Hacking Out A Home-Shaped Hole @ Cassia

[Dwinsplace 48]

Alright forum people! I need your tasteful votes!

Issue: Placement of window (for light and a bit of air) on steel walls. Privacy must still be maintained. We came up with 2 options that resolved the lines differently so this is a purely aesthetic thing.

Option 1: Height of bottom of windows are aligned with top of door frame. The wall panels then seem to be more even. However the window is very near the ceiling and the ID says it makes the wall look weird.

Option 2: Height of middle of windows are aligned with the top of the door frame. The windows are further from the ceiling and if you just focus on the wall, the proportions seem ok. But I'm wondering if the break from the line of the door makes it seem like a separate piece.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?

Edited July 25, 2014 by Dwinsplace

[bianzi 52]

It is tough to decide ... Why do u need windows in the first place? To soften the steel wall look? I go for id suggestion. Second pic

[binzz 10]

Prefer the 2nd look.. Looks more even..

[Raydon 10]

i prefer the first one...

[Songz 132]

+1 vote for 2

[Dwinsplace 48]

It is tough to decide ... Why do u need windows in the first place? To soften the steel wall look? I go for id suggestion. Second pic

Prefer the 2nd look.. Looks more even..

i prefer the first one...

+1 vote for 2

Thanks to all for your votes! Based on what you all said, and more importantly, what the MRS said, we have decided to go with option 2! Mrs says that she wouldn't even consider the walls together with the door and she would place the windows at whatever height is most soothing to the eye. But since I wanted privacy for the room, the windows couldn't be placed too low also so in the end, option 2 was the best.

Bianzi: you asked why have windows at all? One reason is airflow but thats a very small concern. What we have noticed was that the corridor was kinda dark even in the day. So it was more a way to allow some natural light into that area without sacrificing the privacy of my study. Wife also likes the idea of seeing the lights on in my room so that she knows where I am when she wakes up in the middle of the night and finds me not in bed.

[Dwinsplace 48]

They say once you go black, you never go back. And man I'm seeing more and more black in my choices. Black laminates, black tiles, black lights... lol. Thing is, we decided a long time ago that we will keep to a neutral palette. White, black, grey and add browns with woods. That way, if we have colours added via the furniture and we don't like it, we can change it. But overall, we tend not to really like colour anyway.

I think at the moment, the ONLY thing we bought with colour would be our cushion covers from Society 6.

A site recommended by another renotalker and it's awesome!

Lots of prints that I love there as well but they are quite pricey so I'll wait till the house is done and see what spaces I have to fill.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Dwinsplace

[Dwinsplace 48]

Along the lines of black, we just had a minor issue today. I went into the house and noticed that all the wall switches were white even though I expressly requested for black. I panicked for a sec because despite all the warnings, I did not force the electrician to add the words "black switches" into the quotation and just went with faith that my ID said that he knows it should be in black.

Called up the ID to tell her and she said that they know its black, but apparently there was a miscommunication between the electrician boss and his men and they thought the only ones in black were the kitchen ones. So i thought "no worries, they will get it changed"

Imagine my shock when I saw one guy rattling a spray paint can, and then going up to each switch and spraying it black! Including the wall area around it!!

I quickly asked my ID who told me that the wall won't be a problem cos the paint will go over and cover it up. I hope that this is true but she's the professional so I'm giving her my trust.

Went home and spoke to the wife about it and she got really upset cos she hates the quality of spray paint. Generally feels and looks tacky and after use won't it scratch off etc? Then I thought "OMG! She's right! I see black switches all over renotalk! Why should I accept spray painted ones??"

Clarified it with my ID and apparently, the face plate of the switches aren't spray painted. They will be black plastic. She showed me pics of the items in its original packaging. (Looks quite good actually! ) But since HDB requires wires to be exposed, we need the surface mounted boxes to house all the wires under the faceplate. And apparently, this only comes in white in singapore. So anyone who wants to have it black, does it by spray painting. I asked another renotalker stylocool and he says that his was sprayed too.

So phew! Not getting cheated. All good.

This is the kinda stuff that we as normal users would never know/think of. And its part of the learning process. But still a rude shock occasionally and you wonder if you really screwed up by not making sure before they executed.

[Dwinsplace 48]

After much hemming and hawing, we have finally decided on a way to secure our house! As mentioned before, the mrs has agreed to give me a digital lock (so that I don't need to fuss with keys) and we will be putting it on the main gate.

This is the lock of choice! the Yale YDR323G. The picture isn't really accurate. This is the normal door version the YDR323. The YDR323G has the manual unlock switch at the back panel permanently disabled so that people can't reach through the gaps in your gate and just let themselves in. The lock is released on the inside via a remote control.

We picked this lock for 2 reasons. Firstly, it could take RFID card and password. But more importantly, the disabled back panel meant that we could use this gate!

we LOOOOVE this gate. Old school yet its a swing door so still quiet and functional.

We got dr doors to do it and minus a rather unhelpful sales lady, the person sent on site to measure and advise me on the gate was very good. Their quote for a gate+digital lock was also the best that we managed to find. Adding a small customization on the gate also. Just a small metal plate on the fixed panel side of the gate where I can paint on our door numbers. The mrs is VERY VERY worried that I'll screw it up hahaha. A husband who loves to DIY in a very precious and very expensive home is beginning to scare her.

Edited July 30, 2014 by Dwinsplace

[fahrenheitbunny 5]

totally in love with the gate and the cushions! i am so happy !

