diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

[back to Table of Contents]

Tap Timer

My vertical garden tap timer broke down over the weekend. I realised it when I noticed some of the plants on my vertical garden wilting. The timer did not water the plants during the pre-set times. The 9V battery was flat. When I took longer to replace the battery (more than 30 seconds), the pre-set timings were not retained. After that, I found that I could not programme the timings as the display was not working. It was fully "lighted up".

I found the exact tap timer on sale at the nursery. But it was S$214.00! I searched on Amazon and found it at only US$28.86 with free shipping to Singapore for orders over US$125. So I ended up ordering two plus some other stuff.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Ks Toh

[Ks Toh 74]

Hose Bib Fertilising System

My EZ-FLO 3/4 Gallon hose bib fertilising system has also been spoilt for some time. The inlet tube inside the container broke. I am still using it as it is still usable. However, since I was buying the Tap Timer, I thought of buying one of these system online as well. I saw it selling on Amazon at US$65.09.

But unfortunately, the item does not ship to Singapore!

I had no choice but to call the local agent. He quoted me S$260.00. I think I will live with my current container.

[Ks Toh 74]

Smoke Detectors

Having told my friend about my fire extinguishers, he asked me to consider smoke detectors. That was when I realised that in many fires, the occupants are unaware of the fire. Hence, a smoke detector should be used in conjunction with fire extinguishers.

I went to Selfix DIY and found a smoke detector on sale at $37.90. Made in Germany.

I installed it on the ceiling of my yard kitchen, away from the stove area.

I tested it, and it worked fine.

http://youtu.be/blYuWMWZ5lU

P.S. During dinner, my helper was frying a fish, and the smoke detector went off! I had to stop the alarm by removing the batteries. So, I guess it works and I have to relocate it further away from the cooking area.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Ks Toh

[kyooko 1]

When I was in the UK, my landlord had installed the heat/smoke detector right above, so everytime I cooked something 'steamy', it activated the alarm. But I always intended to install a smoke detector, and if I use a gas heater, I might also include a carbon monoxide detector. I am super kiasu lor.

[WCCommander 0]

[back to Table of Contents]

Tap Timer

My vertical garden tap timer broke down over the weekend. I realised it when I noticed some of the plants on my vertical garden wilting. The timer did not water the plants during the pre-set times. The 9V battery was flat. When I took longer to replace the battery (more than 30 seconds), the pre-set timings were not retained. After that, I found that I could not programme the timings as the display was not working. It was fully "lighted up".

I found the exact tap timer on sale at the nursery. But it was S$214.00! I searched on Amazon and found it at only US$28.86 with free shipping to Singapore for orders over US$125. So I ended up ordering two plus some other stuff.

KS, does the pipe thread for this timer fit our pipe .?.. i understand that US is using male 3/4 threads and we are using the female thread or something like that .. and we might need to use an adapter to fit

[Ks Toh 74]

KS, does the pipe thread for this timer fit our pipe .?.. i understand that US is using male 3/4 threads and we are using the female thread or something like that .. and we might need to use an adapter to fit

Truth be told, I totally forgot about this. I went to check the box. It does say Connection: 3/4" male/female. But when I measured the pipe, it seems to be 1 inch wide. What is this 3/4" measurement?

As you can see from my pictures, the top female end has no problem connecting to a normal Singapore tap male end. I tried it and there is no problem. However, when I tried to screw a normal water hose part with a female end to the bottom male end of this device, I thought the screw threads did not quite fit, even though the overall width was the same at 1 inch. I did not force it.

[home-maker 0]

Hi KSToh,

Your blog was like a god send! Was a little sad when I see so little sharing on landed property in the forum and scratching my head where else can I find first hand information when I chanced upon your blog. Took me two days to finish reading all the 13 pages of sharing and noting down information that's useful for my upcoming renovation.

Mine is an inter-terrace and the reno is already easily 16-17yrs. Will need a major overhaul. The biggest problems are the water leakage from the roof and the open airwell. And my major challenge ahead is coordinating and monitoring the renovation from overseas. Anyway, it's gonna be loads of headaches.

And I love your vertical garden! Will explore the possibility of doing that for my airwell too.

