Creating Our Home ...

[Maximus 0]

Reasonably productive weekend ...

Went to the IT show to get a 24" LCD TV for the smaller room. Followed that up with getting a Hob (Electrolux 7332X), Hood (Fujioh FX900), and Built-in Oven (Electrolux 53000) from Mega Discount, Kallang Leisure Park.

I cant wait for this month to pass. After then, i hope to be relatively free of renovation-related stress.

[BlueFly 0]

Hi maximus,

mmm..vegetarian - wow, you've my admiration, i like veggie, but not as much as fish or pork, chicken. trying to eat more veggie n cut down on meat. other than quick stir-fry, i usually cook (blanch) my veg in hot water or soup stock, esp for sweet peas and kai lan. maybe one day u cld share some veggie recipes?

All the best on yr reno

Edited March 13, 2011 by BlueFly

[Maximus 0]

Hi maximus,

mmm..vegetarian - wow, you've my admiration, i like veggie, but not as much as fish or pork, chicken. trying to eat more veggie n cut down on meat. other than quick stir-fry, i usually cook (blanch) my veg in hot water or soup stock, esp for sweet peas and kai lan. maybe one day u cld share some veggie recipes?

All the best on yr reno

Hi Bluefly,

Thanks for stopping by. You have a wonderful blog. I know mine is devoid of pictures at this moment but hopefully i can upload a few pics over the course of the next few days.

I am still looking to buy a microwave with a built-in steam function, so kinda considering a Samsung model that the wife liked. Given that budgets are tight at this point in time, i might be forced to look at cheaper alternatives, nevertheless this particular Samsung model holds lots of promise.

You definitely dont want recipes from me .. but my wife is an awesome cook (and this is a very objective opinion) and she would be most happy to discuss recipes ..

How has your post-reno experience been so far? All well and good?

Cheers

Maximus

[BlueFly 0]

Hi Bluefly,

Thanks for stopping by. You have a wonderful blog. I know mine is devoid of pictures at this moment but hopefully i can upload a few pics over the course of the next few days.

I am still looking to buy a microwave with a built-in steam function, so kinda considering a Samsung model that the wife liked. Given that budgets are tight at this point in time, i might be forced to look at cheaper alternatives, nevertheless this particular Samsung model holds lots of promise.

You definitely dont want recipes from me .. but my wife is an awesome cook (and this is a very objective opinion) and she would be most happy to discuss recipes ..

How has your post-reno experience been so far? All well and good?

Cheers

Maximus

Maximus,

Thanks for the thumbs Up! Yes, I completed my reno in 2008 - now i'm doing reviews of appliances i bought. as u can see, my initial admiration of the blanco sink has now waned - particularly when i gotta scrub the sink (5 min) after spending 10-12 min washing the soiled crockery after dinner *sigh*. wifey n i loved cooking but i hate to do wash-up!

as regard products - some buys were lemons, esp when those products were bought "blind" - meaning, there was no way to tell if the product wld perform n function as i hoped they wld. most turned out fine, except for a few.

FYI, the reviews are on my site. i also invite u (and other forumers too) who bought appliances to give me yr user experience after you hv used the gadgets for some months. pm me if u wish to offer yr user experience.

let me know if u run into obstacles... one tip i hv yet to share and post is this: AFTER yr id gave u the quotation proposal (and not before) - u talk with yr id on a standard of workmanship u both can agree on - using photos of completed projects of friends', in-laws, etc if u're impressed with the workmanship of their apt. this way both u and id hv a common std. Second: hv a dispute-settlement mechanism i.e. tell id how u will react or what u'll do if u encounter mistakes or poor workmanship; ask id what steps he'll take likewise, talk until u both agree - only then u can nego n sign the contract. Reason u talk after he gave u the quote is u don't want him to change the pricing *grin* once he's committed himself with his proposal offer in b-&-w. Use my blog reno photos if u are unable to get yr friends' or family's.

another Tip: make friends with - and ask to visit - forumers who are currently renovating their flat and are impressed with their id & workmanship to recommend to you - this is a better way to evaluate and decide which id u wld like to use after u hv seen the workmanship of the reno-in-progress at yr fellow forumer's home. obviously u hv to do it discreetly n sensitively. i think u get my point.

if enuf of us support good ids this way they will be encouraged to give of their best since they know it is now open competition and they are subject to public scrutiny!!! Likewise, nightmare ids and those who take advantage of clueless owners hopefully will fade into the backgrd as complaints (supported by photos) made by owners on Renotalk give them bad publicity. This is one way we can improve the renovation industry - over time. Let's all leverage on the connectivity & power of the internet for home owners' benefit!

well, look fwd to yr reno, pl shoot as many pics as u can at each stage of the reno.

