The Best Journey Always Leads Us Home

[friends78 0]

The electricial points are the ones that are worrying us now, because we were pressured to make them by yesterday and we have no idea how it's all going to turn out - just randomly picking spots we think we'll be utilising. Sigh.

I was reading the thread about materials homeowners regret using and it got me kinda worried, especially about how Poh Joo's fixtures all started rusting within months! Will definitely invest in better sinks/toilets, but we've already purchased all the shower fixtures like shower arm, rainshower and mixers. Easy to change all the external stuff like hoses and shower heads but shower arms/brackets will need to be exactly the same size etc, and will definitely need to hack wall to change the built-in mixer. Ugh. Cannot even think about that at the moment.

Re Electrical points

Yes, it was indeed pressuring when suddenly everyone looks at u asking u where u want to place your 13amp/SCV/Telephone points, the nos required. We were also caught in tension even thou my brother had earlier on advised me to sit down seriously to think of the placement of the respective points. After going one round with the Electrician and Henry, we cldn't sleep at night. Scared not enough points and pondered over the location of the switches and whether the 'casing' will be very glaring on a empty wall. What we did after was to draw out the locations of the study table, Tv consoles, beds on the floor plan to rethink of the 'accessibility' of the points and switches. I also enlarged the floor plan to A3 size and indicated the respective points using red pen. Then we contacted Henry again to arrange for another meetup with the Electrician to confirm the points again. I photocopied the floor plan and gave each one a copy and went thru it again to ensure that we are all on the same page. I also had another drawing just on the downlights so that I can indicate which downlights can be turned on by which switch. It was tedious but we had to do it to prevent any miscoms. Don't be stressed. Just close yourself in a room with the floorplan with no distraction and concentrate on indicating the points on the floorplan. U can do it:)

Poh Joo: My bro bought most of the stuff there. Still working good and well. Just for sharing.

Edited March 5, 2011 by friends78

[BlueFly 0]

Thanks for stopping by, Bluefly, and for the warm welcome - actually it's 25yrs old and everything in its original condition but that was what we were looking for - a barebone place we could do up to our liking. Nothing can really be retained except for the parquet in the bedrooms.

Will definitely take your tips about built-in appliances in consideration. We ask for no kerbs for the fridge/washer/dryer so we won't be restricted by size later on. We, unfortunately, had no real say about the cooker hood and had to pick an island hood which is so much more expensive /cry. Ovens tend to be quite standard size so that isn't so worrying.

The electricial points are the ones that are worrying us now, because we were pressured to make them by yesterday and we have no idea how it's all going to turn out - just randomly picking spots we think we'll be utilising. Sigh.

I was reading the thread about materials homeowners regret using and it got me kinda worried, especially about how Poh Joo's fixtures all started rusting within months! Will definitely invest in better sinks/toilets, but we've already purchased all the shower fixtures like shower arm, rainshower and mixers. Easy to change all the external stuff like hoses and shower heads but shower arms/brackets will need to be exactly the same size etc, and will definitely need to hack wall to change the built-in mixer. Ugh. Cannot even think about that at the moment.

-Ely

Well, you still hv time to consider/amend the positioning of elec pts as long as rewiring has not started. Ask yr id for the 3D designs and schematics, go over carefully, esp look out for location of the appliances' built-ins and consider where best to locate power socket(s). Push the /responsibility/burden to yr ID, you're paying him - but if he is clueless or suggests location(s), see if the suggestions are appropriate, bcoz no matter what, in the end you've to live with whatever mistakes that may be made, whether due to him or not. If he made mistakes, at least he cannot justify asking you to pay up.

E.g. safety dictates power pts shld be located away from the hob burners, pts for a/c shld be along trunking to hide/minimize cabling runs, holes drilled thro walls like to shorten/hide elec cabling.. etc Ifyr id is experienced he'll know how to advise you. heed friends78's good advice.

I bought my shower arm, rain shower head, etc from Poh Joo. It's now 3 yrs after installation, and they still looked new. But the s/s toilet roll holder sucks, falling apart, will put up a post when i hv the time. So - cavaet emptor - be selective, be aware of s/s grading, mtrls used e.g. PJ retail some "stainless" looking bathroom accessories that are actually plastic mtrl coated(?) with a thin metallic film to give that s/s appearance.

Be esp mindful esp of the dish drainer - most rust, but got mine from Hoe Kee, still rust free and stainless after 3 yrs, but only bcoz I got one with s/s graded higher where rust is concerned, after i googled for info.

BTW, you shoot excellent photos.

