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If you can afford it, it seems like IDs are a better choice. I'm using a contractor, and having a HUGE problem with them now. We might sue them, and I will post more once i know the outcome of it.

Hmm. strange. I am also using Natural Cool. So far everything has been very good! I don't know the name of the sales man we are using (my hubby is coordiating), but initially they anyhow cut a hole in our false ceiling, but when hubby called to tell them to patch up because we're not redoing false ceiling, the next day they immediately send someone to patch up, and its done up quite ok. now my contractor is painting my place, the cut marks cannot be seen anymore.. so far the experience with them has been very good.

isn't it better not to hack existing floor tiles IF it has no problems of leaking in the last X years it was occupied by previous owner? i faced a similar situation and my contractor told me it's ok to hack wall tiles cos scared of popping but floor tiles popping is not common. therefore can save the $$. personally i went ahead with his suggestion because: 1) before overlay the original floor tiles never leak. when my contractor does waterproof on the old tiles THEN overlay new tiles, that means it's 'safer' and less chances of leaking? 2) overlaying is faster 3) overlaying is cheaper therefore i went with his suggestion. please tell me if your opinion defers!

i have the same problem with the poster! my vanity top is on the left, showerscreen on the right, and door opens to the right at this point, in danger of smashing my glass shower screen. there is a stopper on the floor right now but it is really annoying & extra care is required not to open up too forcefully! i am wondering if anyone has experience of not having a toilet door in MBR?

Actually, any air-con installer can sell daikin or any other brand. Just matter of whether they are familiar with it or do a good job installing it. They just buy from agent or dealer, then mark up. Air-con prices pretty controlled in sg.

hello princess! your house looks very spacious!!! the marble looks very nice too.. ! for the wallpaper, do you know how much? i am trying to decide between wall paper and just colouring the wall to save $$, so if you could advice, that would be great!

Actually, LG has been producing washing machines for the longest time and they are extremely hardy. My mum and MIL both using LG washing machine for more than 8years each and never break down. As for European brands, mostly unsuited for our climate. Our ambient temp is about 10deg Celsius higher than their norm. As such, more prone to breakdown.

For air-con only without installation, can call Gain City & Natural Cool. But just tell them you are contractor, if you ask from salesperson from showroom, be prepared to be quoted sky-high rates.

No need to waste time and effort with protecting the exposed parts. Left on it's own, your fancoil and condensing unit has a much higher chance of spoiling, long before the weather damages the connections. Better to concentrate on regular maintenance of your aircon. It's like protecting the paintwork of your car in order to make the engine last longer. Useless.

where can i buy wallpapers to diy?? how much, could you share price range?

are the decals also similar to wallpaper? i am trying to look for wallpapers!

hihi did you use ID or contractor? can u tell me who u used? i am on a tight budget too! thanks in advance

Just a note. For aircons, Carrier/Toshiba is same company. As for inverters, only efficient at partial load. If operating at full load all the time, might as well get non-invertor. As for R410A and R22, yes, R22 going to phase out. No fixed date currently, but targeted date is 2016. Btw, it's possible to run R410A piping and use a R22 aircon. The pros is that when you decide to switch to a R410A aircon in another 5-10 years, you don't need to change piping. Good if you doing concealed piping. Also, if you are considering aircon for living/dining, do remember to check out the airflow (CMH) of the aircon. This affects the rate in which the cooled air is blown around your room, hence faster cooling. Btw, lower dBA means lower noise, lower fan speed and hence lower airflow. Cooling not only related to BTU. Also, approx 50-55 btu/ft2 is sufficient for homes. Unless your room has full-height glass windows that are west-facing, then might need 60 btu/ft2. One last thing, if you have 3x 12,000btu fancoils and a 21,000btu condenser, that means when you turn on all the fancoils, you only get 7,000btu each. You are limited by either fancoil capacity or condenser capacity. So even if you turn on only 2 fancoils, your condenser is still working at 100% capacity. Hence, not efficient.