All the best!

Edited March 14, 2011 by BlueFly

[Maximus 0]

Maximus,

Thanks for the thumbs Up! Yes, I completed my reno in 2008 - now i'm doing reviews of appliances i bought. as u can see, my initial admiration of the blanco sink has now waned - particularly when i gotta scrub the sink (5 min) after spending 10-12 min washing the soiled crockery after dinner *sigh*. wifey n i loved cooking but i hate to do wash-up!

as regard products - some buys were lemons, esp when those products were bought "blind" - meaning, there was no way to tell if the product wld perform n function as i hoped they wld. most turned out fine, except for a few.

FYI, the reviews are on my site. i also invite u (and other forumers too) who bought appliances to give me yr user experience after you hv used the gadgets for some months. pm me if u wish to offer yr user experience.

let me know if u run into obstacles... one tip i hv yet to share and post is this: AFTER yr id gave u the quotation proposal (and not before) - u talk with yr id on a standard of workmanship u both can agree on - using photos of completed projects of friends', in-laws, etc if u're impressed with the workmanship of their apt. this way both u and id hv a common std. Second: hv a dispute-settlement mechanism i.e. tell id how u will react or what u'll do if u encounter mistakes or poor workmanship; ask id what steps he'll take likewise, talk until u both agree - only then u can nego n sign the contract. Reason u talk after he gave u the quote is u don't want him to change the pricing *grin* once he's committed himself with his proposal offer in b-&-w. Use my blog photos on my reno if u are unable to get yr friends' or family's.

another Tip: make friends with and ask to visit forumers who are currently renovating their flat and are impressed with their id to recommend - this is a better way to evaluate and decide which id u wld like to use after u hv seen the workmanship of the reno-in-progress at yr fellow forumer's home. obviously u hv to do it discreetly n sensitively. i think u get my point.

if enuf of us support good ids this way they will be encouraged to give of their best since they know it is now open competition and they are subject to public scutiny!!! likewise, nightmare ids and those who take advantage of clueless owners hopefully will fade into the backgrd as complaints (supported by photos) made by owners on Renotalk give them bad publicity. This one way we can improve - over time - the renovation industry. Let's all leverage on the connectivity and power of the internet to benefit owners!

well, look fwd to yr reno, pl shoot as many pics as u can at each stage of the reno.

All the best!

Hi Bluefly - Thanks for the very valid suggestions above. As you might have caught on from the first few posts of this blog, i am already neck-deep in my reno, with 50% of the scheduled project time already having elapsed. After debating between *****, *** and Ideal House, i chose to go with Ideal House as I felt we (my wife and i) 'clicked' with this ID, a relatively young chap in the trade. So far, things are going generally well and like any endeavor of this nature, there has to be a lot of dialogue and discussion with the ID so that the best result that suits our requirements can be brought out. Also, I am a first time owner so there are a lot of things that i am learning along the way too. When i formally do tell my ID about this blog (there is a good chance that he knows about this anyway), i will post his name here. The last thing i want is for my ID to worry about me passing judgments on him here neither do i want to cash out by telling him that he does a few things FOC and i will give him a good review here. I think everyone should beget the fruits of their own hardwork so if he does a good job, i will only have words of praise for him. In any case, so far things have been net-net positive about him.

I will surely contribute to your appliance reviews. Can tell you outright now, that Aerogaz fans are not built to last (the pedestal fans). For me, they seem to have lasted not more than 6-8 months.

Cheers

Maximus

[BlueFly 0]

Hi Bluefly - Thanks for the very valid suggestions above. As you might have caught on from the first few posts of this blog, i am already neck-deep in my reno, with 50% of the scheduled project time already having elapsed. After debating between *****, *** and Ideal House, i chose to go with Ideal House as I felt we (my wife and i) 'clicked' with this ID, a relatively young chap in the trade. So far, things are going generally well and like any endeavor of this nature, there has to be a lot of dialogue and discussion with the ID so that the best result that suits our requirements can be brought out. Also, I am a first time owner so there are a lot of things that i am learning along the way too. When i formally do tell my ID about this blog (there is a good chance that he knows about this anyway), i will post his name here. The last thing i want is for my ID to worry about me passing judgments on him here neither do i want to cash out by telling him that he does a few things FOC and i will give him a good review here. I think everyone should beget the fruits of their own hardwork so if he does a good job, i will only have words of praise for him. In any case, so far things have been net-net positive about him.

