frostyapple

Yes you are right. One good reason could be because her charges are very cheap. Since we never know whether feng shui masters are reliable, even for those who charge sky high prices, might as well go for a cheap and popular one.

Thanks. At first I wanted to charge a fix $150 in addition to the room rental. The tenant is not comfortable with that. He has his own fan, but still must have air con. That's why I told him to pay whatever is shown in the PUB bill. Now the problem is that his sister stays with him, and he works day shift, while his sister works night shift. So the air con is on day and night, sian... He is not too happy about paying the PUB bill, complaining that the tenant in the other room may use more electricity/water.

I don't want to post here otherwise more people will queue up overnight to see her and I will have no chance to see her again BTW, she only works from 7am to 2pm, and she does not allow people to make appointments. She can spend a few hours speaking to one customer. Even if you queued up overnight, if you are the 4th or 5th person in the queue, you may not have a chance to see her because she strictly stops work at 2pm.

Hi Andreja, Thank you very much. I do hope to get a marble side table to match with my marble dining table. The tables in your photos look great, will check them out.

I am very eager to see your photos !

I am renting out 2 bedrooms, already found tenants. One room requires air con, the other room does not want air con. How to charge for PUB utilities ? Anyone has experience dealing with this ? The tenancy agreement states that the room rental includes PUB but does not include air con. If one tenant wants to turn on the air con, he must pay the amount on the PUB bill after deducting $100. Do you think this is fair ?

I know one master who is so popular that people queue up overnight to see her. Her charges are very reasonable, and she does not sell anything in her shop. I consulted her once and she gave me very valuable advise.

I just saw one 20+ years maisonette at Bishan sold at $900K at HDB website. Amazing that anyone will actually pay this price for an old flat.

Most people usually spend about $50K to $60K on their renovation. I spent about $30K to renovate my EA. Check out my blog : http://myrenovationblog.blogspot.com/

Just an update. I kept my granite floor and asked the contractor to wax it. The cost is $280. It looks like brand new now.

Have you ever seen a pink kitchen ? Anyone has any kitchens with funky or unusual colours to share ? http://myrenovationblog.blogspot.com/

Hi EoneKhaled, My contractor is Joo Guan Huat at Tradehub. Call Peter at 9385 9749. He is not exactly an ID in the sense that he cannot come up with fancy designs, he is more like a contractor. We need to specify exactly what we want to him. He provides very good service and delivers what he promises. Highly recommended.

I dislike bi-fold doors and after hearing bad comments about PD doors, I decided to spend more to get the Besglas doors for my master and common toilets. Very happy with the doors in glass and aluminium. The quality is very good ! Very easy to open and close. Highly recommended. http://myrenovationblog.blogspot.com/

Anyone knows where to buy a side table like the above ?

My advise is to remove all built-in carpentry except for the kitchen. Also wallpaper and L box are also not necessary. I never have those. Carpet flooring is not advisable especially if you are going to have kids. Forget about laminate flooring, they are not durable. Get homogeneous tiles for whole house instead, it is worth it. For furniture, go to Courts, Ikea or other furniture that allows interest free instalment so you can pay over 1 to 2 years. For lighting, HDB should have provided you with light bulb sockets. Just buy white light bulbs and fit in. That is what I have done for both my old and new flats. Otherwise lighting could easily cost you over $1000. For toilets, I have 2 x tempered glass shower screen doors for $900. There is no need to spend $300 on mirrors, you can get cheaper mirrors. $800 on cabinets is also not necessary. How about curtains ? If you go to a shop specializing in making curtains, it could cost you over $1000. The cheapest way is to buy curtain rods from Ikea or Spotlight, ask your contractor to mount for you. The cheapest curtains I can find are from Ikea, $29 per pack. My advise is to first make sure you do a good flooring that is long lasting. Other things can be slowly added when you save up more money.

Definitely visit an actual completed unit to check the workmanship. I visited 2 units by 2 different contractors, and I can really see the difference. If the ID tells you he cannot arrange for you, look for another ID. One advise is to break down the renovation into stages. This was what I did when I renovated my EA : My first quotation was only hacking and tiling of 4 bedrooms, 2 toilets, kitchen, painting, etc. The cost was about $20K+. Initial payment was only $2K+. I told the contractor that I have not decided on the kitchen yet. I thought that if I was not happy with the service, I could easily find someone else to do the kitchen cabinet and other works for me. After all the tiling works are done, I was satisfied with the work and service, so I decided to engage the same contractor to do the kitchen and other works for me. He gave me a second quotation. I have been reading this forum and found that many people easily spend $50K to $60K at one time. If you don't know whether the contractor is reliable or not, it is not safe to pay so much money at one go. I read about cases in this forum about people being cheated by IDs/contractors, so this is my strategy to minimize losses.

I just completed my renovation with Peter. His tiling work is fine. I have no complains about the kitchen. In fact, throughout the renovation, I kept changing my mind about what I wanted. Peter is very flexible and accommodating. He delivers the work on time.

I recommend Joo Guan Huat at tradehub 21. Look for Peter.

I just completed the renovation of my EA with Joo Guan Huat. My contact person is Peter. I highly recommend his services. Peter is mainly a contractor, his tiling work and kitchen are fine. He has subcontractors to do the painting and electrical wiring for me. He is very reliable and delivers what he promises. The renovation is completed on time. However, Peter is not an interior decorator, so don't expect him to come up with fanciful designs for you. But if you need a good contractor to do the basic work, I highly recommend him.

http://www.asiaonemovers.com.sg/ Anyone used them before ? Any comments ?

Hi Tjoeshue, May I know where you bought the dining table ? Thanks in advance.

I am thinking of installing CCTV, wonder if this will deter the Ah Long from doing anything.

They are the first owner so they must know. They should have at least told me what happened. Why would ah long go after the neighbour ? Isn't it a waste of time ? I don't know whether it is solved already. Read this letter in the straits times: Innocent victim of loan sharks TWO months after I moved into my new flat in Woodlands Drive 53, I returned home to find my home splashed with paint. Written on the wall was a demand for payment for the loans given to the previous owner. Despite reporting the threat to the police, the harassment continued. It took a turn for the worse last week when the loan sharks padlocked my gate in addition to vandalising my wall. They left a note for the former owner, demanding payment. Lodging reports with the police does not seem to be effective and I am afraid and feel helpless. Can the HDB help us obtain another flat? I have taken to staying up late just to make sure that my home is safe. Ling Yoon (Ms)

Hi, I am also thinking of engaging David Tong. His Feng Shui consultation fees for an executive flat is $800. Is this the market rate ?