GallopingPuffin
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Everything posted by GallopingPuffin
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Hope to get another, preferably a munchkin heh heh heh
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Hi cat! Yeah now only pending carpentry and doors heh. Although we told our contractor that we are not in a rush to move in, I still can't wait for the whole house to materialise! Anw I have a 8mth old ginger cat in my current house, but i don't think I can bring him over to my new house because my parents have grown attached to him
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Hi (night) owl, thanks for dropping by! Yeah it has rather smooth sailing so far heh heh. Hope it goes well for you too!!
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Finally, a short update! Carpentry and laminates have been sorted out, pending fabrication! Our contractor cannot promise they will be done before CNY as he is stopping work on 30 Jan for his Malaysian workers to return home, but he will try his best! Meanwhile, some photos on what had been done during the past weeks: Living room DC ceiling fan and track lights for TV area Spider pendant lights for dining table Legrand sockets installed. Love their matt(?) texture! Kitchen track lights; pending cabinet and island carpentry installation Kitchen island track lights! One wall of the study room has been painted a nice shade of pastel blue Corridor track lights MBR DC ceiling fan installed MBR toilet hanging light! With Grohe rainshower at the back Joven storage heater neatly installed in the common toilet Excellent bidet spray from Taobao. Powerful water pressure, despite having a slim and sleek profile! All our lights were sourced from Taobao, and so far, they came intact and all work great! Particularly impressed with the tracklights; bought the 10W ones and they look bright enough for the house without being too overwhelming Our electrician's workmanship is top-notch and he's a nice chap as well. Amused at the emo 90's Mandarin songs that he was listening too on his Bluetooth speaker though
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Looks good!
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“He that can have patience can have what he will.” ― Benjamin Franklin After a few weeks, laying of tiles for the entire house is finally done! Tile-laying is really an art in itself. There are so many variables to consider and extreme patience is required to do it properly. Kudos to the tile-setters because they really did a fantastic job! Right from the start, we knew it was not going to be easy because long wood tiles tend to have lippage problems; i.e the surface of the tiles are not made entirely flat from end to end. The contractor did show us using a spirit meter that the tiles were not uniformly flat end to end (usually the middle is less flat than both ends, forming a "crown") Hence, in order to minimize lippage, the tiles have to be laid in a certain pattern to make the entire floor as flat as possible. Industry standards state that the tiles should not overlap each other by more than 33%. Why is this so? Simply put, this is such that the end of one tile (which is the "flatter end") does not meet the middle (the most "protruding" area) of another tile. If the end of one tile meets the middle of another tile, you are causing maximum lippage, which is what we want to avoid. In pictorial terms: So we employed the "step" pattern of tile-laying to avoid lippage. This pattern also mimics the look of real wood floor, which is what we want to achieve as well. Overall the floor looks uniformly flat and we were very pleased with the results I think this is also partly the reason why IDs always recommend laying square tiles (600 x 600) or vinyl/laminate flooring because they are easier to lay and there's less room for error. With the completion of the tiling works, I guess we are halfway through the renovation Now left with the carpentry, doors etc and the nitty-gritty stuff!
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Thanks!! Heh heh
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Aircon trunking and boxing up Proposed aircon trunking plan Sneak peek of floor tiles :
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Some updates about our purchases from Hoe Kee! Kitchen Sink: Blanco Pleon 8 Single Bowl Initially we went into the shop gunning for a stainless steel sink, but was swayed by how sleek the Blanco granite sinks looked. And they appear to be more solid than stainless steel sinks. Kitchen sink mixer: Roz (I think) with retractable head The Blanco one was too expensive I think so we settled for a cheaper one. We like the retractable head which allows us to spray water to the far ends of the sink for cleaning purposes. Also useful when washing big items like pots and pans; just move the head instead of maneuvering the whole pot when washing. Rainshower: Grohe New Tempesta Cosmopolitan 160 This was on 50% off so we grabbed it. At first was worried about whether it will be too high for our toilets but was assured by the sales lady that it can fit into BTO toilets. So we bought it. But lo and behold, when we went back to measure the height from the water outlet in the wall to the the mesh that covers the piping, we found out the rainshower overshot by about 6-7cm. As you can see from the stupid design by HDB (picture above): the water outlet for the shower is located on the wall where the mesh is , so the height is very limited (only 104cm). Moving the outlet down involves hacking the toilet wall so it's a no-no for the contractor. So we went back to Hoe Kee to change for a "shorter" rainshower. This nice uncle came out (think is the boss or manager) and said there is another way: ask our plumber to cut away a small length of the "chrome" part of the rainshower, because that is the outer covering. Inner pipe where the water flows will still be intact. He said his Hoe Kee workshop can cut for us if the plumber is unwilling to Washbasin: ROZ Vanity round basin Washbasin Mixer:
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Haha learning every step along the way! (: I have a nagging feeling that 22k BTU might not be enough cos we hacked the kitchen wall, but don't think we can fork out the money for another single split aircon. But it's ok, will see how it goes! Anyway, the Gain City website http://www.gaincity.com/category/aircon/39731 is a good place to check out the different models/specs/prices of the different aircons in the market!