I will surely contribute to your appliance reviews. Can tell you outright now, that Aerogaz fans are not built to last (the pedestal fans). For me, they seem to have lasted not more than 6-8 months.

Cheers

Maximus

Thank you - you're a guy after my own heart! Yes, once you treat yr ID well and with respect, no reason why he wouldn't give you same treatment, and do his best. Yes, heard about Aerogaz as well when I was doing my research. So I didn't consider the brand, despite their attractive pricing.

Cheers!

[Maximus 0]

Picked my paint colors yesterday .. from Dulux. My ID preferred Dulux over Nippon and i am ok with either .. So the whole house in general is going to be Barley White, the wall on the side of the feature wall in the living room alone is going to be Natural Linen, feature wall of Master Bedroom is going to be Champagne, feature wall of Bedroom 2 is going to be Luxury and of Bedroom 3, is going to be Majestic Yellow. Of course this only makes sense to those who have seen or have access to the Dulux catalog.

Colour Codes:-

Barley white WW25283L

Natural linen WW22618L

Champagne AL22801

Luxury AL24007

Majestic Yellow AL26004

Most of the colors above were suggested by my ID. The wife and I changed the room for one of the colours and changed the colours for one of the room. I think the painting should start sometime this week.

[friends78 0]

I also selected barley white for my living room but Henry said too yellowish due to my floor tiles... In the end, we chose neon white.

[Maximus 0]

I also selected barley white for my living room but Henry said too yellowish due to my floor tiles... In the end, we chose neon white.

I dont recollect how Neon white looked from the catalog, but think its one of the brighter whites right? The good thing for sure about brighter colors is that it makes your place look a bit bigger if i am not mistaken .. of course, you need to make sure you keep it clean and dont stain it.

Barley white is actually quite a soothing color ... and the decor theme for my house is balinese/resort style so I see it as a good background to have my darker furniture, paintings etc upon.

[friends78 0]

Agreed that barley white is a soothing colour.. That's y is our top choice... Yeah, we need the hse to be as white as possible. Looking forward to seeing your photos:)

[Maximus 0]

(Repeating my question here from a standalone thread)

Hi folks, i have a query. When i install my kitchen sink and my bathroom washbasin on my granite countertops, there is going to be the 2 cutout pieces and i was wondering if i can put them to any good use. My ID did tell me that its not advisable to reuse the same in shelves etc so i was wondering if there is some other creative way of using them? Any suggestions are most welcome excl.gif

What do you typically do with the cutout pieces anyway? Throw it or keep it?

Cheers

Maximus

[jaskel 2]

(Repeating my question here from a standalone thread)

Hi folks, i have a query. When i install my kitchen sink and my bathroom washbasin on my granite countertops, there is going to be the 2 cutout pieces and i was wondering if i can put them to any good use. My ID did tell me that its not advisable to reuse the same in shelves etc so i was wondering if there is some other creative way of using them? Any suggestions are most welcome excl.gif

What do you typically do with the cutout pieces anyway? Throw it or keep it?

Cheers

Maximus

Make it into a side table for the sofa or the bed. I have make the left over pieces(solid surface) into a dining table top.

[Maximus 0]

Make it into a side table for the sofa or the bed. I have make the left over pieces(solid surface) into a dining table top.

Thats an interesting suggestion Jaskel, and it might just work for me. I can possibly hold on to the pieces and then get a side table done or so after reno complete and i have moved in, so as to be able to gauge space.

[Maximus 0]

Another very productive day today .. bought all the electrical fittings required for my house, and contrary to most forummers here, bought it from the shop that he took me to. I did have cheaper quotes for practically similar stuff from a couple of other places but I figured might as well buy from there and support him as well for whatever referral rewards he gets. Sometimes its just better to go with instinct than with a calculator.

Also chose the PVC type for the internals of all carpentry in my house. Its going to be a wood grain PVC, a pic of which i need to post later (which reminds me, this has got to be the only blog which is like 5 weeks into renovation and not a single pic has been posted).

[Maximus 0]

Wow .. what a last few months it has been !!

My handover was done yesterday. And i shifted in yesterday as well (yet to unpack), still staying for a couple of days at my current rented place.

Pics are due very soon which chart the entire reno journey.

Its been a transformational experience !!!