Brick Wall By The Floor 5Rm Bto @sengkang

[nickguthe 30]

(cont'd from previous post)

And we will not accept that triangular eye sore plus this vertically laid subway tiles...

After discussion with contractor and ID, We decided to hack away the entire under beam strip of tiles. ID suggested that we can paint it black to make it look like a portal for the zoning of the kitchen door, since this coincides with the grout we chose. Problem solved.

So beware of these structural beams especially if you are choosing the challenging smaller tiles. As explained by my ID, this kind of surprises will happen, it is no one's fault. One way to reduce this risk is to choose bigger flat tiles so that when they are cut, it is not that obvious or hide the funny edges with carpentry. But we chose to use 3D subway tiles and have them exposed at the edges, so this is the risk we will take for a design we want. Currently, we are satisfied with the current rectified results with black grout before the black paint is applied.

Progress is going good and we are enjoying the whole reno journey thus far.

[gashapon05 3]

One of the issues with buying on Taobao is that there are so many options and you can't see or tell if it is the option you want. In our case, it was lights, we are not sure if 3w, 7w, 12w, 18w etc is bright enough for us or how many lights and wattage for each do we want to have on a track or whether 正白光 is too cool for us and how warm is 暖白光.. Especially since lighting preference is so subjective.

We bought some track lights on Taobao to test before we buy that all we need. We asked around at local hardware store but they didn't seem to sell a device that test lights. So we bought this light testing device on Taobao instead. Turns out, it was really good for our purpose.

We attached the end of the track we bought to the crocodile clips of this device.

And then attach the track lights to the track.

The large one is a 12W 暖白光 （warm white light). The small one is a 3W 正百光 （normal white light)

正白光（normal white light) feels a little too cool for us.

暖白光 （warm white light) feels more suited for us.

This light testing device is awesome. When we receive the other Taobao lights, we are going to test them before they get installed just to make sure they are working, of the suitable temperature and bright enough.

hello nickguthe, do you just attached the crocodile clips to respective device electrical connections (i.e. track light, led downlight etc) & there's no need to worry about having to align +ve or -ve if any?

[nickguthe 30]

hello nickguthe, do you just attached the crocodile clips to respective device electrical connections (i.e. track light, led downlight etc) & there's no need to worry about having to align +ve or -ve if any?

Yep. No need to worry about +ve or -ve as I believe our electricity flow is AC (alternating current). Just be mindful not to let the clips touch each other when you turn on the power.

[lemons 2]

Hi nick!

Can you share where you got it and how much is the king size storage bed frame?

Thanks!

[Hannybal 0]

Your post on the LED light are very educational and very nice of you to share those TB links~!

It's really save me alot of hassle search up and down for it!

[samuelmk 0]

On the renovation end, our contractor is Jake of Z L Construction. He is recommended by our ID. We have met up with Jake a few times to bombard him with a lot of questions before we signed them on. They are not lowest quote around, plus we have to pay for GST. But we are assured of the commitment and the quality, judging from their previous work and the rapport we have with him. Just to add, they are HDB registered. Let's hope our choice is right.

But judging from the first day of reno, his team is made up of uncles... those kind that are super experienced and know exactly what they are doing. (Don't need to see HDB electrical drawing, they know where is what kind.) They just auto-pilot once they got to our place. Especially when they are asking us to confirm things, they can recommend what looks nice and what works very quickly. All while we were still trying to understand what is going on. Also to add, not that we are xenophobic, but there aren't any PRC or bangla workers, all of them speak Singapore type of mandarin and some English. So now we just cross our fingers and hope that our reno turns out nice and good.

That's all for now.

Hi, as others have say, what a big house u have! Cant wait to see the completed reno of ur house.

ZL Construction is one of the contractors under my consideration. But their generally higher cost highlighted by a few other forumers is keeping me thinking twice about them. And their reviews are quite hard to find. So nothing much was known about their quality too. Only know that they have a enthusiastic boss Jake!

M following this topic closely and hope to see more postings and reviews of their works. See whether they justify the higher cost or not! Hehe..

[vuzu 9]

I will go for warm white also. Daylight or so called normal white looks dull on other stuff such as your furnitures.

[Apple1 6]

Ive been using Fisher & Paykel exact same model for the pass 15 years. We like it that the design is simple and it's working fine for us. Their service is also very good. My first F & P last me 13 years and in the 13 years I got it repaired once thru F & P. The second time I called their repair service, the man who came down to check the fridge advised me not to repair as it's too expensive and I got a $80 (tat I paid the serviceman) off if I buy another F & P fridge direct and without transportation fee. I checked with courts and F & P offer was cheaper than courts so I got direct from them. Now I'm still using my 2nd F & P fridge - exact same model again.

Washing machine - Front load does save on water. It's great that the washed clothes has much lesser wrinkles than the top load. The only complain I have is front load machine is bad for my back as I have to bend up and down as I load & unload my clothes. I'm using Samsung. One of my friend had a very bad experience with his LG washing machine. So much so that he changed it after only 2 years. You may want to do a review online before making a decision.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Apple1

[nickguthe 30]

Your post on the LED light are very educational and very nice of you to share those TB links~!

