A Canvas To Our Imagination: Thoreau

[inthechouse 8]

hi inthechouse, just dropping by to say congrats on completing the reno! Ours is also awaiting final inspection right now and we can't wait for everything to be over. Instead of hiring movers, we have been bringing a few boxes over each time we go to our new place.

Nothing like the feeling of settling into your new house eh? Btw, how many rounds of cleaning have you done so far?

Thanks, vics1234. Same to you! Any tips for final inspection? After 3 months of reno, I am still blur blur. LOL.

Yeah it's kinda nice. The furkid got to explore the neighbourhood while I tried to get friendly with the neighbours. But the cleaning is a pain! We had commisioned some general cleaning which set us back by 150 or 180. Basically it was just floor and window wash with plain water. Hmm. Kinda ex.

After the unpacking, dust flew all over, and the place was back to being dusty. I was very slow with the cleaning because of 1 bad arm, but I had 4 full days so...

Still toying with the idea of hiring a PT cleaning lady for a 4-hour block once I am done with all the boxes. Just halfway through the 20 now.

Edited March 4, 2014 by inthechouse

[inthechouse 8]

Some quick updates without pix. Just got back to work and there's tonnes of stuff to clear...

- No time to deal with the cement wall other than to wipe it with a slightly damp cloth. It looks and feels a lot better now. Still can't decide about the lacquering.

- Ah Gui and buddy came down to fix my inverted hood. I also requested for them to seal the gaps one more time and he kindly obliged.

P.S: The smell in the cabinets is taking forever to go away. Gagged a few times on the first day. Hiaks!

- The glass panel team came by again after I told Alan that they had not done a good job with the siliconing. I asked them about this problem I am facing, but they don't have a good solution. But at least they offered some. Alan just told me nothing can be done about it.

Here's the problem:

In the MBR bathroom, there is a fixed tempered glass panel that separates the shower area and the WC. The floor trap is at the shower area, and the floor slants towards it. This means any water around the WC, especially the part between the glass panel and 1 side of the WC, is trapped there. Bad news for when you need to wash the bathroom floor.

I've tried sweeping the water out, but unless one kneels down and dries the (very tight) area with a cloth, it won't be completely dry. Worse, the accumulation there has since caused the grout to darken permanently.

The glass people have offered to dril a tiny hole in the alum frame that holds the glass panel. But this hole will not be levelled with the floor, so it's kinda pointless, coz the suspended hole will not help with letting all the water through.

They also offered to remove all the silicone at the 90-deg corner of the floor, where the two alum panels meet. But this just leaves a 3-4mm gap, which does not help with letting the water through.

This L-shaped frame and glass idea now seems very half-witted. It's so easy for them to just place it there, without considering the water flow. Obviously we did not think of it earlier either. Now with all this knowledge we can only advise other newbies, but we can't fix our own problems. How vexing.

In other news... 1 of the 2 Otto WCs we bought from Hupfarri - the more expensive one - lets out a roar after a flush. It was also a mistake to have purchased this particular model, because, carrying an extra tick, it flushes badly due to it's water-saving feature. What's with the roar though? Gotta check with Hupfarri.

Edited March 4, 2014 by inthechouse

[vicx1234 38]

Thanks, vics1234. Same to you! Any tips for final inspection? After 3 months of reno, I am still blur blur. LOL.

Yeah it's kinda nice. The furkid got to explore the neighbourhood while I tried to get friendly with the neighbours. But the cleaning is a pain! We had commisioned some general cleaning which set us back by 150 or 180. Basically it was just floor and window wash with plain water. Hmm. Kinda ex.

After the unpacking, dust flew all over, and the place was back to being dusty. I was very slow with the cleaning because of 1 bad arm, but I had 4 full days so...

Still toying with the idea of hiring a PT cleaning lady for a 4-hour block once I am done with all the boxes. Just halfway through the 20 now.

