A House Is Not A Home

[spiffysue 0]

hi spiffy,

saw you use vynil for the guest room, are you going to use vynil for the rest of bedrooms too?

i am considering to use vynil too, but still undecided. done some research it can outgas toxic chemical.

laminate is a no no due to wrap issue and non-water resistant. initially wanted homogenous, but HTB want cozy feels.

still cannot make up my mind

hey there! Yes, i used vinyl for all the bedrooms. i did quite a bit of research and i liked it cos its waterproof and feels less hollow. i also like that we could overlay the existing tiles instead of hacking.

I was concerned about the toxic thing too, but my contractor said SG would never approve anything that emitted toxins.. especially for the home.

anyway if you are very concerned, the new vinyls are all clips instead of glued on. i guess this would lessen any chemicals by a fair bit. hope this helps!

[spiffysue 0]

Are you going to leave the hollow block kitchen counter exposed?

And did you say you're going with a cement screed floor in the common areas?

hey! i've been so busy cleaning the place/moving.. havent had time to log on

nope, we tiled up the island.

yup we went with cement screed for the kitchen + living. BIG regret. will never do cement screed again. ever!

more on that + updates on my reno later..... i will post pics soon!

[ultimax 2]

hey! i've been so busy cleaning the place/moving.. havent had time to log on

nope, we tiled up the island.

yup we went with cement screed for the kitchen + living. BIG regret. will never do cement screed again. ever!

more on that + updates, on my reno later..... i will post pics soon!

Hey spiffy,

Why do u regret it?

[redmoonlight 0]

hey there! Yes, i used vinyl for all the bedrooms. i did quite a bit of research and i liked it cos its waterproof and feels less hollow. i also like that we could overlay the existing tiles instead of hacking.

I was concerned about the toxic thing too, but my contractor said SG would never approve anything that emitted toxins.. especially for the home.

anyway if you are very concerned, the new vinyls are all clips instead of glued on. i guess this would lessen any chemicals by a fair bit. hope this helps!

this is exactly what my HTB saying too, SG would not approved it.

yes i read too, new vynil is different from the old one, and much improved.

now i am considering between vynil and veneer.

updates with more pic pls

[spiffysue 0]

Hey spiffy,

Why do u regret it?

after the cement dried, we found there was 1 round patch that looked like a puddle. alot darker than the rest of the floor. it looks like someone spilled something. ID/contractor said it is natural.. that sometimes cement will just have random areas which are darker than the rest. we're cool with that, except this patch is a perfect circle. so it looks hideous! it doesn't look natural at all.

why we regret is bcos with cement, unlike tiles, when something like that happens.. you can't just simply knock 1 tile off and replace it. ID/contractor can hack everything n redo but it'll be messy and will take weeks to dry. and can't hack that area only, because all batches of cement are different coloured. they are now trying ways n means to lighten the patch.. we're also airing it for 2-3 mths to see how it goes. really crappy.

[spiffysue 0]

Some sneak peeks of our place. This was taken few weeks back.

We're still short of lots of furniture. Haven't even bought dining chairs! Taking our own sweet time to furnish............. -__-

Master toilet - the painted walls turned out pretty well I think?

Common toilet door - nyatoh + wired glass. love it! i randomly conjoured up the combi..

Kitchen

View from the island

Full shot of kitchen

Edited October 30, 2012 by spiffysue

[spiffysue 0]

Bricks being lay - we requested for the tiler to break some bricks to make them look less perfect

Close-up of bricks after drying

Master bedroom

[spiffysue 0]

Hey spiffy,

Why do u regret it?

hey ultimax, you can spot the patch on the bottom right of the kitchen photo... next to the island. can see?

[revox88 0]

Hi Spiffysue,

Good progress to your reno..the kitchen sure looks complete with the island.

So I believe you purposely run the water pipe overhanging the sink instead of under the tiles? Good Idea.

[summersann 6]

Some sneak peeks of our place. This was taken few weeks back.

We're still short of lots of furniture. Haven't even bought dining chairs! Taking our own sweet time to furnish............. -__-

Master toilet - the painted walls turned out pretty well I think?

Common toilet door - nyatoh + wired glass. love it! i randomly conjoured up the combi..

