nautilus

Hi Cyn, We bought our sofa from Morris at about 1.5k. If you've not checked it out i'd suggets you make a trip there. They stock a lot of sofas at very reasonable prices. We were hunting around for a sofa that was long enough lengthwise. Many places either did not have it or even if they did, it was exceedingly expensive. Morris had the design that we wanted which was why we decided to go with it. Our place is done using false ceiling. Although the ceiling is lower, our ID minimised the height of the false ceiling so that it will not protrude down too much. He told us that as long as we don't touch the round variety of downlights, we will not have an issue. The final result is more than acceptable to say the least with sufficient clearance from floor to ceiling.

If you have the time, take a look around Jalan Besar. The lights there are about half of the price you get around geylang/balestier. The difference is even more if you specify special items such as E-ballast (philips) and extra bright tube. I managed to get the lights for my house for $925. 24 x square PL downlights each with 2x13W osram tubes with Vossloh Schwabe ballast 4 x 40W ceiling lamp with philips eballast and extra bright tube 3 x 22W ceiling lamp with extra bright tube 3 x 4-foot flourescent tube with philips long life tube and eballast 1 x wired doorbell

My depth is around 10cm and yes it can take many 750ml shampoo bottles !! . This is the reason why i wanted the ledge in the first place.

Please see my blog. I did a 1 metre tall hollow block protrution in my bathing area to do two things: hide the pipes to my shower mixer, and to create a ledge so that i can put my toileteries on it.

I was quoted about 3.5 to 3.6k, the best so far. Can't really remember the exact amount. I decided not to go with the S3000 cos i've heard feedback that pillowtops can flatten over time. Better to pay for the spring rather than the pillowtop. What i like about the S1000 is the multizone support. It really works and you can really feel the springs supporting you. I don't get it from other mattresses, they either feel too plushy due to the pillowtop, too hard, or too soft (especially one of the S brands). The S1000 feels just right at the right places too.

Hi Carelinwen, I'm also looking at the S1000 as it's the only mattress that i like so far. The cost of the mattress itself is about $3.8k list price and it can only be found in SImmons gallery. A bit ex but well worth the money.

More will be up on Saturday. I'll be a bit busy from now till then. My ID called me up today to give me some bad news and good news. The bad news is that the double glazed sliding windows for the bedrooms are out of production. However, he has managed to ask the supplier to give us casement windows instead at no extra cost. According to my ID, it's supposed to shut out more noise which is good! Other than that, we visited a Teakwood shop down in Furniture Mall and we met an uncle who's a teakwood lover as well. Some stuff we learnt was about different grades of teakwood furniture, why some shops could sell it dirt cheap, while some are so expensive, quality of the finish, etc. In a nutshell the things we learnt were: - dark stained teakwood furniture are usually cheaper as cheaper teakwood can be used due to the hiding of awful wood grains by the stain - natural, smooth finished furniture with nice grains and thick slabs are usually better quality as these are taken from older trees which are more termite resistant and harder (young teak is actually whitish in color and soft) - there are a few grades of teak, from A to C and the cheap young teakwood sapling grade. The morale is you pay for what you get - cheap is not good, and good is never cheap. Take a look around and compare different teakwood furniture before buying. Don't be too compulsive and be taken in be cheap prices.

Yes bro. I had to scout around quite a bit to get this price. Quotes i got from SLS or SLT was upwards of 250+ per box. Patch panel and wall sockets are all **** ex also. All want to chop carrot. I checked my receipt and my breakdown prices are as follows (excl GST, all AMP netconnect stuff): 1000ft CAT6 = $170 punchdown tool = $83 dual faceplate excl keystone jacks = $1.80 cat6 keystone jack = $6.50 cat6 24 port patch panel = $170 Best part is that the Cat6 cables are actually cheaper than cat5e cables quoted in some SLS shops.

Hi, I bought my reel at about 180+gst from one of the suppliers. The tool i bought is not a crimper but a punchdown tool. A crimper is for terminating patch cords. A punchdown tool is used to connect wires to sockets and patch panels. You could buy cheap punchdown tools at about $30-40 but the don't last very long or don't do a good job. My thinking is buy it once, buy it good. Else if the cheap one spoils and you need to get another one, it ends up to be the same price.

