Advice For Homeowners

[de_Pierre 0]

Dun mention, bro...

I'm jus being free n have the chance to KPO here... (^oo^)

My essay on Exhibitions is for every fellow forumers also... kekeke

Edited November 26, 2008 by de_Pierre

[JackyChiang 0]

Hi people,

I'm a interior/styling designer. I've come to hear about this webby from my client this afternoon. Frankly, I was very curious about it and decide to see what is it about.

Frankly after looking through some of them, i realise some are actually contractors & designers who pose as owners. frankly, I don't think its very ethical.

So, I hope that i can help advice people here with no obligations.

Just for your info:

Worked in a big contractor firm for my first job.

Went on to try out the "style" at a certain company at IMM.

Worked in a reputable design "pioneer" company

Worked at home styling/interior design company

Now with my own comany doing mainly referrals

So be it questions about contractors or designers, I hope i can help you in some ways. Don't intend to gain anything from here. Just wana help.

( i will try to log in daily, if not i hope you can wait )

Nice Thread U Got Here.Hopefully Owners Can Get Some Proper Advice Here Instead Of

Misleading Answers.Im An ID Myself & Put Up A Similar Thread In SG Brides But Was Deleted

Cuz Of An Idiotic Colleague Hijacking My Thread & Solicited There

Hows Business Recently?Seems Like The Credit Crunch Getting To Most Of My Owners With

Alot Of Them Cutting Back On Budgets.

[de_Pierre 0]

SGBrides is totally different from here man... RenoTalk is more tactful...

SgBrides is more to secure its customers... If u're contractor, they dun allow u to post 1... They're more to advertisement types... Who will advertise @ SgBrides if there's competitors making awful n false remarks?? (bcs in early 2000s, got many companies suffered bad reputations from SgBrides forum. Some remarks might be true, but some is from pranksters. Unhealthy competitions n warfare.)

RenoTalk is totally different wor, so long no breached rules, we contractors/IDs also can post comments de...

MODs here r very reasonable, won't delete any threads or posts anyhow de...

I believe MODs also welcome us to clear the doubts of reno layman... Indirectly, we're assisting in boosting the forum... ^^

By educating the laymans, lesser Con cases, lesser conflicts, better knowledge can be gain from RenoTalks etc = We're building our society better ma... (^^,)

何乐而不为呢？

(I really detest 'UFOs', no ethics at all)

Edited December 10, 2008 by de_Pierre

[JackyChiang 0]

SGBrides is totally different from here man... RenoTalk is more tactful...

SgBrides is more to secure its customers... If u're contractor, they dun allow u to post 1... They're more to advertisement types... Who will advertise @ SgBrides if there's competitors making awful n false remarks?? (bcs in early 2000s, got many companies suffered bad reputations from SgBrides forum. Some remarks might be true, but some is from pranksters. Unhealthy competitions n warfare.)

RenoTalk is totally different wor, so long no breached rules, we contractors/IDs also can post comments de...

MODs here r very reasonable, won't delete any threads or posts anyhow de...

I believe MODs also welcome us to clear the doubts of reno layman... Indirectly, we're assisting in boosting the forum... ^^

By educating the laymans, lesser Con cases, lesser conflicts, better knowledge can be gain from RenoTalks etc = We're building our society better ma... (^^,)

何乐而不为呢？

(I really detest 'UFOs', no ethics at all)

RenoTalk Has Got Better Mods From Wat I See After Reading Thru Most Of The Forum.& Its Not As Messy Compared To The Other One.

Education Is A 2 Way Thing Though.Looking At Some Of The Threads In Either Forum,I Cant Help But Laugh.Not At The Thread Starter But More So At The Owners Who Comes Up With Useless & Misleading Replies.Usually They Confuse The Thread Starters Even More Than B4 They Posted.

(U Can Tell If Someone Is A UFO Quite Easily Actually)

[de_Pierre 0]

hahaha, 2 hands up agreeing!

[booy 0]

Hi all,

Found that there are quite a few experts in this thread.. Therefore, I wanted to check on certain ID stuff.. I'm still in the midst of getting a resale flat.. Recently, found this house that i really like.. The flooring in living room is broken marble, while the rooms are in laminated flooring and the kitchen is in homogenous tiles.. The couple has lived there for around 6 years and I must say that all the flooring are in a pretty good condition so far I think.. In addition, the carpentry works in the kitchen is extensive.. stretching 1 and a half of of the kitchen walls which are in good condition as well... Plus the electrical work is also 6 years old..

Now I'm deciding to get the house such that I can save on the flooring, electrical and carpentry in kitchen.. Question now is that is it worth to pay around 10 to 15K more for these? As they have used for around 6 years, what's the usual lifespan of such flooring and carpentry work? Is broken marble better than homo flooring? Anything I should look out for to decide if this house is really worth the price?

Hopefully, I can find my ideal house soon and I can start to engage ID to build more on the living rooms and bedrooms..

Thanks for any advice...

[kewin 0]

Yes, it is still worth it. I will depend on whether when you walk into the house, do you like the house and the design. Can you accept the concept, Broken Marble flooring, laminated flooring for rooms?

Maybe you just need to re-paint nicely and change WC bowl, taps, sinks.. that all. It all depend whether do you like and can accept the design..

[matlucio 0]

Hi, Just need some advice. Today my contractor install my new toilet door but he juz remove the door but not the frame and he says if he remove my frame it will b hollow and can see my cement. It loooks funny as i can see my existing locking hole. My house is a new flat..please advice. I'm still holding the balance payment.

[booy 0]

Yes, it is still worth it. I will depend on whether when you walk into the house, do you like the house and the design. Can you accept the concept, Broken Marble flooring, laminated flooring for rooms?

