Rejuvenating My 3rm 30year Old Flat In Amk

[edward 0]

Oh, that's a very nice effect, the mirror running across the wall! And I love those tiles! They were my original choice for my bathroom, but were too much above my budget...

Actually, I am most satisfied with the master toilet reno thus far. My project manager gave very good advise on tile selection as well as the matching acessories. In fact, Yen also advise me that the bulk of the tiling cost is not on the tile purchase, but on the workers. He did a calculation on how much I have to top up if I "upgrade" my tiles. The amount was reasonable, thats why we got it. In fact, we upgraded most of our tiles, and the final cost is an extra $600 (not firm yet, guesstimate).

[edward 0]

Colors of my house

The painting for my house was completed yesterday less some touch ups, which my contractor agrees to "give us one painter to do whatever we want to him" this coming Sat. I dont know if it is common to use different colors for different rooms and different section of the house, somehow I think the house looks alittle colorful. Nevertheless, i kind of like the results of the chosen colors

Sungod and white for MBR

Dark Grey (columns and beams) and white for the CBR

Dark Brown for Walkway outside bedrooms (for hanging of painting)

Light brown for wall behind TV Console

[nitrolil 0]

hey edward

i do like the colours of your walls

[dexufto 5]

Very nice bathrooms you have edward.

Looks like those Condos-standards.

The HG shower sets, taps cost me a bomb and a lot of convincing (my wife) that they are worth it. So I have very high hopes for them... Hope they wont let me down. Else, I will not have excuse to buy them again if I move to another house..

[edward 0]

Very nice bathrooms you have edward.

Looks like those Condos-standards.

hey edward

i do like the colours of your walls

Hi nitrolil, dexufto, thanks for the kind comments i am overjoyed.... hahahahaha....

[edward 0]

Carpentry Arrived

My carpentries arrived yesterday morning and it was 80% done when I went up last evening. The carpentries include tv console, kitchen cabinet and shoe cabinet. The laminate selected has a wood design and the idea is to match the brown walls in the living room (and the dark brown wall for the painting). Pictures below.

Kitchen cabinet, also used as the parition between the living rm and the kitchen

TV console without the feature wall (no $$$ to build )

Arrival of my carpentries in LOGO form

Will not be able to upload more photos till next month.... I have utilised the 100MB upload size for the month.

[edward 0]

Almost there, but not there yet

The progress is painfully slow over the last 2 weeks. The carpenter has completed his installation last week, the painter did his final touch up last sat, the electrician has mounted all the lightings (and powered up my water tank) and the cleaner came to clean up the place. Now I am waiting for the solid surface as well as the partition glass between the kitchen and livin room as well as the glass door between the kitchen and living.

Pictures taken today and last week. Mainly on the carpentry and the dining area light, my wife's baby, she loves it so much.....

Kitchen Cabinet without the solid surface

My wife's proud addition, the dining area light

TV console and sattee

Common toilet left side. My toilet is soo tiny, I cannot take it inside.

Common toilet right side

[yuene 0]

My wife's proud addition, the dining area light

Looks nice! Very unique Things seem to be progress very fast on your end.

[edward 0]

Looks nice! Very unique Things seem to be progress very fast on your end.

hi yuene, my wife will be happy to know that someone thinks that her light is unique.. hahaha... anyway hows the HO of your house?

I am also targeting my HO by this weekend, Yen is getting his carpenter and tiler for final touch-ups. Outstanding items:

1. Change tile at the entrance due to scratches caused by the workers.

2. Carpenter to change a laminate of my tv console, also due to scratches caused by the workers.

3. Yen to assess if the scratches on the hob can be removed (also caused by his workers), else poor Yen has to buy a new one for us.

