Makanology

Haha "duties of a slave"! This is so funny and nice way to spice up the fridge

Hi fellow neighbour Edd and wifey, how are you guys? Yes solved some post-renovation problems along the way and now we have 2 problems still haha! One with our retro switches bought online from Australia and one with the inferior door knobs from our contractor. Have to spend $$ to change them! Anyways, loving the neighborhood and the wanton mee stall at your block! Alas the fish ball noodles stall's standard has dropped

Nice layout! Where is your dream home located?

Hi June, I think I am suffering from post-renovation withdrawal syndrome. I miss the renovation journey and of course only the good bit. The part when you start off with an empty place and eventually birthing a completed and warm home other than that, we have become home bodies, always staying in to enjoy the comforts of our place. How about you?

Haha then I know which one:) enjoy your renovation process, I miss it, the good part, not the bad parts of course!

The new floor layout looks really interesting. Will be camping here to see your end result

Very nice! Simple yet effective!

Congrats and have a fun first night at your lovely new place!

Congrats on your new place and welcome to RT! Awesome mood pics!

Very nice!

Hi thanks for your reply! Yes we placed it in the corridor with sunlight. We also watered daily but both orchid and false heather died a fairly quick death. Even our neighbour's false heather didn't last and it was placed just a metre away on the same corridor haiz...

Finally a cool start to the day... Thank God for the rain AND breeze! Untitled by Makanology, on Flickr Princess of the loft by Makanology, on Flickr

Thanks man. Exactly my sentiments. Thats when you start trusting your contractor/sub-cons all the way and realised that there's almost certainly a shortcut for whatever they do. Again, trust and confidence is lost that way. I wonder if the contractors/sub-cons will do that with their own homes. Makes me wonder...

Hi, E here. When i removed it, the threading on both ends doesn't hold up at all unless you are using a rubber water-tight seal and lots of sealing tape. Apparently from what the hardware store guy remarked: it is common for plumbers to "re-use" and "re-fit" old/reconditioned or wrongly bought parts with odds/ends of pipes because majority of home owners couldn't tell the difference so long it works. However, upon prolonged use, the sealing tape within loses it tightness and water starts seeping through. That is when your new plumber comes and fix up the problem and realised that the previous plumber scrounged and gave re-fitted custom parts instead of a proper 3 way angle valve. I believe it s all about costs for these people. Lazy people wouldn't really go to all the extend to refit or recondition parts just to change a dime. I guess there are some sub-cons who just didn't want to spend any money and give clients what they paid for, when they can get away with doing something like this. In my line of work, there are "short-cuts" as well. Instead of wasting money to buy purple paint, we mix red and blue paint to get the right shade of purple and we are able to stock up on the desired colour for future use.

Hi Kstoh, we are keen to know what the steps you have taken for your flourishing ikea orchid plant. Needless to say, we killed ours

Hey resale flats have their own merits too! Bigger in size for some rooms especially the kitchen!

Thanks for the address Ocean and thanks for the price tip, Kstoh. We have bought some Ikea plants and killed some also haha... Guess we just have to keep honing the skills!

I saw this nursery by PIE but I don't know where the entrance is... Mind sharing? Are the prices ok? Why only bought 1 pot? Or maybe too early to buy?

Congrats! Your kitchen cabinets seem quite ok... How is the condition? Also, the ex-owner seems to love red a lot!

Nice Takashi stuff!

Hi there, E here. Thanks for the compliment. Regarding the legs, it all depends on the condition of it. Basically, since such legs are rather old and worn, there are bound to be plenty of dust, grease and random <insertnameofwhatever>. I wouldn't say its very difficult, but it does take some time especially the cleaning up and the spray work. I used a metal brush to scrub out the dirt, and sanded it down using sandpaper on stubborn "bumps" which refuses to come off. You gotta wash off the grease, else the spray work wouldn't be lasting. Lastly, for the tabletop, you will need to measure the cross section of the table, mark it down so that it ll be even. However, not every pair of legs are made symmetrically, so you would have to adjust to your liking and not too obviously in terms of alignment. The wheels on the feet would be difficult because they are made of cast iron/steel, so if you are placing them on wooden laminates, you will end up damaging the floor. I suggest hard flooring like tiles etc. Do use a piece of hard rubber bumper sticker (those which you stick on cupboard doors to avoid slamming) on the wheels to protect any flooring in any case.

