Materials That U Regret Using/ Installing

[sherting 5]

YES, This is 1 of the best thread. Ok, here goes my advice.

1. Yes, I think it is good to have it. I did not install one, not that my ceiling is stained from the simple cooking but I still worry whenever steam goes up.

2. Non-sliding, we can still pick clothes together in the morning when rushing for work, I can't imagine if I have to wait for my wife to finish before I can slide the door to her end. We were concerned about space but anyway, the space for opening is a must when we are there.

4. Hmmm, my nose is sensitive to dust, 3 mths passed, still feel fresh! Maybe just have 1 in the living room. it's really cooling vs standing fan.

For sliding door wardrobe, each time can only open 50% whereas for non-sliding door wardrobe, you can open all doors 100%!Easier to search for things inside the wardrobe! Save time!LOL

[sherting 5]

Just curious- has anyone regretted installing chandeliers?

Nice to see but dust will accumulate on the 'crystals',difficult to wipe

[obindo2207 0]

This is super informative!!! Helps alot in my decision making during renovation ^^.

[lot85 0]

Any advice on wallpapers? Is it durable? Maintenace?

[jjbinks 0]

Very good thread.

For those who like Country kitchens, don't use tiles for the tops. Difficult to maintain and the tiles will chip.

Edited January 29, 2013 by jjbinks

[AverageGuy 0]

Keep wallpaper joints away from direct blowing aircon as after prolong blowing, the joint becomes bigger n Bigger

[kWh 1]

hi guys,

my swing wardrobe door hinges are about to break off fromt the door.

any recommendation for carpenter ?

[winson_tl 0]

• due to $$ issue when renovating house, did install a non-branded hood - after 3 years... it's now dripping .. like oil stain - red colour somemore (from the fan of the hood itself).. My hubby is also thinking no more hood ... but install a glass .. do u think its work??

WIW beside toilet, so far no moist problem but the dust.. OMG... need to clean everyweek..

Edited December 19, 2013 by winson_tl

[winson_tl 0]

I am just wondering, if there's no hood, will the cooking heat damage the cabinet wood on top?

Yes, heard from my colleague, her kitchen upper cabinet collapse after 5 years using... (the reason i can think, Moist -- from cooking).

[HandyHands 0]

hi guys,

my swing wardrobe door hinges are about to break off fromt the door.

any recommendation for carpenter ?

Have you gotten it fix?

[sg7979 0]

My biggest regret is:

Buying furniture from Vickson Furnishing @ Blk 637 Bt Batok Central.

Bought 1 wardrobe for master bedroom from them and 2 smaller ones from IKEA. The wardrobe from Vickson started to get mouldy after 1 year and the shop denied all responsibility for giving us sub-standard products. The wardrobe is NOT next to toilet. After a lot, A LOT of hassles of wiping, cleaning, removing clothes, re-washing and drying, the moulds kept coming back. In the end we decided to throw away the lousy product that gave us lots of pain and headaches and bought a new one.

IKEA wardrobes in common rooms are still doing fine.

Shop owner is fast in collecting $ but rude when told the product has problem.

[DaveNg 0]

This is an excellent educational thread for first time owners like me! I just got a DBSS and am planning for my renovation (before i confirm with an ID/contractor). Thanks for sharing! Please keep sharing!

[ongal 0]

Thank you for sharing!

I like your concept!

i have always believe HDB's standard coz i know they r stringent to contractors. so hb n me choose to use all of wat HDB has build for us and till now no problm.

tiles r easy to maintain. my kitchen n toilet tiles r matt type which i prefer as it can get quite slippery if there r water on shinning surface smooth tiles.. you will not slip but you can't guarantee you will never slip, your old folks, children and guests will not slip accidentally when there r water on the floor.

HDB always provide those easy maintenance and hardy items for us. i find it a waste to juz discard these items away if they r in usable condition. when we buy the hse, we paid for all these items. so by replacing these items, it would mean throwing away our hard-earn $$$$$$$$$$

the rest is due to experience so our hm is non-fancy but functional type. kitchen cabinets - we use sandy color (some may say beige) so that it is easy to maintain, even it is dirty, cannot see properly style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/sport-smiley-004.gif

no fanciful feature walls for us as it waste space and $$$

our curtains must have tab and also hook type for our rods which can be use as tab or hook type

utensils - go to those utensils shops to buy stainless steel type will do. plain type (without designs) to prevent dirt from sticking in it and for easy maintaining and cleaning. the most expensive is only $1.50 per piece. can use for long time.

window grilles installed at service balcony and study room (facing common corridor) for security. intend to install grilles at balcony and rooms as protection for kids as there is a kid that fell out of the hse from 7 floor!

sink is brought from ikea due to limited space and i want a washing side, a small compartment in the middle for putting sponge, and a side panel for me to cut seafood, meat and vege so that any stinking water will flow into the sink and not everywhere on the working top.

gd quality granite top which is heat resistant.

