csingeu

I'm curious abt what is a 空亡宅 and how to identify one (without having to stay in it first). what does TS mean by "house without direction"? how to tell if a house is without direction?

wah... so gd... mine nv give much freebies la... only free main iron wrought gate lor... and the kitchen glass backsplash... (cos he forgot to add into his quote, after we've discussed). somehow, i got the feeling the more "freebies" they can afford to give, likely they already make their profit margin to give some "slack"...

Yes... more or less settled on the contractor le. now waiting for his revised quotes (due to my new kitchen design). The price (sensitive to reveal now) a bit on the high side... near to some of the IDs' quotes also... but i must say... it's the most complete quotation of items i need to do for the restoration works... though wife a bit upset that i'm spending quite a bit on the $$$ wall slate tiles for the balcony.... Linda saw the condition of my place, and said that i could challenge her extreme makeover le... LOL... will be taking the windows/grilles items out of the quote and get Alex (recommended by other forummers) to do... got an initial quote based on my floorplan le... meeting him this thu at my new place, for site measurements, and detailed quotation... wife also "pressurizing" me to start the renov soon... so that we can focus on the next BIG thing... the wedding dinner and bridal services package... more $$$ to "bleed"....

Some of the quotes, the ID mentioned that all their carpentry uses BLUM soft-closing mechanism... I wonder if their quotes already included the cost of it...

i asked my contractor abt BLUM system for my kitchen... he said... need to top up $5 per hinge.. and $55 per BLUM system for drawers (i suppose he meant the drawer tracks/runners?) sounds $$$

yes... busy meeting up with contractors, and revising my quotations and kitchen design after Linda visited my place and gave some comments (which I really appreciate) and also my dad got some comments also... which i went back to my "drawing board" (aka floorplanner.com) and redone the kitchen plan... and luckily, my wife was also for it... coz the new design will be better in terms of ventilation and natural lighting... and Linda gave it a provisional "chop" too... yes. actually, wanted to visit her place the last time, when I was "delivering" the kitchen holders to her... but coz quite late liao... 10+pm, plus my wife, parents were in the car... so didn't go up lor... (anyway, i also didn't ask beforehand la...) then paiseh to self-invite (though i still do it sometimes, i.e. to visit RimBlock's place...), so since u visiting, maybe i can tag along too...

Google Translate: Throughout the case of a large number of void houses summed up in several gram should: 1, dreams, dreams do not clean things. 2, the day ****. 3, large fluctuations of luck, cause there is no improvement, often losing a single business, reverse loss, wealth is not good. 4, health problems, especially brain damage, schizophrenia, neurology, or cancer. 5, marital relations is not good, quarrel, divorce things happen. 6, enterprise, fight against each other unit employees, are not, including high-level leak secrets to competitors. 7 out of accidents, surgery Xueguang, ominous disaster unexpected calamity. 8, prison. Basic house void the law is not well resolved. Therefore, people still want to buy a house, to make sure that qi is suffering from the largest on the wicked and wild. Otherwise, millions of assets bought never turned a possible date for his house, it is indeed a very sad thing.

I tried reading too... gave up after reading half-way thru the 2nd case-study... think all just "horror" stories... and ending got some advice on identifying whether the place is a 空亡宅, AFTER you have stayed in it... maybe my chinese not gd... don't understand the article very well...

hey tangerinez! Thanks for visiting my t-blog! not much updates... (though a lot of things going on)... coz I'm at the final stages of finalizing my contractor/ID... and some of them are reading my t-blog... so I'm ordering a self-censorship (aka media silence), til i confirm my contractor/ID. also, because very busy with sch assignments la... no time to write grandfather stories (though i think most ppl prefers to see more visuals, instead of read lengthy "essays"... ) ... YES! if you also want to get projector set-up, maybe we (u, me & hafiizh) can do a group buy to secure a better deal (more discounts maybe?)... I also need to get a HTS... if not, big screen, no sound, also LL... btw, pls go ahead and do the same for your blog, if you wish. there's no copyright and this method also not patented... LOL... and it will be easier for all your readers to visualize your new place... (at least, i think so la...) will be updating my t-blog again soon...

now that you mentioned... I think I also kana the same treatment from ideal house... My wife's colleague renovated his place with them... and recommended... so we called and make an appt to meet them. So I also went down (from Jurong) to meet them at their place at serangoon... also ard 10-15min... out of the door liao... and yes... no quote reply from them... disappointed...

CMI usually refers to "Cannot Make It"... if you want an alternative one... maybe "Can Make It" works as well... IMO = "In My Opinion"...

