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Got a headache here. So many types of downlights in the market, dunno which to buy. Need them in my balcony, living and dining. Balcony - 3.8M x 1.5 (2 points) Living - 6M x 3.8M (L box - 10 points plus cove lights) Dining - 4M x 3.5M (false ceiling - 4 points plus 1 hanging light) Went lighting.com.sg once. Pretty much like their Genie series FBG304 1x14W $33 each without ballast. Like the design and what I saw on the metre reading abt the power consumption difference. But I see so many people buying at least 2x13W, 2x18W or 2x14W. I wonder if I buy only 1x14W, it would be enough. Yesterday called them, they say the 1x14W is equivalent to 75W of traditional lighting?? Really?? If that is the case wouldnt one of such light be able to substitute 2 of those 2x18Wlights!! Sigh.. does tt mean i could have actually installed lesser lighting points? Unfortunately, I have already installed my lighting points based on the advice from 2 shops and electrician as above. But from what i read here, many people seems to be installing many lighting points as well. I hope to hear ur experience on your own installation or any advice on how you made your downlight choice. I would love to hear from the philips users and those who have initially considered it and subsequently bought something else..I read that not only philips has this type of w/o ballast but other brands too.. Also, does anyone here mix LED downlights with PLC/those using E27? My idea is to save more electrical bills BUT with the high price of the LED downlights and not being sure of the brightness, I am not prepared to change everything to LED...

Thanks for sharing your experience. After my own experience, I feel many times we need luck and "gui ren" for a smooth journey. They are many black sheeps in this construction/reno/hardware industry and I think we as consumers can only boycott these black sheeps to eliminate them. Only when they dont have business will they amend their ways, hopefully.

Did it say the deposit would be refundable in the 1st place? If not, I think it is tough... But since its probably a gone case, just try ur luck.. I suggest tt u tok to the BOSS and DWELL on those 2 points u mentioned abt the ID (wasting ur time n made a wasted trip and the ID stood u up 3 times). Tell them tt for those reasons, there is no way u could trust the ID or the company to do ur reno anymore and therefore u insist on the deposit to be refunded and u will rest the case. Tell them it is for the good of both parties that u dont use them as u r already experiencing so much problem at this stage and u cant imagine how bad it could be during the reno stage. If these dont work. How much is the deposit? Perhaps u can INSIST from the boss tt u will juz do the minimum works to use up the deposit like hacking, plastering etc.. Do not give in to any pressure from the contractors. Dont place deposit UNLESS you are sure that u will use that contractor OR unless it is refundable.

Oh.. u will be surprised. Cos I have experienced it. A very popular with good comments contractor seems to have been pissed off by my comparison and have outright reject my biz when initially I tot I could consider waiting for him after spending much time with him. Was really into the final stage of fine-tuning, clarification and final plea for a better deal prior to signing on the dotted line. It was just less than 2 weeks to my planned start date. I have tried to post a new thread here hoping to warn people, asking for help and seek recommendation for contractor with good workmanship but till now I cant find the thread.. hmm... cant get pass the moderator? Actually after posting, I start to wonder if i should share openly abt my experience cos that contractor know my address having visited my unit. ah.. perhaps the moderator tot of that and was protecting me?? dunno.. but I wasnt informed why the thread never show. I am happy to share via PM if you wish to know. Now I am skeptical abt good comments u know...and I just read another one with good comments now with forummers having problem reaching that contractor... Just be wary and I hope they will reveal their wolf's tail before u commit.

I m confused.. they show u the quote but just dont want to give to u? And ya.. its so strange that they showed u the sketch designs but withheld the quotations bcos usually they will give quotations and not sketch designs. To me, that doesnt sound right. They must be hiding something...

Really sad to hear this. Did he not respond at all via all means? Did u went down to look for him at his office? I hope other forummers who are having reno with him right now saw ur post would help u to ask him to contact u. I am not too sure what you can do now. Perhaps u could call HDB for advice? or CASE? I have also just encountered a bad experience with a popular contractor here with many good comments. Fortunately no payment involved but he wasted a lot of my time. At the shortlisting stage, one of the so-called recommended contractor also didnt impress me. U can search my post on my experience. Just be wary people... good things dont seem to last.. popular contractors choose clients. Obviously some contractors are having "big head symptoms" bcos of the good response from the forummers here. I hope they still remember to be professional and ethical to be in the biz for long. Yes, u can be popular now but tt's bcos of ur good works in the past but if that same attitude, quality and professionalism is not maintained, I wish u will still be in the biz in time to come. I believe in KARMA.