Oh, I'm just as clueless as you when it comes to final inspection. My wife is a lot more rigorous in that department, scrutinizing our house for every bit that she doesn't like. It really depends on how good or how bad the workmanship is I guess. Best tip I have received is to get other homeowners who have gone through the renovation process (e.g. your parents) to point out obvious flaws in workmanship etc. I think some of the defects/poor workmanship are generally very obvious. The more experienced homeowners can help out with the less obvious ones I guess.

But it's always best that you catch what is not to your liking, you'll have to live with it after all haha. If your husband is the more detailed one, get him to do a thorough inspection of the house haha.

If you find that your cleaning lady is good, would you care to share? We also desperately need cleaning services. The wife has been cleaning her brains out in our home.

[Takaishi 44]

yes yes yes cleaning lady i also need next time

[elin1029 23]

Here's the problem:

In the MBR bathroom, there is a fixed tempered glass panel that separates the shower area and the WC. The floor trap is at the shower area, and the floor slants towards it. This means any water around the WC, especially the part between the glass panel and 1 side of the WC, is trapped there. Bad news for when you need to wash the bathroom floor.

I've tried sweeping the water out, but unless one kneels down and dries the (very tight) area with a cloth, it won't be completely dry. Worse, the accumulation there has since caused the grout to darken permanently.

I feel your helplessness. How about keep the WC area permanently dry? It should be possible because I keep the WC area in my bathroom dry too. When I wash the WC, I'll be careful not to splash out. I'm not sure you have a shower door to keep water from coming out. If not, possible to install one?

[Songz 132]

For the bathroom issue I really not sure how to solve that.

For the cleaning I will suggest you do the unpacking first and then find the PT cleaning to do it, else it will be quite a repeating process.

Do not try too hard to do the cleaning yourself and aggravate the arm injury

(Juz my 2 cents worth)

[inthechouse 8]

I feel your helplessness. How about keep the WC area permanently dry? It should be possible because I keep the WC area in my bathroom dry too. When I wash the WC, I'll be careful not to splash out. I'm not sure you have a shower door to keep water from coming out. If not, possible to install one?

Thanks, elin1029. The bathroom is so puny it's impossible to install a shower unit (which was what I had in mind long ago). Hence just one glass panel to keep the WC dry. I guess we'll just have to wash the floor around WC less frequently, though the recent unpacking has caused a lot of dust on the floor, hence we 'dirty' the light-coloured bathroom floor tiles whenever we go in to take a pee. Maybe mopping will do. Or if a wet wash is a must, we'll have to dry that headache area with a rag. Oh well. Very keen to just shower in the common bathroom. This whole thing really wasn't well thought out at all.

For the bathroom issue I really not sure how to solve that.

For the cleaning I will suggest you do the unpacking first and then find the PT cleaning to do it, else it will be quite a repeating process.

Do not try too hard to do the cleaning yourself and aggravate the arm injury

(Juz my 2 cents worth)

Thanks, Songz. Looking forward to this long weekend (took leave on Friday) to continue with the unpacking.

[inthechouse 8]

So we spent 1 hour last night struggling to install the safety gate. It was a true bimbotic moment for me. And someone wasn't too pleased with us/the item.

Been struggling a bit with the Hitachi fridge. Being new, you'd have to close it with some amount of strength, otherwise it won't close properly. A few days ago, in the midst of running around like a headless chicken, I had left the fridge door ajar for a good 2 hours!

Then there's the water pressure issue. It's good everywhere, even for the basic Mistral instant water heater we have in the common bathroom, but the 707 Princeton in the master bathroom turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. We bought this most expensive 707 model coz of the pretty shower head. But the water pressure was pathetic. We weren't expecting the rain shower kind of effect, of course. We chose not to install storage heating tanks la. Anyway, we had two different plumbers check it and the water pressure around the flat. No solution. So we called the agent and they sent someone down 2 days later. Note: If they find that there's nothing wrong with the unit, you'd have to pay a transport fee of $35. So the guy came and said that the culprit was the shower head. So he replaced it with a 707 Protek shower head (or so he claimed) and the water pressure was much better. Apparently he's done this for many customers.