Maybe you just need to re-paint nicely and change WC bowl, taps, sinks.. that all. It all depend whether do you like and can accept the design..

Yes.. I like the design.. It's pretty.. Most work will be done to the two toilets and the master bedroom.. But there is an extra need to take care of the carpentry and flooring during reno... Any idea what's the usual lifespan of such flooring and carpentry work? Is broken marble better than homo flooring?

Edited December 22, 2008 by booy

[kewin 0]

It is cooler when you step on the floor... just mop the floor with marble care.. once a week, lazy once a month.. haha

My parent house is also using broken marble.. so cooling when I step accept have to wipe/mop the floor once a week to maintain the shinyness .. haa haa.. I am not referring to must mop until can see your teeth.

Electrical wiring wise, dun worry, mostly can withstand 25 years or longer one. Carpentry, if you are talking about kitchen, make sure you buy a strong cooker hood to suck out the oily air when cooking. (depending on what you cook).

You need to spend is,

- buy a strong kitchen cooker and hod.

- Polished the broken marble

- if why not remake your toilet flooring and wall and add storage heater, rain shower.. Make Glass Shower screen inside with swing door.

Edited December 23, 2008 by kewin

[booy 0]

It is cooler when you step on the floor... just mop the floor with marble care.. once a week, lazy once a month.. haha

My parent house is also using broken marble.. so cooling when I step accept have to wipe/mop the floor once a week to maintain the shinyness .. haa haa.. I am not referring to must mop until can see your teeth.

Electrical wiring wise, dun worry, mostly can withstand 25 years or longer one. Carpentry, if you are talking about kitchen, make sure you buy a strong cooker hood to suck out the oily air when cooking. (depending on what you cook).

You need to spend is,

- buy a strong kitchen cooker and hod.

- Polished the broken marble

- if why not remake your toilet flooring and wall and add storage heater, rain shower.. Make Glass Shower screen inside with swing door.

Thanks Kewin.. Think no issue with moping once a week, even if normal tiles also need to mop lah.. As for the kitchen, they seem to have a pretty strong kitchen cooker and hod... Must keep a lookout for the brand next time I see the house.. The toilet will definitely be a remake, a good rain shower and a screen are a must...

[de_Pierre 0]

Hi, Just need some advice. Today my contractor install my new toilet door but he juz remove the door but not the frame and he says if he remove my frame it will b hollow and can see my cement. It loooks funny as i can see my existing locking hole. My house is a new flat..please advice. I'm still holding the balance payment.

If ur existing door frame is built on 'raw finished wall' (w/o any tiles on it), the frame will not be removed for changing new doors... Imagine they removed the existing door frame whereas the new door's breadth is unable to cover the breadth of the toilet wall entrance (suppose u're using aluminium bi-fold door which frame is very thin), exposed of unfinished wall = 'UGLY'...

New flats PVC toilet door frames r usually thicker in breadth, or built behind raw finished wall, or constructed into the entrance kerb, or wad so ever... By removing it, additional works n costs occurs...

As for the exposed lock hole, u may ask ur contractor to fill tad wif silicon n paint it same colour wif ur existing door frame)... Otherwise, apply painting for door frame (same colour of the toilet entrance wall) Charges may applicable, depends how u phsyco ur contractor... kekeke

Its more to logic... U may consider these factors as guide to judge ur contractor...

All the best!!!

Edited December 24, 2008 by de_Pierre

[booy 0]

If ur existing door frame is built on 'raw finished wall' (w/o any tiles on it), the frame will not be removed for changing new doors... Imagine they removed the existing door frame whereas the new door's breadth is unable to cover the breadth of the toilet wall entrance (suppose u're using aluminium bi-fold door which frame is very thin), exposed of unfinished wall = 'UGLY'...

New flats PVC toilet door frames r usually thicker in breadth, or built behind raw finished wall, or constructed into the entrance kerb, or wad so ever... By removing it, additional works n costs occurs...

As for the exposed lock hole, u may ask ur contractor to fill tad wif silicon n paint it same colour wif ur existing door frame)... Otherwise, apply painting for door frame (same colour of the toilet entrance wall) Charges may applicable, depends how u phsyco ur contractor... kekeke

Its more to logic... U may consider these factors as guide to judge ur contractor...

All the best!!!

Any idea if I can keep the sink, tap and shower screen if I am hacking the toilet walls? If I'm not changing the toilet floor, so it won't affect the water proofing of the flooring right?

It is cooler when you step on the floor... just mop the floor with marble care.. once a week, lazy once a month.. haha

My parent house is also using broken marble.. so cooling when I step accept have to wipe/mop the floor once a week to maintain the shinyness .. haa haa.. I am not referring to must mop until can see your teeth.

Electrical wiring wise, dun worry, mostly can withstand 25 years or longer one. Carpentry, if you are talking about kitchen, make sure you buy a strong cooker hood to suck out the oily air when cooking. (depending on what you cook).

You need to spend is,

- buy a strong kitchen cooker and hod.

- Polished the broken marble

- if why not remake your toilet flooring and wall and add storage heater, rain shower.. Make Glass Shower screen inside with swing door.

I have paid deposit for the house liao.. So now deciding what are the things I can keep or should I change.. Thanks.. So now I got a house.. hooray..

[kewin 0]

Can you check whether your sink is concrete based / vanity cabinet based / plaster based. If concrete base / plaster, cannot be help.

[de_Pierre 0]

booy - Any idea if I can keep the sink, tap and shower screen if I am hacking the toilet walls? If I'm not changing the toilet floor, so it won't affect the water proofing of the flooring right?

Y hack wall tiles when u're ain't doing ur flooring? U can simply overlay wall tiles...

Loose items like wash basin, tap, accessories can be re-used.. But not for custom-made items, like shower screen, due to its fixed panels n dimensions constraint...