they are expensive!! at the expo fair, i didn't quite like their portfolio.. their design like all quite similiar for all the units they do! got a lot of red, and bold design, unfortunately hubby and i like simple, minimal, rest and relax design. however, the guy who served us was very polite, so in the end we still ask them to quote. 2 weeks later they sent the quote, it was SUPER expensive! for instance, they quote me $1250 for laminate on my living and dining. then i found out it's china material. i ask to change to supreme, they charge me around $2k! other IDs are charging me around 1.4k-1.6k for supreme (i give exact colour and material cos i only like that colour). it is ridiculous

hihi.. which designers are you guys working with? i am waiting for my quote from them.. now abit scared after hearing your comments..!

we like their design when we saw them at expo.. but the guy never got back to us leh. been weeks and no answer. wondering why so long. other IDs have come back to give us quotes and we started nego liao. i think violet self-eliminate.

lyuira can teach me how to calculate rental returns by %? i have heard that about 4% is base line, 6% onwards is healthy. is it true?

why you want so many balconies?! they are a waste of space. if you like, try water front waves, super big balcony.. but not in the areas u want.

hello! we just bought a small 2br resale condo.. cos now prices are coming down. in Dec06, bf and i (now husband liao) gave up our chance to buy the premiere (the 1st hdb that has the condo finishing, but outside is 100% hdb? not exec condo) cos at that point, we don't have enough $$ to pay the 20% down payment. at that point, the 5room was around$480k. very expensive. since then, we spent the next 12 months from dec 06 - dec 07 balloting and never got a queue number ever again. this year we decided to look at resale cos not eligible to buy hdb anymore. we were so angry with the hdb system, because we were serious buyers but never got a q #. somemore our earnings were catching up, but we don't have enough savings to buy private cos of the large down payment. in the end, just a few weeks ago, we got a resale small condo unit. i don't know if the prices will continue to do down, or whether it will go up. the most impt thing to us is we must be able to afford the place, and since it's for stay, as long as can hold, wait a few years if can sell then sell. cannot sell then own stay or rent. now just super glad we finally got a place after 1.5 years of hunting high and low.

Extract living. we saw their booth and liked their design when we were at expo fair, so went in and was served by Lini. Even though she sounded very professional, and was very logical in her explanation AND we really liked their designs (so 3 good things) we did NOT sign up with her because: 1) she insisted we put a $500 deposit on the spot so that when her quote comes in 2 weeks, we will not have to pay GST. 2) Hubby and i were unsure so we say we have not decided on which ID. she immediately say this $500 can be used to make customised furniture if we do not take their ID package. 3) Because Hubby and i gave her a $15k budget for 2 toilet and 1 kitchen, she said that we will save $1050 (7%GST of 15k) but we say we ok if we have to pay GST cos the quote is more important and we want to see what quality and things we can get for $15k. When she finally realise that we don't want to give her $500 deposit, she said because must minus $1050 from 15K, their budget becomes only $13950, so it is impossible to meet our budget~! i thought i heard wrongly, so i repeated "HUH you mean if we don't pay you $500 on the spot now to save the GST of 1k+, you cannot do within 15k?" she said "YES" Hubby and i immediately walk out of the booth! to think that she said they need 2 weeks to do the quote, but immediately on the spot say cannot do within 15K? for 2 toilets and 1 kitchen, i have been quoted 13 -17k including GST. and 15K she cannot do?!!!! overall it was a bad experience.

i mean, if you think logically, buy condo after paying 20% down payment, is already poor man.. how to chop! you know, before we bought this resale unit, my husband and i have seen about 20 hdbs and 10 condos. out of the 20 hdbs, at least half will be renovated (at least go some kind of kitchen cabinet, some kind of false ceiling, etc) but when you go to condo, it is like 80% no reno except built in by developers! a good percentage of condos don't even have false ceiling with cornices, they just go for bare ceiling! at that point we were wondering how come so weird, (i kid you not, u go do condo viewing u will know), but now i know why! because id and contractors charge ridiculous rates! i want to reno my place now cos it is so old, but given the quotes i receive now, i think i can only do half of what i need!!!

can you share contractor details? thanks

i have that problem too! i mean they want to do business, but they must see what type of condo what!! orchard condo then chop la! condo next to hdb then don't charge so expensive lah!

hi.. anymore comments on violet interior??

hi in this forum, many people complained about fuse taking a long time to get back to them with quotes, etc. like service really bad? i really like their design during the expo fair, and hope they can come back with the quote! is their pricing reasonable?