diy Top @Kew Drive

[Sniper 0]

Hi kstoh,

Love the design of your fans. Wanted also to get haiku but too expensive. Can PM me when you get those fans and the price for the Vento Uragano. Thks

[Ks Toh 74]

gryffindor & Harriete

I have no idea whether this accoya wood can be used for toilet vanity tops or vanity cabinets.

Vanity cabinets I think should be no problem, but I used normal wood. Do you really need such good (and more expensive) wood for the vanity cabinets?

Vanity tops, I think not suitable as wood is by nature soft and easily scratched. I used Silestone Quartz from http://www.buildersshop.com.sg/collection/quartz/cosentino-silestone/ for all my vanity tops and kitchen counter top. This material supposed to be extremely scratch proof, being the 4th hardest mineral found in nature, the only natural minerals harder than quartz being diamond, sapphire and topaz.

It is best you check with the company I got the accoya wood from, http://www.evorich.com.sg. This is new generation "ang moh" wood which your parents will probably faint if you want to use them. So far so good for me, and it comes with 50 year warranty. But it's been only 6 months. Too early to tell if it is really good.

But at my previous place, a condo, I was recommended Palm wood by Evorich. After two years, the Palm wood decking was still good. No cracks or anything. I actually went back to Evorich looking for the same wood but was recommended this Accoya wood.

Edited October 23, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Sniper

I already bought and installed both the Vento Uragano and Libellula. See the pictures above. Will PM you.

[Ks Toh 74]

All my wardrobes and cabinets, including my hall TV feature wall and kitchen, were done by http://www.opsh.com.sg. Freddy Shim 91017921. Wardrobes are using pole system. I have been using pole system wardrobes for many years. I like them because the space is maximised. The wall serves as the back of the wardrobe. Conventional carpentry requires a wooden carcass to be constructed, and these take up usable space.

Edited October 24, 2013 by kstoh

[Khng 2]

All my wardrobes and cabinets, including my hall TV feature wall and kitchen, were done by http://www.opsh.com.sg. The wardrobes are using pole system. I have been using pole system wardrobes for many years. I like them because the space is maximised. The wall serves as the back of the wardrobe. Conventional carpentry requires a wooden carcass to be constructed, and these take up usable space.

I like your CD storage cabinet. How much do they charge pfr?

Would you be able to share the details of your carpenter? Or via pm?

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi

The carpentry is all by www.opsh.com.sg. Look for Freddy Shim 91017921. I am not sure what was the charge pfr. I think it depends on materials used etc. Best to check with OPSH.

Edited October 24, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Time for a commercial break ...

We searched high and low for this vase to replace my old one which was cracked. Went to all fish farms, nurseries & vase suppliers at every corner of Singapore but could not find a similar vase. They were either not green, or did not have the 3 frogs at the rim. Eventually, my wife found the supplier overseas. It cost us only US$50 each but shipping, insurance and cargo clearance added S$900 to the bill !

Just in case the vase was damaged during shipment, we bought 3 pieces. One piece has been installed, leaving the other two. The vase can be used as a water feature (as in my case for my koi pond) or simply as a planter. Selling at cost at S$350 each or S$600 for both.

Vase is about 60 cm (2 feet) high and 58 cm wide at the widest part. Please PM me if interested. Self collect.

Edited October 31, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

For the kitchen floor, we considered various options before deciding on this:

These are Etic tiles from http://www.rice-fields.com/ecowood.html. Looks and textured like wood, but suitable for use in wet areas. We were happy with them, and decided to use them for our yard floor as well. (Refer to yard picture above)

Wood tiles for kitchen wall tiles as well.

Edited January 24, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

For my toilets, I used white Volakas marble for the walls and Black Galaxy granite for the floors. WC and basins all white from Toto.

One tip I would like to share is the shower area. If you have a kerb or drop (to keep water from coming out of the shower area), this must be OUTSIDE of the shower door. I find many workers these days simply doing the kerb or drop directly below the shower door, or worse, inside the shower door. Then they use a rubber seal (not sure what you call it) below the door to try to stop the water from coming out. The seal does not work.

