matchalatte
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Everything posted by matchalatte
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wait, your name looks familiar. from hwz forum? -
OHHHH good idea about the boxes, i've wanted black also! will definitely spray them! i've been wanting to paint my own walls also. im hacking 4 walls and most of my windows are either full or 3/4 height so there are so much less areas to paint. and yet the charges are still exhorbitant! around $1300-1400 quoted by contractors & IDs. it will probably cost me $150 for the paint and i can save so much but we're like the opposite, my hubby is totally against it and he said hes not going to help me hmpf. so im still wondering whether i should do it or source around for cheaper services. edit : talking about black, any idea if existing bathroom wall grouts can be painted over? not sure where to buy colored grout paint. i think for new BTO its not possible to regrout coz they will have to scrape away the existing grouting before applying new one. so the only way is to like "touch up" using a brush but not sure how to do it.
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im really liking your huge window in the bathroom, almost like condo? only condos have regular sized windows! i wanted to overlay as well but its almost $3K to overlay the entire thing so $6K gone for 2! decided to just forgo the whole thing sorry for the noob qn but can you tell me if clothes dryer dries the clothes completely as in immediately can take out to wear/keep? i never used a dryer before but i've seen my friend with one and hers has a long tube that goes out the window. very ugly and clunky. whats the diff between those with and without tube? really nice buys btw! im also looking for prices of appliances that are in the hundreds range instead of thosands lol. will go tiong yeong to have a look, honestly havent heard of it.
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yup, my neighbor's unit was just renovated by them, looks not bad! then again i dont think he has lots of carpentry in the first place lol
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oh wow your toilet wall tiles are ACTUALLY really nice! its almost like herringbone, which i love lol. how come i never have a feature wall at one side despite mine being a premium BTO. hmpf. happy renovating!! busy and exciting times ahead!
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that looks pretty decent. could you pm me your contractor/id contact please? i got a quote from a contractor and with the cabinets, backsplash, quartz & blum it came up to $375pfr so i asked for the cost breakdown and he couldnt give it to me. he said they quote by "lump sum" so he cannot give me the pfr for the cabinets & countertop. looks like he isnt keen on my biz at all.
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omg your home is so beautiful!! i want a dark bathroom too! and how come your marble floor has lines like wood! so unique. finally its coming to an end right, your reno?
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hello guys, i need help with a quote, is this too expensive? basically i wanted a wet & dry kitchen. U shaped at wet kitchen with only a top cabinet at one side, full height cabinet for oven & fridge + island at dry kitchen (at my dining) area. supply labor, material & tools for 24ft quartz countertop, 5 blum drawers, casement hinge & glass backsplash - $8500 unit of 6ft cabinet at dining - $2112 unit of full height 3ft cabinet with blum at kitchen - $1600 island unit (800x2400mm) with volakas countertop & blum hinges at dining - $4125 grand total of $16,337 of kitchen capentry for my teeny tiny 3 room BTO? not sure i want to spend that much!
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so fun!! i LOVE the ghost chair, in fact i love the whole kartell ghost range haha. can't wait to see the end results of your home, its gonna be beautiful.
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omg your home is so beautiful! totally loving the color scheme esp the walnut colored floor and grey wardrobe. btw i noticed you didnt do a shower kerb? is it really ok not to do? looks so much better without one.
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ok like the normal sandwich/toast type. understand. how many recipes did u try anyway? i also got no luck with breadmaker lol. last time when carrefour was around i bought their housebrand one called bluesky. luckily i didnt invest on an expensive one! it even had a kaya/jam function but mine just turned out curdled.
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hello! our experiences with IDs are very different, then again mine is the other way round, i met 10 contractors & 3 IDs. so far nobody dared to hardsell me, they just came back with sky high quotation lol.
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anyone has experience with smeg appliances like hood/hob/oven or bought from this lioncityco? they have lots of packages and this one looks decent! http://www.lioncityco.com/package-deals/built-in-cooking-package-offers/hob-hood-oven/smeg-package-cooker-hood-kse912x3-gas-hob-pc73gno-oven-sf109.html
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ya these bto layouts are not good for people who cook or bake often i will have 3100 if i hack my service yard haha. still beats a 2400 one! dont think a 3 room bto kitchen can get any smaller than mine. forgot to reply u abt the bread earlier. what kind do u make? most of the rustic bread i make eg baguette or ciabatta made with starter are dense also, but the japanese/breadtalk kind are usually softer because i use a mixture of bread & cake flour (high & low gluten) and i knead with my standmixer until when u stretch it will be translucent eg. must pass the window pane test. but bread that is dense has lots of causes also so its hard to troubleshoot. could be under or overproofing also. but u feel its the oven's problem? many ovens have different temp throughout, some are hotter inside, my convection is hotter outside near the door but since it has a turntable so my bakes are evenly baked throughout.
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you have a point! not hacking & doing away with windows is the best of both worlds. i do not like to clean windows, ever. especially not when there are so many panels! i think if yr kitchen is big(ger) u can do that but mine is a laughable 2.4m or less, i really dont know how to utilize that space if i dont do away with the service yard. imagine having to cram everything like stove, sink, fridge, rice cooker in there. omg haha, hardly any space at countertop. my neighbor already renovated : as u can see, stove & sink is nx to each other, and fridge already put the other side. and so only can utilize that small counter together with the dining table. i so wanna cry lor.
