koori

I got the same fridge, so I must say you made a good choice. LOL.

1 for $188, 3 for $195. So different? 1 for $188 is the 'real' Tom Dixon light har? [not that I know who that guy is. Clueless...as usual. ]

I changed window grilles nia....kept most of the windows. only changed the service balcony and those in the toilets coz got problems. Dunno how much are these yet. Just whacked. I absolutely had to change the window grilles for the whole house....I cannot tahan the bronze-brown color square grilles...they were actually fine, just very dirty....hahahaha... yes. it's a good basic color! This color was actually suggested by Alex, me contractor. I originally picked Pearl white or cotton white. He says 'too yellowish'. Now that the paint is done, I see he is right. Coz my kitchen is 'open concept' so a yellowish off-white will probably look strange as my kitchen is greyish-white.

Renotalk forum seems to be having some problems today, kept getting error after my posting. What should I be checking for in the edges - any pointers?

3. Aluminium bi-fold doors for both bathrooms done. More white! 4. Grilles in service balcony done too. The small window has also been installed to cover the open grate below. 5. Part of the gas pipe 'boxed' up ~ I don't have top cabinets so this will part needs covering up...no cabinets to hide behind.

Didn't get a chance to visit the unit most of this week. Buried in work at office. 1. Painting has been completed (more or less...except for some minor items like door frames/doors...) My paint colors are pretty 'boring' - Sail white for living room as mentioned previously, and lilac white for all the rooms....so nothing much to show in terms of photos since they all look 'white'. This is the MBR, can actually see a bit of lilac when it's dim and compared to the ceiling? 2. Window grilles are up! Just showing a few pics for the living room grilles since they are all the same for all the rooms. Opted for silver color to match to the original silver aluminium windows which I kept.

You've got me there. I not sure either. I didn't remove mine. Didn't ask for quotes either. I think my place is challenging in that the whole room has 'rockstone' paint effect on all the walls. It's not obvious in photos, but the effect can be seen quite obviously in person. Which is why Alex advises against removing the cornices. Likely will affect the wall if I knock off the false ceiling. Once patching is done, it will cause obvious differences with the current rockstone wall. Unless I'm willing to shell out a whole lot of more money to plaster the entire room....I heard that this will cost a few thousands? So...I kept the cornices...LOL. Just patched up 4 holes at the corners after removing the old (and rusty) downlights.

For mine, sink and stove support [with tiles finishing] is around $1.4K. Not too sure what's the length, didn't measure it...I think this isn't quoted on per foot run basis like carpentry. The length you need depends on how wide your hob and sink is, no point comparing measurements between 2 places actually...low likelihood of me and you getting the same sink + same hob. The guys doing the 'wet works' have to custom make the support according to your sink/hob size. You need to buy sink/hob first, or at least get the measurements if they are not delivered yet and let your ID/contractor know so that the folks doing the works can leave the necessary space when they start constructing the concrete support. The ID/contractor will probably also ask you before they reach that stage. Mine should be at least be 1.2 m in length [ coz my hob is 75cm wide, sink is about 52cm wide if I remember correctly... ] Just took a closer look at the quote, the cabinet doors at this area is tied in with the kitchen cabinets. Sorry for my typo in the earlier post. The cabinet, inclusive of doors to the sink/stove support is around $500.

Yep. That's what will be happening for mine too. The inside is tiled. The outside will be covered by the kitchen cabinet doors with matching laminates as the wooden kitchen cabinets. Yep. The sink will be held by concrete, not by carpentry.

Haha...I think you've seen the pictures but just didn't realise it. I have pics in my blog too. It's now semi covered by tiles now so probably it's not obvious it's concrete. The 'legs' [side walls] are made of hollow blocks, the top and bottom is concrete. So your sink and stove will be 'supported' by concrete. I understand you can choose to do full wooden cabinet and your sink will sit on top of this wooden cabinet. Of course, like Ning said....problems more likely to happen for wood base if it's not done properly. Wood is 'afraid' of water.

Does this look like what you are looking for? http://excelhw.com.sg/furnishing-components/knobs-handles/handles/excel-handle-hollow-tubular.html

Otherwise known as a 'concrete sink & stove' support. Or is yours only sink support? My contractor quoted concrete base for both sink & stove support for my place...he didn't even mention wood based. I did see my sister's house sink and stove support are both wood cabinets based and they are still ok after a year....so probably depends on usage? or maybe too early to tell....after all it's only a year.

probably a side-effect of my job...haha....been lurking in your blog and keeping an eye out for the expanding table review.

