Chunky Monkey

Here's a picture of my attic that I stripped down. What you see is actually the roof timber support. We demolished all the walls, flooring, partitions, walk-in bathroom ... you get the drift ... everything. The ex owner used the attic as his master bedroom. I have to say it was very built up and as a businessman, he believed very strongly in FS, and as such, space was not optimised. He had all the designer stuff in there, but too bad, it's just not our style.

I am waiting for all the water piping and electrical wiring to be completed by mid next week, then the cement screeding can take place. And only then will my tilers commence tiling .... Today was just the delivery of all the tiles, cement etc. Quite scary actually, because all these raw materials occupied my entire basement! Thanks, renoGirl, I have gone past deciding between the two, and the decision's already sealed. Thank you for sharing, nonetheless. My existing home has timber flooring, and I love it. With aircon turned on full blast, I still can walk about barefooted. I think with tiles, the flooring will be rather uncomfortably cold. But the easy maintenance of tiles won over.

^^ thank you, renoGirl. It's still the early stages .... I will post progress reports along the way. I think the soonest handover would still be in Dec.

Be prepared to be scared. I will post some pictures of the hacking work a couple of weeks, and you tell me if you'd share my fear too, applefreak.

purpledino, my aircon contractor from Twin City has just finished the trunking in all parts of my house. I took these photos today to show you what they have done to 'bundle' the pipes together. I am not sure how this compares to all the other installations in town, but I am pleased the workers are neat and did what they did. Hope this helps. If you need a referral to get a competitive quote from Twin City, let me know. I would be more than happy to pass on my site supervisor's mobile number.

We chose them as the alternative to wood. I am not courageous enough to use wood because of the fear of termite infestation, and when I came across an Italian tiles shop at Mohd Sultan, and saw the long strips of wood grained tiles, I sought the advice of the GM there. He told me many restaurants in 5 star hotels are changing to his tiles because timber flooring is just too difficult to maintain over time. I was very reluctant to buy from him because his price is like S$25 psf, same as wood. But the moment my main con told me his regular tiles wholesaler has them, for like S$5+ psf, I jumped at it. Do your tiles have running patterns ... i.e. different tiles have different wood grain look? Shouldn't full height cabinet doors also have ABS trimming? Is it the machinery constraint that cannot compress the edging for large sizes doors???? Oh ... I see what you're asking now .... it's because the laminate for the sides (carcass) is pasted on manually with glue. Can't imagine the whole carcass being able to go through the machine that compresses the edging for the doors and front panel of the drawers.

We bought our 'new' home moons ago. The seller asked for an extended completion (16 weeks) and we agreed since we were in no hurry to take possession of the place. And we had thought that with the extra time, we could use it to plan our renovation etc. I can't say we were able to optimise the time we had in our hands ... there were days we are enthusiastic, and there were also days we were cursing ourselves for buying a 'new' home and making a big change in our lives. In the end, the seller asked for another 3 weeks' extension because of the Ghost Festival and also because his new house was not ready yet. Fast forward one month, and renovation is finally picking up speed. Mind you, hacking alone took 3+ weeks. And during this time, it was depressing. I felt like the workers were destroying the place and there was literally nothing left, except the support beams. I felt nothing but a sense of bleakness, and I actually became scared that we were actually going to do this without the help of a ID (swallow lump in throat) I will post pictures as I go along ....

Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures. I will also be using the wood grained long floor tiles for various parts of my house too! So it's nice to see them already laid out nicely and in action!

Just to update my own thread. I left it to my main con to recommend me a PE and it turned out to be a really bad arrangement. My main con took a referral fee from the PE. I realised it when I complained to the PE that his rates were high, and he was frustrated, and blurted out that he had to pay referral fee, and the cost is passed on to me. I was cross with my main con and I didn't reveal what I knew of the arrangement. I am just waiting for my home reno to complete and do not need drama during the process. At the end of the day, I am at the mercy of my main con and although he's a nice guy and all, I don't need a scenario for him to turn the table on me, and sabo me. I just want him to finish everything first, and then I will sort him out. Lesson learnt >> check Yellow Pages

PABX for home use is very expensive, to say the least. I do not think anyone can find a PABX for that kind of price. Panasonic seems to be the market leader brand for PABX. The system itself is expensive, not to mention the special wiring required, and each phone set (those that look like your office telephone with different extensions) is about $150 and above. If you wish to know in detail, please PM me.

I am using Twin City. For RAS-4M30YA - S$3638. This was the offer price. I got a discount because I have ordered many ceiling cassette aircons as well. I think you should ask for another S$200 discount. Just tell them you checked with another aircon company, and this was the price that was quoted to you, inclusive of concealed piping and Class 0 insulation. Aircon companies these days are over-charging. Booming market for them. The original quotation I received was for S$29,660.40. And the site supervisor straight away gave me a discount of S$1660.40. Net S$28,000. And that's because I told my main con that if this sub con is expensive, I will revert to my old sub con Gavin Air. After one round of negotiation, and taking out some toilet window extractor fans, but aircon units unchanged, the quote came down to S$26,800. You just gotta remember that if they think you are in a time crunch and will not bother to get competitive quotes, they will give you cut throat prices.