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honestly i think its ridiculous, in old flats where there are no service yards, the area where you hang clothes is really close to the stove. whats their main issue anyway? smell? fire? or what? anyway one contractor told me the water inlet pipe is big, and the ground won't be enough to conceal fully. its either you build a cement screed over and yr island area will be higher than the rest of yr house, or build a platform over and put the piping underneath. aiyo just lots more work and configuration and more money just for the idea of a sink, forget it. yup thats what i was told, warranty for floors and walls will be void. but thats ok, i cannot live with a 2.4m kitchen if i don't hack the service yard so i will take the risk. so you'll remove the windows & door so the yard area looks like it has a half wall? its the wall that is "zhor deng". good question abt the oven, honestly i have no idea/preference at all. and i wouldn't know as well since i haven't worked with a built in oven before. but if given a choice (and budget), most likely it will be european brand like bosch, miele, teka. but honestly to me, an oven is just a tool, it doesn't affect the outcome of yr product much. its ok as long as it does the job. i've been baking for 10 years with a small 28L panasonic microwave/convection oven, even churning out difficult bakes like macarons and croissant with no difficulty. i'm actually geared towards attractively priced bundles like hood+hob+oven or hob oven & sink sort of thing. so i will take anything that is cheap. honestly though, european brands in sg are not very good. i hear that parts are rare and expensive, and the customer service are also not responsive. yup! contractors told me that too. there will be a resale inspection. in fact i just sold my flat and the guy from the branch office came up to look. i didn't know it was to look at windows because he looked everywhere else, esp at beams & ceiling. he also checked the whole house against the reno permit floorplan we submitted years ago. one of the contractors i spoke to say if you do "by left" method, its preferable to just buy an induction cooker, remove it and cover the hole with something if they come up and check, then say u don't cook at home LOL. but on normal days, don't let neighbors complain abt the smoke & smell la, coz if they come and check thats it. yeah i couldn't find the clause too, read through the whole reno guidelines and couldn't find it. i guess lots of things are "grey areas" so they didn't bother putting it down? maybe i'll call HDB and ask. because according to the contractors i spoke to, all 10 of them, they all don't know the answer too because how many actually want to cook there, except me lol
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errr but if dont hack how to conceal the pipe under the flooring? i mean the water pipe, not drainage. shd be the inlet?
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after meeting so many contractors and some IDs, they're all saying different things! making me even more confused than ever. 1. cooking at service yard - some say can, some say cannot. some say if manage to get permit from HDB/PE engineer to hack the service yard wall it means HDB will take it that your whole area is a kitchen so they dont care where you put the stove. another contractor said even though you hack the service yard wall you still cannot put the stove there. 2. sink at island counter - some say doable but the piping that runs underground cannot be "elbow" type, the pipe needs to be welded shut so the water wont leak and the ground doesnt get flooded. some say must depend on the height of the ground else if the water pipe is too big to be concealed it will protrude from the ground. another one says HDB totally doesnt allow piping to be concealed underground, had to show him that home & decor page where they featured many HDB island counters with sink. i suppose my project would be considered the "challenging" type, doing unconventional things that many people have not done. thats why many contractors cant really be bothered to come back with quotes because they dont really want to take up such projects LOL.
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did you manage to sell away your rainshower? i hope you did! keeping my fingers crossed i wont have any taobao booboos but who knows...
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no ID reno journey
matchalatte replied to Ken Lam's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - Condo Interior Design and Landed Renovation
ohhh you doing DIY reno? im tempted to as well, but would it be difficult to coordinate works between different people? or when anything goes wrong they'll start pointing fingers at each other. so far i tried asking individual quotes for carpentry, glass sliding doors, aircon, painting. not any cheaper than what contractors & IDs have quoted me. maybe i just dont have the right contacts. -
Painting Canvas
matchalatte replied to Whisperer's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
oh you like the baroque/renaissance/french victorian theme? imagine afternoon tea at home with french pastries ala marie antoinette style. loves! haha honestly i have no idea about the toilet bowl parts but will need to show the contractor everything from toilet bowl to faucet to rain shower before i can buy so as to make sure its compatible. is this a one piece toilet? not sure abt the collar thing. anyway those things that arent too ex in sg can just buy locally. easier to exchange/refund if anything goes wrong too. this will be my second home but im as noob as a newbie! first home not much reno and done by a relative so not much experience. -
@spooky hmm ok thanks! i'm looking at brands like joven or ariston, maybe i need to ask places like hoe kee & sim siang choon? because they carry them. @fifteenmay thanks, very nice of you to list the items out! so its normal to itemize all these? there are also inlet & outlet valve thingy which i'm not sure what those are.
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i need help! i received a quotation and under the plumbing works theres a charge for installation of storage heater, $200. when you buy storage heaters is installation normally included by the shop? also, all these installation of mirror, vanity cabinet, rainshower, towel rack, toilet bowl, they're all itemized and charged separately? really comes up to quite abit
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Painting Canvas
matchalatte replied to Whisperer's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
btw you're TOO funny! i just read all your posts and LOL-ed at what you wrote. i feel so happy reading your blog hahha! oh and how come you sold yr toilet bowl? somemore got 2?? im planning to buy mine from taobao. -
Painting Canvas
matchalatte replied to Whisperer's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
hello, we're "hacker" friends then! i was telling my friend how many walls i want to hack he was like "you're basically reconfiguring the whole layout ". thats indeed what i plan to do lol. i love how spacious it is when the two bedrooms are hacked, when i see your pics i always fantasize how mine would look as well haha. oh are you going to just segregate a small wet kitchen at the yard area and make the rest of the kitchen open concept or? cant wait to see the end result. your home is gonna look stunning i can already forsee!