4. Installation of glass door and glass partition between the living room and kitchen.

5. Carpenter to fit my kitchen cabinet with blum anti-slam

6. Get workers to help me with installation of my pole system wardrobe (bought from Ikea).

7. Get CNS to install my main gate.

8. Clean up the house again.

13 Nov here we COMEEEEEEEEEEE

[edward 0]

Sound System

After all the encouraging comments from neubie and vicenzo, I have decided to learn more about sound systems. 2 weeks back, without much knowledge and cash, I and my wife decided to visit the Adelphi to find out the available options. To our surprise, it is indeed a mall full of sound systems. They carry brands uncommon brands Courts, Harvey Norman etc. do not carry. And of course, the price is also shocking. Some of them can go as steep as 10k for a set of speakers. This is really a case of "got eye no see oie-eee-oie". But now I know, they carry all the Hermes, Pradas, Guccis in terms of sound systems.

Anyway, I read in renotalk that KEC is one of the friendliest store in Adelphi and the owner is very helpful. So we went to KEC. To our disappointment, the old man who spoke with us (dont know if he is the owner) is neither friendly nor helpful. When we told him our budget is around 1.5k the disappointment showed all over his face. Disappointed with his response, we left.

Not willing to give up, we went to the first floor. A sales guy from (cant remember the name of the shop) spoke to us, and gave us some basic advice like "what is video-audio upscaling", where to find more information on reviews and etc.

Excited with my new found knowledge, went down to Harvey norman warehouse sale over the weekend. Eyed the Onkyo Sr608 avr and the Jano S606hcs3 speakers. But after some measurements and considering the size of our flat, found that our TV console too small (did not cater for an AVR initially) and dont where to mount the 2 satelite speakers considering our false ceiling already done.

Finally, my wife and I thought we should compromise and get the Philips HTS7200 instead. Anyone used this before? Is it good?

Edited November 8, 2010 by edward

[dexufto 5]

Wow, nice one edward.

another 3-roomer is about to complete his overhaul. You must be busy arranging for the delivery of the rest of your equipments aye?

hi yuene, my wife will be happy to know that someone thinks that her light is unique.. hahaha... anyway hows the HO of your house?

I am also targeting my HO by this weekend, Yen is getting his carpenter and tiler for final touch-ups. Outstanding items:

1. Change tile at the entrance due to scratches caused by the workers.

2. Carpenter to change a laminate of my tv console, also due to scratches caused by the workers.

3. Yen to assess if the scratches on the hob can be removed (also caused by his workers), else poor Yen has to buy a new one for us.

4. Installation of glass door and glass partition between the living room and kitchen.

5. Carpenter to fit my kitchen cabinet with blum anti-slam

6. Get workers to help me with installation of my pole system wardrobe (bought from Ikea).

7. Get CNS to install my main gate.

8. Clean up the house again.

13 Nov here we COMEEEEEEEEEEE

Adelphi do carries a wider spectrum of audio/ visual equipment;

probably of hier0end series.. and sometimes monsterous in size too. heh

On another note; some users were sharing that a sound-bar may just do the trick- it is pretty neat as well.

Did'cha purchase anything over at the last sale?

Sound System

After all the encouraging comments from neubie and vicenzo, I have decided to learn more about sound systems. 2 weeks back, without much knowledge and cash, I and my wife decided to visit the Adelphi to find out the available options. To our surprise, it is indeed a mall full of sound systems. They carry brands uncommon brands Courts, Harvey Norman etc. do not carry. And of course, the price is also shocking. Some of them can go as steep as 10k for a set of speakers. This is really a case of "got eye no see oie-eee-oie". But now I know, they carry all the Hermes, Pradas, Guccis in terms of sound systems.

Anyway, I read in renotalk that KEC is one of the friendliest store in Adelphi and the owner is very helpful. So we went to KEC. To our disappointment, the old man who spoke with us (dont know if he is the owner) is neither friendly nor helpful. When we told him our budget is around 1.5k the disappointment showed all over his face. Disappointed with his response, we left.

Not willing to give up, we went to the first floor. A sales guy from (cant remember the name of the shop) spoke to us, and gave us some basic advice like "what is video-audio upscaling", where to find more information on reviews and etc.

Excited with my new found knowledge, went down to Harvey norman warehouse sale over the weekend. Eyed the Onkyo Sr608 avr and the Jano S606hcs3 speakers. But after some measurements and considering the size of our flat, found that our TV console too small (did not cater for an AVR initially) and dont where to mount the 2 satelite speakers considering our false ceiling already done.

