Hacking Out A Home-Shaped Hole @ Cassia

[Dwinsplace 48]

Really like the grey brick wall a lot! Nice amount of texture

Nice and special brick wall!! I wish I can have such a big brick wall...but have to go for alternative due to budget constraint...

Thanks for the kind words! We really love the brick wall too. Its my favourite part of the house at the moment. It seems that its a special variety imported from korea. So it has more texture than the ones you find in singapore. Not sure if you can get similar from TB though. TB has EVERYTHING!

And again I need to give credit to my ID. We couldn't have afforded such a large brick wall too. But due to design issues that we discovered on site, she enlarged the brick wall for us at no extra cost.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Hi, may i know where u got this gate and how much? You home looks really nice. All coming together very well.

The gate we ordered from Dr Doors. PMed you the price.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Flooring is finally completed. Vinyl was one of the last things to go on because the ID was concerned that the workers would scratch it and so delayed it.

Now the disgusting pink tiles are finally hidden from view! Tadaaaa!

That's actually the only picture i have of the floor cos I wasn't there and straight after it was laid, it was covered by the cardboard protection. 10 points to the ID for looking after the floors! It also means that I can't test the quality of the floors to make sure no bumps etc. But I reminded my ID several times to warn the workmen that I'm super anal and that I had better not feel any bumps under the floors. Fingers crossed!

I opted to go without skirting though. The skirting colours weren't nice and i thought it would look more industrial without. Unfortunately, i wasn't expecting this to happen.

The silicon that they use to seal the edges of the vinyl is a bright white! No other colour options available it seems. Firstly, it looks very obvious, and secondly, I'm afraid that it will yellow over time. Also, the thickness of the silicon is very uneven and because the colour is so vivid, you can see it right away. I understand that its near impossible to squeeze out silicon evenly, and the gaps between floor and wall aren't even in the first place. But still.... ID says that the painters will come in to touch up the bottom of the walls that were smeared w silicon and then we will see how the effect is. If needed, will bring in layers again and touch up the silicon.

Worst case scenario, go with skirting?

[Dwinsplace 48]

Balcony doors are also up! Originally, we wanted the black framed cafe look that is so popular right now. But after viewing the 3D renderings, we felt that the black lines were excessive and made the house look too busy. Especially with the textured walls and black track lights etc. So we simplified the design of the balcony doors and reduced the lines for a cleaner more chic look.

Also, we opted for casement doors instead of sliding doors. Felt more french cafe and nicer to be able to open up into the balcony. At first we were concerned that the airflow would be less this way, but after thinking about it, sliding doors will also result in 2 solid panels blocking the wind at all times. Same as this. Also, it seems that casement doors are cheaper!

My only grouse is that I wished that the borders were thinner. The dividing line is nice and thin, but i feel that the borders are too thick. But it was necessary for the weight of the glass as well as the lock set in the door.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Steel dungeon update:

Went down to the site a few days ago and saw a panel of the steel wall. Now this steel wall is the highlight of her designs so you can imagine that I had rather high hopes for it. Imagine my disappointment when I saw this.

I was quite speechless. a muddy purple colour??! REALLY??! And he insists that he based the colour on the 3D rendering that the ID gave him (which to be fair was not an accurate colour since the 3D had yellow lighting). Didn't know whether to kill him or the ID but it was unacceptable!!

Also, when i asked the ID a long time ago how the wall would be constructed, she mentioned that it would be a solid steel panel. I was worried about noise insulation but she said no worries, cos the plate will be very thick. At which point she indicated with her fingers a thickness similar to the steel plates you drive over when they have road construction. So I thought, that for a wall? Suuuuure! No problems.

The actual product? (sorry for the bad photo but my phone doesn't have good macro)

This thickness is 1.5mm according to the contractor. A far FAR cry from the road construction plates. You could barely drive a hot wheels car over this. He says that once it's mounted, you won't be able to tell the thickness. True! But you can FEEL it! It rattles and sounds like a milo can. A MILO CAN!

My steel dungeon was becoming a zinc attap house....

Messaged the ID with photos and to her credit, she arranged to come down with the senior designer in her firm straight away.

The 3 of us talked to the contractor for about 45 mins and finally managed to come up with revisions in how it was constructed so that it would feel more solid. The contractor insists that increasing it to 3mm thickness would be too heavy to carry so in the end we settled on sandwiching compressed foam between 2 x 1.5mm sheets to deaden the noise. (of course if you did the math, that would still result in 3mm worth of steel. But he agreed so I kept quiet esp since now I had more steel, AND noise insulation. )

The resulting panel after reconstruction and a new paint coat looks like this.

