neubie

nice progress! but hor, give and take a bit on their habits... just tell the main con/ID that smoking n drinking can only be done outside the flat lor... not to worry so much, after the acid wash, all ants' nest will be practically be gone.... just ensure they dun throw rubbish into the toilet bowls & u-traps and ask them to stick their hands into the gully trap to dig out excess rubbish...

progressing nicely....

Balance payment of outstanding reno cost is finally settled, after settling on some minor defects and deducting certain items in the signed quotation that was not done/installed/supplied... after a little bit of nudging for more discounts to round down the final amount, both parties happily settled with one lumpsum of $$$... Some appraisals about this contractor I chose. On a scale of 10 pts, Efficiency = 9 Followup = 8.5 Creativity = 7.5 Responsiveness = 8 Overall workmanship = 8.5 Wall tiling = 8.5 Floor tiling = 8.5 Plumbing = 8.5 Electrical = 9 Glassworks = 8 Ceiling works = 9 Door works = 8 Grille works = 7.5 Window works = 8 Painting = 8.5 Accomodating to requests = 8 Project planning = 8.5 Value for money = 8 Additional works done FOC/out of goodwill = 7.5 After-sales service = 8 (he still sent me a CNY greeting card wor.... ) Overall 8.5 Will I hire him in future? Yes Of cos, the above are based purely on my opinion, YMMV. disclaimer though, I dun benefit anything from posting this t-blog at all, just to share my reno experience with Alan. as always, one needs to manage expectations well to ensure an amicable working relationship between flat-owners and contractors/IDs. Edit: As of now, there are a couple of RTers who have signed and completed projects with him.... last known count was five and their might be more which i'm not aware of...

Try the shophouses at 277 Kranji Way... plenty of hardware shops selling....make sure you check with your carpenter what is the depth of the drawers and get accordingly... I'm using the 560H (tandem plus blumotion) series, make sure the dealer sells u one pair of runner and the locking device as a complete package; if the locking device is missing, the runners will not be firmly seated at the drawer base. More details are available for PDF at their Blum website.

30+ per pair onwards, depending on length.

can say completed liao .... some of the furnitures are reused...... just bot a samsung LED TV yesterday...so will not pop by Philips sale, sure packed like crazy… somemore not all items give good discounts… prefer to shop w/o crowds Running in... before they come install the bracket on the TV console... gum gum the TV can just fit into the rotating console Behind the back where all the connectors are...

think strictly speaking, powerpoints inside cabinets is not allowed... if ur flat undergoes PUB inspection sure fail one.

Grout lines if unpatched will "grow" more n more one… perhaps if the house is still new one gets anal wif it, but after sometime things get not so new, will tend to boh chup liao…

think cost is an issue. a normal tube of silicon cost $3+

actually there is no point in comparing based on the ID firms. each company has got different ID, and some maybe better than the rest. so if u get a good ID in a so-so firm, then u are ok, however, if u get a substandard ID in a popular firm, then oso da-mn suay... a more fair comparison would be to do an apple-to-apple comparison on the works to be done, with the same material, at least that forms the basis of comparing materials, and leaving only workmanship as the unknown factor.

thanks... how's urs coming along?

look for SQUAREROOMS magazine... they have promotion on previous issues.

Second that. Let's analyze the money flow. You give requirements to ID. They design n quote u. Part of your $$$ goes to the ID firm, another part goes into the designer's commission, the rest goes into subcon & material costs. Hire a contractor. You give ur own design (u are wholly responsible for your own design, so contractors built according to ur specs; anything screw up in design u got ownself to blame), contractor charges u commission and u also pay for the subcon & materials. All things equal, u shd be paying less when hiring contractor since less overheads involved. IMHO, pay only for the work done by contractors/subcons overseeing/doing the job, not those taokays who sit in their posh aircon offices who dun even know who u r…

That's the life of contractors…no day no night one.

Some gas hob have built-in gas leakage sensor to shut off supply, preventing accidents.

you're using gas tank? not citygas? btw, another nice 3rm flat... where's this location?

http://sg.yfittopostblog.com/2010/10/24/hd...-illegal-deals/

Did some DIY drilling and installation of SongCho stuffs for the bathroom... after installing it is really sturdy and nice Shampoo basket and soapholder Bathtowel hanger with 3M command hooks on the left...

thanks again....my main contractor din provide me with 3D drawings, only simple sketches of the carpentry.....if u know what you want, you can tell them your requirements, get them do some drafting and review again... the end result closely matches what i had in mind initially....as i had mentioned earlier, no point asking for 3D CAD drawings, cos IMHO: - they make u feel d-am-n shoik about your new flat and make you more willing to pay for what you'll be getting... - they may add something that may commit more $$$ to the design - some designs look very surreal and are there to showcase the ID's works rather than your real practical needs - color matching on the 3D renderings may be prohibitively expensive to implement and hence challenging - lightings on 3D drawing show ideal illumination, very difficult to match in the final output - physical limitations & inherent defects of the flat prevents certain things to be done on paper, ie, aircon piping how to core thru structural columns, etc.... so got to be realistic and manage your expectations well - for my case, it's a 3rm flat, not much pattern and creative juices to cook up with... RT here got lots of design for reference last heard my contractor have decided to join the competitive crowd of ID to provide 3D drawings....

i think floor leveling got to use bubble spirit level meter to check one....not by naked eye.... window handles can be replaced easily w/o changing entire thing...

ok, but please get your contractor/ID to paint sealant as the primer layer before painting, else may get yellow over time.

market is getting a bit irrational liao....

Bathroom Bathroom flooring WC Balcony area... Pipes boxed up with floating cabinet Maindoor & gate

Bedrooms Kitchen

Done some photoshoots this morning with new/old comparison.... :D Edit: colors of the living rooms, bedrooms look unusually yellow, found out the white balance used under fluorescent lighting is salah , so adjusted the colors for a much more closer match to the actual ones... Living Room Living Room from Kitchen MBR Common Room