So, for those who are thinking of buying a Princeton for a new home, you'd have to take a gamble, coz you won't know the pressure until the unit is installed. Now that we know, we feel it's not value for money, coz the Protek - at about $50 cheaper - may very well work just the same.

[claypot 46]

thanks for sharing i'm also looking for instant water heater. now i know which model/brand to avoid.

Been struggling a bit with the Hitachi fridge. Being new, you'd have to close it with some amount of strength, otherwise it won't close properly. A few days ago, in the midst of running around like a headless chicken, I had left the fridge door ajar for a good 2 hours!

Then there's the water pressure issue. It's good everywhere, even for the basic Mistral instant water heater we have in the common bathroom, but the 707 Princeton in the master bathroom turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. We bought this most expensive 707 model coz of the pretty shower head. But the water pressure was pathetic. We weren't expecting the rain shower kind of effect, of course. We chose not to install storage heating tanks la. Anyway, we had two different plumbers check it and the water pressure around the flat. No solution. So we called the agent and they sent someone down 2 days later. Note: If they find that there's nothing wrong with the unit, you'd have to pay a transport fee of $35. So the guy came and said that the culprit was the shower head. So he replaced it with a 707 Protek shower head (or so he claimed) and the water pressure was much better. Apparently he's done this for many customers.

So, for those who are thinking of buying a Princeton for a new home, you'd have to take a gamble, coz you won't know the pressure until the unit is installed. Now that we know, we feel it's not value for money, coz the Protek - at about $50 cheaper - may very well work just the same.

[claypot 46]

Which Hitachi model did you get?

Edited March 5, 2014 by claypot

[inthechouse 8]

Which Hitachi model did you get?

It was between R-Z451 and 481. Went for the bigger one eventually coz the price different wasn't a lot. We like to entertain and sometimes we end up with lots of leftovers, so the extra space will come in handy. Not to mention the need for space for endless bottles of wine! Btw, Hitachi refrigerators are supposed to be very energy-efficient. That's what we were told by several different stores.

As for the instant water heater, 707 is supposed to be super reliable, since it's been around for some time. We were told that all/some? (can't remember) of the 707s units and 1 or 2 selected Mistral units come with inner copper something. And that's supposed to be good/safe.

[inthechouse 8]

Managed to quickly upload some recent pix.

This is the glass panel (yet to clean the glass properly) and the offending section where water accumulates. The silicone was badly done, but the workers have since cleaned it up. See that brush/broom? It's a lifesaver.

greg asked about the patching of the pipe holes. Here's a shot (pre-sanding down). The colour is so much better now that my independent sub-con has had it touched up. Alan's workers simply filled the hole with super dark gray cement.

Oops, image failed to rotate right.

[inthechouse 8]

Cracked wall tile in one bathroom. Alan said it may be too tight and the tile cutter cannot reach it. Sigh. We'll find out on Saturday.

Problem-free in the other bathroom. Thanks to everyone here who voted for the pipes to be painted grey.

One question though, for the corners of the floor tiles, do we need to have them siliconed? Or should we leave it like that?

Other pix...

StarHub TV installation last week. Fibre broadband can only be installed tomorrow.

Customized (brown) storeroom rack with PVC planks, first inspected by the little one. Yee Sin was pretty prompt and reliable (in other words, did not give me any headaches). Installation was swift too. Highly recommended!

Delivery and assembly of dining table from Natural Living. Another problem-free transaction (as of now).

Edited March 6, 2014 by inthechouse

[Songz 132]

Which Hitachi model did you get?

My friend is using the brand Alpha for heater and the review from him is quite good.

You can consider taking a look at that brand.

[Songz 132]

The rack looks good...