Originalbread's Humble Abode

[originalbread 0]

Did u draw up ur kitchen drawing? Pretty nice... Im still not able to design my ideal kitchen cabinets... but ideas are swarming inside my head...

Hope u'll have a smooth reno journey..

Thanks. Yes I drew it myself. But it took me many rounds of drawings before it looked this way. I'm pretty bad with such things. I realise I shouldn't have kept the previous owner's stove and sink top. It makes it very difficult to design. A friend told me last Saturday's Straits Times has some feature on kitchen designs, perhaps you could take a look? But I missed that feature.

[originalbread 0]

Nice lights! $70 is cheap! How big is it?

It doesn't look big to me when I see it in the shop, but when I check the official website, it says 510mm.

[originalbread 0]

Was searching for a nice wall light to put above a collage.

I thought this black slim wall light looks just right:

(image from Whitewoods)

Lovely styling by Whitewoods. I felt that the light really added points to the atmosphere.

While the sliver and bronze picture lights could be found in most shops, I couldn't find one in black. Anyone know where to get this? I think this is just used for styling by Whitewoods. The silver/nickel plated picture lights look fine too but not so matching with my hanging bulbs (see earlier post), which is more industrial style while the slim silver picture lights look more classic.

Then I saw this cute light.

No, this is not a picture light but perhaps I could just shift the picture to the right of this lamp, put a simple chair under the lamp, then create a niche corner?

Any comments? This is my last outstanding light. Has already overshot my budget

[originalbread 0]

Serious issue here.

ok, you can't see any problem with the photo, but when I walk around my bedrooms' floor, I can feel the unevenness almost every step. and its like the type that feels sharp to the feet.

the grouting is also uneven, some areas you could see the grout properly filled up between the gaps, some areas you just see the gap and not the grout. then for those areas filled with grout, some are light grey in color while others very dark grey, though they could be side by side. contractor said its moisture and common issue for using cement as grout or even color grout but this is ridiculous. I've never hear anything like this before.

As for the unevenness, he said its the tiles issues and can ask the tile companies down to explain to me. Since all these were over the phone, I'll just see what the contractor got to say when we go down to my house tomorrow.

and for the corners of my skirting, they are really ugly, you can see a grey exposed area whenever there is a corner. Is this the norm?

pic before painting.

anyone experienced issues with tiling before? I thot laying the tiles evenly, and doing the grout grout properly are very basic expectations. I'm not even complaining that they did not arrange the running tone tiles properly to ensure the color and lines flow properly.

[Minerat 1]

Definitely not normal.

[Sygnur 0]

No go for the gap/exposed area at the skirting...

[originalbread 0]

Thanks all. Anyone could help by posting a photo of how the corner of ur skirting look like?

Edited September 24, 2012 by originalbread

[Sygnur 0]

😳paisey.... Didnt have any pic of joint skirting... When received keys of my bto flat, my skirting issue is more about slight cracks which have been rectified..

Hope others would have pics to show...

[originalbread 0]

Thanks Sygnur.

Juz met my contractor, he say skirting r all done like this now. If I can show him other places not like this, he will admit is his fault.

[princessandhergeek 1]

Thanks Sygnur.

Juz met my contractor, he say skirting r all done like this now. If I can show him other places not like this, he will admit is his fault.

hi bread -

i dun hv a pic of our house the corner too - will take the next time round we go up - but seriously, i dun recall our tiles being tiled lidat leh - otherwise we'd have jumped too.. the top part is normal.. in the end they will be painted over.. but the corner.. shouldn't be filled with so much cement/ grout.. i recall tiles at the side o.o

in any case.. the tiling shouldn't be uneven.. even if it was the tiles problem - then ur contractor's responsibility to make sure he dun use the problematic tiles for tiling.. and he cannot say that this is not common practice cox our renovator told us he'd be doing that when we expressed worry over the 800mm tiles.. he said that his practice is never lay the tiles if there are problems and consult owner first before deciding whether to take risk and continue to lay or to request the tile company to change a new batch before laying the tiles..

rawrrr! if u can feel the unevenness when walking..... den it's not very safe wor... plus weird cox if u can feel it then others can feel it too.. o.o headache

Edited September 24, 2012 by princessandhergeek

[originalbread 0]

Thanks Princess. The greyish edge in the pic is actually the cross section of the tile, eg. when u cut a tile, u will get to see this grey portion which is the thickness of a tile. But not sure why these homogeneous tiles look so ugly when sliced across. Thot homogeneous tiles should look homogeneous .

