diy Top @Kew Drive

[Asking4Help 1]

Nice to see you back again.

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi Asking4Help

Yes, I just returned.

On aircon, I have used the following brands before: Daikin, Carrier, Toshiba, Panasonic & Mitsubishi. These are the more popular brands. I have also known of some people who tried some of the other not so well known brands like Delonghi and it was a disaster. For equipment that you are going to use daily for years to come, I think it is better to stick to tried and tested brands.

The following are purely my observations:

Daikin - Always reliable. But relatively expensive and seems like design is not as modern.

Carrier - Reliable but now I do not know..

Toshiba - Originally not so bad but now the construction so plasticky (my cover hinge broke and I had to sue masking tape to secure it) and the remote not impressive

Panasonic - Design impressive but performance fail. Noisy.

Mitsubishi Electric - Design and performance good. I am currently using them.

According to Jack Neo, you can clean the air-conditioner easily but I have yet to try it.

http://youtu.be/NIOGLBMyPfs

Edited December 30, 2013 by kstoh

[sherting 5]

DIY DRILLING TILES (MARBLE, CERAMIC ETC)

I read in one of the blogs that the contractor accidentally cracked one of the tiles while drilling. Although accidents are unavoidable, I would like to say that often the contractors do not take sufficient care in drilling tiles). I have drilled through countless tiles (marble, ceramic etc) without any problems, always creating a very neat, clean puncture hole in the tile.

But often the hole drilled by contractors is not neat. There are cracks around it. You cannot see it because often the article you are installing (holder, rack etc) covers the hole. Once you remove the article, you can see the ugly drill hole. It is only in cases where the cracks are larger than the part of the article covering the hole that you see the ugly job.

The steps for drilling tiles are the same as for drilling concrete except for the few additional steps below.

STEP 1

For tiles, I always tape the drilling location with a masking tape and mark the point over it. For ceramic tiles where there is a large gap between tiles, I often try to drill in the grout lines between the tiles. My thinking is that should I need to change the location of the fixture in the future, I can just cover up the hole there and it is not too obvious.

STEP 2

Using a wall nail (or screw) and a hammer, I will knock a small hole at the drilling point. This is to allow the drill bit to sit properly and not move about.

STEP 3

I always use the normal masonry drill bit but you must use a new drill bit which is still sharp. As a rule, I will use a new drill bit to drill marble for about 6 to 8 holes before i "retire" it for use to drill concrete. When drilling marble, once I pass the marble and reach the concrete, I will change the drill bit to the "retired" drill bits. The problem with contractors is that they will use the same drill bit for many, many drill jobs. They cannot be changing drill bits for you every few holes. But that is why the holes are not neat, and sometimes they crack the tiles.

STEP 4

When drilling tiles, you must use drill mode (not hammer) at low speed. It is only after you have passed the tile and reached the concrete that you can use hammer mode at high speed. I find that when drilling tiles, applying water to the drill bit (or hole) helps the process.

This is the end result:

Many of the racks in the toilets were installed by me.

DIY DRILLING TILES (MARBLE, CERAMIC ETC)

I read in one of the blogs that the contractor accidentally cracked one of the tiles while drilling. Although accidents are unavoidable, I would like to say that often the contractors do not take sufficient care in drilling tiles). I have drilled through countless tiles (marble, ceramic etc) without any problems, always creating a very neat, clean puncture hole in the tile.

But often the hole drilled by contractors is not neat. There are cracks around it. You cannot see it because often the article you are installing (holder, rack etc) covers the hole. Once you remove the article, you can see the ugly drill hole. It is only in cases where the cracks are larger than the part of the article covering the hole that you see the ugly job.

The steps for drilling tiles are the same as for drilling concrete except for the few additional steps below.

STEP 1

For tiles, I always tape the drilling location with a masking tape and mark the point over it. For ceramic tiles where there is a large gap between tiles, I often try to drill in the grout lines between the tiles. My thinking is that should I need to change the location of the fixture in the future, I can just cover up the hole there and it is not too obvious.

STEP 2

Using a wall nail (or screw) and a hammer, I will knock a small hole at the drilling point. This is to allow the drill bit to sit properly and not move about.

STEP 3

I always use the normal masonry drill bit but you must use a new drill bit which is still sharp. As a rule, I will use a new drill bit to drill marble for about 6 to 8 holes before i "retire" it for use to drill concrete. When drilling marble, once I pass the marble and reach the concrete, I will change the drill bit to the "retired" drill bits. The problem with contractors is that they will use the same drill bit for many, many drill jobs. They cannot be changing drill bits for you every few holes. But that is why the holes are not neat, and sometimes they crack the tiles.

STEP 4

When drilling tiles, you must use drill mode (not hammer) at low speed. It is only after you have passed the tile and reached the concrete that you can use hammer mode at high speed. I find that when drilling tiles, applying water to the drill bit (or hole) helps the process.

This is the end result:

Many of the racks in the toilets were installed by me.

Wow handyman! Save a lot.