MUUUUUCH better! The colour made all the difference! We will be sanding it very lightly to create a brushed texture and adding very small smears of bronze at the edges to give it a slightly aged feel. In the end might opt out of the bronze though.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Dwinsplace

[Dwinsplace 48]

Unearthing some of the TB loot! Again, I didn't get to be the one to open it but it's ok. Didn't manage to get a crowbar anyway. The electricians did it since they were installing the lights. It was pretty funny actually. One guy was using a screw driver in an effort to pry open the crate. He was trying for a while when the other electrician went to the other end of the box and just ripped off the wood with his bare hands! I was properly impressed and made a mental note not to piss him off.

I am very happy to report that the electrician says that all lights have all the appropriate wires and parts. In fact, it was a t5 light that I got from singapore that was missing a wire attachment. lol! Props to TB! I still don't know if they all work yet but once that's all tested I'll post the links of where I got each light from.

In the meantime, photos!

Dining lights:

Common toilet light:

Small problem with this. The base of the white shade was not flat. Either it got twisted in transportation or the original construction was flawed. Either way, a bit of squeezing here and there and we managed to make it look ok. Love how it contrasts with the dark tiles!

Kitchen deco light:

These will be edison bulbed and hanging in 3s just behind my sofa. Can't wait!

I forgot to take pics of the worklight that I intend to use for the other side of the kitchen counter though.

Balcony light (also edisoned)

Study light

[Dwinsplace 48]

Master toilet light which will be hung in a pair at different heights.

Bedside light

Track lights

Think i bought like 18 of these. Kiasu. lol

Service yard light

[HansamuQ 5]

Your house looks so nice. Your study steel door concept really is a killer. Can't wait to see the final results.

Can I ask, how much did you spend on Reno total? Cause I'm getting my 5 rooms soon, wanna know the estimate ya.

Hope to see more updates!

[bianzi 52]

I did the same wall as yours for my kitchen and decide to go with skirting for easy maintenance in the future. Even though I am painting mine white...

Flooring is finally completed. Vinyl was one of the last things to go on because the ID was concerned that the workers would scratch it and so delayed it.

Now the disgusting pink tiles are finally hidden from view! Tadaaaa!

That's actually the only picture i have of the floor cos I wasn't there and straight after it was laid, it was covered by the cardboard protection. 10 points to the ID for looking after the floors! It also means that I can't test the quality of the floors to make sure no bumps etc. But I reminded my ID several times to warn the workmen that I'm super anal and that I had better not feel any bumps under the floors. Fingers crossed!

I opted to go without skirting though. The skirting colours weren't nice and i thought it would look more industrial without. Unfortunately, i wasn't expecting this to happen.

The silicon that they use to seal the edges of the vinyl is a bright white! No other colour options available it seems. Firstly, it looks very obvious, and secondly, I'm afraid that it will yellow over time. Also, the thickness of the silicon is very uneven and because the colour is so vivid, you can see it right away. I understand that its near impossible to squeeze out silicon evenly, and the gaps between floor and wall aren't even in the first place. But still.... ID says that the painters will come in to touch up the bottom of the walls that were smeared w silicon and then we will see how the effect is. If needed, will bring in layers again and touch up the silicon.

Worst case scenario, go with skirting?

[Yongshiz 0]

Our laundry system is done! We got it from Ezzi Living and we are quite pleased with the service/ workmanship. We got the tiered system so that we could hang a pole at a time. Easier to maneouvre around a single pole than to have the whole thing come down and take up all the space. We also thought it would allow us to hang the clothes at different heights and enhance airflow and drying.

This was of course run past the wifey and she had final say on what to pick. She's happy with this, so I'm happy with this.

Hi Dwinsplace,

May i knw how much u pay for this laundry system?

[hellonub 5]

That's so much updates in a day, Dwinsplace!

Btw, I just had my flooring done today too. The wall in my MBR is grey while the flooring is vinyl and to my surprise, the worker actually used a brown silicon for the gaps in my MBR The rest of the rooms are done in white silicon.

We wanted to get your study lights too but worried it will be too long from the ceiling. Nonetheless, still eager to see your updates on the TB lights

[fahrenheitbunny 5]

it's about $390 EZ Tier

[greglhc 30]

Paint the white silicon with the wall colour using a small arts and craft paint brush. It worked for me.

[Dwinsplace 48]

That's so much updates in a day, Dwinsplace!

Btw, I just had my flooring done today too. The wall in my MBR is grey while the flooring is vinyl and to my surprise, the worker actually used a brown silicon for the gaps in my MBR The rest of the rooms are done in white silicon.

We wanted to get your study lights too but worried it will be too long from the ceiling. Nonetheless, still eager to see your updates on the TB lights

Haha sometimes the mood comes on and you just type and type. More because stuff is happening faster now. Feels good!

Hmm brown silicon eh? They told me that they don't have other colours...

The study lights does come down quite far but that also ensures that I won't get flicker from the ceiling fan. Also, its placed over the study desk and I won't be walking under that area.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Paint the white silicon with the wall colour using a small arts and craft paint brush. It worked for me.

Great idea greg! Thanks! I'll request for it from my ID. Or just get her to give me paint and I'll spend a day doing it. haha.