ucypmas

No real difference between Nippon or ICI. There are some grades which gives a slight sheen finish (I thought it looked rather nice), like Nippon's Vinyl Silk so you might want to consider that if you have a lot of downlights along the wall although its a little more expensive. Usually full glossy paint like Nippon Bodelac are not used for walls, they are more for wooden or metal surfaces like door frames, doors, metal gates etc.

Hi sumobear, Sometimes the paint on the catalogue and the final result on the wall can be rather different. I had the experience when I picked this colour called "Carnation White" from Nippon for two of my bedrooms - looks whitish with a tinge of pink on the catalogue but turned out a lot more pinkish when painted on the walls Did you use a colour consultant? Personally I have not tried them but maybe they can give a better picture -those who tried colour consultants can feedback on the results.

There is a shop called Shanghai Tong Lee located at Jalan Sultan near Beach Road. Its a hardware shop of sorts. They carry a massive range of door handles, cabinet handles etc. There is also another shop is Geylang, Thye Seng which has an equally massive collection. Its located along Sims Avenue - I don't have the exact address. To get there, as you head into Geylang along Sims Avenue, it is located around the 2nd traffic light pedestrian crossing after the start of the Geylang shophouses. It is on the bank of shophouses on the right hand side of Sims Avenue heading into Geylang. Good luck! Note that both shops face their main roads.

You have family? If not, maybe no need for fan in each room. For my new place its only me and my wife, we bought two stand fan to be moved around when needed - did not install fan in every room. We also have a ceiling fan left behind by the previous owner in the living room. If not cooking, no need for microwave oven and rice cooker. I am using an electric keetle to boil water. I would classify TV for MBR as nice-to-have, but that's just me. There's also the vacuum cleaner and the laundry dryer. For me, both are nice-to-have.

I used the paint quite generously for my last coat. Made sure that the roller are thick with the paint before slapping it on and didn't try to spread over too large a surface area. However, do need to roll it around a bit to ensure that the paint is even. I also did not dilute my actual paint - used it off the can after proper stirring and worked out well.

Well, oil based sealer can be diluted with tupertine as well - only thing is that it is a lot more work to clean off... Use only if your things and floorings are well protected or covered. I used oil-based sealer for my walls (gypsum board soundproofing with plastered joints) and quite satisfied with the result. But do agree that the whole job can be quite siong, even with those long poles where you mount the roller at the end of it...

Is the high cost because PUB did an estimate for that month they were away? Think the meter is not read every month, so on alternate months they do an estimate based on your past trends and consumption and actualise the bill when they read the meter the following month...

I painted one room myself - 1 can of 5L is more than enough to give 3 coats. Room size is 3.75m x 3.75m. Paint is Nippon Vinilex (cheapest brand in Nippon's range)- $36 per can. Highest end like Nippon Odourless will cost upwards of $60 per can. Depending on number of colours, you will probably spend ~200-250 on paint cost for the whole house and another $50 on accessories like roller, brush, container etc. So savings is approx 1k. But its very back-breaking especially if you are painting ceilings as well and you want to do 3-4 coats. My advice would be for you to paint an undercoat / sealer before the real paint - that way 2 good coats of the actual paint will do - so in total 3 coats. And its better that all coats are allowed to more or less dry out before the next coat goes on. Do you currently have furniture in the house? If you do, then its slightly more difficult... Sammie 7L of paint for one bedroom? Including ceiling?

Got this EF brand washer (model WF7100) from *spam. Quite reasonably priced for a 7kg front load with some interesting features, only ~580 bucks. Figured that it might be worth a try - was initially looking at Electrolux EW887F but changed my mind. Haven't started using it so can't comment much. Picture can be seen at this website. EF Website

Even at 30%, with only piping works done and no equipment installed, the air-con company would still have made money... You have no leverage unless the equipment is actually sitting in your house, but not paid for in full.

Any idea on the power consumption? I cannot find any information despite trawling the web a few times. In terms of price, it is quite reasonable, about $700 compared to similar Mitsubishi model (MRF51S) which would cost about 800 bucks - the only thing is how much electricity it actually uses.