Ya lor...I don't like them either...and imagine Mr Cornice came in take one look and say 'this design at least 10+ years ago liao' [ie. old fashion.] No choice, tear down cornices will cost a lot more money than I am willing to pay. I just did some modifications like what Alex suggested. To take out those old [and rusty] lights and seal up the 4 corners. Do the LED downlight along the longer side, 3 each - more 'modern'. My living room is big, the other side closer to the kitchen also cornices. I just asked them to dismantle the 4 corner lights and seal up the hole, no LED downlights along this stretch. My entire house has cornices lor. Even the bedrooms...Alex told me modify the small bits at the side will be 'easier' [ie, will cost less] than dismantling all of them. Seriously I only 'see' the cornices after the built in wardrobes were removed and all those halfway hanging bits were so very obvious.

Got mine for around $270 or thereabouts....sorry, can't remember the exact number. should be about there +-$10. invoice lumped my 2 ceiling fans together in the grand total, no individual item price listed. I dunno leh...the shop display also like this de... I didn't do research at all on water heater....just happen to walk into that shop coz saw a 707 heater display outside and went to ask about price for 707 Princeton. LOL. I just happen to see this was much 'prettier' in terms of design than the 707. dun scare me leh...pirated shower set? Oh~ took a closer look at the photo of the shower set box, it's 'rega' brand, the box has the logo at the side and labelled it a 'luxury shower set'. Looks like the shower set not from Alpha, even though the shop did sell it to me as a bundle. Did a google search and found this at deal.com, so I think I didn't get a 'bad' deal bah. http://www.deal.com.sg/deals/singapore/58-rega-rain-shower-set-easy-installation-1-year-warranty

Not too sure, but I was recommended 22W LED lights (not Philips though) for only service balcony and 2 toilets. [small area] For bedrooms and living rooms was recommended 36W. Those recommendation was based on my comments though => I did comment that I wanted brightness in the room. To most people it's 'coziness and ambiance'. To me it's dim lighting that makes it difficult to read... My lights not installed yet, so not able to confirm if it's bright enough at the moment.

The rain shower set came with the heater as a bundle

My first uninvited 'guest' - can you spot him? [or maybe it's a her] On another note ~ the original 'holes' for 4 old and rusty dimmable lights were in the corners. Alex suggested to remove the old lights and patch up those holes. Changed to 6 LED downlights along the longer end of the false ceiling instead. This picture shows the old mended hole in the corner and the new one at the side.

For those interested in the Alpha Smart 18 water heater with the rainshower... Happy to report : water pressure from rainshower is good...I wasted a bit of water, turned it on to take a picture. Can you see the water jets? [sorry for the poor photo exposure. The old lights left behind by the previous owner are very dim...so turned on the phone camera's flash] Seems like the water pump theory is true, at least for me...haha....

Cornices all completed...Well, they are boring white stuff, so will just show one picture of the finished cornice. Mr Cornice wasn't bluffing me. He really did patch it up close to the original. If you know where to look, will be able to tell where the new cornice starts, but not obvious at first glance.

Try mans-talk with contractor /ID lah...dun need sa jiao de lah. Haha... I'm assuming your contractor / ID is a guy. Me as a girl dunno how to sa-jiao either. I just matter of factly asked my contractor - so can you help me install curtain rods / kitchen stuff that needs to be fixed to the wall? After he said yes, small matter not a problem, I pester him to tell me which team is doing so I can go point out what to go where...

I think some companies are setting up 'sister' companies to stay 'within' the range for GST reporting. IRAS says if your turnover is $1mil a year or more, it is compulsory to register for GST. Lower than that, it's voluntary. Accounting is based on separate legal entity basis. So long as different company name, [ie. different business register number] same management also not considered. Just to re-assure you. Accounting basis, what they said is true. *Though would have been better if they told you first.

Alpha water heater and rainshower up Wash basin, tap, WC [not shown] also up. The shampoo rack ended back in middle of the wall anyways, coz the heater is in the way if it's in the corner. Aiya ~ forgot to try the rain shower to see if the pressure is really good or not.... common bathroom. Side note : I noticed a problem with the bidet spray. The area where it joins to the pipe drips when the connecting tap is turned on. Will have to inform Alex to take note and rectify....[well, if the plumber guy dun see it first. haha....he's still coming back for the kitchen sink]

I 'pressured' my contractor to drill the curtain poles for me. haha...and I actually made it back with curtain poles in a taxi! Had to 'endure' black faced taxi uncle lah. The longer pole went from driver seat in front and end at the backseat. haha... Taxi cost me about $25, so still save on transport.

I did have a couple of ID quotes say Space Planning and Design drawings = FOC. Difficult to pin down which item had hidden costs coz some $10/$20 more, I not sure is really they give me better stuff or is they hiding costs. The most different item I saw was for Marble floor polishing. I have quotes ranging from $950 (Alex's quote) to $1700 (from a ID firm). PM-ed you his contact. Just talk to him see how lor. He usually ok to site visit coz he drives. Warn you first, he not pushy type. I was the one who keep calling him. Haha....