Hi there, All you need to do is to buy a 110 punchdown tool to terminate the faceplates. Costs 30 to 80 bucks depending on the brand you buy. I bought a AMP one for about 80. Works a treat.

Mine's a 5-room flat. I'll be running points to 3 bedrooms, hall and dining. I don't really exactly how much i need so i bought a reel of 305m CAT6 cable.

But you must bear in mind that 108G is just theoretical. You'll be lucky to get half the speed. 100base-T or gigabit are much faster and stable as well.

I fully agree. You should NEVER give a single cent to your ID unless you are postively sure that you are going to engage him after you've confirmed the price, seen his projects, etc. If an ID demands that you give him "deposit", you can rest assured that it's going to be a one way street. Lucky for me, my ID did it all without me paying a single cent to him.

You need 2 laptops to check for connectivity plus one straight and one cross cable. I would suggest that you redo the wiring during your reno as the previous owner probably had a router/switch in the room with the double point, and he extended the cables to 2 other rooms with the single points.

I think probably your two single LAN points are connected to either ports on the double LAN point. IE. A to C, B to C. THe only way to confirm is to either get a cable tester or use a laptop/network device to test for connectivity.

Normally the wires are not concealed but in casing as it's much cheaper. The LAN wiring will usually not be faulty if you use good cables such as Belden, AMP, etc. I will also be doing up LAN for my place too. My plan is to run CAT6 cables throughout as it will support the future 10Gbps standard in the future (less than 55m). Each room will have a 2 port LAN socket leading into the storeroom where i have a 24 port patch panel. From the storeroom, i can configure my LAN whichever way i want plus i can also assign any port to be ethernet or telephone (POTS). The best part is my modem/router can reside in the storeroom making it less unsightly. Some may ask, why go through the trouble when wireless-N is just round the corner. Now those wireless speeds are just theoretical speeds. Try using one in a neighbourhood cramped with other B/G signals and you'll find your speed drops dramatically. Also, i plan to put a NAS in the study to act as the file server in the house. THis is where gigabit or 10gbit speeds are useful. Remember, never think whatever speed we have now is enough. People used to say we never needed gigabit. Now gigabit is so common, some people are complaining that it's slow. Try to plan for the future since the cost of cat6 vs cat5e is only about 20-30% difference. Bear in mind that the jacks and the connectors must be cat6 as well. Also try to DIY as getting someone to run and install cat6 networking for you is going to cost a bomb. Last of all, i can't emphasize enough, please buy reputable cables, not some cheapo china or unknown brands. All cables are NOT equal.

Haha. Thanks for the upzzzz.

http://laxtonandsamanthalovenest.blogspot.com/ A blog about our journey of building that little roof over our heads.

Hi Torino, Is your ID firm H C****pts? I'm about to sign up with them too(my ID is a very nice uncle). Mind if you share how is their workmanship? So far i've checked out more than 10 ID's and they have been the most prompt in replying to my queries and alteration. That's why i decided to go with them. Thanks in advance.

Please check your PM. I find this a bit high too. On the sidetrack, i've found another ID that i've more or less decided to go with. I feel i'm able to communicate better with him and the price is almost the same.

Just some comments on these two brands. I'm currently scouting around for taps for my new home and i've tried out both hansgrohe and grohe in the showroom. Quite frankly, i find grohe superior in the aspect of fine adjustments. Even my wifey commented how cheap hansgrohe feels as compared to grohe. Grohe is really that much smoother no doubt about it. No offense but i don't see how anyone can ignore the stiffness of hansgrohe vs grohe - it's just too obvious!

Hi, Thanks for your comments on this. After going through some quotes from differents ID's, it seems that the price given is reasonable. Please check your PM. Nautilus

Thank you and xie xie!

Hi lifestyle, Thanks for the advice. Besides the electricals, what is your opinion on the rest of the quote? Thanks.

hi, That was the part that i'm afraid of also. If i let another contractor do the electricals, i may end up being very bo-eng, but the $$$$ saved is very tempting indeed.