cleong 1 Report post Posted December 24, 2010 Its a problem if there's bugs in a brand new home. I guess you'll need to find the root cause and address it. I know they can bait termites and ants and stuff, but lice, I don't know. Good luck with it though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
porkypork 0 Report post Posted December 24, 2010 Hi Kerio...i'm sorry to hear that you have so much issues with your new home even after you have moved in... it is really frustrating to have bug infestation, especially when it is a brand new house.. Hope you do not despair and everything will be alright soon I was think whether if there is any paint that is anti mould and fungi will be able to help prevent moulding? I'm not sure if you just buy a small can and paint along the pipings will it help? Or if there is any anti-mould spray solution that can be sprayed on to potential infestation area? Just think of some ideas to help ... sorry I couldn't help more as i do not have much experience on this before.. Hope everything will be back to normal for you asap! Cheers Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
blue_skies 3 Report post Posted December 25, 2010 Mine don't jump so far, but they crawl (some are fast, some are pathetically slow); and yes, they're brown and about 0.5 - 1mm! I found the mould on the air-con pipes on the air con ledge, but I've gotten rid of them and got the air-con guys to seal up the pipes as much as possible - hopefully that'll keep them out for now. So far I seem to have done a pretty ok job, but I think some of the mould is on the air con pipes within the air-con casings.. so not sure if there's anyway to exterminate them if they're congregating there. I really do hope not. I also found some of them in the kitchen cupboards yesterday, apparently attracted by flour (which they also feed on); I scoured through the cabinets and I think some of them may be hiding in the cupboards now, since it's essentially made of wood. I also read they're gotten rid of by dehumidifying the place, so I've kept the air-con on dehumidify mode for a good 15 hours the day before and another 6 hours or so yesterday (I have a feeling the electric bills are going to make me physically ill). The thing is, the air-con in my MBR is also usually on, but those critters still survive! In fact, when I first found some of them crawling around my walls, the air con was on full blast - so I'm not sure if that really works. But for posterity's sake, I'm just going to try drying everything up as much as possible and see what happens. If you suspect your cupboards may be damp, maybe you could try drying it with a hairdryer? Would imagine the critters aren't very tolerant to heat.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kerio 2 Report post Posted December 30, 2010 Hi Kerio...i'm sorry to hear that you have so much issues with your new home even after you have moved in... it is really frustrating to have bug infestation, especially when it is a brand new house.. Hope you do not despair and everything will be alright soon I was think whether if there is any paint that is anti mould and fungi will be able to help prevent moulding? I'm not sure if you just buy a small can and paint along the pipings will it help? Or if there is any anti-mould spray solution that can be sprayed on to potential infestation area? Just think of some ideas to help ... sorry I couldn't help more as i do not have much experience on this before.. Hope everything will be back to normal for you asap! Cheers Thanks Porkypork! I've used some anti-mould spray (very foamy, not really suited for the pipes) and a lot of insecticide, and it seems to have worked for the MBR for now - not a single critter spotted so far! But now some of them have migrated into the kitchen, which is unfortunately always humid because it's not air-conditioned and we cook there. The unfortunate thing is that they feed on starchy things like flour and even plastering (and I presume, rice and pasta), which means I've had to put all my flour in the fridge and zip my rice and pasta up in ziplock bags, not to mention purchase lots of dehumidifiers. I really hope this is not something that's affecting all our neighbours as well, because I've never had this issue back in my old house, which can only mean that the infestation was already pre-existing in the block prior to us moving in. Wonder where they originate from? If you suspect your cupboards may be damp, maybe you could try drying it with a hairdryer? Would imagine the critters aren't very tolerant to heat.... I haven't tried a hairdryer, but that's a good suggestion! I'll go try it today and see how.. a lot of cupboards to dry if that's the case. I think they live in the wooden chips used in the construction of the cupboards, so it's a bit hard to eliminate all of them. The most effective way I've heard so far is a complete bug-bombing, but even after that they return after a few weeks. I'm going to constantly fight these little critters until there's not a single one left in my house! On a separate note, Housewarming cum Christmas party was a relative success! Most of my in-laws liked the design, feel and colors we chose, though there were some remarks (same as previous) of the feature wall being dirty, and the lack of lights along the corridor showed very bad planning. Some also commented on the feature walls in the Living Room and MBR reflecting bad planning because the wires were all hanging out. My mother-in-law, in particular, was rather angry about it because she felt that the whole point of the feature wall was to hide wires, and if wires couldn't be fitted properly into the feature wall, the wall in essence becomes completely useless. Also, some of our relatives were almost jolted off their seats when the kitchen cabinet at the entrance of the kitchen slammed onto the kitchen glass wall. Since the angle for opening doesn't seem to be something that was well conceived, I've resorted to buying little rubber shock absorbers from Daiso to stick on the cupboards so they don't slam all over. The ID actually told me that I had told her there were no HI-FIs or DVD players in the MBR, hence the hole she got the carpenters to cut didn't cater for the Soundbar we got. I didn't really comment on it, but we actually DID tell her about it. In fact, we explicitly mentioned to her that there was a soundbar in the MBR and a Hi-Fi in the Living Room, and she initially told us she'd make a shelf for us to place the soundbar. Evidently, it was forgotten. Our dish rack was also forgotten, so she removed it from the final quotation. No complaints there, though we would have liked to have a proper hanging dish rack. To put things in perspective, we did manage to get our handover on the 10th, though rectifications are taking slightly longer because of its the year end, plus the workers do minor and frequently incomplete touch ups everytime they come by. The door guys, for instance, have come by 3 times - once to see to the door being too tall hence scrapping the top laminate off (I just told them to cut off the extra laminate since it can't be seen), once to touch up and remove paint stains