[Ks Toh 74]

One thing to note if you are buying Mitsubishi air-conditioner is that there are two Mitsubishi air-cons, one from Mitsubishi Electric (ME) and the other from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Some less than open sales persons sell the units as though they are all the same, all from Mitsubishi but in fact, they are totally different.

ME and MHI are both part of the Mitsubishi group, but this group is a very loose entity. Members of the group do sell similar products and in the case of air-con, ME and MHI actually compete against one another! In Singapore, ME is represented by Mitsubishi Electric Asia Pte Ltd while MHI is represented by the Wo Kee Hong group. If your MItsubishi Heavy Industries air-con breaks down, don't go running to Mitsubishi Electric Singapore, their competitor!

Mitsubishi Electric is by:

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is by:

My aircon installer tells me that ME is slightly better, especially in multi-split but I cannot confirm this since I do not have any experience with MHI. On the internet, you also get people saying the other way round. But generally, ME is slightly more expensive than MHI. Maybe those of you who have experience with MHI units can share with us?

Edited December 30, 2013 by kstoh

[Harriette 42]

Hi kstoh,

do you have any recommendation on where to buy outdoor furniture? Thanks.

[Ks Toh 74]

One final point about air-cons is the use of single-split (one fan coil to one compressor) versus multi-split units (two or more fan coils to one compressor). In HDB flats, I think there is not much choice but in private homes, there might be a choice.

Based purely on my personal experience, a multi-split unit has a number of disadvantages (unequal cooling especially for the furthest room, complete aircon failure for all rooms when single compressor breaks down) with no noticeable savings in energy consumption. By all accounts, everyone says that multi-split units should save energy. The brochure says that the compressor will scale down energy consumption if only one fan coil is in operation. But the truth is that, at least in my case, there is no noticeable energy savings. I don't know if it is the way I use my aircon, or the way I configured the multi-split. My complete speculation is that in a multi-split configuration, the single bigger compressor (notwithstanding the alleged intelligence to scale down) actually consumes more energy than a single split compressor.

Anyway, for the current home, I decided to just use single-split for all rooms.

What are your experiences?

Edited December 30, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi kstoh,

do you have any recommendation on where to buy outdoor furniture? Thanks.

Hi Harriette

We visited many shops that sell outdoor furniture and I cannot remember all of them. Those I remembered are:-

OHMM Inspirational at Riverside Point - I recall quite expensive

Resortz Living at 50 Macpherson Road - cheapest

Eden Lifestyle at Bah Soon Pah Road

Natural Living at Upper Bukit Timah Road

Chin Ling Nursery at Bedok South Road

D'Galleria Pte Ltd at Ubi Techpark

I bought 3 sets from D'Galleria. I think the pieces here have better design and build quality. I also bought 2 chairs and 1 small round table from a shop in Mid View City, where Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh is located. Unfortunately, I forgot the name of the shop.

I you have limited time, then visit Resortz Living and D'Galleria.

[Ks Toh 74]

These are the two chairs and one small round table I bought for my son's balcony, from the shop in Mid View City, whose name I forgot. I recall they were not expensive. The colour combination is a bit odd.

These are the 8 seater Table & Chair dining set and Bali sofa, which we bought from D'Galleria. The table & chair set is quite normal but the Bali sofa is quite interesting. Not sure if you can visualise from the picture, but there are 4 separate pieces and they can be arranged to various configurations.

Edited December 30, 2013 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

In my outdoor patio, my originally ordered piece was delayed by months. To appease my wife, D'Galleria lent us a temporary set. This set was totally different. Instead of the usual wicker design, it uses metal. Ended up we liked it, so we accepted this set in place of the one we ordered.

[back to Table of Contents]

Edited May 24, 2014 by kstoh

[Asking4Help 1]

Thanks kstoh for sharing your wealth of information.

[greglhc 30]

I opted to MHI sys 2 and it was actually 100 bucks more than starmex sys 2.

BTU the same. Overall quite satisfied with MHI.

There is a post here, dated Oct '12 which compares the various brands. Worth a read.

[Ks Toh 74]

[back to Table of Contents]

I opted to MHI sys 2 and it was actually 100 bucks more than starmex sys 2.

BTU the same. Overall quite satisfied with MHI.

There is a post here, dated Oct '12 which compares the various brands. Worth a read.

This is interesting. I looked at my quotations. For 13,000 BTU, ME and MHI units were quoted the same. But for 18,000 BTU, both Gain City and another air-con contractor (which I eventually used) quoted $100 to $150 more for ME.

But the important thing is that you are happy with your choice, and there are no problems.

Edited May 24, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Thanks kstoh for sharing your wealth of information.

Hi

It's my pleasure. Can't say I know much though.

[Ks Toh 74]

Close up pictures of the outdoor furniture on my roof terrace

Edited January 1, 2014 by kstoh

[apricot 0]

Hi kstoh,

Thanks for sharing your home and reno. Enjoyed reading it ! I must say you have good taste and colour co-ordination.... a really nice house.