diy Top @Kew Drive

[WCCommander 0]

My new place is almost ready ! I rebulit from scratch and its been 12 months since. It has been a long process , fortunately not as dramatic or arduous as some have dsecribed.

I really hope that in my new house there will be no leakage problem . Reading your blog , and what some of my uncles ( who stay in landed ) and also my neighbours say , seems like leakage is the norm rather than the exception .

Edited June 8, 2014 by WCCommander

[wirriam 3]

very detailed entry

[Ks Toh 74]

The rain was really very sudden and heavy this evening, with very strong winds.

Doors and windows were blown open, and two young Eugenia Trees were brought down. Up on my roof terrace, the wind was strong enough to move my heavy BBQ set (but it has wheels) and topple my mahjong table. My outdoor sofa cover, cushions, shoes and door mat went flying.

All these captured by my web camera on my roof terrace. It is good to be able to know what happened, especially if you were not there.

[Ks Toh 74]

The very strong winds came again this morning at 3 am, bringing down trees in various parts of Singapore. When I went for my morning run this morning at the East Coast Park, the jogging track was strewn with all kinds of fallen branches and leaves.

According to Channel News Asia, this is the result of a Sumatran squall and the wind speed near the West Coast Highway reached a top speed of 103.7 km per hour. Looks like the strong winds hit only the southern parts of Singapore. Those living in the north reported no such winds.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/more-sumatra-squalls/1149442.html

This time I had secured all my outdoor furniture but still the sofa was shifted by the wind, and one side panel of my jacuzzi was yanked off by the wind.

Edited June 12, 2014 by kstoh

[gkbt 8]

Hi Kstoh,

Just bump into your t-blog.

Kindly read up on what I input there. http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/15135-water-filters/

One thing is sure, what u see e.g. pH / ORP it not actually what you get. Rather its a "preset value" by program, nothing to do whether its alkaline or acidic

You might one to retest it again to make sure.

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi gkbt

I am aware that the display shows merely the present value. I have no idea how to accurately test the water. If you read what I posted, my test using litmus paper did not show any real difference. Is there a test kit we can buy?

I read through several pages of your blog and actually I got very confused. haha.

[gkbt 8]

Hi kstoh,

There should be a liquid pH tester with every water ionizer purchased. It should be orangish in colour and will determine the pH of the sample via colours. Litmus papers are good for general testing but eventually it will be not so accurate due to oxidization, based on your blog and if I am assuming correctly, the litmus paper is new and the system is new. Therefore one of them is not working or is not used properly. If you have tested the litmus paper to be working then its the latter that needs investigation.

Furthermore you can accurately test the pH value of the sample (in this case water) via a pH meter. Simply buy one from online or from some scientific shops. Accuracy down to the decimal.

Do let me know which part of the blog is confusing to you.

What is more critically would be: - paying for a water ionizer system should be in direct relation to the high pH / ORP it can achieve.

Cheers

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi gkbt

There is nothing wrong with your blog. Just too much information for me to digest, hence I got confused. I originally thought I was just getting an alkaline water dispenser, on the assumption that alkaline water is good. But then came filtration, ionisation, ORP etc. Information overload.

My litmus paper is new, although it being quite expensive and hardly the type of things people buy, it may have been sitting on the Guardian shelf for years. But I tested on lime juice and dishwashing liquid, and they both turned colour, as I showed above. So, the paper seems to be working. Yes, the machine came with some liquid tester but I cannot find it now.

[Ks Toh 74]

Optical Glass Cracked

My OPSH hall cabinet and dry kitchen all have white optical glass surface. Looks really good but honestly quite fragile. One accidental knock at the edge and there may be a chip which will pain your heart. So far, there have been three accidents.

Accident 1 - I had to register my Brandt built-in oven warranty online. I looked at the outside and inside of the oven but could not find the serial number. I thought probably the serial number is at the back of the oven. With the help of my helper, I tried to pull out the oven (side note: that is why some contractors do not fix the oven permanently) and in the process, it rested onto the cabinet door below. You know what happened. Luckily, the chip was small here. Can live with it. After I put back the oven, I discovered that the serial number was at the front of the oven but hidden by the side of the door!

Accident 2 - A friend came over. She was taking in/out some wine bottles. Not sure how, but she hit against the edge of the cabinet door above the wine chiller. Luckily, the chip was also small here. Can live with it.

Accident 3 - We did not see what happened but it could have been caused by some friends who had luggage with them. Anyway, the next morning after they left, my helper reported a huge crack right across the door of my dining area cabinet. This one is simply too big to ignore.

(Just imagine one crack right across the 2.45m high door)

I called OPSH. Freddy Shim and his carpenter came this morning to take measurements. Freddy informed that after I posted my pictures, he received quite a number of calls. Nice!

Edited June 14, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

Power Trips

Every time it rains, my power trips and the whole house is without power. It is so frustrating.

After some trial and error, I discovered that I could isolate the trip to one circuit (not sure if that is the correct term). Basically, if I turn off the switch L1R (which controls all the lights on the ground floor porch, hall and dining area) at the ELCB, I could turn on the main ELCB switch and restore power to the rest of the house. So, this is kind of SOP (standard operating procedure) now. In the middle of the night, it rains and the power goes off. My helper goes to the ELCB and she knows what to do.