After much hemming and hawing, we have finally decided on a way to secure our house! As mentioned before, the mrs has agreed to give me a digital lock (so that I don't need to fuss with keys) and we will be putting it on the main gate.

This is the lock of choice! the Yale YDR323G. The picture isn't really accurate. This is the normal door version the YDR323. The YDR323G has the manual unlock switch at the back panel permanently disabled so that people can't reach through the gaps in your gate and just let themselves in. The lock is released on the inside via a remote control.

We picked this lock for 2 reasons. Firstly, it could take RFID card and password. But more importantly, the disabled back panel meant that we could use this gate!

we LOOOOVE this gate. Old school yet its a swing door so still quiet and functional.

We got dr doors to do it and minus a rather unhelpful sales lady, the person sent on site to measure and advise me on the gate was very good. Their quote for a gate+digital lock was also the best that we managed to find. Adding a small customization on the gate also. Just a small metal plate on the fixed panel side of the gate where I can paint on our door numbers. The mrs is VERY VERY worried that I'll screw it up hahaha. A husband who loves to DIY in a very precious and very expensive home is beginning to scare her.

[Puggy 13]

They say once you go black, you never go back. And man I'm seeing more and more black in my choices. Black laminates, black tiles, black lights... lol. Thing is, we decided a long time ago that we will keep to a neutral palette. White, black, grey and add browns with woods. That way, if we have colours added via the furniture and we don't like it, we can change it. But overall, we tend not to really like colour anyway.

I think at the moment, the ONLY thing we bought with colour would be our cushion covers from Society 6.

A site recommended by another renotalker and it's awesome!

Lots of prints that I love there as well but they are quite pricey so I'll wait till the house is done and see what spaces I have to fill.

If you are looking for cushions with animal prints, can check out By Nord.

[lemoncandy 39]

nice cushions!! didn't know about society 6 when shopping for my own... boo. i bought from fortytwo.sg instead. they have similar designs for pretty low prices if you're thinking of adding more to your collection

[Dwinsplace 48]

If you are looking for cushions with animal prints, can check out By Nord.

nice cushions!! didn't know about society 6 when shopping for my own... boo. i bought from fortytwo.sg instead. they have similar designs for pretty low prices if you're thinking of adding more to your collection

Hey Puggy, just checked out ByNord. Lovely photos but I'm personally more keen on stylized graphics. I live apart from the real world. That and the euro price tag scared me off. haha.

Lemoncandy: I remember beds.com! Didn't know that it has expanded into this massive all inclusive store. It does have some nice cushions. Will see if we need any more bits and bobs later on but thanks for the recommendation.

[Dwinsplace 48]

After a bit of discussion with the Mrs, we felt that we weren't happy with how the issue with spray painting the wall sockets was handled. If there was a miscomm between the contractor and his workers, they should have removed the surface mounted boxes and spray painted them separately as they would have done normally. Not taken a short cut by just spray painting it on the wall (and the wall around it as well). Thankfully, our ID didn't kick up a fuss about it. They admitted that it was a mistake and that the electricians will remove the boxes and redo it properly.

As for the paint already on the wall, she assures me that the wall paint will cover it and I will see no trace of a dark patch.

Today, the aircon guys came. We got Tim from renotalk posting (I believe the company is called Imperial) and the service has been great so far. They arrived at the house on time and quickly detailed to me what needed to be done. Due to some tiling and electrical works being done, there were minor tweaks to the original routing plan but overall no major surprises.

I wanted to check and make sure that the insulation and copper piping were the upgraded ones agreed upon and so I was frantically searching the next to try to decode what I saw on the packaging. Here's what I found out for those of you who will be using similar materials.

G23 Copper pipes. Note that .61mm is the marking for g23.

Water pipe: 16mm. Honestly not sure why bigger is better... but its supposed to be. Standard HDB is 13mm.

Insulation: This was the one i was most concerned about. I know that good thick insulation means that the coolant in the copper pipes gain less heat as it travels from the compressor to the fan coil. It also helps to absorb any condensation that might occur on the pipes and prevents dripping. This was also the most stressful cos I knew I was supposed to be get 1/2 inch thick insulation. But as you can see in the first pic, the only numbers stated were 3/8inch. Which is the standard, lower quality type.

After research online as well as clarification by Tim, I learnt that Armaflex codes its insulation a bit differently. The letter H in H-010 denotes the thickness of the insulation. Whereas the numbers 3/8" and in the second pic 5/8", denotes the diameter of the internal hole in the insulation. And if you go on the armaflex site, you will find that H is 1/2 inch thick.

They needed two different internal diameters because 1 is for the water pipe and 1 is for the thinner copper pipe.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Also! I went to second charm today to place an order for a solid teak dining table done in the style of grafunkt's apollo table.

Met the owner Shariffah who was very efficient and helpful. Her company has apparently been giving old furniture a facelift for the past 15 years but only started making furniture in the last 4 years or so.

She says that they use planation teak of a high grade and so things like splitting or cracking won't be an issue. If it happens, I can go straight back to her.

Honestly though, looking at the pieces around her showroom, the workmanship is good, but not at the level of the pieces you find in grafunkt or air. The finish is not as smooth and the grain not as balanced. That said, you are paying a third of the price. So you decide for yourself which you value more. I was quite happy with what they produced and her eye for finishes. So I can't wait to see the finished product.

We have also just received a call from our freight forwarder! Our TB loot will arrive earlier than expected on the 5th of Aug!! Whoo! 23 parcels in total but sadly they can't give us a rough timing. Only that they will call an hour before they arrive. Stay tuned for my post on the loot! Feels like christmas!