[Ks Toh 74]

Toilet vanity tops are Silestone Quartz from http://www.builderss...tino-silestone/, same as my kitchen counter top. This material supposed to be extremely scratch proof, being the 4th hardest mineral found in nature, the only natural minerals harder than quartz being diamond, sapphire and topaz. I used underhung Toto wash basin. Wall hung cabinet below is from OPSH, the same contractor which did my kitchen and all other cabinets.

[back to Table of Contents]

Edited May 24, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

[back to Table of Contents]

Laying white marble, especially those with veins, is very challenging. A lot of contractors are reluctant to use white marble.

For the toilet walls, we chose white Volakas marble. My wife specially asked for those with a bit of pattern, light veins which flowed diagonally from top right to bottom left. We paid $1 more per piece for "dry lay". This is a process whereby the marble supplier would lay out all the marble at his warehouse as per our installation plan, and we could arrange all the pieces such that the pieces all match, with veins flowing smoothly. We could reject pieces that were chipped or out of place or colour. The pieces would be individually labelled A1 to A6 for bottom row, B1 to B6 for 2nd row and so on. When delivered to site, the installer will lay the pieces according to their pre-selected location.

In theory, it is perfect. In practice, it was a fiasco. I still don't know if it is worth it. Those of you who are considering dry lay should take note of our mistakes.

As can be seen from the dry lay, the marble pieces looked perfect at the warehouse.

Edited May 24, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Firstly, what you see at the warehouse is not what you will see when the marble pieces are installed. They just look very different. I don't think any one switched the pieces. (But you wouldn't know if someone did). It seems that once the marble tiles touch water or cement or whatever is used to stick them to the wall, they change colour. Perfectly white pieces turn dark. I don't know why.

Secondly, the marble pieces were laid in a zig zag manner, which is common. It then transpired that at the dry lay, they were laid in a straight manner. Immediately, all the vein lines ran. It was a joke.

Then, to make things worse, the ID calculated one column short. So, the tiler did not have enough tiles for each row. So, instead of laying A! to A6, B1 to B6, C1 to C6 etc he ended up laying A1 to B1, B2 to C2, C3 to D3 etc. Everything was messed up.

If you need to do dry lay, don't be like us.

Edited November 5, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

For the hall, we decided to save some money and simply re-polish the existing marble. This is where we learnt there are marble polishers and there are marble polishers.

The first contractor had the standard marble polishing machine which he used to run over the floor a few times. He finished his job on Friday evening, just in time for our furniture to move in on Monday. However, my wife was not satisfied with the result. The grout lines were still a bit dark. The polisher said this is normal. They cannot be removed.

This is when we checked with some friends, and was advised that some polishers will remove the grout lines, or least try to. We found one who finally agreed to come on Saturday and Sunday morning. His workers used a device to dig out the dirt along the grout lines.

Then they polished the place.

Edited November 5, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

As I mentioned earlier, after the "wet works", we did not really involve the ID. We liaised directly with many contractors. This created some problems.

If you contract everything through your ID or main contractor, then you have a single point of contact for everything. But when you liase directly with different contractors, you may get this "not my job" attitude.

i had excluded fan installation from the electrician's job scope, contracting that to the fan supplier. The fan supplier's worker installed the fan but for the regulator, he left it at the switch position, saying that it is best for the electrician to install together with the switches. That made sense to me. But when the electrician installed his switches, he just left my regulator hanging there. I had to argue and persuade him to install that as well neatly next to the other switches. Unfortunately, not concealed (as in sunken) but at least in one straight line.

No such problem with the carpenter who did my TV console, as seen below.

Edited November 5, 2013 by kstoh

[Harriette 42]

Hi KS,

I'm considering wood-look-alike tiles for the balcony and yard in my EM. What do you like about your wood-alike tiles? Is it the texture? Feel? Ease of maintenance? Any warping? Did you face any challenges in the installation?

Can PM me the cost? Thanks.

For the kitchen floor, we considered various options before deciding on this:

These are Etic tiles from http://www.rice-fields.com/ecowood.html. Looks and textured like wood, but suitable for use in wet areas. We were happy with them, and decided to use them for our yard floor as well. (Refer to yard picture above)