aubrey

fannie i am too tired so yes. i am more frustrated than angry, dont worry. i feel kinda nua now that i am home. feel like napping actually. no worries i will solve it amicably. i dont want to cause uncle too much stress. he's been a nice dear. (ya maybe can give me his passport photo already.. haha!)

i just hope i wont blow my top at the workers. unhappy workers = shoddy work. unfortunately my toilet tiles are not nicely done tho i did not offend the uncle doing it. sigh. pet, dont come back never mind. cos i chase jason and uncle, they gotta chase him. i think my scolding is nothing compared to theirs. haiya!! i am gonna relax and cook me some udon mee to destress and enjoy for lunch.

i tried calling him but he is not picking up. this group of electricians.. no comments. since i want my Le Grand (cos i like the design, so shoot me) and if i want to change everything, can! change all to Le Grand again if possible. but now the electricians dont even want to change everything, dont want to mian qiang them. with regards to the kitchen switches, since i wanted Le Grand, they ask me to buy myself and give it to them. hear already a bit turn off. plus my fan switch, ask me to buy myself also. -_- rondy, my switches are white! mk ones are a bit bluey. i wipe and clean my switches from time to time with lighter fluid.

ok i am really not having any good impressions with the electricians. i do not know who ah tan is but the guy i spoke to just seems real lazy! my switches are from Le Grand from the electrician who did my place last yr around Oct. The current electrician is called in to change all the switches that was damaged in the process of reno. Jason told me in advanced that they used MK switches. I requested for Jason to use Le Grand since I am using that and there are some switches that was not damaged and can be used again. Moreover Uncle did not charge me for this so I really just want to give and take. I called Jason but he is not on site so he cant advice. I spoke to the electrician and he told me what can be done. I mentioned I want Le Grand and he said cannot buy now, its very old already, no stock etc. Then he assumed I did my rewiring some time back to which I corrected him, I only did it last year October! It's barely a year and you are telling me that? Obviously trying to bullsh!t me here to do less work! Really, that is not acceptable! Don't try to bullsh!t me. Maybe you can try it on my mom and get away with it but not me. I called Jason after that and he told me he will be here at 2pm with the doors for my rooms. Fine. I will wait for him at home and talk to him in person about it. Before I reached home, my mom was asking the electrician why the colours of the switches were different. He said it's the same thing, don't worry. Oh really the same thing? That's more bullsh!t again. Have a look yourself. I am not fussy to insist on Le Grand but the differences are really obvious. It looks messy! Different colours Switches design different And please, I am at Bugis. Waterloo street to be precise. Jalan Besar is a stone's throw away. We walked all the way there (I dont drive) just to have a look at the stores there for kitchen & toilet stuff, please don't tell me it's difficult for them to pop over to get a few Le Grand switches. If I was on leave, I will just cycle over to get it. :fire:

ok growler its ok. going home now to check on it!

ok growler, will definitely need it since i told jason some switches can keep from my original, some cannot cos cracked or spoiled. i told him le grand tho he did say they use MK. dont want the design of switches to be different. angel81 Agree. Ask for measurements. After all, u'll be the one using ur kitchen woh. If next time the work flow is not good, or the cabinets not what you want, it'll be very sad leh. sad.gif I think so far the overall drawing of ur kitchen is good, as it really helps to visualize. Just ask them to amend on that, and also add in the measurements. At least u'll be able to look at that and ask them to change to ur needs accordingly. smile.gif ok in response, apparently they have completed my kitchen cabinets!!! i am so sian now. tho my HO is 28 may, i think its my fault to tell them dont rush the kitchen, just at least have the rooms ready for me to move back first so finish the wardrobes first. at least when i move back we can talk it out slowly. as for cooking, no big deal we can always eat out. even if i get measurements now also no point. sigh.

angel, i will reply u in my tblog, not nice to hog fannie's blog. fannie, just saw that u spoke to them about carpentry plus its a fair bit, so pls be careful and ask all eyes to help analyze for potential problems. hope its smooth for you.

the measurements are listed on the sketches but if u see, no measurements given at all for my kitchen! so pls, ask for all measurements, best to tell them give u 1 day to think thru the design. luckily the 16" is taking into consideration the thickness of the existing wall and the partition board due to be up. if not i think my room can just shrink into nothingness. just make sure u clarify all issues when it comes to carpentry! and better not rely on the carpenter too much, think it over for yourself too.

