Reno For Tikihouse @ Tampines

[tikiman 0]

We have gone to many places to look for bathroom fittings; Hoe Kee, Sim Siang Choon and those at Geylang. Our first stop was HK because my parents showed us an ad on newspaper the day before we planned our Hunt-for-WC adventure. We went to their warehouse at Genting lane, and it was a bloody waste of time. the staff were not interested to serve customers and most of the basins were poor quality even by MIC products.

So we drove to SSC @ Changi next as it has probably the largest selection of bathroom fittings on display. We walked around on our own as the staff were also pre-occupied with themselves. Tikimum and I came across this old school white porcelain kitchen sink and immediately fell in love with Sandra by RAK. It is 1 meter in length and will definitely take up a good section of our kitchen countertop. Tikimum approached one of the salesperson to find out the country of origin of this RAK sink and we were told it is an U.A.E product. http://www.rakbathware.com/kitchen%20sink-products.html#

We have also got a simple stainless steel kitchen sink mixer to go along with the porcelain sink. Will tell more about it in the next post.

[tikiman 0]

For those wondering why we are TikiFamily. This is Tiki

[Makanology 29]

Oh yeah he is a retriever! 2nd one on renotalk. The other is Vanessa's!

[jp631 0]

We have also got a simple stainless steel kitchen sink mixer to go along with the porcelain sink. Will tell more about it in the next post.

hey, is this matt? I am looking for something like this! Simple and matt. Love this model! Thanks for sharing. Hope to read your update about this soon thank you

[tessina 9]

Today we found this in the yard area.

apparently we had a visitor who stayed over the weekend when it was raining heavily.

my contractor found her napping on the bags of cement in the hall. This afternoon I saw her peeping in hoping for an afternoon siesta. But she left when there were too many people in the apartment. Looks like we got a non-paying tenant.

Haha so cute! You guys on the ground floor

[tikiman 0]

hey, is this matt? I am looking for something like this! Simple and matt. Love this model! Thanks for sharing. Hope to read your update about this soon thank you

Hi jp631, it is brush stainless steel. There are several models from this Taiwan manufacturer. http://sun-train.com.tw/kitchen-series.html

I bought mine from Heritage.

[tikiman 0]

Haha so cute! You guys on the ground floor

This little fellow step all over the concrete screed, and with her little dirty feet left tracks all over the newly laid tiles.

Edited September 28, 2013 by tikiman

[Tikimum 0]

Oh yeah he is a retriever! 2nd one on renotalk. The other is Vanessa's!

Hi Makan, I've seen Vanessa's Scott on her t-blog. He looks really cute, like my Tiki at that age.

My Tikiboy is a lovable 8-yr old GR who still behaves like a puppy !

[Tikimum 0]

This little fellow step all over the concrete screed, and with her little dirty feet left tracks all over the newly laid tiles.

Hi tessina, we have chosen the ground-floor unit bec of the high ceiling. It is also more convenient for Tikiboy to do his walks and we have large green spaces to grow some plants. Hopefully, once we move in with Tikiboy, the meow meows will stay outside.

[Tikimum 0]

The masonry works have been going on for the past week. Glad that we had chosen well with the Betula naturale tile so the living room & kitchen look so much brighter now (even with old coat of orange paint on the existing walls). The completed flooring have been covered up by Ah Meng so I have not been able to snap any photos to share. Will do so once the flooring is unveiled.

Yesterday, Tikiman had a call from our Contractor. Ah Meng had reported that the MIC Blanco wood tiles meant for the bedrooms have some degree of warp when he laid the tiles according to the pattern drawn by Tikiman. We rushed down immediately to check on the severity of the problem. Using the finger test, we could feel the slight bump of unevenness along the joint line. After some brainstorming with the sub-con Ah Weng, we agreed to modify the tile laying pattern to a staggered 5cm incremental step. Ah Meng then redo a section and it was much better with hardly discernible wrap. What a sigh of relief ! We thanked the tillers with a carton of isotonic drinks and some Old Chang Kee curry puffs.