Just a couple of questions, hope you don't mind sharing:

1. High end resilient flooring - did you do overlay over your old flooring? or did you strip and cement before laying? A few areas of my parquet flooring has water seepage problems, so I'm not sure if overlaying is still possible. Do you still remember how much you paid per sq ft? I read that it is even suitable for kitchen environment. Having used it for a couple of years, will you consider it for kitchen if you renovate again in future?

2. Pest control - How do you find your pest control contractor? When I bought my place in 2006, there were termite issues and we engaged Rentokill to do the job. They were ok, but subsequently never came back to do their annual checks after the first year. Does your contractor come back for yearly checks? Do they check the roof for bird/rat infestation? What's the warranty period? and if you remember how much you paid for their services?

3. Waterproofing contractor - How will you rate your contractor? Do you find them confident and know their expertise? I actually would prefer to give everything to an ID/Proj Mgr to coordinate everything since I won't be in Spore, but I'm afraid not many of them would have handled the complex leakage issues that my house is facing. arrrggghhhhh.....I wanna scream!

Ok, hope you don't find me too longwinded. Old aunty, all my thoughts are all over the place now.

Hope to hear from you and keep in touch. Will still need to learn and seek advice from your wealth of knowledge and experience.

Cheers!

Carol

Edited August 24, 2015 by home-maker

[TOKARA 0]

anyone used the aunties painting services? just want check feedback

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi KSToh,

Your blog was like a god send! Was a little sad when I see so little sharing on landed property in the forum and scratching my head where else can I find first hand information when I chanced upon your blog. Took me two days to finish reading all the 13 pages of sharing and noting down information that's useful for my upcoming renovation.

Mine is an inter-terrace and the reno is already easily 16-17yrs. Will need a major overhaul. The biggest problems are the water leakage from the roof and the open airwell. And my major challenge ahead is coordinating and monitoring the renovation from overseas. Anyway, it's gonna be loads of headaches.

And I love your vertical garden! Will explore the possibility of doing that for my airwell too.

Just a couple of questions, hope you don't mind sharing:

Ok, hope you don't find me too longwinded. Old aunty, all my thoughts are all over the place now.

Hope to hear from you and keep in touch. Will still need to learn and seek advice from your wealth of knowledge and experience.

Cheers!

Carol

Hi home-maker

Yes, there are not many blogs on landed properties in this forum. Glad you found mine useful.

Using the airway as a vertical garden and koi pond below was indeed one of my best decisions. Water seepage is still a problem. I have not completely solved it yet.

The answers to your questions (for most of them, I had discussed them in this blog somewhere):-

1. I kept most of my flooring. Hall and dining area - I re-polished the white marble, relaid some pieces due to reconfiguration of walls etc. Rooms & staircase - I re-sanded all the parquet and timber flooring. Had to redo some parts due to re-configuration of wall and water damage. For the small area I relaid new parquet, they supposed to put cement then lay the parquet. But now it feels hollow. Not well done. Outdoor decking - I used Chengai for one area and Accoya for another. Kitchen and yard - I used wood tiles. Feels very good. I did not overlay any floor. All toilet, kitchen, yard tiles were hacked out, cemented before tiles laid. Yes, the wood tiles for my kitchen are really good.

2. We fell out with our pest controller due to some misunderstanding (see my post on this), so he never finished the job. Hence, never came back. The only thing he did was to prepare the ground i.e. inject chemicals into the ground before renovations. So, other than that, we have no protection, unfortunately. Lesson learnt here. I don't recall him checking for birds or rat infestation. I don't have a rat problem. At least not known to me. Birds (mostly mynahs) do come to my house to drink water from my koi pond. I have no issue with that. But few times, some birds have flown into my house, got trapped and ****ted on my sofa.

3. Waterproofing is normally only for the toilets and kitchen, I believe. My ID/contractor supposed to do the waterproofing for these areas, but obviously they did not do a good job. I saw them applying some blackish looking stuff on the floor and a bit of the wall. They claim it is waterproofing chemical. Hence, there was water seepage from one toilet to the room below. But it is not clear if the water was seeping from the floor or the floor trap. I got a specialist contractor to rectify this plus other areas of water seepage. (see my post on this). This guy was quite responsible. The problem is not totally solved but he did come back when asked.

anyone used the aunties painting services? just want check feedback

I recommended them to some others and based on some feedback, they were not bad. But I give no guarantees. It seems that they are now very busy. If you use them, please don't forget it was me who recommended them. Just say from the Kew Drive house.