haiya the carpentry is giving me lots of headache. due to that wall, my kitchen cannot have too much drawers. i ask uncle if can extend my length he say its standard. it looks really tiny tho. nvm we shall see how then. now issue with the above. i also dunno how to see how. haiyer.

fannie, ok got it! im in almost same line as u. anws, pls carefully go over your carpentry with ah wei,make sure u ask all qns and dont be goondu like me. my friend who renovated her house 2 years back came to have a look at my place. tgt we noted that the recessed tv console has a depth of 16" or 41cm, can u imagine 41cm eating into my room? jason was supposed to do a bookshelf to hide the recessed area and a study table but now he KIV those two items. i mean, why cant he let me know the implications of all then i can reconsider my options? uncle say can, jason say see how first. how do u see how? if i dont like my console then tear it down? im not that unreasonable. he should have take me thru all the complications first. but he didnt. now KIV. best thing is i threw away all my book shelves. where am i going to house my books now?

dont say ah!! i wrote on masking tape and stuck it all over! supposed to run thru with jason he never turn up. im just afraid of double job! do wrong take out do again. i am still in the office doing work. later i will call to check with my mom on progress.

ytd supposed to meet jason and uncle in the evening. called jason but he did not pick up. called ah soon he said call me back which he did at 10++ going 11 and say too late to come. fine. but the issue here is with jason. supposed to walk him thru and tell him where my switches are since his men coming to do today but he did not pick up. now the men are at my place asking my mom who is blur and has to ask me. now i might have to take half day leave to go home to settle this. i am not happy at all! now i just hope that he will give me my le grand switches and not MK since they look different and i want the same throughout!

hahah pet, talking about that, i went to write on masking tape and stuck it where i want my powerpoints! i forgot how to write "cha tou" (switch in chinese) so i wrote "x tou" all over. i told the china worker about it and he laughed at me. he even wrote the correct word in chinese for me on 1 of the tape after i left for work! wa for all the drama, i think i must hog them now before i become like ivy and zou hou ru mo! sorry no HYPY on this com.

gaku, highly advise u to have walk thru, u can read my blog for the hooha that i encountered. at this moment, no lives were lost, not sure about the time when the cabinets arrive la.... familyof4 - ok i am getting confused between u and smallboy's wendy. u are fannie right? hahaha what kinda advertorials do u do? i can imagine the stress. stress from rolling out the advertorials and stress from the reno.

kthc, that sounds funny!! angel, thanks for sharing! for the box up for pipes, is it pre-fabricated or they come to your house and do? if it is equally divided in the middle, is there still space to store the mops and brooms?

nottimonster thanks for the tip! i normally do not touch the cylinders and i dont know how it works since most of the time my mom is home before me and she will start cooking. i will try it out and test around to see how it goes. maybe i can consult the delivery man when he next comes. blue_diamond ya this is a 101 foolproof guide to a smooth renovation with uncle ah soon. hahaha! hope that after reading, all those who are looking to reno know what to expect and not just let their ID/contractor boss them around. as rondy rightly said, its my money, my house. i shld tell them what i want not the other way around.

hi angel!! no choice leh.. jason says my kitchen area is small. so i have to plan otherwise for pots and pans. my mom has a relatively big wok, but we use that often so i think we shall just place it on the stove at all times and just stow the smaller items away. i plan to utilise the space above the fridge to put all her slow cooker, grinder, pot+pans up there. this time i will pack her kitchen! mom is not too good at packing. at least if i pack i will know where the items are since her memory is not like before. jason told me he will get me the baskets and find the right tracks for me. i hope he can!! since i have that annoying drop within the wall, i just gotta make do. i will grill him about it later when he comes to speak to me. Note to all: I will be hogging Jason and perhaps Uncle in person tonight!! after conferring with jason, he said that where the 3 drawers are, the top is for placing cutlery. perhaps we will mount railings to hang those holders like what u see in ikea if we have no other alternative. i dont like it cos i want a clean clutter free kitchen so i will see how it goes. got to be domineering now.

