ugoh

Bosch have one but I'm not sure if it's readily available or not. Try phoning their customer service to enquire. They are really helpful. Otherwise you can consider the Rinnai 3CG which has 3 burners (but probably you won't need to use all 4 at once anyway). The Rinnai has good reviews for wok frying due to their inner flame technology. You can read abt it on the Rinnai Malaysia website (has more details than the SG website).

I thought I would post this on the baking thread rather than the ovens thread. For those of you who are regular bakers, which oven are you using and are you happy with it? I can't decide between Bosch and Brandt oven.

My contractor told me how he solved a problem for one of his clients whose rainshower was a drizzle (this was in a landed property). He took apart the shower head and there was this white coloured washer inside. He phoned Hansgrohe customer service to ask what it was for. They said it was to regulate the water flow. He removed the white washer (took some effort to rip it off with a sharp tool). Reinstalled the shower and it worked beautifully. Apparently this "water regulator" white ring was preventing enough water from going through the rainshower. Just to share for those of you who own a Hansgrohe rainshower but can't get enough flow out of it. It may not be the HDB water pressure that's to blame but what is inside the Hansgrohe shower head. And removing it may allow you to finally enjoy the rain. (note that the water consumption is high so use it sparingly!)

Ermm...Estate Duty is no longer applicable in Singapore. So no need to hide your jewellery, bank deposits, etc. It's safe from the taxman here. You might as well move your assets back to Singapore. Precisely my point. 325K GBP is so low. And 40% is so much to give back to the British Govt. Somemore you don't even live there so you have not benefitted from the usage of the tax (eg healthcare, social security etc). Since there are so MANY adverts for UK property touting how wonderful an investment it is currently.....that's why I am posting on this thread to share that there may be other factors that ppl may not be aware of in making this kind of investment. Due diligence by the buyer is ESSENTIAL. If you borrow in SGD to pay a GBP home loan, you will take a hit if the GBP drops against the SGD. Although it's already v. low compared to before, but who knows? It might drop even further as UK is not without its economic problems.

Agreed. Stupid indeed. Orh yr lucky if you managed to get it valued below 325K then.

That's interesting. They also valued the furniture in the estate? I did'nt know that. But yeah....better to donate it to the churches than to the Inland Revenue I suppose. 40% is no small matter. hehe don't buy a mansion or you will be donating to the govt (and to sponsor those EU immigrants like the gypsies who live off social security there). If wishing to purchase UK property, don't buy those off the plan NEW developments. They are over-priced (commission to be paid to the agents/marketing staff). It's more worthwhile to make a trip down and purchase a resale property. They will usually be bigger and in better location than the new developments. And also the maintenance fees will be lower. The more swanky (upmarket) the development, the higher the maintenance fees and it goes up higher than the rate of inflation I am warning you all (that's from personal experience of holding property there for more than 20 years so I have seen it through a few property cycles already).

Don't underestimate the costs of maintaining a rental property in London. - Estate agents' fees to market property for rental and to help you liaise with the tenants afterwards in case of maintenance issues - Cost of furnishings/repairs - The maintenance fees tend to go up a LOT over the course of years - Inheritance tax which can be up to 40% should you (sway sway) pass away unexpectedly PLUS the inconvenience/expenses in dealing with your estate in a different country All of the above need to fork out $$$ Especially the maintenance and everything is subject to GST of 20% (called VAT in UK). Therefore what you take home might be reduced quite a bit. Please go in with your eyes big-big. (fyi I have been renting out my property in London for over 20 years but I bought at historical prices when I was working there - that's why I know how costly can be the maintenance costs as plumbers/builders/estate agents cost more than what you would expect in Singapore. And I also have my fair share of tenants absconding, tenants late in paying rent every single month, boilers stop functioning in cold wather, contractors refusing to carry on works unless you pay up more $$$ etc etc - how are you going to manage when the situation is half way round the world? Your agent would charge you $$$ for handling these matters so be prepared to pay for unforeseen circumstances).

As far as I'm aware, you can have a ventilating hood for a condo (I thought it's just HDB that cannot). The advantage of the ventilating hood is that the air is vented to the outside and doesn't come back into your unit. You had made the observation in one of yr previous posts that when you switched on the hood, there was an oil smell. That is because it was a recirculating type of hood and the previous owners had not changed the filters or cleaned the hood. So the recirculating air still has oil in it. The wooden decking looks good but for my balcony I am having wood effect homogeneous tiles (those higher quality ones from Italy) as I cannot face the prospect of mould/rot/ etc in the future. And I have an eco-sensitive contractor who tells me most of the wood for flooring is from illegal logging which is contributing to global warming. hehe since you are going to entertain/expand yr family, then the large fridge will come in useful. Thumbs up and do your bit for Singapore to help the falling birth rate.