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Timeless Cozy Corner
GallopingPuffin replied to yakult's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
Hi yakult, We met up with out contractor yesterday and asked him about the B hood and hob (cause we also bought the same ones). He said that Fujioh's hob (the one at my bf's current place) is much more powerful and thus, that could be why the laminate on top of the hood started to warp slightly. He says B hood will not face such issues as the B hob's flame is not as strong. (I really do not like the Fujioh flame, I feel it is too strong and overtime, burns the sides and handles of the pots) He assured us that he has done many renos using B hoods. He also mentioned that most contractors will leave a space between the top of the hood and any shelving. Sooo I think we are both in the clear? (; Your house is shaping up nicely! Particularly love your toilet wall tiles! May I know how much overlaying that wall cost you? (: -
Go have a butt, back & body test and maybe you will like it enough to change! Really love your kitchen! The tiles and the grey woodgrain laminate! We are thinking of having a shades-of-grey kitchen as well ~gallopingpenguin
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Hi djnt! The shop's name is Phylux Here's the address: 160 Paya Lebar Road, Orion, #01-08, Singapore 409022. Look for Keven, really nice chap He will show you around and explain the fan specs, what kind of lights you can add on, the drop-down etc. We got fans from 2 different 'brands' - Aero and Helix 1. Aero 52-inch DC fan (dark grey) - $699 2. Helix 52-inch DC fan (black) - $499 That's what it says on our receipt and on their FB page. However, we tried to Google for these 2 brands and nothing really came up. These 2 fans really resemble the Fanco Trinity and Relite Helix... Maybe Phylux just renamed them
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Yes do go! They have many types, the OM is just 1 (: They have a new showroom in Tampines near IKEA and Courts if you stay in the east!
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Hi there! The more expensive fan was $699, the other one was $499 (another $150 if opt in LED light). Tested both fans, wind quality was good; strong yet not-in-your-face kind of strong, if you know what i mean. lol. No audible noises. And they come with the "air circulation mode" where the blades will turn in the reverse direction. This is useful when the air conditioner is switched on; when the air circulation is good, the room cools down faster and hence reduces the stress on the aircon. My GF is particularly sensitive to ceiling fans, they make her eyelids heavy , but these two models were ok for her Can pm Phylux on FB for their latest prices. Can look for Keven if you visit their showroom in Paya Lebar, nice guy who served us. As for the mattress, it was $1300 iirc for a queen sized one! After factoring in the discounts. Comes with pillows and bolster. heh heh we love the floor tiles too! hope they turn out good!
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2-ticks--same as Starmex. Starmex has a newer compressor (MXY -series) that is 5-ticks. But according to the uncle at All Best, the 5-ticks is only achieved when the compressor is running below 21000 BTU (or something along that line, can't really remember). Of course, it is much more expensive too.
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Thanks for dropping by! haha ya we are already mentally prepared for all the screw-ups that may occur . That's an inevitable part of the renovation journey!!
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Timeless Cozy Corner
GallopingPuffin replied to yakult's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
Hi there! Most slimline hoods will have an air outlet on top if I am not wrong. So the hood will suck the hot air from the cooking, the grease filter or charcoal filter will filter out the grease and oil while the remaining hot air escapes from the top air outlet. My parents just recently renovated their kitchen with an addition of a Fujioh slimline hood. My dad discovered the laminate of the cabinet shelf directly above the hood has started to warp (less than 6 months), likely from the hot air. He resorted to putting a piece of metal between the hood and the shelf to prevent further damage. So he advised me not to build a shelf directly above the hood when fabricating our kitchen carpentry. -
Wooooots! Renovation has commenced! Went to our place after work to check out the progress of the hacking and discovered that both walls have already been torn down and most of the debris cleared . Efficient! Some photos: Kitchen wall hacked and cleared! Gaming/study room wall hacked! View from main door Saw some of the floor tiles have arrived. Couldn't resist taking some photos of them on the floor and sending them to my GF Think they will turn out great!