[tikiman 0]

At the start of the reno journey, Tikimum and I discussed over the use of chrome vs Stainless Steel.

Advantage of Chrome

1. More designs to choose from.

2. More well established brands.

3. Bling factor - looks nice and shiny.

Advantage of SS

1. it does not tarnish like chrome

2. understated, more industrial look

3. matches with the ss water piping.

We finally decided on SS to have a consistent look to flow with the stainless steel pipes. We started our search a few weeks ago, beginning with SSC and saw some SS fittings under the brand VRH from Thailand, but the sales-person was more interested in introducing me European products in chrome. We then went over to other stores along Geylang, and finally landed at Heritage. There we attended by a chilli padi by the name of Yuki. We ended up buying most of the toilet fittings as their pricing was most competitive, and service was good as Yuki takes the extra mile to help us check and order items that were on supplier catalogue.

Basin mixer. Like the kitchen sink mixer, this basin mixer was ordered through the KoLM catalogue.

Bib tap - to be fixed with a flexible hose.

Bidet & Valve - save the earth, and cut usage of paper

Edited September 29, 2013 by tikiman

[blackpeace 1]

At the start of the reno journey, Tikimum and I discussed over the use of chrome vs Stainless Steel.

Advantage of Chrome

1. More designs to choose from.

2. More well established brands.

3. Bling factor - looks nice and shiny.

Advantage of SS

1. it does not tarnish like chrome

2. understated, more industrial look

3. matches with the ss water piping.

We finally decided on SS to have a consistent look to flow with the stainless steel pipes. We started our search a few weeks ago, beginning with SSC and saw some SS fittings under the brand VRH from Thailand, but the sales-person was more interested in introducing me European products in chrome. We then went over to other stores along Geylang, and finally landed at Heritage. There we attended by a chilli padi by the name of Yuki. We ended up buying most of the toilet fittings as their pricing was most competitive, and service was good as Yuki takes the extra mile to help us check and order items that were on supplier catalogue.

Basin mixer. Like the kitchen sink mixer, this basin mixer was ordered through the KoLM catalogue.

Bib tap - to be fixed with a flexible hose.

Bidet & Valve - save the earth, and cut usage of paper

Hi tikiman, what is the price range of this kolm range?

[tikiman 0]

Hi tikiman, what is the price range of this kolm range?

Hi blackpeace,

prices for my items range from 30 -150.

[tikiman 0]

Today, ah meng has finished the MBR flooring.

Ah Weng (the tao chew) was about to start the backsplash late noon, and that was when another issue came up. Our kitchen has a pillar and sewage pipe to be boxed up. We were intending to do subway tiles horizontally, but problem appear when we want to joint the tiles at the protruding corner. tiles that are cut will have two different tone, and not chamfered. Hence it will look ugly. After a short discussion, we decided to tile the backsplash vertically. I felt uncomfortable with the decision, as no matter how I visualized, the design just look terrible. Tikimum was also at a loss.

Back home, I googled "vertical subway tiles", and immediately we knew our decision was terribly wrong. Visually it looks like white candles or bamboo ( a big no no). We immediately brainstormed and came out with some changes and an ideal design solution to the problem. Tomorrow we will discuss with Ah weng in the morning. It all goes well. we will reveal our idea

[tikiman 0]

While goggling for variation of subway tiles, both tikimum and I saw this. I immediately felt that this pattern will work if we make some minor changes to the original plan. Pillars and area that are boxed up will be tiled with large white porcelain to give it a white seamless glossy finish. While the 2 wall area would be tiled with subway tiles using herringbone pattern.

Ah weng was happy with our suggestion, and finish the herringbone pattern before lunch.

One side of the wall with herringbone tiles

Wet work are almost complete. All that remains are the main door area, skirting and other minor touchup.

Edited October 1, 2013 by tikiman