Hacking Out A Home-Shaped Hole @ Cassia

[hellonub 5]

Dwinsplace!! What did you use to open them ah? The Taobao goodness is here!!

[Dwinsplace 48]

Thanks for replying, Dwinsplace!

Take ur time as I can wait..

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Eames-elephant-chair-Children-s-furniture-children-s-chair-children-s-toy-and-seat/1640978104.html

Hey angel! Sorry my wife posted that link for you to search for the elephant chair. We didn't actually use that link to buy the elephant. I'll post the actual link I used later as promised.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Hi...

may I have the link for the kitchen tap?

Is it good?

Hey there! The tap works great. No piping issues that u hear of from American sanitary wares. Feels very sturdy after installation.

As for the link, you will have to wait till the weekend as well sorry.

[Dwinsplace 48]

I like the fabric chair and elephant. Do you have to assemble them yourself?

Both chair and elephant came as is. saved me from screwing it up

[Dwinsplace 48]

Dwinsplace!! What did you use to open them ah? The Taobao goodness is here!!

I was advised to use a crowbar but those are difficult to find! I suggest a claw hammer. Which I didn't have also. Lol. But at least those are easy to buy.

I used an adjustable monkey wrench to clip the boards and then twisted it to break the wood. After that it was brute force w a gloved hand. Not a recommended method unless you skipped gym and need a bit of a sweat. Lol

Good luck w the loot! Hope everything turns out as you had hoped! And post pics!

Edited September 16, 2014 by Dwinsplace

[Dwinsplace 48]

It's the last week of Reno before we move in and there are still a number of rectifications to be done sadly. Mostly minor stuff except 2 things. The steel wall and a patch on the vinyl flooring.

The steel wall was most disappointing. They used silicon to stick on the rivets and it oozed out the sides of the rivets. Why they used silicon in the first place instead of some metal bonding agent is beyond me but they said that they would cut the excess silicon off so that I won't see it. Fine. That was last week. As of last Saturday, the steel wall was supposed to be fully completed.

However I go in on Monday to find that they had Cut and SCRATCHED away the silicon, along with the paint. So I see a river surrounded by scratch marks. Like when someone keys your car! AND AND not all the rivets were done. Some still had the silicon! Unacceptable workmanship. The ID's reply to me today was that they had started very last on Friday and worked till 7plus. I thought that was a terrible reply... I don't care how late they have to work. If they hadn't screwed up in the first place, they would have been done earlier. And not only that, they were working on it on Friday. But Monday and Tuesday they didn't come at all. Surely if they had felt that the work was incomplete and left on Friday, they should be back first thing Monday morning to finish up. All this told me was that the steel contractor has terrible standards for his work and needs to be closely monitored and I told the ID as much.

ANYWAY, they were there this evening and will be in again tomorrow morning to finish up. Really hope it gets done to a decent level.

It's such a prominent feature and bound to be subject to scrutiny. It HAS to be done well.

As for the flooring, well, it was a bit unavoidable. We only removed the floor protection recently so I never got to walk over the vinyl to make sure that all was ok. I found that a portion of the floor had a very significant dip. Apparently the levels of the rooms are all different. So when we hacked a wall and merged two areas, even tho the hacked area was screeded over, the difference in height between the 2 rooms was still obvious to touch.

Thankfully, they managed to source contractors from another job to come and remove some of the vinyl today. Another set of guys will come in tomorrow to screed a larger area to make the gradient more gentle, and then the vinyl will be replaced after a day for the cement to dry. So things still still be ok for my move. *crosses fingers and toes*

[Dwinsplace 48]

A note on TB items. I will post all my links w an appropriate review on each item after this weekend but I wanted to give a quick piece of advice to those who are still in the process of buying.

TB gives you great value for money. But you can always tell the different in quality.

So it's great for disposable items like bulbs. And items that people won't pay extremely close attention to light ceiling or pendant lights.

I would now personally avoid (as much as possible) items fashioned from wood. The quality and grain of wood varies too much.

That said, I would still go back to TB for future purchases. just buy with caution guys!

[yogi07 2]

Hi yogi! It's a bit hard to estimate the cost for the flooring. I paid about $6.4K for most of my 5 room flat to be covered. Except balcony, service yard and kitchen. But I must say that this is through the ID's contact. I think you can get evorich's herf for slightly cheaper at $7 psf.

As for experience, I can only say that it looks FANTASTIC! (pictures will follow shortly) The protection has only just come off and they are doing paint touch ups at the moment so I haven't had the chance to step on it with bare feet.

My only issue as mentioned in a previous post is that I opted to go without skirting. I don't regret my choice but due to walls not being straight, the thickness of the silicon used to seal the edges are also varying in thickness. And since the silicon is white, it stands out.

I'm painting the silicon the wall colour to hide things a bit. Another blogger commented that some companies have brown silicon (or whatever colour matches your floor) if you decide to go down this path also. Hope this helps!