But I don't think this arrangement is feasible in the long run. I need to get this sorted out. I texted my electrician. No response from him. I am thinking maybe I should find another electrician but then my electrician is the one who rewired parts of the house and should know better.

[back to Table of Contents]

Edited June 16, 2014 by kstoh

[BunBun 5]

I've been wondering about instant water heaters for landed property. I know you have written about water heater in a post before but what I am wondering is whether landed property require water heaters with pump. I know HDB flats do not need pump for water heater because of the huge water tank on the roof.

Not sure if it is feasible but you could separate electrical phases, eg one part for upstairs and one part for downstairs so that when power goes off, it only affects one part and the other part will still have power running. But this may or not require 2 ELCB, one for upstairs and one for downstairs?

[Ks Toh 74]

[back to Table of Contents]

I've been wondering about instant water heaters for landed property. I know you have written about water heater in a post before but what I am wondering is whether landed property require water heaters with pump. I know HDB flats do not need pump for water heater because of the huge water tank on the roof.

Not sure if it is feasible but you could separate electrical phases, eg one part for upstairs and one part for downstairs so that when power goes off, it only affects one part and the other part will still have power running. But this may or not require 2 ELCB, one for upstairs and one for downstairs?

I am not aware of landed properties requiring water heaters with pumps. I have both instant water heater and storage heaters in my house. I do not have any additional pumps or other devices. HDB blocks require booster pump because the building is so high. For example, in a 40 storey block, the water from the water tank at the roof top may feed levels 1 to 24 using gravity force whereas levels 25 upwards may need booster pump. But in a private landed property, I think at most you have 3 or 4 levels. The water pressure from the mains should be sufficient unless you live at a property that is on top of some hill or for some reason, the water pressure from the mains is low.

From what I know, storage heaters will be able to deliver higher volume of water whereas instant heaters tend to reduce the water volume. I did write up on this in my blog. Check the index on page 1.

Yes, various parts of my house are already under different circuits. Hence, when the whole house trips, I am able to isolate and just shutdown one of the switches and all other parts of the house still have power. But this switch which I have to shut down controls the ground floor lighting from porch to hall to dining area. So no lights and no fans. Always need to have candle light dinner when it rains but cannot be doing this all the time.

Edited June 16, 2014 by kstoh

[BunBun 5]

Interesting. I do not own any landed property so this is based on what I heard from several friends living in landed property overseas.

Their homes need water heater with pump and it is sometimes a matter of luck for them if water pressure is good enough not to warrant a pump as water heaters with pumps are more expensive than without pumps.

For electricity, they have 3 phase to handle electrical parts and I was surprised to know that in event of electrical trip, one part of the house will be without electricity and the other parts of the house will have electricity so there is no need to manually shut down one of the switches to isolate one area or ensure the other part will have power.

Too bad HDB flats does not have this though.

I am not aware of landed properties requiring water heaters with pumps. I have both instant water heater and storage heaters in my house. I do not have any additional pumps or other devices. HDB blocks require booster pump because the building is so high. For example, in a 40 storey block, the water from the water tank at the roof top may feed levels 1 to 24 using gravity force whereas levels 25 upwards may need booster pump. But in a private landed property, I think at most you have 3 or 4 levels. The water pressure from the mains should be sufficient unless you live at a property that is on top of some hill or for some reason, the water pressure from the mains is low.

From what I know, storage heaters will be able to deliver higher volume of water whereas instant heaters tend to reduce the water volume. I did write up on this in my blog. Check the index on page 1.

Yes, various parts of my house are already under different circuits. Hence, when the whole house trips, I am able to isolate and just shutdown one of the switches and all other parts of the house still have power. But this switch which I have to shut down controls the ground floor lighting from porch to hall to dining area. So no lights and no fans. Always need to have candle light dinner when it rains but cannot be doing this all the time.

[Charco 0]

Hi KSTOH,

I read your thread and saw that you have many good advice to share. I am in the process of a tedious A&A and is at the stage of deciding between polycarbonate roof vs glass roof for my wet kitchen. As this will be directly be below my Master bedroom, I am wondering if the poly roof will be too noisy during rainy days.

Hope to hear from your experience since I saw that you have poly roof at home...

[Ks Toh 74]

Interesting. I do not own any landed property so this is based on what I heard from several friends living in landed property overseas.

Their homes need water heater with pump and it is sometimes a matter of luck for them if water pressure is good enough not to warrant a pump as water heaters with pumps are more expensive than without pumps.

For electricity, they have 3 phase to handle electrical parts and I was surprised to know that in event of electrical trip, one part of the house will be without electricity and the other parts of the house will have electricity so there is no need to manually shut down one of the switches to isolate one area or ensure the other part will have power.

Too bad HDB flats does not have this though.

Other countries are very big and their water pipes have to travel long distances, hence the water pressure may not be strong enough in many places. Singapore is very small. Generally, the pressure from the mains is good enough in most places.

I do not know how many "phases" my electricity supply comes in. In the event of power trip, the main switch trips and my whole house is without power. I have to manually shut down one of the switches to isolate the area, then I can switch on the main switch without tripping the whole house. It is not automatic.