Hi May, can you share your ID/contractor contact with me and hopefully your quote as well? I have been flown kite by a very popular contractor last min cos I think I pulled out items and out-sourced etc etc and he seems pissed off by me making too much comparisons. Surprisingly, reno so ex how to not compare?? Sigh... I had to waste time to find another one. Thanks.

Hi hi, I am considering Alan as well. Hopefully u all can share their experience with me, especially if there's any bad experience. Have anyone of you went to visit his works? How do u find his worksmanship? If u r not comfortable sharing here, just PM me. I hope those who have got his quote can share with me as well. Thanks.

isiah, Can i have the contact of the reno firm also? Thanks.

I am currently having a bad experience with one of the recommended contractor on this forum. The famous guy is Mr Y**k of B****c I***e I was really surprised cos I have seen quite number of good comments abt him which is why I have approached him. Approached him in early March, now almost decided to sign with him after seeing his works and find his pricing reasonable comapring with 3 other contractors we approached. To me it's just down to fine-tuning stage and last sat we even made a trip down to his office to discuss wih him on the quote. Told him we looking to start around mid May. Then on Wednesday night, I asked if he could further improve his quote, he emailed me: "I am sorry but I am fully booked in May" I cant believe this especially when I have requested him to check with me before he gave away his last slot. I have been trying to contact him since his rejection but he was totally not interested in helping me and so were his colleagues. Tried to sms him and call him to see how we can work out an arrangement as we were really keen to sign up with him but he refused to return my call and gave me a very disappointing response which I will share when I have figured what I am gonna do next. I am so disappointed with this so called nice guy (which I tot he really is) and now I am stuck. Either I have to wait for him till July or I need to find someone else which is so tiring... Any advice is much appreciated or if anyone has contractor with comparable workmandship and pricing and is a responsible man, could u please reply to this post. Thanks.

Hi, I need a quote for system 2 & 3 inverter/non inverter (for bedrooms)for my 5rm resale flat (123sqm, 3 bedrooms). As well as a quote for system 3 with 1 in the living and 2 in bedrooms. I seldon use air-con and am unlikely to on all units at one time. Do I need inverter sys as I heard that would be good for those who on all units at the same time. Need recommendations on brands and installation and removal of the existing aircon and trunking. Please breakdown the items. Thanks.

Can someone PM me Jimmy's contact too? Thanks.

Hi, Can share with me your electrician contacts too and let me know how much you spent? what is the biggest consideration in your view if we outsourced electrical works? Will it hinder the ceiling works or other stuff much? Thanks for sharing your experience. If I were u, I would be very frustrated for all these issues too. Keeping my fingers crossed on my ID which I am still searching. I will surely warned my frens abt this company. I find them quite unacceptable. Like your parquet flooring, especially when u have told them and highlighted your concern abt the colour a few times and yet the outcome is like this. And I could see the rough plastering work of your ceiling from your picture. It's really not nice. I will not accept that tooI m a fussy person. $2K is a little higher than what I have been quoted. The ones that i've got is on the high $1K end. About the top-up issue. This is one thing that i am most fearful. I came across people and even my own parents top up could be as high as 5 figure amount from their initial quotation. I cant allow that. Any further advice on this area how we can keep the costs in control? I think being precise in the quote can be good and bad cos too precise, they can charge for slight deviation. But too loose, they can use inferior materials or cut corners...

my experience with Jessie wasnt good. Approached her bcps of recommendation from zhiz. She never left me a good 1st impression. Text her abt my interest in getting quote for my reno in April back in Feb. She took quite a number of days to revert and said she might not be able to take on the project and suggest getting her colleague to deal with me. When I replied her I would prefer her to do it since she was being recommended, she went quiet. Took initiative to call her a few days later and asked her about her experience etc. She said she was having lunch. didnt sound too keen to talk to me and she never contacted me since. Msged her again 2 weeks back and asked her if she is still able to quote. Totally no response. I thought the way she handled me was not very professional. I wasnt impressed and wont pursue further. I have given her enough chances. Just for anyone's reference. Maybe it was just my luck...

