diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

The contractor quoted the following repairs:

I learnt quite a bit from this contractor. He did a quick drawing for me to show that for the toilet floor, there should be a first layer of tiles/marble, followed by a porous cement/sand screed, then the water-proof membrane which sits just above the hard concrete floor slab. I had thought that the water-proofing is done somewhere just below the tiles, to prevent the water from penetrating into the floor, but he said no. He said many contractors just hack away the tiles to do the water-proofing but this is wrong. He says the correct way is to hack away not just the tiles but also the cement/sand screed all the way to the hard concrete.

He further explained that water is bound to seep between the tiles into the cement/sand screed. But this layer is porous and meant to allow the water to flow to the floor trap. And that is why if you look at the floor trap closely, the sides of the first few cm of the down pipe are very rough, made up of cement/sand screed only. It is only further down that the sides are smooth PVC. If the sides of your down pipe are smooth all the way from the opening to down below, it looks really nice but it is wrong!

I also came across a HDB video clip on inter-floor seepage repairs. The process is similar to what my contractor described.

Edited May 31, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

As my upstairs toilet was just newly renovated, it did not make sense to hack away the toilet floor. Instead, the water-proofing was done by injecting De Neef polyurethane grout upwards into the floor slab.

First, the false ceiling was cut in several places.

Then holes were drilled at the leaking areas to insert some kind of injection port.

Edited May 30, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

A hand pump was used to pump the grouting material through the injection ports into the ceiling.

[Ks Toh 74]

The grouting material travelled through the cracks and started coming out of various other cracks in the ceiling.

They also travelled up to the drainage outlet in the upstairs toilet and came out of a crack line in the PVC down pipe.

The false ceiling was then covered up and repainted.

I hope the repair is effective.

[Ks Toh 74]

Spalling Concrete

One day, a part of the staircase ceiling decided to start falling off. I thought it was due to water seepage but the place was dry. Then I thought someone knocked a ladder or some hard object against it.

But the contractor who came told me it was spalling concrete. I have no idea how it was caused.

[Ks Toh 74]

These were the repairs the contractor quoted me:

Unfortunately, I was not around to document the repair process. But i found this HDB video which may be useful.

Area now looks as good as new!

[tomasulu 2]

Commiserations.

I had to change my polycarbonate roof because it leaked. The new polycarbonate roof leaks too but much less and only during very heavy downpour. What the workers did was to support the aluminum structure with metal pillars. The structure could support a couple of workers that way. Next time I will go with glass roof which I suspect contracts and flexes less.

Also had to apply sealant to the main roof (clay tiles) due to leaks. Thankfully it's been good since then.

[Dwinsplace 48]

oh dear. Leaks are scary! the moment it happens everything has to be ripped up.

Glad that you managed to find a decent fix! But that kinda thing would PISS ME OFF. lol

[Ks Toh 74]

Commiserations.

Glad that you managed to find a decent fix! But that kinda thing would PISS ME OFF. lol

Yes, I am glad that I have been able to resolve the water seepage & leakage issues. At least for the time being. There is already some very minor leak again at the yard roof but I will monitor a while longer before reporting to the contractor.

[Ks Toh 74]

This is the waterproofing contractor I used to repair the leaking roof, inter-floor water seepage and spalling concrete problems. Not too bad.

[Ks Toh 74]

LPG Gas

Whilst more than 90% of HDB homes have piped gas supplied by City Gas, the majority of private landed homes do not and have to rely on LPG gas delivered in cylinders by gas supply companies. I am one of them. It is inconvenient.

You guys with piped gas should be thankful that:

(a) your gas supply is continuous and you do not have to worry about the gas running out halfway while cooking;

(b) you do not need to set aside a dedicated storage space, typically the whole cabinet below the cooker hob, to store the gas cylinder;

© you do not have to handle the inconvenience of having to order gas every 1 or 2 months, and have the delivery guy bring in the heavy full cylinder to your kitchen and bring out the empty cylinder.

So don't complain if you have this ugly gas pipe that runs through your kitchen and yard.

When I bought my house, the previous owner left behind 7 LPG cylinders.

Thinking that it was dangerous to keep them, I returned all of them to the gas company except one. Subsequently, I bought a barbecue gas grille. Together with the gas stove in my wet kitchen, I now needed 2 LPG gas cylinders. As I did not want to run out of gas halfway while cooking or barbecuing, I have one full tank always on standby. In the end, I needed a total of 3 tanks and had to pay much more to the gas company. I should have simply kept more of my tanks.

Edited June 6, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Just two nights ago, I was irritated by my LPG gas supplier. My helper found a sheet of 4 cut-out vouchers in our letter box, from our regular gas supplier. This is what each voucher looks like.

However, when she tried to use the voucher, the gas delivery man refused to honour it, claiming that it is valid only for "new gas installations". This is of course rubbish as the voucher does not say so, and if it is only for new gas installations, why give 4 to each home?

So I called the company to complain. The first girl, who spoke mandarin, did not seem to know that there was such a voucher, claiming that the only vouchers they give out were food vouchers. (I should have asked if I could use the vouchers to claim 2 packs of chicken rice). So I read out the vouchers and she decided to pass the telephone to her superior who spoke English. Now, this second girl knew about the $10 discount voucher but claimed that I had already been given the discount at $33.50. This is such an disingenuous excuse as I have ALWAYS been paying $33.50. To that, she said gas prices go up and down and it is now $46.00 actually. So, I was such a VIP customer that they have always given me a $12.50 discount, even without any voucher!

I know $33.50 per cylinder is probably one of the cheapest around. I am not complaining. But my point is simple. If you offer to give a discount to your customers, honour it. Don't be cheapskate. Offer but refuse to honour, and find excuses. If you don't want to give, don't pretend to offer.

But my sister did point out the fine print that said: "Our company reserve the right to amend the terms of this coupon without prior notice"

Now, how much do you guys pay for your LPG gas? If it is similar price as $33.50, I will boycott my current gas supplier and switch. If it is much more expensive, then like the typical practical Singaporean, I will continue to order from this gas supplier. (A bit like continuing to buy food from the same stall because it is cheap and good, even though service is terrible).

Edited June 6, 2014 by kstoh

[Honeygal 1]

I pay $43 per cylinder!

[mokz88 6]

Hi KSToh,

Wonderful blog. Very informative, interesting yet not boring. Thanks for all the info & inputs. Really helpful.

[Ks Toh 74]

I pay $43 per cylinder!

Maybe you should call my vendor? But check price first and let me know. Apart from the silly coupon gimmick, they are quite efficient. When you call from your home line, they immediately know where to deliver the LPG gas as they track your number.

Hi KSToh,

Wonderful blog. Very informative, interesting yet not boring. Thanks for all the info & inputs. Really helpful.

Thank you!

Edited June 8, 2014 by kstoh