sepultura

I give up. HDB, town council, RC and the police are of absolutely no use for a permanent solution. I've been calling them and talking to them so much, they know my number and me by name now! The last time I called the police they asked me to go to HDB and "make them close the issue"... as if The next time they start the noise in the middle of the night, or loud early morning "subuh" prayer CD's, I am going up with a baseball bat. F**!@*#

Better now exceed rating. The effects of the inductance of two or three fluorescent lights powering on and operating may overload your circuitry. I've tried this before. Initially you will see a slight delay in the bulbs lighting up. Later you may have to switch off and on a few times before they even switch on.

One thing I've seen is that all the newer condos, even those built in 2003-04, are less spacious than the older ones. Some of the newer ones squeeze in 3 bedrooms + 1 study in 1200 sq-ft which is horribly cramped. Check out changi rise or savannah condo-park in Simei. The master bedroom can hold a king size bed, but the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms can only have a super-single, not even queen size, unless you want to open the door and jump on to the bed. Some people like to pay $$ for these properties because of the landscaping and other facilities but at the end of the day we come back home to live, and I always feel these new condos are rather cramped. So... at the end of the day, if you need one, buy now. No need to wait.

Made the mistake of getting an LG LCD tv in 2007. First one died in 2 days. Store replaced it. Second one had very uneven backlighting and backlight bleeding problem. Second set replaced FOC by LG. Third set ok so far, but I made a big noise and got extra 2-yrs warranty for free. I would not get anything from LG again.

Just to update on this issue. After multiple attempts at talking to the neighbours failed, Went down to the RC to ask for help on "elephant pet" neighbours upstairs. They were not of much use, as they claimed to be just a bunch of volunteers and could not do much... I really can't imagine what they do other than have karaoke sessions down there at the RC. Went and wrote a formal complaint to HDB, met their technical officer and he came over to investigate. The upstairs neighbours were given "advice" and the problem subsided for a while. After a week or so, they started their noise again. I really can't imagine what they would be doing, making such a racket at 3-4am, every night. Called the HDB office, and spoke to the TO again, he paid them another visit, and the same cycle repeated... silence for a few days, and then back to the midnight noise parties. When this used to happen late into the night, I'd call the police. This has happened a handful of times, and the last time the officer asked me to chase HDB to follow up and close this issue, otherwise write to the MP to ask for help, but they were not sure how they could help anyway. So... the choices are: Ask RC to help out - no useAsk HDB to step in - some help but the problem is recurring, will need to call HDB every few weeks, this is not sustainable though the tech officer is a very nice and helpful manKeep calling the police each time - this works but is troublesomeGo talk to the MP - police and HDB not sure how much they may helpI spoke to a lawyer and we could file a lawsuit against them, but this will take time, money and effort, possibly not worth it unless one really loves his house and simply cannot move away Another problem is loud prayer CD's being played before sunrise, sometimes as early as 5.15-5.30am, waking up the neighbours. Went up again to ask and they appeared very offended at being questioned ... mentioned something about "Subuh" prayer time, not to interfere with their religious faiths. Can't really imagine when they sleep.... elephants jumping around till 4am, then wake up for prayer at 5.15? Back where I come from, we have "other" ways of dealing with inconsiderate morons like this, but here in Singapore we approach it differently

No, they are BS'ing you. Some people can be uncouth, inconsiderate and just don't care.

This leakage has nothing to do with your blue tabs. We've been using them for as long as I remember. Any leakage or trickling in our case was due to worn waterproofing / gasket / washers. Your "uncle" sounds fishy to me.

This is good in theory, and mind you, I agree completely with your thinking, but this is very hard and often impossible to accomplish in reality. In the process of purchasing a flat, I've tried to get stuff like this done, but it is all verbal until you sign the dotted line on the OTP, no one is willing to commit anything in writing.

Don't worry about it. There are some unscrupulous agents who do this. As long as you have executed the OTP, paid the deposit to the seller, it is now a legally binding document. If they try to break the deal with you, they can be hauled up in court. However, what the seller / agent does in the mean time is their business. It is worrying, I know, but it is still the seller's property. As for property damage, don't worry, there's not much damage that can happen... I've had literally dozens of families viewing my flat over the past couple of weeks. You also have to view the flat before taking possession, so check for any damage before getting the keys.

Absolutely agree with this one about getting a separate prepaid phone for your property transactions. I can't believe the number of calls and SMS's I am getting on my second line these days. I started by selling my HDB flat DIY, but fielding the calls, entertaining agents, screening buyers, dealing with the frustration etc became too much of a distraction from my day job, so ended up engaging a sole agent. If you have the time, energy and patience, you save on commission though. As for engaging an agent, I feel the most important factor is that you are comfortable with the agent, you are able to trust the agent, and you don't keep having to second-guess the agent. A trustworthy agent will not try to hide facts from you, or try to prevent you from doing some groundwork and information gathering yourself. If you are not totally comfortable with the agent before appointing him/her and signing the dotted line, walk away. It's a lot of money, and a lot of headache if something starts going wrong.