Great job from your ID. Where did you get that nice BIG sink? What brand/model?

Hmm.. if you don't do much cooking esp wok frying, you won't need a super strong hood. And esp if you are venting outside (I hope you bought a ventilating hood rather than recirculating hood). Anyway, since you love the look of the chimney so be it. Yeah the filter will be able to filter most of the oil from getting inside the hood but some of the oil might "escape" the hood and get stuck on the outside of the chimney. And also dust/dirt will get stuck on the outside of the chimney. So you and WTB will have to get up on ladder and clean/polish the outside of the chimney all the way to the top periodically (depending on usage) to keep it looking nice and shiny. If there are only 2 of you, you don't need a large fridge. Large fridge is somewhat of a hazard as you tend to overstock and hoard stuff inside and since there's only 2 ppl, yr consumption of the goods might not keep up and therefore there will be stuff lurking at the back of the fridge past its expiry date. I am telling you bec I am guilty when there were only 2 of us living in our house and we found it quite difficult to finish what we bought even though I cooked almost every day. A large fridge is not justified just for 2 ppl as it will not be worthwhile for the higher energy consumption. Unless you tell me you are going to entertain a lot and have yr relatives/friends over for meals on a regular basis. Then you would need a large fridge for storing. And again, large fridge = large maintenance. You will have to clean the fridge every so often. Same for walk in wardrobe. The bigger the wardrobe, the more you will hoard and before you know it, you will have a lot of old/unused clothings stuffed in it which will be horrifying when you want to move house in the future. hehehe let the cleaning be a bonding experience for the 2 of you. It's good to do it when you are younger. That's if you have much time left after slogging at work to pay for the house and all your purchases (you must have large earning power to be able to afford it LOLs). When the novelty of the cleaning wears off (and when you get too tired/bogged down with work or have kids), you will have to hire a maid to do it. That's provided that maids are still available/affordable in the future.

Certain things that are fashionable now and nice to look at but in the long run might not be practical are: 1. Chimney hood - this is good for large kitchen as it gives the "country" atmosphere but if kitchen is small then the chimney might overwhelm the decor. And yeah....climbing up on ladder to clean the hood is not a happy prospect for me. Sure will get oil stuck to the chimney after a while. Big fridge + chimney hood = yr kitchen will tend to look crowded (unless you have luxury of a large space). 2. Hanging dishrack with flap up-and-down door on hydraulic system - also nice to look at but sometimes the hydraulic system doesn't work so well and then the flap might be hard to lift up or close. Somemore the dishrack will have limited vertical space on top as it is fitted into a cupboard and you will find it annoying not to be able to put big items on the rack and in the end you will still need a rack on the table top for easy/faster access and to accomodate the tall items. And you will curse that the cupboard on top cannot accomodate more crockery because of the basket design.

I agree. You should have hacked the wall tiles too. Otherwise the kitchen might looked "half-baked". Izzit too late to do it now? Can get a quotation? It might not be as much as you think. It would be a pity to have a beutiful new kitchen and the wall tiles still the old ones. You might regret it later. The wall tiles can change the overall look of the kitchen significantly. It's one of those items that you can't do later. Whereas for your movable items like furniture, electrical appliances, you can still get them later when you have more funds. Why did you choose chimney hood? It is bulky and takes up cupboard space. Somemore needs more maintenance (to clean and polish the chimney. As a general rule, those things that look nice need more maintenance.

How do you find the swing window for the dish dryer rack? My ID said they are nice to look at but in practice not so nice to use eg the window can be tricky to open and close and the rack may not be big enough for some large and tall items. In the end many ppl find it more convenient to have the dish rack next to the sink (!) Unless you cook and eat at home so infrequently that you rarely open it.

I think yr budget is achievable but it depends on how big is yr carpentry (how many ft run are yr kitchen cabinets and wardrobe and TV console) and how many sq ft for yr floor tiles. If you go for the very basic specifications for the carpentry and cheapest floor tiles then it's realistic. But if your expectations are too high for the quality/finishings then you will not be able to achieve the budget. I had one designer who gave me a very detailed quote of all the items with each item costed out. I can PM you the contact if you wish. You could ask them to quote and use their quote as a reference point. You can go to their showroom to view some of their work. It's not the one I'm currently using but the close runner-up. The one I'm using is quite costly but as mentioned, I chose him bec of personal recommendations (hope it turns out alright).