As far as I know they have 2 branches, one in Defu Avenue 1 and the other along Bukit Batok St 22. I went to both and from personal experience, the sales in Defu Ave 1 are rather pushy (or rather the lady was pushy) - don't like it so went back to Bukit Batok where I first visited to have some peace in viewing the wardrobe. Size of 2.0 x 2.0m, typical price range is from 700-1k, depending on material, build and type. Size of 2.0 x 2.4m, typical price range is from 1.1k-1.2k For Brighton, I've been to Henderson, Toa Payoh and Sungei Kadut branches - Toa Payoh has the most things so may be worth your time to visit only that branch. However, I remember seeing some of their range of furniture in the catalogues of some of the neighbourhood dealer shops - never asked about price though.

Just for reference, I bought mine at Defu Furniture. Size is 95"by 95" or 2.4 x 2.4m in metric terms. Total damage 1.6k including some customisation for height and internals. If you are looking for smaller ones (2 x2m) , it should be about 1k. Also, check out the Shing Hup chain of shops - they are like dealers and carry a variety of catalouges from manufacturers. I bought my coffee table, shoe cabinet and TV console from their Jurong branch. I noticed that some of these designs are also carried in a number of other more well known shops, albeit at higher prices of 15-25%. They have a branch closer at Alexandra, opposite Queensway shopping centre. If you want reference prices for some of the items to check that their pricing policy among branches is the same, let me know.

As said above, curtain pricing is determined by type, size and material. I did the following for about 1.9k Living Room: Full height, day & night, 4.0m MBR: Full height, day & night, 2.2m Bedroom 2: Full height, day & night, 2.5m Bedroom 3: Full height, day & night, 3.0m Access Balcony: Half height, Vertical blinds, 2.3m Height of full curtains about 2.2m. My suggestion for curtains, based on my own limited experience is: 1. If you are doing normal curtains (less so for roller blinds), wait until the house is completely painted, carpentry done and main furnitures are settled before doing your selection. You'll have a much better idea. 2. There is very little price transparency for cloth curtains owing to different materials. Ask around your friends for their experience and get their contacts if you are comfortable with their feedback. 3. You should decide if normal curtains or blinds would be better suited for your house. If you are staying high floor, unblocked view with no neighbours looking in, maybe a simple roller blind would be enough.

I was considering the MRF-51S / 62S model (2-door, freezer on top). Price quotes are around 820 / 940 for both of the models (+/- 20 bucks) However when I tried the doors for the fridge, the horizontal handle gave some squeaks. Some display models at some shops gave louder squeaks than the others. I'm a little worried that it will become worse with age and considering that the house environment is quiter than the shops, it will be quite noticeable (an annoying) in the future. So have looked at other alternatives and now considering the Toshiba Black Glass series - GR-MG46SD which would fit in okay with the kitchen because we painted the kitchen cabinets white.

Saw a couple of designs at Red Apple @ Sungai Kadut. There's a couple of other shops there, I recall seeing some others but sorry cannot remember which shop exactly - you may want to go check it out.

The refrigerant lines from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit and back are usually in one straight piece each (i.e. no joints). If you are shortening it, may be doable but if it involves extending it - maybe more troublesome. I don't know the impact of adding a joint to these copper lines - if it is not advisable (to add the joint) then the contractor may have to rip out piping from the outdoor unit back into the indoor unit affected to replace the copper lines to the new location. If the costs of doing this is expensive (and your air con is > 5 years old) you can consider getting a new set which costs < 2k for non-inverter system 3 from any of the major installer companies and redo the layout of everything.

Archer, After using the shoe cabinet for a few months, any issues with humidity & smell? As a matter of fact, would appreciate if those who did built-in shoe cabinets can comment, because my concerns are the apparent lack of ventilation for cabinets without some kind of louvre (old-fashioned, I know) or opening around it. Cheers

Prices in Jalan Besar are reasonably competitive. The shops are located around 100-series shophouses.