Bluefly

[Ely1 0]

@Friends78: Thank you SO much for your valuable advice. I'm glad to know I'm not the only stressing, because the ID sometimes makes me feel like I'm a worrywart and I don't want to be annoying. Because the ID is so busy, he doesn't have a lot of time to sit down with us and really go through all the finer details, so your idea of blowing up the floorplan and noting everything down is indeed very practical. Will do that tomorrow so I can have a proper meeting with the ID and not waste any of his valuable time. Great idea about the downlights and the switches that turn them on respectively - never thought of that because I don't know where the downlights are...

@Bluefly: Thanks for the compliment about the pictures I use a point-and-shoot really, but I do love animal protraits Thank you so very much for the advice - all greatly appreciated. Will heed your advice about the points. I'm a stickler for concealment - I really hate exposed wires and really obvious trunking (hate clutter!!) - one of my biggest pet peeves as a Virgo. Rewiring is already done... so will have to make more appointments with the electrician should I want additional points or change them. Will go down to the house tomorrow to see what's been done and re-do the electricial/SCV/telephone points on the floorplan.

Thank you both for your reassurance about Poh Joo's fixtures. Not sure about s/s ratings - but we picked brass and chrome fixtures as much as we could. The only film-coated plastic is the shower head bracket, which we, eventually, bought 3 of (in anticipation of having to change it) because we couldn't find any chrome/brass ones we liked. /huge sigh of relief.

[Ely1 0]

Whee! Got my mirror -will be shipped from the UK.

The ones I found at IMM only had blue lights and was $480 (retail). The Crizto ones all comes with a pull cord and did not have the infinity look I wanted, and was going at $325.

Here it is:

[May_dream1 14]

Whee! Got my mirror -will be shipped from the UK.

The ones I found at IMM only had blue lights and was $480 (retail). The Crizto ones all comes with a pull cord and did not have the infinity look I wanted, and was going at $325.

shipped from UK? How much to ship from there?

[friends78 0]

Whee! Got my mirror -will be shipped from the UK.

The ones I found at IMM only had blue lights and was $480 (retail). The Crizto ones all comes with a pull cord and did not have the infinity look I wanted, and was going at $325.

Here it is:

Where did u buy your mirror? Online? And how much? My hubby luv your led mirror very much.

[Ely1 0]

Where did u buy your mirror? Online? And how much? My hubby luv your led mirror very much.

Yep, got it online from eBay. £210 altogether, so about S$432.

You can also make it yourself.

Here's how: http://www.ehow.com/how_4826008_create-infinity-mirrors.html

[martin1023 0]

Hi Ely,

Do you have photos of the current progress to show us? I am sure everyone of us is eager to see the transformation of your super big house.

[Ely1 0]

Heya Martin

It's not THAT big haha. I think it just looks bigger than it really is, as it's only a 2-roomer.

Already had a good sit-down meeting with our ID, and everything is on track. We discussed the design more thoroughly, and made a few changes. ID is very receptive to our needs so happy all around. Hopefully tiles we picked won't turn out too ghastly. Everything is in such a mess so there's hardly any pictures worth taking

So, Day 15:

Tiles are being laid:

View from wet kitchen:

Living room tiles as seen above, and wet kitchen tiles:

Master Bathroom tiles:

Guest Bathroom tiles:

A little hard to tell but the shower walls will be a matte in-laid floral print, with bronze splashback and natural floors with the infinity mirror. We're now going with a swing door for the shower screen as we realise it's much easier to contain less-than-enthusiastic animals during bath time.

Project schedule is out, and we're aiming for end of April to move in.

[Ely1 0]

Our HTS (mmmm):

Blackwood floorstanding speakers:

Center speaker:

Our subwoofer:

Blu-ray player:

Receiver:

[Ely1 0]

Media Player:

Awaiting IT show to complete our HTS with a 46" TV:

Exciting times indeed for the geek in me

Edited March 8, 2011 by Ely1

[Ely1 0]

Not so excited about the whitegoods (HN salesguy did some Jedi mind trick and I ended up not getting the Bosch I was initially after):

Our hob:

Hood:

Oven:

[lazybum9 1]

Not so excited about the whitegoods (HN salesguy did some Jedi mind trick and I ended up not getting the Bosch I was initially after):

haah...what did he say to change your mind???i also very headache which brand to choose...

[May_dream1 14]

Not so excited about the whitegoods (HN salesguy did some Jedi mind trick and I ended up not getting the Bosch I was initially after):

These are electrolux?? I got them too... They are as good and cheaper than bosch right?

[Ely1 0]

got feng sui implications or not? looks nice but i worry..humm..a bit scary to look into an infinity mirror at night..

Ooh, don't know about fengshui - try not to know so what I don't know won't hurt me, or else the renovation would be more problematic than it already is. Choosing tiles was monumental k, I seriously felt sitting for the Mensa test was less stressing.

Good thing it's for the guest bathroom then, so I won't be frightening myself, especially when I'm alabaster pale and don't really look my best with bed hair and no make up haha!