City Living

[sohck 0]

Kaypo here.. heh

I have the same idea as you to do away with the need for kitchen tiles. Really not worth it. In fact, I'll just get whoever I engage to just plaster/cement screed over the existing tiles, so less hacking needed. Floor wise, I'm considering the sediment flooring used by Jaskel, so as to save on hacking the floor tiles and replacing it.

By the way, you sound like you already know what you want to do, and maybe how to 'design' it. If that is the case, my advice to you is to get a reputable contractor like Patrick of Ho Bee and others like him. You will save at least 20% of your reno budget. I started looking at IDs, and decided to look at the contractors instead due to budget and I am totally convinced that it's a waste of money going with IDs since I roughly know what I want.

Oh.. and fridge and washer base, I'm prob doing away with it. One good thing with that is that you don't have to worry about your next upgrade in washer and fridge, cos you don't have to consider the size of the base.

Actually idea came from my wife. She observed that after we do our kitchen cabinet and backslash (is it what is known as?), there is very little visible wall left. One contractor told us that although we are charged for the wall tiles for the entire kitchen, they will actually only put tiles onto walls that are visbile. So we must as well save $2,000 by just putting a coat of paint on the visible wall.

By not doing the fridge and washer base, we save another $200. What I can't decide is if I really need the cabinet base. Do you know what the cabinet base is for?

I agree with you that it might be a waste of money engaging an ID. Seem like most of them have great ideas but we only need a very basic renovation that is economical and practical, since we have two kids at home. We are meeting Ah Soon tomorrow and maybe we should speak to Patrick, like what you suggested.

[preciousjam 0]

i think doing the fridge and WM base is to prevent water from getting contact....usually these 2 things placed in kitchen and somtimes this area is washed instead of juz mop...

i'm gonna put my fridge in the dry area of the kitchen and my contractor told me no need to do base....

same thing for the dry area of the kitchen, i juz do plastering and paint....saves money...

think my kids will enjoy chasing after the roomba...hehe...i'm gonna check it out siunce i'm gonna get a vaccum...

is it difficult to bring back from usa?

[sohck 0]

i think doing the fridge and WM base is to prevent water from getting contact....usually these 2 things placed in kitchen and somtimes this area is washed instead of juz mop...

i'm gonna put my fridge in the dry area of the kitchen and my contractor told me no need to do base....

same thing for the dry area of the kitchen, i juz do plastering and paint....saves money...

think my kids will enjoy chasing after the roomba...hehe...i'm gonna check it out siunce i'm gonna get a vaccum...

is it difficult to bring back from usa?

Think I probably don't need the fridge and washer base - in the ten years that I stay in my current place, we only wash the kitchen floor twice :-)

My Roomba is bought locally. But I have tried buying goods from US - not difficult - you could order it and pay by credit card, and the unit will be shipped to you via your choice of shipping method. What I am not comfortable is that in case the unit is not working, you will have to send it back to US (at your own cost). But I have read that iRobot's customer service is quite good so that should not be an issue.

You could also join in some other forumers in the vaccum thread. They could be buying together to get a better discount.

[Guest melancholic]

Actually idea came from my wife. She observed that after we do our kitchen cabinet and backslash (is it what is known as?), there is very little visible wall left. One contractor told us that although we are charged for the wall tiles for the entire kitchen, they will actually only put tiles onto walls that are visbile. So we must as well save $2,000 by just putting a coat of paint on the visible wall.

By not doing the fridge and washer base, we save another $200. What I can't decide is if I really need the cabinet base. Do you know what the cabinet base is for?

I agree with you that it might be a waste of money engaging an ID. Seem like most of them have great ideas but we only need a very basic renovation that is economical and practical, since we have two kids at home. We are meeting Ah Soon tomorrow and maybe we should speak to Patrick, like what you suggested.

Fridge.. can always buy 4 little base thingees.. ( dunno what it's called) if really worried about its damage. But in most cases, we won't be washing the kitchen area, just mop regularly will do. Cabinet base, not really sure. And now the rage is to have suspended bottom cabinets to make the kitchen look bigger, then the full cabinet base is redundant. Prob can ask the contractor to do those with 'designer' cabinet legs.

btw, Patrick quoted me $100 pfr for the kitchen cabinet and also for Indian Granite worktop (though not sure if there's a limit in colour for the work top). Nett Price. Not sure if that is considered cheap for contractor, but definitely way way cheaper than ID. Most of the IDs charge on average $120 pfr for cabinet, and $150-$180 pfr for the granite worktop.

For the visible wall, you can also beautify it with wall decals.

what I'm doing now is investing a little more heavily in those magazines (Square Rooms, Lookbox and Home and Decor). So now I have about 6 reference books for ideas to show the contractor.

[sohck 0]

Am getting Supreme to construct a 4-inch platform on the entire balcony. We are adding a low table, some bean bags / cushions to convert it to a "cozy corner". As our balcony faces the west we are putting 3M Solar Film to cut down on the heat and glare. The sunset view from the balcony is quite amazing - we saw it when we went down to exercise our option.

Supreme has told us that should the laminate fades because of the sunlight, they will change it for us free of charge.

[sohck 0]

Fridge.. can always buy 4 little base thingees.. ( dunno what it's called) if really worried about its damage. But in most cases, we won't be washing the kitchen area, just mop regularly will do. Cabinet base, not really sure. And now the rage is to have suspended bottom cabinets to make the kitchen look bigger, then the full cabinet base is redundant. Prob can ask the contractor to do those with 'designer' cabinet legs.

btw, Patrick quoted me $100 pfr for the kitchen cabinet and also for Indian Granite worktop (though not sure if there's a limit in colour for the work top). Nett Price. Not sure if that is considered cheap for contractor, but definitely way way cheaper than ID. Most of the IDs charge on average $120 pfr for cabinet, and $150-$180 pfr for the granite worktop.