My reno bill is more than double of yours. But my unit is 1860 sq ft and it is more than 20 years old therefore the reno is MAJOR and includes flooring (Italian/Spanish homogeneous tiles) to all areas except the 3 bedrooms). 2 bathrooms, kitchen, maid's toilet have to be changed. All plumbing and wiring needs to be redone and false ceilings put up throughout the house (old units have no false ceiling except for the kitchen to conceal the piptes). You are lucky your unit is quite new therefore does not need much to be done. I bought it because I believe that in the future there will be fewer of large condo units as majority of new condo units are shrinking in size very quickly. Fortunately bought before the new property measures kicked in or else will have to fork out too much cash.

The quotations for condo renovation will vary a LOT depending on the ID/contractor. Some of the IDs are geared towards doing mainly HDB work so their prices are more towards HDB prices but similarly workmanship/materials are more towards HDB standards too. I personally feel uncomfortable with the cheapest quotes because if the quote is TOO cheap then it is likely the contractor will cut corners with the materials and workmanship. Unless you have a friend or relative who can personally recommend the cheap contractor as being able to deliver the standard/service that you wish for. I'm afraid it's a bit of a lottery selecting the ID/contractor. In the end, I went with one of the most expensive quotations because the ID/contractor had done work for 3 of my friends' private properties (landed houses) and they were satisfied with his work so I felt "safer" to sign up with him. Condo quotations will generally be more expensive because of other factors (not only "just because they are condos" and the contractor want to make more $$$). For example, the piping/electrical works are concealed and they have to do more work for that. If any contractors reading this thread, perhaps you could add more detail why the charges for condo renovation are more expensive bec I am not so familiar with the technicalities. That's my 2 cents.

eggroe & valeriehh: Keep the posts coming! No response doesn't mean nobody is reading. I am a fellow condo owner but I have not much free time to blog or respond. Because with full time job, 3 kids and meetings with the ID/contractor and the endless shopping, I am not able to take the time to participate. I agree about the budget problem. Condo renovation always costs far more than HDB and with all the extras, I am sure your budget overrun by a lot (like mine). Fortunately I am able to take equity loan from my other property which is at cheaper rate than taking a reno loan. I feel it is better to spend more $$$ on "permanent" items like the sanitary ware, fittings etc rather than on items that can be easily upgraded later on. For my family, we spend a lot on the electricals (Eubiq system for the TV console, kitchen to minimise unsightly wires) and are also going to spend a lot on the bathroom fittings but are less concerned with the bedding and free-standing furniture.

Hi does anybody join www.condosingapore.com forum? How to register?

Usually the work top would be put as a separate item in the quotation as the price would depend on the material used. The Corian brand work top is quite expensive (as opposed to other generic brands of solid top). For my kitchen I am going for Stone Italiano (compressed quartz) because it is non-porous (unlike granite) and I can have a nice light colour (white with fine speckles) and not have to worry abt staining or discolouration of the work top. I don't like dark coloured or black top which is why I am not going for granite. Granted it costs more $$$ but in the end this is a heavily used item that you have to look at it every day and has to withstand a lot of abuse (if cooking regularly) so it's worth to spend more on it.

Reno contractors will not use the best materials bec it "eats" into their profit margins. So in order to give you a competitive quote AND make a reasonable profit they would generally give you the cheapest materials. If you want higher quality materials you would have to do yr own research and negotiate with the contractor/ID. It is difficult for the layman to know what are good materials and what are not. So how to avoid being chop by the contractors???

Sometimes the unevenness is to simulate the feel of "real" wood. I noticed some of the tiles in the shop had this effect to a greater extent than others.

I went to see a condo unit that used this type of tile for most of the flooring. I didn't notice the unevenness. I liked it so I will be using this for foyer and balcony. Saves me the worry of wooden decking getting mouldy, eaten by termites etc. Getting from Rice in Tiong Bahru. The rest of my house to be done in 600x600 homogeneous tiles from Italy (one tile throughout except for the wooden ones in foyer/balcony). Will cost me serious $$$$$ but mine is a private condo so I don't want it to look like a mass-market apartment. I agree the tiles can make a big difference to the overall look of the apartment and may be worth the $$$ in the initial investment as this is the one item you will have to look at/step on day in and day out for the years to come.

Why don't you phone up your HDB branch office and check with them directly?

There is a wide choice of different textures and finishes - matt and glossy. You can view and feel at the tile shops.

The stand mixers are useful if you have a large volume of stuff to mix and you need to mix for a long time. I do occasional baking only (no bread making) and the hand-held cheap hand mixer is OK for me. I use it to cream butter and sugar together and also for whisking egg whites. Most of the other baking steps can be done by hand.