diy Top @Kew Drive

[Ks Toh 74]

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...

Hi, polycarbonate roofs do have "pitter patter" kind of sound during rain. Nevertheless, I personally do not find it a problem. You get this sound only during rain, and during heavy rain these days, the loud winds and other things associated with the storm kind of camouflage the sound of the rain hitting the roof. There will be other noise problems that will affect you more e.g. neighbour's air conditioner compressor, dog that barks or howls through the night or bird that goes tok tok the whole night. And these do not take place only on a rainy day.

During my renovations, I did consider changing my existing hollow polycarbonate roofs but did not proceed due to the costs involved. But I recall there were alternatives such as solid polycarbonate or aluminium composite. I believe (please verify with vendor) the solid polycarbonate type is less noisy than the hollow type.

However, do note that both hollow and solid polycarbonate roofs have a greenhouse effect. It can get very hot and stuff underneath, if there is insufficient ventilation. Tinting the material sufficiently can help a little, but it will still be very hot.

But I recall aluminium composite was suggested to me as a more durable material which will also keep out the heat. Check that out.

Glass roof can be very heavy, requiring steel or other support. So, the cost may be much more.

[Charco 0]

Hi KSTOH,

Thank you for sharing. Yes, my contractor is asking me to use a combination of aluminium and solid polycarbonate...Basically his worry was the weight and the glass will have green house effect. So they suggested aluminium, plus polycarbonate...shall discuss further with him keeping your pointers in mind.

[gkbt 8]

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.

Hi Kstoh,

No worries,

If the strip turns colour, its working.

As for information, drop me a msg if you have queries on health or the system. Been talking about this for so many years already.

[GMC 12]

Hi KSToh,

I used polycarbonate roofing for the past 3 years, I noticed the material tend to flex according to temp change. Water always find it's way via the U-channel edge seals.

As the polycarbonate roofing ages, my house start have the "atap house" look.

We finally removed it and went for conventional clay tile roofing for our terrace area.

Those aluminium composite panels are solid, but they are opaque, it really makes the backyard dark..

[Ks Toh 74]

Hi KSToh,

I used polycarbonate roofing for the past 3 years, I noticed the material tend to flex according to temp change. Water always find it's way via the U-channel edge seals.

As the polycarbonate roofing ages, my house start have the "atap house" look.

We finally removed it and went for conventional clay tile roofing for our terrace area.

Those aluminium composite panels are solid, but they are opaque, it really makes the backyard dark..

What you said is true. Water seems to find its way into the polycarbonate roof.

The hollow polycarbonate roof in my yard is still leaking but not as bad after the repairs. The contractor is coming back to take a look tomorrow. The hollow polycarbonate roof on my roof terrace I did not repair, so I have to live with the leaks. Some water also find its way into the hollow part. From far, it looked like a crack in the roof, but it is not.

Edited July 10, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

In my earlier post here, I complained about my LPG gas supplier, Union Gas. Basically, they dropped $10 discount vouchers into my letterbox but refused to honour them, claiming that their price of S$33.50 was already discounted by $12.50 off the actual price of $46. I was told if I want to use the voucher, they will sell me at $46 less $10 = $36. But they will sell me at $33.50 without voucher. So ingenious!

So based on principle, I decided to boycott them. So happens that a competitor, Tan Bros, just dropped off six $9 discount vouchers into my letterbox.

So, I called them to ask what is the price of their LPG gas. The girl says $34. I told her what about the $9 discount voucher I found in my letterbox? She says: oh, I have already given you a $10 discount off the actual price of $44. If I use the $9 discount voucher, price is $35!

What a joke! Same tactic as Union Gas. I guess they are all the same. So, I told her never mind. Then she checked her records and told me I used to order from them but stopped some time ago. Somehow she reduced her price to $33 and persuaded me to order from her.

Edited July 10, 2014 by kstoh

[Songz 132]

In my earlier post here, I complained about my LPG gas supplier, Union Gas. Basically, they dropped $10 discount vouchers into my letterbox but refused to honour them, claiming that their price of S$33.50 was already discounted by $12.50 off the actual price of $46. I was told if I want to use the voucher, they will sell me at $46 less $10 = $36. But they will sell me at $33.50 without voucher. So ingenious!

So based on principle, I decided to boycott them. So happens that a competitor, Tan Bros, just dropped off six $9 discount vouchers into my letterbox.

So, I called them to ask what is the price of their LPG gas. The girl says $34. I told her what about the $9 discount voucher I found in my letterbox? She says: oh, I have already given you a $10 discount off the actual price of $44. If I use the $9 discount voucher, price is $35!