Edited August 26, 2015 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

National Day 2015

Every August, I will fly the Singapore flag. At NTUC FairPrice, they sell two types of flags. I always wonder why one type is called HDB House type, while the other is Private House type. Anyway, I found out that the HDB type is the type with two strings for you to hang, while the private house type needs a flag pole. The price does not include the pole. The size of the flag is the same.

I find the labelling not very useful, since most private homes also use the HDB type, to hang from their gate or balcony. In fact, I saw very few private houses using the flag pole type. I myself have been using the HDB type for the past few years, but I find the strong wind always flipping my flag over the balcony into the house. So, this year, I decided to try the pole type.

https://youtu.be/pspChyjxGVY

After I put up my flying flag, two of my neighbours saw it and also changed their hanging type to the pole type! I also took the opportunity to have a National Day Durian Party at my roof terrace!

Edited August 26, 2015 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Gas Detector

When I was in the UK, my landlord had installed the heat/smoke detector right above, so everytime I cooked something 'steamy', it activated the alarm. But I always intended to install a smoke detector, and if I use a gas heater, I might also include a carbon monoxide detector. I am super kiasu lor.

My gas stove is in the open yard, so I do not need a gas detector. But I saw one at HomeFix DIY. Might be useful for most homes where the gas stove is inside the house. But it is expensive.

[Ks Toh 74]

Power Trip

One of the biggest problems with landed properties is power tripping. This happens often to homes with older electrical cabling, mostly hidden or underground. Whenever it rains heavily, my circuit breaker will trip, and the whole house will be without power. I tried to call back my electrician but he never returned my call. As these kind of problems are difficult to troubleshoot, I think he does not want to come do the job.

After some trial and error, I established that the culprit is my ground floor light circuit L1R at the bottom left corner. Whenever it trips, my main switch will trip. Then I have to go to the circuit breaker switchboard, turn off L1R, then I can turn on the main switch. If I leave L1R on, I will not be able to turn on the main switch. This was my standing instructions to my helper.

This solution is not satisfactory because whenever it trips, I have to carry out the procedure of shutting down L1R, otherwise the whole house is without power. Quite apart from messing up many of the equipment with timers, power to the refrigerator, chest freezer and koi pond pumps are cut. These may have serious consequences if nobody is at home to activate the turn-off-L1R routine.

Even when I am at home, shutting down L1R greatly inconveniences everybody. This switch controls all the lighting and fans to my car porch, front entrance, hall, walkway, lounge and dining areas. I had to turn on the vertical garden lights or use candle light for dinner. I had to turn on the aircon instead of the fans.

I had to find a better solution.

Edited August 27, 2015 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

My first attempt was to seal off the sides of all the external lights (gate, porch & garden wall). I figured that since it trips only when it rains, it must be due to water seepage at one of the lights. I used my glue gun for this. I was quite pleased with myself as I thought I did a good job.

The rain came and it tripped. Instant failure. Back to the drawing board.

My second attempt was to call another electrician. My idea was that even if he could not solve my problem, he could split my circuits. Perhaps one for the porch, one for the hall and one for the dining area. In this way, I can further isolate the area that is misbehaving. Alas, this was not possible as the entire ground floor lighting was somehow one and the same circuit.

He ended up simply moving L1R to a secondary main switch. In this way, when L1R trips, it trips by itself. It does not affect the main switch. He added that with this L1R by itself, hopefully it will be more stable and less susceptible to tripping.

The rain came and it tripped. Failure again. But at least, the main switch did not trip.

Edited August 27, 2015 by kstoh

[TOKARA 0]

I recommended them to some others and based on some feedback, they were not bad. But I give no guarantees. It seems that they are now very busy. If you use them, please don't forget it was me who recommended them. Just say from the Kew Drive house.

roger bro

[home-maker 0]

KSToh, Thanks for your reply. As it is, my own plans are up and awaiting geomancer's approval. Then I'll be back in two weeks to meet up with few IDs/contracters, and hopefully finalise the designs and quotations within the period I'm back. And then it'll be the start of work. Rush rush rush! Wish me luck.