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A short post on our aircon selection. We were set on getting a System 4 for our new place. My GF left it to me to make the decisions as she was not too sure about the technical aspects of it Actually I was also a total noob at aircons but I did read up on it and compared the prices between the major players and brands in the market. So we all know that currently the most popular brand is definitely Mitsubishi Starmex; at first I was also considering to take up the System 4 version of this, until I went to the All Best Aircon branch in Tampines to check out the physical aspects of the different brands. Granted, the price of the Starmex System 4 (2-ticks version, not the 5 ticks) was competitive (was $3799 including installation). However, upon closer scrutiny of what was included in the package: Mitsubishi Starmex System 4 ($3799) Compressor: MXY4A28VA (output 28000 BTU) Fancoil Units: MSYGE10VA x 3 (9000 BTU x 3) MSYGE24VA x 1 (24000 BTU x 1) So, we definitely need a 20000+ BTU fancoil unit for the living room, as we are going to hack away our kitchen wall. This package seems ideal, but the catch is that the compressor can only churn out max 28000 BTU by default. That means if want to switch on aircon in the living room + 1 room, they will be drawing a total of 33000 BTU, of which the compressor will be unable to cope; in the long run the compressor may be damaged. We figured if we have guests or family over, we will most probably need to switch on living room and at least 1 room. The salesman uncle was also nice to point out to us that the compressor was only 28000 BTU. Of course, there was another compressor model with a larger capacity (38000 BTU), but the price for that package would be upwards of $4400 IIRC. So, we saw another brand on display: Toshiba Inverter System 4 ($3999 + $200 CapitaLand voucher) Compressor: RAS-4M26SACV (output 34000 BTU, Made in Japan ) Fancoil Units: RASM10SKCV x 2 (9000 BTU x 2) RASM13SKCV x 1 (12000 BTU x 1) RASM22SKCV x 1 (22000 BTU x1) +1 : So this compressor at max load definitely can handle 2 FCUs being switched on at the same time, plus at the same price (factoring in the voucher). +2 : In addition, the FCUs are more sleek and aesthetically-pleasing (Starmex FCUs looked abit clunky to us). +3: The only compressor brand that is Made in Japan So we made our choice! Other notes: 1. Did not upgrade to thicker insulation. Reason being the upgrade from Armaflex 3/8" to 1/2" only reduces the condensation by 10% (according to the uncle, and I do believe him), but increases the size of the trunking by 2 times (I at the size of that thing) 2. Opted for 2-trip installation (extra $80) at the suggestion of my contractor. 1st trip to lay the pipings and trunkings, 2nd to install the FCUs and compressor. 3. Signed up for their servicing package Our contractor has already proposed the optimal route for the trunking. Hope the installation goes without a hitch!
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Anyway, just a question . Those who bought track lights (either locally or from taobao), anyone bought a COB (chips-on-board) version? Whats the difference between a COB and a non-COB in terms of the light emitted? I googled and they say the light from a COB one has less glare and is more spread out. Is that true? Anyone can clarify?
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Hey, thanks for the heads up. Yup, the staff at Hafary did warn us about warping issues and we did read up on it as well. For the shorter floor tiles, we are going to ask our contractor to lay in a random pattern, so that most tiles will overlap less than 33%. That's the recommendation to prevent warping issues. As for the long wall tiles, it will be tiled parallel in a row (only one row). Even if they warp, it should be fine because they are on the wall. The unevenness might even add to the texture that we are looking for (:
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Little London
GallopingPuffin replied to bykaraanne's topic in Reno t-Blog Chat - HDB BTO Interior Design and Renovation
Wow! I really like your mint door! -
Ah, I get what you mean. Never thought about the maintenance issues but my contractor said he can do it I will ask him more in detail on how it is going to be done!
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Believe it or not, the first electrical appliances we bought were ceiling fans. My first choice in mind (before going down to the shops) was a black Haiku; but it was prohibitively expensive ($1.2k?!?!). Crazy sia. But after browsing through the selection on display at the showroom, I noticed one model that was more aesthetically pleasing (and much cheaper) than the Haiku! You can request for the staff to turn on the fans and feel the wind strength for all the models. This! For the living room. Aero 52-inch DC fan (we chose dark grey) Cheaper model 'Helix' for the gaming room and MBR: Both models come with the option of adding an LED light, which was super bright. We decided to add lights for both rooms but not the living room.