i called jason to rant to him about the fact that i am stressed! i am somewhat a perfectionist and a control freak rolled into one. just sharing what happened, when i met up with the carpentry guy and jason, the kitchen was drawn by the carpentry guy (i call him ah meh, i believe its same as Amax etc). the tv console and 2 wardrobes were drawn by jason on the spot and i dont think design wise, it can go wrong. its really the kitchen. now i only have 1 set of drawer. after ranting to jason, he said no worries, tho it may be pull out where the cabinets are, he will find the correct track for me to use the steel basket that is what angel has. ok fine i shall let it be. how did u guys manage to walk thru with regards to carpentry? i am also partially angry with myself for not checking enough, but the time contraint is really pressing on me hence i partly switched off. the only saving grace is that when i called jason in my semi distressed state and semi unhappy voice (i tried to sound ok) he was still quite nice and cheery. kudos to him for that. today he will be meeting me to go over the power points. i must drill it into him now! hahaha! honestly i dislike the idea that my communication has to run past so many ppl. sometimes the flow is: me -> jason -> carpenter and back again. he told me to just directly speak to the carpenter but it doesnt really help! i cant visualize! and jason also said he doesnt know cos he cant see it done! (a bit scary here!!) got to cross my fingers and toes and maybe even eyes that all will be in good order. i have already took 3 days worth of leave from 27 - 29 to move back and to QC. PS: must i tell the carpenter that i want to undermount my kitchen sink?? PPS: Will try to quickly sketch up the revised design and post it up.

angel, your baskets for the sauces and stuff, how much are they? if i am not wrong, are they of a certain length to buy so that u can fit into your cabinet? Steel Basket

i called the carpentry guy, told him i want those racks that wendy has. i asked him if i need to buy it for him, he said dont need, he will fix it for me according to my size of cabinets. but i have this huge feeling that i may or may not like what i get, since i have to say, not much planning was done with me in mind! my opinion was asked but so what? they kept telling me cannot this cannot that etc. so what is the point of MY input? i am very vexed now and if the kitchen cabinets dont turn out the way i want them to be, then its not my problem since half the time jason and the carpentry guy is BOSSING me around instead of listening to what i want and if cannot, tell me what can be done in place. to share my experience. from the time i met uncle till now, i have been asking him about carpentry, and when can i meet jason to discuss. pls, not everyone knows what they want on the first meeting. modifications are bound to happen. with that said, i only met jason when my tiling works was close to finish. and within a 2.5 hour discussion sketches were taken away and works have commenced. i believe that sometimes jason practices selective listening. so when u are discussing with him, be firm, repeat and repeat and repeat till he gets it. i know that my dates for HO is tight, if so, please let me meet jason way in advance to discuss kitchen. now they tell me my kitchen too small cannot this cannot that. i am so annoyed listening to all that!

haiya. i share the same sentiments. u dont tile it, even if u get rid of the cabinets, u will definitely not leave it bare. but also, what growler says is what my mom thinks. wa i am "kapped" in the centre. anyway.. A) I will not tell them to do drawers on the left of my spice rack. (Can I install roller shelves like angel81's?) B) I will ask uncle if can tile that part just to please my mom. if not, i will explain to her. Reiki wow good tip, i never knew how. i will give it a shot when i am home. Next issue: breakfast table Jason says its no good, spoils easily etc. bottomline: dont do. but i think i shall just go ahead and do!!!

actually i have allocated the area under the sink to place detergents and the like there. so i can keep the area there clear. plus when my mom orders in extra gas cylinder to standby, i intend to stash it near the rubbish chute. 1 qns, for the base where your kitchen cabinets are placed on, does uncle tile that part for u? so far he just tiles the edges that will be seen but not on top, meaning its bare cement then cabinet placed on top. is that the same for u guys? (cos i have lots of neighbours psycho-ing my mom to get it tiled so if the cabinet gets removed, the base is still nicely intact but i think its not needed)

based on your idea pet, it sounds good but i am concerned with the sun shining on it. plus i cant cos that's where my bamboo pole hanger is. i like drawers but yes, it will be shallow. to fully maximize i cant get drawers. dilemma! in the image, u can see the uneven wall. that means i will only have a set of drawers at the bottom. so sad.

hey guys i have spoken to the carpentry guy and he says its done! so its hard to change!! and plus my wall where the cabinet is has this uneven surface! so if u refer to my drawing, the area where the stove is, on the left portion, its where my spice rack is. on the right, its where my gas cylinder is. so.. based on the above, the space on the left where my spice rack will be is where the swing out shelf is located. he said the uneven wall in there, so if i were to do drawers it will be shallow. any ideas if i shld still get drawers? the area on the left of the fridge is where my pull out drawers are, thank god!!!

i am a righty! well it takes some getting used to with the rack in the center of cooking and prep area. i think it should be fine. yup the moment i told jason we use gas cylinder he turned to tell the carpentry guy to do the roll out shelf for me.