I must say you really look a lot younger than your age! (not that I know your actual age, but roughly ah... ) Yes. Your kitchen is very spacious, and with a service yard and a 2nd door. This is the first time I see such a HDB unit layout. And I'm sure your original living room would have been a lot more spacious too, if not, because you needed to buy an extra bedroom for your son. And also highlighting to me all the subtle FS cures at your place. And yes, thanks for visiting my place and sharing some FS pointers with me. In fact, some of the info you shared, were also highlighted by some of the contractors who visited my place. - the stove should not be below the toilet (my mum also mentioned to me before) - the stove should not be facing the toilet (think I read it online somewhere; my mum also mentioned before) - the stove should not be facing the kitchen entrance directly (think I read it in some "Feng Shui for Dummies" ebook... LOL...) Seems like my initial design for my kitchen needs to rethink abit... i prob have to delay my renovation abit. And think thru properly (ie. whether want to hack the wall between my kitchen and utility room... LOL... not courage la... more like I'm foolhardy... didn't notice all the slanted walls and stuff, coz I was already intending to hack everything and re-do... but think there's no cure for slanted walls... and yes... you have seen how jia lat (aka "cannot make it") it is... really buying for the location and floor area... now... how do i bring the message across to my wife that the renovation might be delayed and there might be major changes to the design, esp the kitchen area... hmmm...

Yes. we have been advised by all friends and relatives that household cleaning work will kill us... oh well... treat it as exercise lor... anyway, my wife said since i'm getting fatter, gd for me to do more household chore (aka "exercise")... bleahz... Yes. Meeting confirmed tonight. btw, my EM is quite "original" condition one... LOL... nothing fanciful one. ... and according to the few contractors who came down to do site visits, all commented that my floor tiles are off... not just because of poor workmanship, but because all the internal walls are uneven and slanted one... the difference can be as huge as 10cm... *faint*

if you don't mind, can i pop by to visit too?

Congratz! and all the best for your renovation journey.

between 149 to 164 sqm? depending on whether it's corner unit, layout and whether recess area are bought. i guess. mine is a corridor unit with (small) recess area bought, abt 151 sqm lor... I think getting an EA of 148 sqm is actually much spacious than an EM, since an EM has "wasted" space like staircase, level 2 corridor (which serve no purpose, except as a walkway) etc...

Woah! Congrats! I ROM-ed on 22 Feb 2011! LOL

yes. that's what the IDs/contractors said lor... so many grooves and gaps, easy to trap dust. unless you're prepared to do the maintenance or ok with it. usually, so far, i see people do it for more outdoor areas, esp for landed properties, etc. maybe the rain will wash the dust away... LOL... but the rain may bring abt algae problem... but i think it will look great as a feature wall too (and might not be overly $$$), if area not very big and planned properly lor.

btw, can check out this t-blog. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/index.php?s=...st&p=612853 I think he has used the homogenenous alternative brick-wall tiles, I've mentioned for his balcony and toilet. of coz, not as gd as the real one, which has better "3D effect"... but think it's still gd enough and more affordable.

I also like this kind of brick wall or is it slate wall? intending to use it for my outdoor balcony. BUT the price is not cheap. think it's considered as craft-stones, and selling ard $95 per carton. not too sure how many pieces in one carton; think ard 10 pieces. and might not be very big pieces. Think if only do on one small part of the wall, such as the TV feature wall, might be still ok. But i'm intending to do for all 3 sides of my balcony, so that's quite a huge area. I was quoted ard $2.2K to do my balcony. A slightly cheaper alternative is homogeneous tiles, which actually have slight textured pattern. BUT of coz, it won't look as gd or have the same effect as the craft stone. I saw some tiles, at $4.9 per piece (ard 600mm x 300mm kind). I might be considering that. Some advice given by the contractors for such textured brick-like tiles, etc is that... maintenance issue. If used indoors, over time, may trap dust, unlike normal flat homogeneous tiles. If used outdoors, like my balcony case, unsheltered from sun and rain, algae might grow... you might find it ok, if you're into those rustic look la. BUT I did saw this kind of brick wall being used by HDB for some of the outdoor signage area. Looks gd and ok leh... but don't know if Town Council got go and maintain or not... I'm still hoping to get the homogeneous alternative tiles for the walls and wood-plastic composite (WPC) deck tiles for my balcony... to complete my intend look... but i think just like tat...will set me back at least $5K or so...

Yes... my WTB prefers to take bus 502 to orchard when we need to go to town from my current place @ Jurong. it's definitely much faster than taking the MRT. usually, I'm a MRT person (coz i think trains have relatively more fixed schedule as compared to buses, which are subjected to road traffic conditions and potential road obstructions due to accidents, road repairs etc...), but when it comes to going to Orchard or City Hall area, I think bus 502 still better... no need to take feeder bus or walk to lakeside mrt for me...

WTH... the 3 of us (incl my colleagues) took cab from Creative Resource to IMM... LOL... I knew it was near, but couldn't get my bearing, so just decided to take cab... If only i knew there was free shuttle bus service from IBP to IMM...

Thanks! I've sent him a sms. hopefully he will reply favourably.

Hey! Your place looks great! And it shall be a source of inspiration for me, when I start my renovation. I'm still pondering what kind of doors to get for my balcony. it's 5m x 1.7m. The balcony door side is 5m long. Initially, thinking of doing foldable wooden frames with glass panels - similar to what you have, which I think it looks really resort style. but the high cost (i was quoted $4K) and the potential high maintenance (i'm staying in an EM, and the balcony is unsheltered)... Can you share with me the cost of your balcony doors? what materials? and what length? and so far, any issue? whether it's suitable for outdoor, and water/weather resistant? Thanks!

HUH? statement 1 and 2 seem to be contradicting?