2Nd Home @casa Clementi

[Carlc 0]

Hi DancingInTheRain,

Don't mind can pm me the contact details of your renovation contractor.

Thanks.

[lady081980 1]

DancingInTheRain

my common toilet i sealed up with the wall toward the service yard, just wonder is it practical to put up a sliding window there as it serve no purpose for that.

Edited October 10, 2012 by lady081980

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Hi Rain,

But I worry leh... coz my current home also all white and worse, they discolor at different rates. But then they are furnitures that I bought directly from retailers and ikea. I always thought these are made with laminates... No?

Edited October 10, 2012 by DancingInTheRain

[DancingInTheRain 0]

DancingInTheRain

my common toilet i sealed up with the wall toward the service yard, just wonder is it practical to put up a sliding window there as it serve no purpose for that.

Hi Lady081980,

For me, I just put a window there for ventilation and also on the other side of the wall will be the laundry baskets. So I just just open up the window and throw the dirty clothes in... No need to walk 1 round and keep the clutters outta sight.

Are u from Casa too?

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Hi DancingInTheRain,

Don't mind can pm me the contact details of your renovation contractor.

Thanks.

PM'ed. Have fun with your reno! ÜÜÜ

[lady081980 1]

Hi Lady081980,

For me, I just put a window there for ventilation and also on the other side of the wall will be the laundry baskets. So I just just open up the window and throw the dirty clothes in... No need to walk 1 round and keep the clutters outta sight.

Are u from Casa too?

Yup, me also from casa, house also renovating now..

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Yup, me also from casa, house also renovating now..

Have you got a t-blog too?

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Our First Disagreement

When I read about Mr. K from others' tblogs, everything was positive. Like how he would help to DIY socket covers, paint lightings, give advices on designs and etc. I went into the whole renovation process thinking everything will be TOTALLY smooth-going. It was so naive.

Our first disagreement was over the use of concrete boards, instead of hollow blocks, for the false wall inside my MBR toilet (Yes, it has to be the TOILET again... I bet I'm going to laugh at myself later for killing so many brain cells for the toilets!).

This was what The Hubby saw one Saturday when he went over with our first boy to see the progress of our renovation. He was very surprised to see the 2 pieces of thick wood in the wall and the wall is hollow. I texted Mr. K about it. He said this is to satisfy the requirement of HDB. But, our Casa neighbor had the same wall and their contractor used hollow block! So I went back to Mr. K again and asked him to change to hollow block, which he did almost immediately (but also billed us for it separately).

Come to think about it, our second disagreement was also about the toilet! I thought the shower screen was supposed to be sliding but he did those with a door. Worse, the door was swinging inwards and it hits the mixer. The Hubby settled this with him by asking him to make the door swing only outwards. I guess guys just communicate better with their own kind.

One lesson learnt from these incidents, always have everything written clearly and in details in the contract. For the false wall, this was just lumped together with the false ceiling and for the shower screen, it was just written as 10mm Tempered Glass Shower Screen. I understand that as Mr. K has so many units under renovation simultaneously, he may not remember the details of each of them, so he refers back to the respective contracts for the details. When details are not available, he would look at the price quoted to make a decision.

Pls don't get me wrong. Overall, The Hubby and I still think Mr. K is a great contractor to work with as he's truthful, sincere and rectifies things fast. The quality of the work of his reno team is also good. We just think that if the contract was more detailed, there wouldn't be such issues. We should have done our own homework and specify the materials for the reno.

[hedgehog 0]

Pls don't get me wrong. Overall, The Hubby and I still think Mr. K is a great contractor to work with as he's truthful, sincere and rectifies things fast. The quality of the work of his reno team is also good. We just think that if the contract was more detailed, there wouldn't be such issues. We should have done our own homework and specify the materials for the reno.

However, no matter how much homework we as homeowners have done, we are still laymen outside the industry. There are still many hidden knowledge that only those in the industry knows, and whom they will never share with us upfront.

[lady081980 1]

Have you got a t-blog too?

Don't have, But i have facebook, u under group site at "casa clementi" or casa kakiesss?

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Don't have, But i have facebook, u under group site at "casa clementi" or casa kakiesss?

Yup, I'm on Casa Clementi...

[DancingInTheRain 0]

However, no matter how much homework we as homeowners have done, we are still laymen outside the industry. There are still many hidden knowledge that only those in the industry knows, and whom they will never share with us upfront.

Ya lor! Read about it in my next posting! Sigh...

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Of White and white and WhITES

Went to my home today to discuss with the carpenter about the carpentry and saw workers installing the huge glass door for my kitchen entrance and white louvre doors for the toilets.

They were also there to re-install the windows which I rejected as they have a blue hue. Mr. K explained to me that it is because the windows are made of aluminum so, without any special spray painting, the "white" will naturally carry a blue hue. I saw the same blue hue on the white windows in my brother's flat so i believe this is true. I accepted that as my lack of knowledge and willingly requested for him to change the windows to aluminum color at my cost. He also asked if I would like to continue with white for the kitchen door and the white louvre doors for the toilets, which I confirmed to continue with white. At that time, Mr. K immediately informed the folks for the kitchen and louvre doors to spray paint these items white as I want them to be white-white, not carrying any blue hue. Thumbs up to Mr. K for pre-emping the problem.

Unfortunately, the louvre doors still came with a blue hue as shown in the pic below.

The kitchen door, on the other hand, did not have the blue hue. So, I watsapped Mr. K about it and he would look into the matter tomorrow.

Arh... Sometimes, I wonder if it is due to my previous profession which trained me to have a keen eye for colors (we had a whole row of colors tabs with different shades of a color, say blue, and had to arrange them from the lightest to darkest... Always loved doing that and checking my score thereafter... ). I am rather particular about colors matching. With many more white items in different materials coming up, I wonder if I will go crazy later... hahahaa.... Another lesson learnt.

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Tick tick tick..

So happy! Just found a vintage Diamond Brand wall clock for my new home. It's full-numbered with gold rims! Super love it!!

Hmm... Where should I put this?

[DancingInTheRain 0]

Swee Swee!!

Mr. K got the flooring guys to come over to polish the floor and and varnish only the areas with carpentry. Love the feel of wood on my feet...

I showed the pictures to The Hubby who then shared the same view as me... "Very nice hor! Can don't vanish?" Hahaaa... No wonder we are married.

Hmm... Some have told me that the louvre door looks white in the first photo but baby blue in the second. So does it really carry a blue hue? I can only say that just like in the flooring pictures above, they look different due to the different angles that the photos were taken. The louvre doors look blue to me. That's how my eyes see it.

Edited October 12, 2012 by DancingInTheRain