diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

I read the HDB guidelines and cannot find anything that says you cannot create a drop to the shower floor. All it says is that there is no need for permit to build a kerb not exceeding certain size. As for the drop, of course you don't hack the shower floor deeply just to create the drop. What I said was to lay the tiles for the shower floor and the rest of the toilet at slightly different levels.

The HDB valuer is from a property valuation company. He is there to value your property. He cannot be bothered to check your flat for irregularities. It is not his job. Last time, I hear that HDB officers will check your flat for irregularities. Not sure if they still do. Even if they do, I am sure it is for major irregularities and not things like a drop at the shower floor!

[Ks Toh 74]

Removing Stains from White Marble

One of the greatest problems with white marble is staining. This happened to me when the contractor did not put sufficient protection over the existing white marble floor. As I was using also using white marble floor at my previous place, I have learnt the way to remove stains. If you accidentally spill red wine onto your white marble, you will find that the colour will seep into the marble and you cannot get it out.

Fear not! Here is what you need to do.

1. Get a bottle of bleach (any brand - I use NTUC FairPrice brand or Kao) and some toilet paper.

2. Lay the toilet paper over the stained area and pour sufficient bleach over the paper until it is thoroughly wet.

3. Leave overnight. Repeat again until the stain is gone, or least minimised.

The picture above is not clear but I have since removed most of the stains, after doing this many times.

This method works well for other stains too e.g. from the door lacquer.

Caution: Someone told me not to leave the bleach for too long or it might damage the floor but so far so good. The floor looks fine even if I leave the bleach overnight. But do at your own risk!

Edited February 27, 2014 by kstoh

[OceanEleven 203]

Removing Stains from White Marble

That is one BIG slab of marble!

[guojiawen 101]

Nope, they will not note such things. They value base on reno done, fixtures, materials etc.

I read the HDB guidelines and cannot find anything that says you cannot create a drop to the shower floor. All it says is that there is no need for permit to build a kerb not exceeding certain size. As for the drop, of course you don't hack the shower floor deeply just to create the drop. What I said was to lay the tiles for the shower floor and the rest of the toilet at slightly different levels.

The HDB valuer is from a property valuation company. He is there to value your property. He cannot be bothered to check your flat for irregularities. It is not his job. Last time, I hear that HDB officers will check your flat for irregularities. Not sure if they still do. Even if they do, I am sure it is for major irregularities and not things like a drop at the shower floor!

Thanks both, guess I belong to the more kia-si category but now I know minor things still ok!

[koori 45]

Nope, they will not note such things. They value base on reno done, fixtures, materials etc.

Thanks both, guess I belong to the more kia-si category but now I know minor things still ok!

I second this....they don't check for irregularities....even for big items.

The big concrete stove in my resale unit's service balcony raised no red flags...however, when I read on HDB's renovation guidelines, it says construction of stove and/or cooking is not allowed in the original service balcony/yard.

I think HDB is operating on a 'no complaints received = no action taken' basis.

[Celine Ng 2]

Hi, i bought an inter terrace and it comes with a koi pond. I need someone to redo my koi pond and would like to build a water feature next to the pond. Is your koi pond contractor good and reliable? Would you recommend him to me? many thanks

[Celine Ng 2]

Also, looking to buy marble but have a low budget. Anyone has good recommendation?

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi, i bought an inter terrace and it comes with a koi pond. I need someone to redo my koi pond and would like to build a water feature next to the pond. Is your koi pond contractor good and reliable? Would you recommend him to me? many thanks

I would say that the system (bio filtration) I chose was good. However, I am not sure about the contractor. My inside pond has been clear from day one. My front pond has been unclear on and off. For several weeks now, it has been green. The contractor is supposed to come down and take a look.

[Ks Toh 74]

My current refrigerator is more than 10 years old. It is a side by side model made by RCA from USA. Over the years, it has broken down several times but after repairs, it is still working fine, except for the lights in the freezer compartment not working. Anyway, I went to Best Denki, surveyed all the new big side by side models and shortlisted a few Japanese and Korean models.

Until I discovered that after tiling, it seems that the space for my refrigerator has somehow become smaller! Now, the space is only 174 cm high and 101 cm wide. The width is not a problem but the height rules out ALL of the side by side Japanese and Korean models. There was not a single model that is within 174 cm height! No choice but to use back my old refrigerator and hope it lasts more years.

I found out recently that I have to buy American refrigerators which are shorter in height. I saw a 640L Whirlpool side by side fridge at Courts Orchard Road, measuring 852 cm width x 1696 cm height x 858 cm depth. But price of these american models seem much higher than Japanese or Korean models.

My old refrigerator must have heard me talking about it. So it chose to break down over the weekend. I rushed down to Courts. I only know of one place that sells these American refrigerators, Courts. There is only one brand, Whirlpool and one model!

[back to Table of Contents]

Edited May 24, 2014 by kstoh

[OceanEleven 203]

My old refrigerator must have heard me talking about it. So it chose to break down over the weekend. I rushed down to Courts. I only know of one place that sells these American refrigerators, Courts. There is only one brand, Whirlpool and one model!

My tears well up in my eyes when I read this.

And yes....tears of laughter. Pardon me, cant help it.

[Ks Toh 74]

[back to Table of Contents]

Yeah, somehow I think I made a mistake of talking about it.

Surprisingly, although the Whirlpool refrigerator is shorter in height, it is much larger in capacity at 640L. Most of the Japanese and Korean side by side refrigerators I see are below 600L. The machine is made in Mexico. Although I was told that the American models are less energy efficient, it has a 4 ticks "Excellent" energy efficiency rating from NEA.

The machine was delivered today. It was too big to go through my kitchen door, so the delivery men had to remove the refrigerator doors and then put them back after going through the door. And the machine fits perfectly!

Right now, I have been told to wait 8 hours before turning on the refrigerator. This means 2 am!

Edited May 24, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

New refrigerator is now up and running ....

Suitable for those with similar problem like me i.e. want a big fridge but height limitation.

[Ks Toh 74]

Here's something which might interest those who cannot live without a fast internet connection.

Today a parcel arrived from the UK. I thought my wife bought something from the UK using my name but she denied it. She opened it to find a TP-LINK N600 Dual Band Wireless Dual band gigabit Router. I had totally forgotten I had signed to participate in the SamKnows Broadband Performance Measurement Study, commissioned by IDA. This is the WhiteBox that I was supposed to get. (note: it is actually black in colour)

I don't get paid for this. Neither do I have to pay anything. My thinking was simply that maybe if my ISP knows that I am one of those users whose broadband speed is being tracked and used for IDA reports, they will make sure mine is really fast, so that they will look good in the IDA broadband speed reports.

So I plugged everything as instructed and did a speed check of my basic 100Mbps fibre connection.

I don't know what to say. But I think it is a fluke because after that, I was not able to get this kind of speed, although it is still fast.

If you are interested to participate, click here: http://www.samknows.com

Edited March 6, 2014 by kstoh

[ahhboi 15]

Hi, need your advise.

I apply for Singtel fibre, think they come with their own lousy router/moderm.

If I had lay structure Cat6 cable to my MBR, am I able to connect the data pt in my MBR to another better router for wifi?

Is this possible?

Thanks for advising a IT idiot.

[Ks Toh 74]

I am not on SingTel but I believe you can. Just set the wireless router in your room to bridge mode. That is what I am doing. My room ports are connected to the StarHub supplied lousy router.

Edited March 13, 2014 by kstoh