the flat when we viewed it. We just accepted the seller agent's explanation and signed the buyer's commission agreement so to avoid any delays. Uh, I didn't know we could do that! Ok, noted liao.

Cracks and Holes We have considered the possible cracks and holes. We would have a pool table in the lounge and one of our biggest concern was that the occasional miscue would send the ball out of the table, onto the floor and possibly damaging the floor. We thought it was rather smart of our ID to suggest creating sections of flooring that you see with this pix:- As the renovation progress, we are pleased to see how the cement screed flooring is turning out. Tom took some pixs and I organized them as an email attachment to the ID, telling him that we are super pleased with how he had arranged the metal strips:- Dating Tiles *hehehehe* One thing we both agree is that tiling tends to date a place and decided that we will have the cement screeded walls without paint until one day that we might feel inspired to paint it like GWC toilets. And then the one day might also come for us to remove all the paint and do something else. So in a way, we can have a new look every few years. Here's a pix of the laundry area with a partial view of the kitchen: - Singing the same songs Indeed, singing the same song would be the ideal scenario. Anyway, when you want to do the cement screed, you could drop us a line or bookmark this thread and I will let you know then how it has been for us. I have enabled the email notification of replies and hopefully I'll remember to come back to this thread to share in years to come.