rmgthatsme

Thank you very much for your advice and sharing your experience, it will be a great help to my wife on her forthcoming trip. Cheers Roy

Thanks! Do you have to have any written quote or just ask the smaller shops and ask HN to beat it? Actually my wife also favours getting most of our stuff at HN but I was afraid she'd get ripped off if she couldn't first have a look at any ongoing sale at any of the other big boys where she could get a good idea of promotional prices quickly.

Would very much appreciate if anyone can post whether there are any big sales or promotions on kitchen appliances and toilet sanitaryware. For kitchen appliances particularly interested in Electrolux equipment. We are posted overseas and our renovation in Singapore is commencing soon. My wife will travel back next week for about a week + and it would help us use available time if anyone could post their info. on such promos happening between Mar 10 - 17. FYI we already know about the IT fair but that will be more for TVs, DVDs etc. TIA!

Can i ask what was the damage for this fridge and where did you get it?

Rule still applies, he who cleans, rules!

For my wife and I, we have a very simple decision tree: budget first, then share opinions/viewpoints and then fianlly who will clean the item has the final say...

Hi Symphony, Appreciate your taking the time to respond in such detail. The choice here in China is indeed bewildering as the market is huge so there are literally hundreds of suppliers and each one's range is often vast. I plan to make the purchases in Singapore so as you say will need to ensure we see the actual product prior to purchase. Many thanks again!

Hi, was wondering what sort of pricing is Kronostep offered at? I'm overseas so can't easily go look for myself and there doesn't seem to be a professional website in SG for this range? I'm going to have a look at the products by the same company here in China but know how they compare on pricing against e.g. Pergo family or Quickstep Eligna or perhaps Pergo Practiq/Quickstep Largo would be really useful. Thanks

Hi, your house looks great as is your view! Just a small word of warning regarding untempered glass doors; a friend of mine had a really horrific accident a few years back requiring hospitalisation, a lot of painful glass splinter removal and stitches after he tripped and fell against his untempered glass door. The standard glass broke and really cut him badly both during the fall (he went through the door) and also when he landed on the glass shards. I would suggest that you might consider laminating your glass doors with a transparent decal on both sides or even patterned if you prefer to give you some measure of protection. Hope you don't take offense as I'm just trying to offer you some advice to keep you and yours safe.

I must be the sentimental type of guy but 20 years later I can still remember the smile on my wife's face as she came up the church aisle, can still "hear" in my head the laughter as I was asked to kiss her dog by her bridesmaids as a test of my feelings when I came to collect her for the lunch, still feel the cramp in my cheeks after smiling so much throughout the very long day after the dinner for all the guests... Can't remember so vividly at all the feeling of my first apartment which is long gone...my wife is still around though and we have a lunch date 4 days a week

Good tip...I don't have too much to spare already

I guess so. We can therefore choose to die of explosion/poisoning with gas heaters, or electrocution/tank explosion with over pressure with storage heaters or simply electrocution (and possibly scalding) with instant heaters....time for a cold shower

I believe the low heating capacity and water flow rate are due to HDB regs. Could be for environmental reasons to conserve resources could also be to save construction costs to minimise piping size, pumps etc. I have only seen 1 HDB approved gas heater and that is the Rinnai heater currently sold by Citygas which has a peak capacity of 8l/min flowrate...I have a Chow Chow dog which drools more saliva/minute than this heater would provide water via a rain shower

In HK, the heating capacity of the gas heaters is far larger than the unit sold by Citygas in S'pore. The units I used in HK and currently in China have 3 times the heating capacity of the unit sold by Citygas so unlimited and fast flowing hot water is not an issue. I asked the salesman at Citygas in December about the unit they sell and actually had it demonstrated for me in the showroom. I would never use this unit for showers; as a unit e.g. for kitchen sink or if close to your bathrooms for the washbasin it should be adequate. This is my personal view and you can always go and see the demo at the Citygas showroom. By the way, all the fears about gas leakage etc. are unfounded. They all have safety systems built in. Been using various makes of gas water heater (Rinnai, Panasonic etc.) for over 30 years and never an issue other than pilot flame going out with one unit (just needed cleaning). Complaints about slow heat up times are generally related to distance of outlet from the heater and flow rate available; outlets close to the unit e.g. 5 ft pretty much have instant heat. Hope this helps

Thank you very much for posting this information! You have saved us making a very time consuming mistake as we had intended also using this approach.

