Contemporary Makeover For 5i In Sengkang

[bergkamp 0]

Bathroom wall tiles have been laid.

Couldnt see properly because electricity to the flat has been turned off after all the new wires were laid.

Reached the flat after it got dark !

The trunking on the ceiling of living room doesnt look nice. But got no option as I have to put ceiling fan and dont have false ceiling.

Some HDB rules really frustrating.

[Mickey M 0]

Bathroom wall tiles have been laid.

Couldnt see properly because electricity to the flat has been turned off after all the new wires were laid.

Reached the flat after it got dark !

The trunking on the ceiling of living room doesnt look nice. But got no option as I have to put ceiling fan and dont have false ceiling.

Some HDB rules really frustrating.

Err... if u want to do, can do. But next time when u want to sell the house, u need to 'rectify' all these modification which is not acceptable by HDB lor. Hee.

How come no pics? A picture paints a thousand words.

[jthian 0]

Bought my ceiling fans today from JB.

Went with KDK as its the most reliable brand and I wanted clean cut designs without lights.

KDK models are much cheaper in Malaysia. Bit of a hassle if there is a defect, but price is almost half.

Ended up buying KDKs for all rooms. Got good discount for buying in bulk.

Height of fans could be bit of an issue but I will manage. No false ceiling, only Lbox.

2 x V60VK , 60 inch for Living rooms

3 x V56VK, 56 inch for bedrooms.

Cant afford to turn on aircon all the time and hate those standing fans which get in the way and pose a hazard for my kid.

These ceiling fans should keep the whole flat "airy".

Hi bergkamp, does the shop in JB deliver to you in SG? If so, do they charge a fair bit?

[bergkamp 0]

Hi bergkamp, does the shop in JB deliver to you in SG? If so, do they charge a fair bit?

I dont think so. You can call up the JB dealers listed on KDK Malaysia website and ask.

[bergkamp 0]

Err... if u want to do, can do. But next time when u want to sell the house, u need to 'rectify' all these modification which is not acceptable by HDB lor. Hee.

How come no pics? A picture paints a thousand words.

My electrician not too keen on hiding the wiring inside ceiling. So I might just have to live with that

It will probably be less obvious after plastering and painting is finished.

Photos I will post after the dust settles in the house. Currently bathroom tiles being laid and whole flat full of cement dust.

[bergkamp 0]

Bought instant heaters for bathroom. Panasonic and Alpha.

For the master bedroom set, I will be replacing the shower and the holding rod with a separate chrome one.

Looked better...although the setup has become a bit more complicated.

[bergkamp 0]

Aircon installed.

Had to take day off to supervise the installation.

Installation was done by Gain City. Was a one day installation.

- Team of two. One old experienced pro, other younger worker.

- Very fast and efficient. Dont even take break for lunch. I bought some McDonalds meals for them to keep their energy levels up..

- Even though I upgraded to G22 copper pipe and 1/2inch insulation, they dont use it everywhere. Use a mix of different gauge based on practicality and convenience.

- the marking on insulation pipes is a bit misleading. It reads 1/4" outside but inside its 1/2" thick... Couldnt get that. I actually measured the insulation to be sure its 1/2 inch.

- The insulation runs right upto the aircon. Inside that got aircon's own insulation. Its a bit flimsy looking and very thin....but I was told thats very effective and anyway got no room inside aircon to run thicker insulation.

- The pro installed the living and master bedroom FCUs and compressor. Common bedrooms done by the trainee.

- Can easily make out difference between skill of two. Pro always gets his measurements right and cuts exact lengths first time. Assistant gets it right in 2-3tries. They only make one 2 joints in copper pipe. One at compressor end and one inside FCU.

- Fat trunking running around the house..but they installed it nicely.

- Unfortunately the pipe for Living has to run through the master bathroom. Hopefully it wont be obvious after it gets painted. Water drainage pipe should get hidden below the vanity.

- Looked up and down my drying area at other people's installed aircons. Looks like noone running trunking through master bath. Either they dont have aircon in living or use a long way round teh bedrooms to get there.