Love the color in your master toilet! Very rich color.

The door's looking good too!

Great that your renovation is coming along now

[redmoonlight 0]

loveee your kitchen and common toilet!!

your master toilet turn out nice too with painting

may i know where you get the bedframe from?

[spiffysue 0]

loveee your kitchen and common toilet!!

your master toilet turn out nice too with painting

may i know where you get the bedframe from?

thanks the bedframe came free with the mattress. mattress is by a sister brand of Simmons - Napure.

[ultimax 2]

after the cement dried, we found there was 1 round patch that looked like a puddle. alot darker than the rest of the floor. it looks like someone spilled something. ID/contractor said it is natural.. that sometimes cement will just have random areas which are darker than the rest. we're cool with that, except this patch is a perfect circle. so it looks hideous! it doesn't look natural at all.

why we regret is bcos with cement, unlike tiles, when something like that happens.. you can't just simply knock 1 tile off and replace it. ID/contractor can hack everything n redo but it'll be messy and will take weeks to dry. and can't hack that area only, because all batches of cement are different coloured. they are now trying ways n means to lighten the patch.. we're also airing it for 2-3 mths to see how it goes. really crappy.

Ah ... we too cement screed our kitchen and living room.

We also have a mysterious dark patch which does not look natural. We also suspected the workmen messed up. But who knows ... the response we got was "I look at you, you look at me." Thankfully we were planning on putting a rug over the area so the spot's hidden.

What's worst is this right angle mark we have in the kitchen. It looks like the spot was covered by cardboard and something happened, resulting in an imprint.

Our biggest problem is the powdery feeling. Here our ID was completely ignorant. I asked him a few times if the floor would be powdery, and he said no with great confidence each time. I was so convinced that he knew what he was talking about that I think I posted somewhere else that cement screed floors don't have to be powdery if you use a special sealant, which he did.

Turns out that's not the case. Even with the sealant the floor's still powdery and we;ve been mopping like mad. I think we're slowly getting used to having light grey feet. It's gotten a bit better, I think, but hardly what the ID promised.

Someone else in another thread said he manually sandpapered the entire house over a few evenings with his wife, and solved his problem. Maybe that's the only way forward ......

Like you, I won't go with cement screed if we do reno again. It's unique, but maybe not worth the hassle after the novelty wears off haha.

[ultimax 2]

hey ultimax, you can spot the patch on the bottom right of the kitchen photo... next to the island. can see?

Oh yeah I see it but only after you pointed it out. My patch is much smaller, but it's a lot worse. Like a real stain. Yours at least looks kinda smudgy. But it's big ... I guess if you know it's there your eyes will always end up focusing on it. A lot of the defects in my place have that effect on me. But other people don't notice them.

Still, it's lousy workmanship (for my reno) which bothers me!

[spiffysue 0]

Ah ... we too cement screed our kitchen and living room.

We also have a mysterious dark patch which does not look natural. We also suspected the workmen messed up. But who knows ... the response we got was "I look at you, you look at me." Thankfully we were planning on putting a rug over the area so the spot's hidden.

What's worst is this right angle mark we have in the kitchen. It looks like the spot was covered by cardboard and something happened, resulting in an imprint.

Our biggest problem is the powdery feeling. Here our ID was completely ignorant. I asked him a few times if the floor would be powdery, and he said no with great confidence each time. I was so convinced that he knew what he was talking about that I think I posted somewhere else that cement screed floors don't have to be powdery if you use a special sealant, which he did.

Turns out that's not the case. Even with the sealant the floor's still powdery and we;ve been mopping like mad. I think we're slowly getting used to having light grey feet. It's gotten a bit better, I think, but hardly what the ID promised.

Someone else in another thread said he manually sandpapered the entire house over a few evenings with his wife, and solved his problem. Maybe that's the only way forward ......

Like you, I won't go with cement screed if we do reno again. It's unique, but maybe not worth the hassle after the novelty wears off haha.

we feel each others pain

yes i read that other thread about the guy who sandpapered. and we tried that out too.. we manually sanded half of our living room. the floor is SO much smoother. and it does seem like much less powder! so i think it really does work. i thought sealant wuld solve this!! if it doesnt, then may i ask what's the pros of sealant? would you recommend it?