I've signed up with Evorich during the Modern home fair. Whole of my 5 room, excluding toilets cost about $9k. Yours is definitely cheaper!

I think it looks nice without skirting. But my contractor says over time the wall will darken when you mop and of course dust gets collected at the edge...so I'm still thinking whether to go with or without. I do not want laminates, Tiles will be expensive. Only choice is veneer as recommended by my contractor.

By the way, I've just gotten a set of samples from kompacplus for me to "abuse". And they have 2 new colours that they've just release, 1 is cement screed looking.

[CuGu 12]

It's the last week of Reno before we move in and there are still a number of rectifications to be done sadly. Mostly minor stuff except 2 things. The steel wall and a patch on the vinyl flooring.

The steel wall was most disappointing. They used silicon to stick on the rivets and it oozed out the sides of the rivets. Why they used silicon in the first place instead of some metal bonding agent is beyond me but they said that they would cut the excess silicon off so that I won't see it. Fine. That was last week. As of last Saturday, the steel wall was supposed to be fully completed.

However I go in on Monday to find that they had Cut and SCRATCHED away the silicon, along with the paint. So I see a river surrounded by scratch marks. Like when someone keys your car! AND AND not all the rivets were done. Some still had the silicon! Unacceptable workmanship. The ID's reply to me today was that they had started very last on Friday and worked till 7plus. I thought that was a terrible reply... I don't care how late they have to work. If they hadn't screwed up in the first place, they would have been done earlier. And not only that, they were working on it on Friday. But Monday and Tuesday they didn't come at all. Surely if they had felt that the work was incomplete and left on Friday, they should be back first thing Monday morning to finish up. All this told me was that the steel contractor has terrible standards for his work and needs to be closely monitored and I told the ID as much.

ANYWAY, they were there this evening and will be in again tomorrow morning to finish up. Really hope it gets done to a decent level.

It's such a prominent feature and bound to be subject to scrutiny. It HAS to be done well.

As for the flooring, well, it was a bit unavoidable. We only removed the floor protection recently so I never got to walk over the vinyl to make sure that all was ok. I found that a portion of the floor had a very significant dip. Apparently the levels of the rooms are all different. So when we hacked a wall and merged two areas, even tho the hacked area was screeded over, the difference in height between the 2 rooms was still obvious to touch.

Thankfully, they managed to source contractors from another job to come and remove some of the vinyl today. Another set of guys will come in tomorrow to screed a larger area to make the gradient more gentle, and then the vinyl will be replaced after a day for the cement to dry. So things still still be ok for my move. *crosses fingers and toes*

Good luck on the rectification!

[Harriette 42]

That's good to know. Share the link for the elephant pls.

Both chair and elephant came as is. saved me from screwing it up

[Dwinsplace 48]

I've signed up with Evorich during the Modern home fair. Whole of my 5 room, excluding toilets cost about $9k. Yours is definitely cheaper!

I think it looks nice without skirting. But my contractor says over time the wall will darken when you mop and of course dust gets collected at the edge...so I'm still thinking whether to go with or without. I do not want laminates, Tiles will be expensive. Only choice is veneer as recommended by my contractor.

By the way, I've just gotten a set of samples from kompacplus for me to "abuse". And they have 2 new colours that they've just release, 1 is cement screed looking.

Nah yours would still be cheaper I think. Cos my kitchen, balcony service yard and part of living room are all tiles. I used cement screed looking tiles for easier maintenance. ID says the tiles are within the $3psf range. So I think tiles might be cheaper. But maybe once you add on the workmanship for tiling then it gets expensive.

There is definitely something to be said for having skirting. But in the end we are vain haha. Hope it won't be too difficult to maintain!

Ooh cement screed kompacplus could be very interesting as a look. Go and play with it. So far I am very happy with the look and feel of mine.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Good luck on the rectification!

Thanks! The steel guys spent two days on it and the results are now good. happy now!

Flooring will be completed this evening.

Just had the blinds come in and it REALLY changes the look of the place. So beautiful! Will post pics later. But sadly one of the blinds was also wrong. He gave me 2 panels instead of 3 so after a bit of clarification, he will take it back and redo it. I'm happy with their attitude and workmanship though. Very happy with their workmanship actually. Highly recommend them if you want blinds done.

[Dwinsplace 48]

That's good to know. Share the link for the elephant pls.

Will post the links over the weekend!

[bianzi 52]

Send me the contact pls ...and the price

Thanks! The steel guys spent two days on it and the results are now good. happy now!

Flooring will be completed this evening.

Just had the blinds come in and it REALLY changes the look of the place. So beautiful! Will post pics later. But sadly one of the blinds was also wrong. He gave me 2 panels instead of 3 so after a bit of clarification, he will take it back and redo it. I'm happy with their attitude and workmanship though. Very happy with their workmanship actually. Highly recommend them if you want blinds done.

[Dwinsplace 48]

Send me the contact pls ...and the price

Pmed you