What a joke! Same tactic as Union Gas. I guess they are all the same. So, I told her never mind. Then she checked her records and told me I used to order from them but stopped some time ago. Somehow she reduced her price to $33 and persuaded me to order from her.

Guess the same trade uses the same marketing gimmick nowadays.

[Ks Toh 74]

Tan Bros' $33 is only 50 cents cheaper than Union Gas' $33.50. When I was not very keen to switch just for 50 cents, she threw in her trump card.

"You guys buy all the LPG gas and think it is from Esso, right? But even though their lorry displays Esso gas, they never give you Esso gas, but some other gas. Go take a look"

Ok, Union was supplying me S2 and U2 gas. Tan Bros supplied me Esso gas. Not sure if Esso gas cooks better!

Edited July 12, 2014 by kstoh

[Ks Toh 74]

I wrote about ladders earlier in this post.

I have great difficulties reaching my fan even on the last step of my tall 10 step letter. The other day, I had to reach the top row of my vertical garden and I could not reach it. So, no choice but to buy a taller ladder. I could not find any 12 step family ladder. Anyway, such a ladder might not fit into my storeroom.

So, finally an excuse to buy my Little Giant Ladder!

I bought the Aluminium 1A Model 26

Weight Capacity: 136 kg

Ladder Weight: 24.5 kg (very heavy!)

A- frame Height: 6' to 11' (1.8 to 3.3 m)

Extension Height: 13' to 23' (3.9 to 7.0 m)

Storage Height: 2.1 m (6' 7")

[Ks Toh 74]

This is a video on this ladder:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0J2KG7GG5o

[Asking4Help 1]

wa.. yr hse hv quite a number of nice ladders...

[Ks Toh 74]

wa.. yr hse hv quite a number of nice ladders...

Yes, I collected them over the years. First, the 6 step family ladder, then the 3 step ladder. Two years ago, the 10 step ladder and now the Little Giant.

From my experience, every home should have a ladder. The most useful will be the 5 or 6 step family ladder. This will last you a long time.

[aluka 32]

Hi Asking4Help

Yes, I noticed that some toilets flush better than others. For example, I used the Toto CT940 for all my toilets as it seems to flush better. I think the water does not go straight down. It kind of spins anti-clockwise. The shop did tell me this particular model has one of the best flushing systems. This video (not by me) shows what I mean.

The other neat thing about this WC is that you can use the Toto washlet. But the WC is quite big and price is on the high side. You can go to Fullsun, the Toto dealer along Jalan Besar to check it out. Their WCs have water connected, so you can actually sit (to see if comfortable or not), flush and see for yourself! Just in case you do not know, not all WCs can fit. You need to measure your toilet rough in i.e. the distance from the centre of your WC outlet to the wall. If the outlet is covered by your existing WC, I believe (but I am not certain) you can measure from the hold-down bolt.

I am not sure about the ticks. I think the more ticks, the less water it uses? That being the case, unless it uses some technology that does the same job with less water, less water will mean weaker flush, which may mean you have to flush twice, resulting in you using more water than you would with a normal 2 or 3 ticks WC? Which defeats the purpose of saving water in the first place?

Best to just follow this:

"If it is yellow, let it mellow. If it is brown, flush it down"

Thanks kstoh for the useful info.. and the TOTO CT940 Info. I checked in Toto website, they don't seem to have this model listed.

[Ks Toh 74]

Thanks kstoh for the useful info.. and the TOTO CT940 Info. I checked in Toto website, they don't seem to have this model listed.

Maybe you can call Fullsun or Heritage to check what is the replacement for this model?

[Ks Toh 74]

A number of people asked me where to buy the Little Giant Ladder. I bought from:

Ladders & Hardware

1 Rochor Canal Road #02-37
Sim Lim Square

Singapore 188504

Tel: (65) 6336-0404

www.laddersandhardware.com

By the way, it is also the same shop I bought my articulated TV Bracket from.

Their prices are fixed. Compared to normal ladders, Little Giant Ladders are rather expensive.

For most homes, I suggest buying the normal 5 or 6 step family ladder. Not expensive, light, safe, easy to carry and use. Do not buy the Little Giant just because it is cool. Buy it only if you need it.

Little Giants are rather heavy. My M26 weights 24.5 kg, Imagine lugging a heavy suitcase. But I have little choice.

- My hall fan is at 410 cm, top row of my vertical garden at 420 cm from my level 2, my 10 step ladder cannot reach

- My bomb shelter / storeroom is 285 cm (already very high) and 10 step ladder 280 cm tall. A taller 12 step ladder (which I cannot find anyway) will likely exceed 285 cm

- The 10 step ladder already seems too tall to be steady. It flexes when I climb it, does not feel sturdy.

Edited July 20, 2014 by kstoh