How about 2 X 2 on a diagonal so you avoid the narrow part near your console wall? Can't tell if you have enough room but worth a try?

Really attractive reno, congratulations...you even have the power point to place a chocolate fountain for your buffet . Interested to know if you feel a bit strange when walking down the corridor towards the mirror and see your own reflection, is it a bit odd e.g. at night? Cheers

Thanks Floppy, guess those are one continuous strip of LED lights right? Cheers

Hi Floppy, Kung Xi Fa Cai! Your master bathroom is really lovely, a complete transformation! I particularly like the lighting for the mirror. How have you done this and could you take a close up photo of one side of this lighting fixture? Thanks RMG

Don't think there's anything wrong at all with purchased furniture/fittings at all. Most of the clothes we use to decorate ourselves are ready made rather than custom tailored, the same view can be applied to furniture. Unless one has one arm or leg longer than the other or an exceedingly short waist etc., ready made clothes look fabulous so unless a room has some "non-standard" shape there should not be any driving need for custom furniture. Ready made furniture often has design which cannot be easily reproduced by simple carpenters due to the complex equipment needed to effect these designs which is available to large scale manufactures. Such furniture is often designed by very specialised people whose whole expertise is in this area. So don't feel bad about buying furniture, enjoy instead the shopping experience and putting together the exact look you want at a price which your bargaining skills get you...could be just or more satisfying than custom built. "Turn your frown upside down "

I won't comment on the aethetics of an island as that is purely in the eye of the beholder, I'll instead offer an opinion on the practicalities of this fixture. The purpose of an island is generally to provide additional work and/or dining surface in a kitchen. Since islands are often centrally located in the kitchen, they reduce the distance in the "work triangle" of hob/fridge/sink making food preparation more efficient. My view is that these only make sense if you have a large kitchen where the "triangle" is large and thus requiring a lot of movement, you are really short of work surface, have a regular meal preparation lifestyle or if you intend to eat meals in the kitchen (often not a practical proposition in a tropical climate in a generally non-airconditioned room). A nice compromise is to buy or custom make a moveable island/trolley to provide an extra work surface where/when you need it which can also act as a transport surface for prepared food, storage for things like often used cutlery/crockery etc. or even as a serving surface for drinks etc. when you have guests. Hope this helps your thinking along.

Hi Maximus, thanks so much for the very useful answer, will definitely have a look as the slimline approach does appeal since it allows more kitchen storage space. Can't see much advantage in a chiminey design as anyway in an HDB can't vent to the exterior. Very interesting that such high volume hoods are available in slimline design. Cheers RMG

Hi Maximus, thanks for the super quick reply. That is quite an impressive piece of equipment. Have you seen it anywhere available in S'Pore as the site to which you refer is in Malaysia right? Cheers RMG

I have a large 2 in 1 Panasonic Microwave/Convection Oven as well as a standalone oven. We use both oven frequently in our family at least 2 to 3 times a week, mainly for roasting during the week with some baking at weekends. It is surprising how good the Panasonic 2 in 1 actually is. Can't say I find any hot or uneven temperature spots (it has a turntable) and it will easily do large roasts in te 5 kg range as well as 2 level baking/roasting. You normally have to reduce the cooking time a little vs std. oven as it is a convection oven otherwise you will get over cooking or a bit of a drying effect. Only thing I can criticise about it is that it's hot air grilling does not give as an authentic grilling effect as the radiant grill in our standard oven. Hope this helps a little. Which model of Electrolux slimline hood gives 1000m3 suction? Cheers

Are you at all concerned that the artificial grass and pebbles will trap a lot of dirt and also water if it rains which may lead to mould etc.? How's the drainage in the balcony as artificial turf usually is laid on a well draining bed.