Indeed v headache, he insists that what he is doing is the standard practice n he did so many houses no one got issue.

For the wood tone tiles, initially I want to pick the long strips type but he say may warp, so I listen to the advice n didn't pick that. Then when I pick these 30x60, he did say this will not have the same issue.

Juz b4 laying the tiles, he called to say can't lay staggered else will have warping, so I also listen to the advice n lay them in one line. But then even so, the unevenness v bad.

[originalbread 0]

Thanks Princess. The greyish edge in the pic is actually the cross section of the tile, eg. when u cut a tile, u will get to see this grey portion which is the thickness of a tile. But not sure why these homogeneous tiles look so ugly when sliced across. Thot homogeneous tiles should look homogeneous .

Indeed v headache, he insists that what he is doing is the standard practice n he did so many houses no one got issue.

For the wood tone tiles, initially I want to pick the long strips type but he say may warp, so I listen to the advice n didn't pick that. Then when I pick these 30x60, he did say this will not have the same issue.

Juz b4 laying the tiles, he called to say can't lay staggered else will have warping, so I also listen to the advice n lay them in one line. But then even so, the unevenness v bad.

[jumbopanther 2]

Thanks Princess. The greyish edge in the pic is actually the cross section of the tile, eg. when u cut a tile, u will get to see this grey portion which is the thickness of a tile. But not sure why these homogeneous tiles look so ugly when sliced across. Thot homogeneous tiles should look homogeneous .

Indeed v headache, he insists that what he is doing is the standard practice n he did so many houses no one got issue.

For the wood tone tiles, initially I want to pick the long strips type but he say may warp, so I listen to the advice n didn't pick that. Then when I pick these 30x60, he did say this will not have the same issue.

Juz b4 laying the tiles, he called to say can't lay staggered else will have warping, so I also listen to the advice n lay them in one line. But then even so, the unevenness v bad.

For tiles that lay at 90 degree angle, to produce a clean cut straight line without thick 'grey' section, one have to cut both tiles at 45 deg, can be done. Will show you the photo of what's done in my hse.

I don't think laying staggered will cause warping of floor tiles. Just that laying staggered will require more work and more tiles cutting ( meaning more wastage) especially when come near to the walls.

[originalbread 0]

For tiles that lay at 90 degree angle, to produce a clean cut straight line without thick 'grey' section, one have to cut both tiles at 45 deg, can be done. Will show you the photo of what's done in my hse.

I don't think laying staggered will cause warping of floor tiles. Just that laying staggered will require more work and more tiles cutting ( meaning more wastage) especially when come near to the walls.

Thanks Jumbopanther. I managed to get to a friend's house just now. His skirting corners were like what you described, cut both tiles at 45degree. I will show the contractor a snapshot of my friend's skirting. I have another friend which was not cut at 45 degree, but hers' doesn't have a thick grey section. It looks exactly like the tiles' surface color, it could be due to the color of the tile cross section as some have rather similar color to the surface.

But I can't accept my skirting. Will tell the contractor to change all corners else I won't pay.

[originalbread 0]

Thanks Jumbopanther. I managed to get to a friend's house just now. His skirting corners were like what you described, cut both tiles at 45degree. I will show the contractor a snapshot of my friend's skirting. I have another friend which was not cut at 45 degree, but hers' doesn't have a thick grey section. It looks exactly like the tiles' surface color, it could be due to the color of the tile cross section as some have rather similar color to the surface.

But I can't accept my skirting. Will tell the contractor to change all corners else I won't pay.

Anyway, I did follow the contractor advice on the tile laying so he has one less excuse on poor worksmanship.