on the door, and once more to see to the areas around the hinges being very badly cut - and this is yet to be resolved. Our living room counter-top solid surface and kitchen solid surfaces are also dull and not glossy at all, and the guy just came by with a bottle of Pledge and a cloth, sprayed and wiped and said it was done. One day later, the solid surface was dull again. One wonders why they can't scrutinize their own work, find out if it's done to their standards and fix the areas that need fixing without our prompting and reminding. Apparently they take no pride whatsoever in their product. But that's fine, because everyone that comes by to see our place can make that judgement call themselves, so I guess that's the best testimonial of their work. If it's bad and everyone can see it, too bad for them, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpiogt 0 Report post Posted December 30, 2010 btw, originally, where is the dish rack supposed to be? beside the hood? or above the sink? my wife intend to do without dish rack cabinet and just buy those small ones to hang on the small wall (between the windows) or put beside the sink Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kerio 2 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 btw, originally, where is the dish rack supposed to be? beside the hood? or above the sink? my wife intend to do without dish rack cabinet and just buy those small ones to hang on the small wall (between the windows) or put beside the sink Because we extended the kitchen countertop out (from a L-shape to a U-shape) and therefore changed the location of the sink, the dish rack was changed to between the windows as well, which is slightly to the right of the sink. The space is really quite small, so my advice is to go for the wall mounted ones and don't put anything on the countertop as much as possible; or maybe you can consider the double-tiered dish racks to save some space. Despite us extending the countertop, we still find it hard to find space to do anything at all, even food preparation! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scorpiogt 0 Report post Posted December 31, 2010 Because we extended the kitchen countertop out (from a L-shape to a U-shape) and therefore changed the location of the sink, the dish rack was changed to between the windows as well, which is slightly to the right of the sink. The space is really quite small, so my advice is to go for the wall mounted ones and don't put anything on the countertop as much as possible; or maybe you can consider the double-tiered dish racks to save some space. Despite us extending the countertop, we still find it hard to find space to do anything at all, even food preparation! ok, thanks! we also doing U-shape and leave a space for the fridge next to entrance of kitchen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coachjoe 0 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 Because we extended the kitchen countertop out (from a L-shape to a U-shape) and therefore changed the location of the sink, the dish rack was changed to between the windows as well, which is slightly to the right of the sink. The space is really quite small, so my advice is to go for the wall mounted ones and don't put anything on the countertop as much as possible; or maybe you can consider the double-tiered dish racks to save some space. Despite us extending the countertop, we still find it hard to find space to do anything at all, even food preparation! can we have a pic of what u have described from the living room and entrance... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlurRhino 0 Report post Posted January 2, 2011 Hey bro, check with you since your air-con is slightly concealed in your false ceiling, how do you plan to do servicing in future? Think you have not much room to take out the cover? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kerio 2 Report post Posted January 3, 2011 can we have a pic of what u have described from the living room and entrance... Which part of the living room? Here's a pic of the kitchen though: As you can see, the left side is the sink, the centre is the hob/hood, the right is the dry area for a small toaster, rice cooker, air port, etc. The sink was supposed to be where the hob/hood is now, and the hob/hood is supposed to be where the dry area is now. We extended the area to create the dry area, initially for baking or the like, but it appears that the area is a little too cramped for that. We're still working on organising the kitchen, but unless we invest in space saving things like mounting things on the wall, it's a bit hard to get any useable space. Hey bro, check with you since your air-con is slightly concealed in your false ceiling, how do you plan to do servicing in future? Think you have not much room to take out the cover? I think the air con is actually slightly below the pelmet, so there's still some space to handle the air con.. at least, I think so, since I haven't tried it yet hahaha.. still handling the booklice issue =.=''' Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coachjoe 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 thanx..that helps too.. actually we'd like to take a look at the replacement design of the hacked kitchen wall... we are also thinking of bringing down the wall between the service yard and kitchen to compromise the space constraints... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlurRhino 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 thanx..that helps too.. actually we'd like to take a look at the replacement design of the hacked kitchen wall... we are also thinking of bringing down the wall between the service yard and kitchen to compromise the space constraints... I think the wall between the kitchen and service yard is considered as exterior of the house so cannot hacked wor.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
froggy 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 thanx..that helps too.. actually we'd like to take a look at the replacement design of the hacked kitchen wall... we are also thinking of bringing down the wall between the service yard and kitchen to compromise the space constraints... at first we also wanted to extend kitchen into service yard. But HDB only allows cooking activities within the original kitchen perimeters, so we drop the idea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coachjoe 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 (edited) OH... thats not very good news for me... i don't mean the whole wall thou.. but i got this on someone's reno.... Edited January 4, 2011 by coachjoe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BlurRhino 0 Report post Posted January 4, 2011 OH... thats not very good news for me... i don't mean the whole wall thou.. but i got this on someone's reno.... Great! what i mention earlier might not be correct since i didn't hack the service yard wall so this might be do-able. But like what froggy mentioned, cooking activities had to be limited to the original kitchen but i guess that should not be a concern for you, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
