wuga98

it has been a busy 2 weeks with most weekends burned driving all over SG for us to visit all the wonderful places you probably will not go if not for a specific purpose. This week is also my first week of attending site meeting, which was suppose to be conducted at the site but due to the heavy rain, it has to be moved into the nearby coffee bean. Met all the contractors that is going to work hand in hand with the main con. haha, i can only manage to understand some part of it. .. Here is how i have structured the whole rebuild, Architect is the Project Manager, main con takes instruction from architect and owner (which happens to be me) . Something i did which is very unconventional is that i took out the M&E/Plumbing/Electrical & Aircon from the main con. I did a seperate tender for these items and have gotten a Uni fren of mine to coordinate and manage, he is a M&E consultant. When it comes to work, main con will give instructions to all sub cons, no IFs & BUTs, when it comes to decision making, it's going to be a grp site meeting which i will attend, if not the architect will be my rep. I have been caution about the additional $$$ due to taking our certain portion of the main con's work etc and also not to mentioned about the time i need to be call to the site meetings. Bu i guest maybe there is something i can learn from this whole experience. !! i took this pic this morning, something is definately getting "planted" there. !!

applefreak: curry, will that stain you blanco sink? THanks.

anyone know what is the price, psf for burmese teak flooring? Thanks.

just manage to take a pic yesterday, still a BIG hole there, hopefully, some more to see next weekend when i am back from Shanghai.

did not pay attention to the actual design, will check for you since it's walking distance from my place. The metra9 seems value for money. You still using it? and complaint?....i think this one like forever discount...

was at hoe kee in plaza sg, william the sales person there showed me around and the most expensive composite one is about ~$1k, i really need to see one that cost ~$2k. do you have the model, will dropped by genting road office this weekends. Thanks.

if you have specialist doing koi pond, do let know as well. I am trying to establish the cost. Thanks.

hi: anyone know of websites/pics that i can review on the koi pond wall feature? The pond is pretty std but i am trying to get some ideas on what sort of water feature we can have eg. zen looking water flowing down, fountain, waterfall etc. Thanks.

i did some research on this for my house, in SG context, payback is almost non existence as the cost is just too high unless you are doing this for other reasons. The solar panel is expensive and there is no subsidy from the Government on going green. The panel is **** heavy, at least 500kg, you need to get a special lifting truck to place that on top of your roof. I dropped the idea after much consideration. The other thing is that i also did some research on water recycling as well which i also dropped if you are interested in water recycling try hansgrohe, they have a neat system that hotel uses, my household cannot generate enough recycling water for any payback...even i have a big koi pond, maybe a big swimming pool.

ok, i know i am very late in the reply...just got to know this forum not that long ago, wish i did earlier. The thread started has apparently gone missing. But which ever is the case, i am going to put some pts here for others to consider when they want to go down the path of a complete rebuild. + design n build is probably the most hands off option as compared to a hybrid. There are more and more architect companies that can take this as a project. Bringing in the main con, surveyor, PE, ID etc. >>>and you can control your budget very well and less overruns. + hybrid option, you need to have an understand of the process with guidance from main con or architect. It depends on your expectation. Not necessary that you need to be a project manager but you can get the architect to do this but you are consulted quite a lot and you have to be decisive. As for budgeting, most likely to have overruns... Both is good but you need to decide on what suite your time allocation and lifestyle. At the end, both will get you to your dream house. I have also seen many new built houses but they are really weird in layout which maynot be what your wife and you wants. If you go for a rebuild (A&A is possible but may require major works), you can get what you want and if you are particular about fengshui, you can get the best harmonious house money can buy. My wife and i have chosen the hybid option and we did not rush the project, it tooks us almost a year in planning before work actually started. p/s: before i forget, if you are going for a hybrid, try to get a good clerk of work to supervise and be your pair of eyes. He/she maynot be on your payroll for 12 mths but during critical steps of the rebuild eg. casting, piling etc.

can post a pic of the placement of your ventilation fan. the image of the public toilet ventilation fan turns me off. I know the purpose but somehow it cannot blend well with the rest of the toilet, do you have this impression? Thanks.

Just to update CM's original reply:- The new model # for the combi oven is DME795X and shd be arriving end of Jan. Price is $2700. It's a 40L s/s ful built-in oven. They also mentioned that it will need a 15Amp power pt.

Hi: i have benefited immensely from this forum, first of all Thank You and keep it coming as i would think the present or the future visitors will find this very useful. I am going to start a t-blog here to chart the progress and to share. To start the ball rolling, here are some background:- 1. Bought the place in Nov 2006, legal paperwork completed sometime in Feb 2007. 2. Fengshui Master visited the place and work on the layout in Feb 2007. 3. Appointment of Architect in Feb 2007. 4. Achitect completed first draft of House in April 2007. 5. Revision completion in June 2007. 6. Close tender for main con and also a sub con in Jul 2007. 7. Selection process for main con and sub con (electrical/plumbing/M&E), done and completed in Aug/Sept 2007. 8. Appointment done in Sept 2007. 9. Approval for rebuild approved in Nov 2007. 10. Complete tear down in Nov 2007. 11. Piling completed in Dec 2007. 12. This one i don't know what they call it, what i saw last week is one bloody big hole in the ground..maybe pour concrete or something but i think my next update, i will show you the pic.

have you used them before? expesive in what sense...? Thanks

CM: what kind of tiles is this? homo or marble? and they are 600mm by 600mm?. Thanks.

anyone has the name of this shop?. Thanks

one more thing to add, drilling is not that bad, if you decide later to remove the painting, you can buy putty and fill up the holes. Not just weight, but also b'cos i have small children running around and cannot have a failing painting. 3M is a good choice for really hanging light stuff, my 2 cents.

got to get a hammer drill and drill the wall. Better get a professional. If you are framing your pic, the shop sometimes do provide this service, may not be free. What you don't want is drill into a pipe, cables baried inside the wall. They usually have detector to detect if it was fine to drill or not. I have 2 huge painting which i got them to frame and also hang.

noone here use them before? !!

good for you, happy that you found what you are looking for. Hansgrohe has a plant in china but am not sure what they do there. I suspect, they must have the necessary QC, otherwise spoilt the brand liao.

Thanks CM, will decide before end Jan. Which co/brand if famous for their hob n hood then>? I have never consider teka for their sink, i thought franke is a better choice THanks for the sharing.

Thanks, which model of the combi did you get eg. litre etc.. and did you get their hood and hop as well. I was at their showroom today and they will probably get the catalogue next week for me to understand their specs. Their price is definately higher than teka when i did the comparison, how do you rate teka? you are correct about not being able to do the rest of what you have penned down here which i love to have very much, but in my household, i am also the only one that is a canivorous. Do you really use the steam oven? Thanks.

CM: de dietrich has a hybrid oven, seen it at eldric, it;s a microwave and oven, any comment of having a 2-1 approach to this? Do not roast a lot but it will be handy on certain festive period. Thanks.

Hi: anyone use this brand of tiles/ceramics before? They are from italy. Thanks http://www.cerviva.it/newsoken.htm

i was at Stile, Builders Design Centre near to Sg Expo, anyone used is using them for marbles/granites/tiles etc. Thanks.