- Did the plastering to cover up holes and sealant was applied nicely on all the trunking edges. Neat finishing.

- FCU in living room didnt fit to the wall perfectly. Still see a gap behind.. But thats the best they could do. Say its a problem with the big FCUs..

- The pro didnt tighten all pipes connected to the compressor before he turned on the gas. Got loud hissing sound as gas leaked. Then he quickly tightened all pipes. Hopefully not much gas wasted !!

- Tested the aircons, seemed to be working fine. Quiet and powerful.

- They packed the aircons with the plastic cover in which they come. Bit of a patchy covering work using a few tapes. Bit afraid some dust will go in during reno.

- Gain City claim their workers are paid based on the feedback you give. But in my case wasnt asked to fill out and sign any feedback form..

Edited December 3, 2009 by bergkamp

[bergkamp 0]

Here are some photos of the action..

The Armaflex insulation 1/2inch

Copper pipes, G22 and some lower gauge.

View of living room. Ugly trunking for light and ceiling fan points

Difference between the aircon(Toshiba) insulation and the Armaflex

[bergkamp 0]

Gap between the FCU and wall for living room unit

Final covering up of FCU

Installed compressor. Muscular and quiet

[amrasenelya 1]

Gap between the FCU and wall for living room unit

hello! we also got our aircon installed by gain city yesterday.. and toshiba too..

i think the gap between your aircon and the wall is due to the uneven-ness of the wall... even in our mbr, where our aircon is only 16kbtu same size as 9kbtu, also got a small gap...

and yah... im also baffled by all the thickness of the insulation... the salesman never say they will use thinner copper wire based on btu size hor?

[bergkamp 0]

hello! we also got our aircon installed by gain city yesterday.. and toshiba too..

i think the gap between your aircon and the wall is due to the uneven-ness of the wall... even in our mbr, where our aircon is only 16kbtu same size as 9kbtu, also got a small gap...

and yah... im also baffled by all the thickness of the insulation... the salesman never say they will use thinner copper wire based on btu size hor?

Yeah. Makes me feel that I didnt get my money's worth for the "upgrade".

Should have warned us earlier that they wont use the thick insulation and G22 pipe everywhere.

A bit surprised that I didnt come across this info anywhere before.

Had to experience first hand !

Have to live with the gap behind aircon. Just dont want any creepy crawlers to hide behind that gap in future.

[ossify 1]

Yeah. Makes me feel that I didnt get my money's worth for the "upgrade".

Should have warned us earlier that they wont use the thick insulation and G22 pipe everywhere.

A bit surprised that I didnt come across this info anywhere before.

Had to experience first hand !

Have to live with the gap behind aircon. Just dont want any creepy crawlers to hide behind that gap in future.

maybe you should call the company you paid (gain city?) to complain and ask for partial refund for misrepresentation. imho, it's possible that the installers are trying to pull a fast one on you, gain city may not even know it.

as for the gap, ever considered using white silicon to seal it up? ask your contractor to do it FOC or you can DIY.

[bergkamp 0]

maybe you should call the company you paid (gain city?) to complain and ask for partial refund for misrepresentation. imho, it's possible that the installers are trying to pull a fast one on you, gain city may not even know it.

as for the gap, ever considered using white silicon to seal it up? ask your contractor to do it FOC or you can DIY.

Yes I will give feedback to Gain City.

I thought of applying sealant but the problem is that it might cause the front cover of the FCU to stick to the wall. Next time they want to remove the cover for servicing, the sealant will come off. The painting guys will be in today, let me see if they have a good solution.

[ossify 1]

Yes I will give feedback to Gain City.

I thought of applying sealant but the problem is that it might cause the front cover of the FCU to stick to the wall. Next time they want to remove the cover for servicing, the sealant will come off. The painting guys will be in today, let me see if they have a good solution.

they remove the whole front cover for servicing?

if so, maybe you can put the silicon in when they remove the cover

[bergkamp 0]

they remove the whole front cover for servicing?

if so, maybe you can put the silicon in when they remove the cover

Yes that might be possible. Will ask my painter to give that a try.