What is mortgage fee? Is it different from the procedure you follow when signing up for a regular HDB mortgage at a bank ? Sorry, dunno about registration fee, it was just something I heard getting tossed around in the conversation.

Hi folks, what are the expenses one incurs during the purchase of a private condo? How much do you pay for stamp duty / registration? What about the agent fee? Is this usually negotiable?

Got a question on the HDB permit - the contractor says it will be posted to you by HDB, is this correct? Anyway the fan installation didn't happen today - the contractor from central aluminium / Jasmine's company measured or cut the wrong hole size and today the glass cracked when trying to squeeze in the fan Got to call them to see what next.... Edit: Update, they fixed it.

Would you recommend the electric shutter type or cord operated shutter type fans? What are the pros and cons? http://www.kdk.com.sg/product/vf/windowm.html

Thank you blackcar.

My master bedroom attached bathroom is always quite damp. HDB sent someone over today to check seepage from upstairs, but he says it's because of lack of ventilation and the moisture not being able to go out. A ventilation fan was one of the proposals. Can anyone here recommend a company / contractor who can fit a ventilation fan in the bathroom, and the approximate cost? Has anyone done this before? Going to HDB to check with them tomorrow, but would like to hear your suggestions. Thanks people!

Hi all, one of the burners in my kitchen gas stove seems to be getting choked. Even a good wash and clean didn't help. The stove is built in to the woodwork so of course it can't be removed. It uses PUB gas, if that helps. Can anyone recommend a good maintenance / repair company or person? Thanks.

To digress a bit here - I found that from past experience, if you want your house to be cooler, what matters more than the breeze is the sun! My old place had good wind, but the morning sun would blast the bedrooms and the afternoon sun would roast the living and dining, so the house was hot all through the year even in Dec - Jan.

Thank you vin13 for the suggestion, I think I will go and do just that tomorrow.

Yeh, am trying that now. But the flats are still owned by HDB and leased to you, so why can't they step in if there is a violation of HDB policy? If they don't do that, why have policy at all? Anyway, the noises are still here today, at 11.30pm - drilling and hammering. My options are to complain to HDB or to go up every day and nag them till they get sick of me and stop. I don't see why HDB cannot step in here, and that's an option I will investigate after giving the elephants another week... if they don't quieten down by then.

1) Amasco brand fans: Bought two for bedrooms, both got spoilt within 3 months, had to pay $35 'transportation fee' even though it was under warranty. Master bedroom fan spoilt again after 6 months, this time I threw it out and replaced it with crestar - working superb so far. The other one is now going so slow, even at max speed it is slower than the medium speed setting on my crestar. 2) Any IKEA brand tables, book shelves, etc that are not solid pine wood, i.e., almost all the ikea junk they sell made of particle board and similar material. They simply can't handle the weight and start sagging and looking ugly after a few months. Even my computer table which had a small printer and an LCD monitor started sagging. The bookshelf was a disaster after 3 months.

My upstairs neighbour has a new 'hobby' over the past two to three weeks. Every day after I come back from work I hear drilling, hammering and other similar noises. Used to go on till 10-10.30 at night, and last weekend it was on till past midnight. I went up and talked to them today, met the old lady of the house, and she says it's the 4 kids at home creating all that racket. I asked about the drilling, hacking and hammering and she swears "she's not bluffing" and it's all those playful kids. Thinks we are too stupid to make out the sound of drills and hammers! Seems to me the chap upstairs has either taken up a new part time job doing woodwork (at home) or has invited over some unauthorised contractor to carry out repairs. Anyway, there's no drilling and hammering today after the talk. Let's see tomorrow. However the elephants upstairs are still jumping around. Oh BTW, my experiences with getting HDB or the town council to mediate has been worse than useless, and you are better off dealing directly with the elephants. They pretend to listen, offer to come down and talk to the offender but are of no use beyond that.

Pardon the digression, but this is very interesting. In all my years, I've come across people allergic to polyester or synthetics, who have been recommended to wear/use cotton. My child has this problem with her poly/cotton school uniforms so we get specially stitched cotton clothes. Can you share some more information about the exact medical condition (name, description, etc)?

Your best bet is to avoid such a house, in the first place. When viewing the house, I would carry a compass with me to check for west/east facing living or bedrooms. I rejected many (very good) flats before I settled on a north-south aligned one because of the blasted sun in my old flat that used to roast the living and dining rooms after lunch time.

Why do you want to replace the whole bowl when you can simply replace the seat? Costs 25-30 bucks and can be done yourself. This is what I did.