For the visible wall, you can also beautify it with wall decals.

what I'm doing now is investing a little more heavily in those magazines (Square Rooms, Lookbox and Home and Decor). So now I have about 6 reference books for ideas to show the contractor.

$100 pfr is cheap leh. The quotes I have are in the range $120-$130, like what you mentioned.

What is decal?

One way to save cost, you can get a lot of design magazines at the National Library, at no charge. For the current issues, I just read at NTUC while waiting to pay for groceries.

[Guest melancholic]

$100 pfr is cheap leh. The quotes I have are in the range $120-$130, like what you mentioned.

What is decal?

One way to save cost, you can get a lot of design magazines at the National Library, at no charge. For the current issues, I just read at NTUC while waiting to pay for groceries.

wall decals.. are wall stickers that you can paste. can always remove any time. there are some threads on it. some of the decals can be customised. some examples are www.dnalife.com.sg, www.modishop.com

National library.. main one prob will have more. The one at Sengkang doesn't have lookbox and square rooms leh. And also, I find it's better to have my own copy to show the contractor. Also, I check out the website of the various advertisers and visit some of their stalls also. That way, I have more references when its time to do things like tile shopping, sofa shopping etc.

[Jann 0]

I bought it from the distributor John Ackerman Smart Learning E. Products, address and telephone number as follow:

Blk 34 Upper Cross Street #04-138 Singapore 050034

Tel: 6532-3733

There are other forumers in RenoTalk that got it by ordering from overseas. According to them, the price is only 1/2 or 1/3.

Personally I prefer to get it locally since I will have somebody to turn to if the thing doesn't work, afterall, this is my first cleaning robot.

As for the different models:

According to the girl who sold me the iRobot, Roomba Silver Junior and Roomba Silver are third generation robots, Roomba 530 and 560 are fifth generation. 560 is the same as 530 except it has the scheduling function and one additional virtual wall. The scheduling function is used to schedule cleaning, since it can take about an hour to clean a room. The virtual wall is used to stop the robot from getting out of a certain area, for example, if you want to limit the robot to just cleaning the room.

The Scooba can be used to mop floor.

The difference in price between 530 and 560 is about $200. Since this is the first time I am using the iRobot, I decide to try the 530 first. Maybe I won't need the scheduling function as I could turn on the Roomba just before I leave home every morning. By the time I am back home. the house should already been clean.

I wanted the Scooba but worry that if it gets jammed, the water might damage my laminate flooring.

So far I tried the Roomba once this afternoon for about 15 minutes (it is meant for my new house so I just tried to make sure it works), I was impressed with the amount of dust it collected. So if you are okay with the pricing, I would recommend you get one, either locally or from overseas, so as to reduce the workload of our ladies at home.

Hi sohck,

Thx for the information. I will go shop shop n compare the price b4 I buy.

[yokine9a 1]

Hi, have you guys seem the carpentry workmanship of Ho Bee? I find it so-so only.

Rondy's ID (Mr Yeak) quotes the same price as Ho Bee but he gives free BLUM systems & more expensive rocket switches.

The popular contractor Ah Soon quotes even cheaper than 2 of them, also with free BLUM systems.

[guy77 0]

sohck, does the irobot works well on parquet floor? no scratches?

[sohck 0]

sohck, does the irobot works well on parquet floor? no scratches?

My three rooms have parquet flooring. So far so good, no scratch. In fact the Roomba is more of a vacuum cleaner than a broom.

[sohck 0]

Hi, have you guys seem the carpentry workmanship of Ho Bee? I find it so-so only.

Rondy's ID (Mr Yeak) quotes the same price as Ho Bee but he gives free BLUM systems & more expensive rocket switches.

The popular contractor Ah Soon quotes even cheaper than 2 of them, also with free BLUM systems.

Is Ah Soon also using the BLUM system. Just went to see one of the flats that Ah Soon is doing, I think the brand is "INAX" or something, didn't have my reading glasses on so I can't read clearly :-(

[guy77 0]

thanks sohck.

may be buying this for mum to ease her vacuuming the whole house.

but price not cheap. have to forgo some purchases to buy this.

as for the BLUM system, i think you have to ask and top up. But some got it free as they are doing a higher reno cost from what I read. but for me, I guess the current soft closing mechanism that I read from other forum is good enough la.

Edited May 11, 2009 by guy77

[ocheeeng 0]

Think I probably don't need the fridge and washer base - in the ten years that I stay in my current place, we only wash the kitchen floor twice :-)

My Roomba is bought locally. But I have tried buying goods from US - not difficult - you could order it and pay by credit card, and the unit will be shipped to you via your choice of shipping method. What I am not comfortable is that in case the unit is not working, you will have to send it back to US (at your own cost). But I have read that iRobot's customer service is quite good so that should not be an issue.

You could also join in some other forumers in the vaccum thread. They could be buying together to get a better discount.

I think if you buy from USA irobot and ship it back to SG, the warranty is not valid. The warranty is for USA and Canada only.

[sohck 0]

I think if you buy from USA irobot and ship it back to SG, the warranty is not valid. The warranty is for USA and Canada only.

Yes, that's correct. Sorry if I have mislead anybody. You only get warranty support from Singapore (distributor) if you buy it from them; otherwise, the charge per service will be [sky] high.