Can I know which ID you have sign up with too? Pls share with me your experience and why you have decided to choose them. Also, can I know the reno costs and breakdown too? Currently shortlisting ID/contractors and working out budget.. Appreciate your input and advice. Thanks.

Hi friends78, Came to check out ur blog cos of ur bro.. I like what i see so far! like ur common toilet wall and floor tiles too! How much are they? And why do u want the ballast bulb? what gd does it have? Any photos of the downlights?? Really interested to know your total damage so far cos I also want to plan my budget and control it tightly. Would u be able to share with me your detailed quotation and the spreadsheet please?? Thanks... As for your dining lights, after seeing your Cellini package, the 1st one that jumps to my mind is big bulb.. but it does look a bit plain as compared to some others.. but somehow i tot it kinda match ur theme.. also its white colour.. dining lights usually orangy nicer?? Should be able to change ya? Of cos depending on ur preference... Oh ya... so ur Cellini package is 4K altogether? what was the promo like?

how come i cant view the pictures?

simple n nice! Can share with me your contractor details? How much did u spent? If possible can share your detailed quote? And I love your colour combi! Can share with me the brand & codes too? Thanks!

Finally finished reading the thread. Great thread cos I love negative comments too. Nothing is perfect n everyone has different standards. Juz got to exercise own discretion and judge if all the problems are within acceptable limits. Henry is the contractor that i have read up most so far. One major concern that I have is about workmanship. I have seen some of the photos which are not quite acceptable for my standards. One of the henner also did comment that their workmanship is ok. He will not rectify things that are not aligned nicely as long as it is done properly. I can be fussy and pretty particular. I cant accept just ok standard. if it's crooked, i want it to be rectified. Would appreciate all the henner club people to rate the workmanship. It would be great if the henners could share your reply here. Else I welcome any PMs! Thanks!

I am just starting to do my research for my 5i resale which will be getting keys in late March. Am I too late? When I first google for contractors, i was linked to this site.. this site sure has loads of info but where am i going to start???? I chanced upon a t-blog n I thought that is really interesting so I am thinking of using this approach to get my ID: 1) Go through some t-blogs to get an idea of the design of the contractors and mainly to shortlist any ones that have gd comments and to my liking with reasonable costs cos I wanna keep my reno costs to the min. 2) invite a few contractors to view my flat after I got the keys so that i get a more accurate estimate. Thru a few experiences I have seen, many times those packaged deals are far from the real costs, the ones that i knew were almost doubled of what they was quoted in the package after the alterations etc. i do not want to waste my time getting unrealistic quotes. What do u all think of my approach? Anything I would missed out if I do it this way? I think quite a number of people just go out and get quotes with floor plans but at this point I m undecided how much I want to do cos I dont want to end up with a massive bill. My resale flat is a 20+ yr old flat which was pretty well maintained but still most of the things are in original condition so I will have to do a large part of it such as flooring and remove those old-fashioned tiles. I am quite in a dilemma on some stuff on how I wanna approach, hopefully can get some advice here: 1) Whether to keep the kitchen cabinets which have been changed just few years ago and was maintained pretty well but I would like to replace those old-fashioned wall tiles so I m unsure if I could still keep the cabinet. Any advice? How much does the cabinets usually costs? 2) air-con though looks old, are functioning and since we dont use much aircon, I was planning not to replace them but I m just afraid that they might look out of place after reno. 3) For flooring, is it better to get it via the contractor? What is the best and economical way to approach it? 4) Whats the best approach to work out a good reliable budget? And how do I work towards keeping the costs to the minimum? What would u think would be a realistic budget if I want to redo the whole flat? It's really great to read all the comments and experiences...Thanks for sharing, good learning ground

Hi, hope to have Henry's contact too. appreciate a PM from anyone who has it. Thanks.

Hi there, I m still reading your t-blog. Thanks oor sharing.. looks nice..Can I have Henry's contact too? Thanks..

isiah, Can u PM me ur contractor details too? Thanks...