no walk-in wardrobe for me although hb ask if i want i find it a tedious job if moulds start to grow. we r living in Singapore and with such a humid environment, moulds grow easily on cabinets, etc. so no point slaving for the wardrobe and not cost efficient to keep buying those humidifiers.

no pointy glass or metal dinning table due to safety reason. mine is a big oval shape natural marble table with natoh wood legs and support and chairs.

no false ceilings for me as i don't want my family to eat the dust everyday as cleaning for such areas is very tedious. imagine tons of dusts and some dead insects r living above u and u r serving food to your family to eat just underneath them style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/jawdrop.gif style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/jawdrop.gif style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/jawdrop.gif

no downlights.

no fridge base as we don't think we are going to wash the kitchen floors like the market where water is splashed everywhere. this also help to give us more options if we need to change our fridge as we are not restricted to certain size of fridge only.

no washing machine base as well. same reason as above.

no special customise built display cabinets.

no fanciful basin in my hse.

as for stainless steel items in toilet and kitchen sink and all taps, we have a habbit of using a absorbant cloth to clean it dry of water after use. so still in gd condition.

as for carpet, we vacuum it offen.

as for toilets, we scrub it often. also use a scrub with a long handle to scrub the internal bowl and the hole thoroughly.

for pots and pans, we go to CK tang, Metro, OG, BHG (sometimes only) during their sales to buy WMF, Corningware, Luminarc to use. which is safe, functional, proven and easy to maintain.

for other normal utensils, we go to neighbourhood shops, eg. 5B at Joo Chiat, utensils shops at Ang Mo Kio, etc. to get them. cheap, gd and functional.

we also have the habbit of wiping clean the utensils after washing and putting it back to the cabinet after use.

[curryqueen 0]

I have lived in my renovated re-sale 3 roomflat for almost 4 years. Here's what I am glad I did what I wouldn't do again:

I will:

- buy Fanco Aroma ceiling fans. They are quiet, have strong wind and their remote control lasts really well despite being dropped on the floor countless times. I wish I had another one in the TV room instead of a desk fan. It's also easy to clean. Just use the extendable magic cleaner or stand on a stool and use wet wipes. Less than 5 mins to clean.

- use laminate flooring or vinyl flooring again. No tiles for me. The laminates have withstood cat puke, furniture dragged across the floor and are really easy to maintain. Try to have only 1 color of flooring throughout the entire flat and bed rooms. It will make the house look bigger.

- buy Bennington water heater. It's small and heats the water fast.

- buy blinds. I bought my blinds from tanjong katong complex. The only ikea blinds I have is in the MBR and still works fine. Curtains, I find, are messier and collect more dust. I have a sinus problem, so blinds work better for me.

- buy Mitsubishi electric split air con again.

- didn't tile my kitchen walls. I don't cook that often so I never saw a reason to tile my kitchen walls.

- didn't spend a lot of money on lighting. I think I spent less than $250 on lighting my entire house. I reused the previous owners lights in my toilet, storeroom and walk-in closet. Even though my ceiling fans have lights, it wasn't bright enough for the MBR and LVR. A majority of my lights came from Ikea and it's fine.

- place my closed door walk-in wardrobe away from my toilet. No problems with maintainance.

-have no door to my MBR toilet. I have a glass shower door, but no door to the loo.. I think because of good air circulation, I never had a problem with mould in my toilet.

- move my wash basin out of the MBR toilet and sacrifice some space in the MBR. The MBR loo feels a lot more spacious in my 3 room flat now.

- spent a bit more and got muji plastic drawers. They have not turned yellow yet.

- place the sink in the common toilet under the shower hose and use a 2 way faucet; 1 way for shower, the other to wash hands and brush teeth. The gives me more space to have a bigger sink instead of the usual tiny one in the toilet.

- keep my storeroom instead of knocking it down for an open concept kitchen.Storage is VERY useful.

I will not

- buy my toilet and kitchen hardware from Adamas ever. I think they are china ones even though the sales lady said they were not.rusty in just 1 year, kitchen sink faucet handle just popped out today.. Shower rod caps drop off after 6 mths, WC cover turn yellowish in less than 1 yr. The only think I don't regret buying is the extendable laundry hanging rack.great space saver and has not rusted yet.

- have customized built-in furniture in the LVR. I am the type who likes to change the layout of my furniture every year or so. Even though it maximizes space,I can't change the layout of my LVR any more..

- box up the electric piping that goes for the LVR to Kitchen. It does make it look neater, but it makes the ceiling look lower. I could have disguised the piping in so many other ways instead of spending $$ boxing it up.

- box up the MBR aircon panel. Again, it would have been cheaper to find other ways of disguising it. Eg, putting a small table in front of it.

Hope this helps newbies.

[curryqueen 0]

Oh... And Don't buy stainless steel kitchenware like WMF unless you are prepared to scrub. I used WMF for one yr, then gave it all away and went back to tefal coated or ceramic pots and pans.

Like Leen said, in an earlier post, no false ceiling, no down lights, no WM and fridge base for all the same reasons .

Edited March 20, 2014 by curryqueen