Finally, my wife and I thought we should compromise and get the Philips HTS7200 instead. Anyone used this before? Is it good?

[manutd1972 1]

Sound System

Finally, my wife and I thought we should compromise and get the Philips HTS7200 instead. Anyone used this before? Is it good?

no need to compromise to that extent.

ur false ceiling being up only means that u cant conceal the wires for ur rear speakers. if u're ok wif visible trunking, u still can go for a 5.1 system. but do bear in mind that speaker cables trunking cannot run alongside ur electrical wires trunking. else, there will be interference and u will hear a lot of "noise" frm ur rear speakers.

but if u wanna compromise further and go for a no-rear speakers setup, den the next best thing is to go for a soundbar. it replicates a surround effect quite well, though i've not heard it myself before. i've always used a 5.1 with or without concealed rear speaker cables.

a good soundbar can run into the thousands of dollars though, i think.

[neubie 2]

no need to compromise to that extent.

ur false ceiling being up only means that u cant conceal the wires for ur rear speakers. if u're ok wif visible trunking, u still can go for a 5.1 system. but do bear in mind that speaker cables trunking cannot run alongside ur electrical wires trunking. else, there will be interference and u will hear a lot of "noise" frm ur rear speakers.

but if u wanna compromise further and go for a no-rear speakers setup, den the next best thing is to go for a soundbar. it replicates a surround effect quite well, though i've not heard it myself before. i've always used a 5.1 with or without concealed rear speaker cables.

a good soundbar can run into the thousands of dollars though, i think.

speaker signals are high-voltage levels, less prone to AC interference compared to RCA line-level signals running parallel to power lines, i tink.

[edward 0]

Wow, nice one edward.

another 3-roomer is about to complete his overhaul. You must be busy arranging for the delivery of the rest of your equipments aye?

Adelphi do carries a wider spectrum of audio/ visual equipment;

probably of hier0end series.. and sometimes monsterous in size too. heh

On another note; some users were sharing that a sound-bar may just do the trick- it is pretty neat as well.

Did'cha purchase anything over at the last sale?

Hi dexufto,

I went to HN warehouse sale, but did not buy any big items (like TV or sound system), since the reno still in progress. So no place to keep. My mum-in-law already complaining that we got too many things stored in her house. Nevertherless, I bought a wireless printer, HP3050 and a foldable mattress. My wife and some friends adviced that it is not auspicious to sleep on the marriage bed b4 wedding, so had to sleep on a folder mattress for the time being. Hahahaha... Sounds silly.

Your reno is also going on nicely. Looks like you will be using the storage type water tank too ya?

[edward 0]

no need to compromise to that extent.

ur false ceiling being up only means that u cant conceal the wires for ur rear speakers. if u're ok wif visible trunking, u still can go for a 5.1 system. but do bear in mind that speaker cables trunking cannot run alongside ur electrical wires trunking. else, there will be interference and u will hear a lot of "noise" frm ur rear speakers.

but if u wanna compromise further and go for a no-rear speakers setup, den the next best thing is to go for a soundbar. it replicates a surround effect quite well, though i've not heard it myself before. i've always used a 5.1 with or without concealed rear speaker cables.

a good soundbar can run into the thousands of dollars though, i think.

Sound System Part 2

Hi manutd, thanks for the advice. Actually, i am still very "gian" to get the 5.1HTS with a AVR. Anyhow, today brought my wife to Courts with her favorite "high-society" CDs. The intial intent is to test out the Philips HTS7200. But when we got there, we saw Rosman again. So with Rosman's advice, we decided to check out the Onkyo SR380 paired with the Jamo S 506 HCS 3 vs the Philips HTS7200. After the test, the philips actually sounded "blur" compared to the Onkyo-Jamo pair (cost $1099 without sub). Also, without any sub, the Jamo speakers actually has pretty powerful internal woofer, which is so good when playing transformers. Amazing.

However, Rosman mentioned that it is ok not to mount the 2 satelites at the rear, just leave them on top of the 2 floor standing speakers. By changing the internal settings, that is to key in the distance between the speakers vs the chair into the avr, can actually do the surround sound trick as well. Is this true?