Hi bert, This is mr E here. I have just recently replaced my water outlet to the sink, as well as the faucet fittings due to dumb plumber using sub-standard stuff and also "stealing" the hoses that came along with the kitchen/bathroom faucets. For your information, over here in SG and Asia, we are still using the old 1/2" fitting. You ll be able to see those regular hose fittings in hardware shops everywhere. However, MOST faucets which you buy overseas especially UK/EU or the US are supplied with 3/8" fitting on one end, and 1/2" on the other. Reasons for the 3/8" fitting is because its smaller and easier to fix up when you have tight corners to reach under most kitchen sinks. And for most under sink water filter systems, the common size used is 3/8". Hence, this explains why faucet connectors are using 3/8" by faucet manufacturers to facilitate on the ease of installation. I managed to replace the water outlet with the following items so as i can install and use the 3M under sink filtrate system. Faucet Connector, Braided Stainless Steel - 3/8" Female Compression Thread x 1/2" I.P. Female Straight Threadhttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51GSRAa2Y8L._SL1500_.jpg This is the image of the required or supplied faucet connector. NOTE the both ends of the hose. The larger one is 1/2" which is commonly used here. Length is entirely up to you, you can choose a shorter one if you need. And from the water outlet, you will need this: 3/8-Inch by 3/8-Inch by 1/2-Inch Low Lead 3-Way Valvehttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QFxSgE4QL.jpg Regarding this, Delta faucet has two levers, so you ll need two faucet connectors, and a 3 Way Valve. Just like what the picture has shown. Types of Fittings http://img03.taobaocdn.com/bao/uploaded/i3/T1nUjUXlFiXXa2BfYa_120829.jpg_460x460.jpg And also, you will need an adaptor to fit it. The adaptor which you are looking for is type A. This can be found in most hardware shops here, you can bring along the 3 way valve, and compare the sizes to make sure you are buying the right stuff. Advice: It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to buy a 1/2" to 3/8" adaptor here and most shops will say that it is expensive. Likewise, the hose with 1/2" end and 3/8" on the other end as well. Reason is that such connectors are usually provided by most reputed faucet manufacturers and given default in the package, so do make sure your plumber do not "conveniently" take it along. This is also why almost nobody manufactures such parts since everything has been given already. Most plumbers will install the old 1/2" end to 1/2" end quietly instead of using the default faucet connectors given. I don't think locally purchased faucets gives such faucet connectors as well. The excuse they give, is that since you don't use the hot/cold water hoses, you don't necessary need to use them. However it DOESNT matter if there's no hot water, because the default faucet connector can still be used regardless. Do make sure all the valves which the plumber has fixed, are not comprised of multi-pieces being held up by sealing tape. This was the what happened to me. By the time you noticed, they will be long gone and will not do any rectifications. https://www.flickr.com/photos/92625284@N07/13463796654/ Example of a multi-piece being held up with sealing tape. I opened it up and it becomes two pieces. This will leak eventually after some time... Somehow, i believe this is a common industry practice especially when most new home owners are beginner laymen. There is no way we will know that at all. So, a smart house owner or house renovator, we need to be scrutinising the work most of the time and inspect on it. It ll definitely save you much time and costs then the hassle of problems later on.

Hey I like what I see! The interesting choice of barn door laminate, raw wood and the beautiful tile design. Will stay peeled to your thread!

Pink! Nice! Pink kitchens seem to be coming into trend (just saw the 3D pix of another renotalker with a full pink kitchen!) For the granite sink, we got ours from Royal Fanco (brand: Carysil). It is top-mount and we can't remember if it has undermount models. But the prices are lower than Blanco's single bowl basin (700x500mm) at $465 vs Carysil's single bowl (780x510mm) around $300. Naturally we took the cheaper option though it is made in India. After 9 months of heavy usage, our sink is going on fine!

Pink kitchen - I like! How did you convince the hubby?