The first time I called him, I told him I got his number from renotalk and he came highly recommended. If I remember correctly, it was a Fri or Sat, and our appointment was for that Monday. I'd smsed him my address and he acknowledged receipt with a return sms. On Sunday evening, I smsed him TWICE to ask him for his company name. He didn't reply. And on Monday morning before our appointment time, I called his mobile and asked if he'd seen my smses. He said, "uh oh, I haven't read my smses" .... I'm sorry to say this, but I couldn't believe it. That was when I told him he needn't meet me anymore.

Is Eric a freelancer or does he have a company? Because this guy freaked when I asked for his company name, thereby making me think that he is not running a legitimate business.

If it's in your good heart to safeguard unsuspecting people from a fraud, it would be necessary to cite what this person has done, or not done. Who's to know if you're a competitor contractor? I am not saying that you are. All I am saying is that, you need to share some more information to be convincing.

I am looking to install 2 glass doors in the basement of my new house. At first, I was only thinking of a normal, top-hung, glass doors with solid wood frame. Then the sub con suggested I looking at PD doors, which effectively is a slide, and swing out kind of door. Has anyone installed a PD door in your home? Any feedback?

It's practical to have a base for the kitchen cabinets. The cabinets are made of plywood. Even if you don't splash and wash your kitchen floor, it's still a good preventive measure.

^^ your electrical quotation is very good.

I think you'll need to be very decisive with the size of fridge that you think will be adequate for your use. With kitchen design and carpentry, one will not be able to accomodate all combination of fridge sizes etc. And you might want to consider how the fridge sits with the rest of your kitchen cabinets. If you get a fridge that is too large, relative to the space you have in the kitchen, the whole place can look lopsided. Having a cement base has its pluses and minuses. Plus - the risk of spillage right in front of the fridge can be rather high. When a spill occurs, it may spread under the fridge. So with a base, it saves you the hassle of needing to push the fridge out to clean under the fridge. Another plus - if you have a maid and the maid cannot resist splashing water in the kitchen floor when she scrubs the floor, then you will need a base to protect your fridge. The minus is of course, the restriction of the fridge you can have. But depending on the position of your fridge, if your fridge is in the middle of the row of kitchen cabinets, I don't see how without a base would make a difference to what size of fridges you can upgrade to. You would still be constrained by your built in kitchen cabinets. In my new kitchen (I'd cement base in my existing home), I have not decided what i will be doing. I don't mind not having a base, but DH seems to prefer a base.

I have done silk *roman* blinds as my day curtain, and used heavy silk drapes as my night curtains, and it looked very classy. Is your roller blinds plain or with prints? You actually will need another track just above your roller blinds track, and it should be in front of your roller blinds. Go to your curtains shop to check out their same photos. I am sure it has been done before.

I'm looking for someone who can replaster parts of my wall, and also paint some walls. I searched in Yellow Pages and came across this listing. http://www.singaporehandyman.com/index1.htm Has anyone used them before? Does anyone have a recommendation for me? How much is the market rate for such services? Thank you.

I intend to use tiles for my skirting too. Any reason not to do it? My new home is landed. I thought if I use tiles, I reduce the problem of termites in the future.

Multi-storey Car Park. It might not be advisable to use dark film on your window. Because it would then be dark even in the day time, and you would have to rely on your lights to see in the day. (electricity costs money) I suggest you install another curtain over your roller blinds, e.g. double pleated fabric curtain with or without more black out. And make sure you make this curtain longer, to cover about 3 inches more on each side. This should be very pretty if you find the right fabric to match your roller blinds.

I think Gain City is still the best.

Did your contractor use the U-channel aka glazing channel for your wall-to-glass installation? Was this done during the wet works, or after the bathroom tiles are all completed? Or did your contractor use wall brackets to hold the frameless glass panels? I am asking because I have seen some pictures whereby the U-channel is exposed and it's so ugly. My thoughts are that if the bathroom is completely renovated, then there is the opportunity to hack the wall, and recess/conceal the U-channel. But for completed bathrooms, or bathrooms that are only going through minor touches, then contractors should NOT use U channels but wall brackets instead. I am personally very against the use of silicon because of bacterial growth over time, from the constant contact with water. It'll look so grouty over time, and I'd have to change it all by myself when my DH is out stationed. (yucks) My children's shower pan is not a regular shape (quadrant) and I am wondering how my contractor can join the glass panels without the use of silicon. Any suggestions? Installing a stainless support bar on top of the shower screen is out of the question. This is the bathroom where I am only installing the shower screen, and all else remain. Look forward to the experts' advice.

You will only need to do this, if your shower screens are joined at 90degrees. The steel bar suspended from the ceiling will be right above the join.