It's really save me alot of hassle search up and down for it!

Welcome!

Hi, as others have say, what a big house u have! Cant wait to see the completed reno of ur house.

ZL Construction is one of the contractors under my consideration. But their generally higher cost highlighted by a few other forumers is keeping me thinking twice about them. And their reviews are quite hard to find. So nothing much was known about their quality too. Only know that they have a enthusiastic boss Jake!

M following this topic closely and hope to see more postings and reviews of their works. See whether they justify the higher cost or not! Hehe..

Will keep you updated! We are halfway through renovation, once we have more things done, will take more pics of the workmanship.

I will go for warm white also. Daylight or so called normal white looks dull on other stuff such as your furnitures.

Agree.

Ive been using Fisher & Paykel exact same model for the pass 15 years. We like it that the design is simple and it's working fine for us. Their service is also very good. My first F & P last me 13 years and in the 13 years I got it repaired once thru F & P. The second time I called their repair service, the man who came down to check the fridge advised me not to repair as it's too expensive and I got a $80 (tat I paid the serviceman) off if I buy another F & P fridge direct and without transportation fee. I checked with courts and F & P offer was cheaper than courts so I got direct from them. Now I'm still using my 2nd F & P fridge - exact same model again.

Washing machine - Front load does save on water. It's great that the washed clothes has much lesser wrinkles than the top load. The only complain I have is front load machine is bad for my back as I have to bend up and down as I load & unload my clothes. I'm using Samsung. One of my friend had a very bad experience with his LG washing machine. So much so that he changed it after only 2 years. You may want to do a review online before making a decision.

Thanks Apple1 for your sharing your experience. We haven't make up our mind yet. But after reading your comments, very tempted to get the F & P.

For washers, read about people with bad experience with Samsung as well. Very difficult to choose.

Anyone else can share their experience with Samsung, Electrolux or LG washers? Is Electrolux washers worth the price differential? Thank you in advance.

[Songz 132]

For my case I will go with Electrolux.

Reason being my family and even some friends who have been using it for years and still doing well.

Just my 2 cents worth and hope this helps.

[nickguthe 30]

Air con Plan (Part 1)

Just went on-site recce yesterday, air con trunking and partition is up!! So happy with the results.

What we started with...

Our Requirements

• 5 air cons for 3 bedrooms + study + living room (9 BTU for all rooms and 18 BTU for living)
• neat, minimal air con trunking that can be hidden nicely by carpentry or plaster partition/false ceiling if needed

Our contractor recommended us to go with one of his contacts so that he is able to coordinate with them effectively in terms of schedule, layout of trunking route and the order of works. And we are glad we did. We got quotations via him from his contacts and the prices more or less matched those that we got from gain city and best tech.

Choosing between System 2+3 or System 5

• There are not many system 5 on the market. Only seen Toshiba system 5 and the recent new Daikin system 5
• For system 2+3 means we will need to spend more money on an extra set of high capacity power socket and brackets for the additional compressor
• But with additional compressor, means if one system goes down, we can take refuge in other rooms during maintenance.
• For brands, we are more inclined to choosing Mitsubishi Electric and Daikin because...
• • We had good experience with Daikin, has been using them at current place for more than 7 years.
  • Ease of getting support for maintenance since these 2 brands are popular
  • Hear relatively better reviews from friends and online.
• Price differential between System 2+3 and System 5 is minimal
• So in the end we chose Daikin 2+3 .

We wanted to avoid ugly air con trunking as much as possible so we worked super closely with our contractor and air con specialist. It was also super helpful that many of our neighbors shared their trunking solutions on the Facebook group. Thank you Ancillians!

This is the summary of the aircon plan and how the trunking will look like after discussion.

Edited July 13, 2014 by nickguthe

[nickguthe 30]

Air con Plan (Part 2)

In pictures...

Let's start from the master bathroom, where the trunking enters the house from the air con latch.

At first we wanted to keep the box mesh in the master bathroom and achieve this effect. (Photos from our neighbours...)

But with the amount of trunking and pipes for 5 aircons, the air con specialist said that it is was impossible to squeeze them into the box mesh that HDB provided. There will be a need to punch a huge hole in the box and the mesh cover, so sadly we decided to remove the box mesh and box it up later wih false ceiling.

With the box being removed on the other end of the toilet, it also means that we will be able to route it out at the position where it was originally blocked by the box structure.

Trunking and partition is up in master bath...

As for the discharge pipe, we had it run along the edges to be hidden by our carpentry down to the drainage below the vanity.

If we didn't remove the box, the trunking will have to run below the box mesh. And when it exits, the trunking will fall below the door frame in the master bedroom. Then it will have to be exposed as we can't box it up. Right now, it exits nicely above the door frame for us to box it up.

[nickguthe 30]

Air con Plan (Part 3 - Last Part)

This is how it looks before and after it is boxed up with plasterboard in area outside master bathroom.





We ran all the trunking along the corridor so that we only need to conceal them altogether with false ceiling at the corridor.



So there is no air con trunking in the bedrooms

For the unit at the living room, there was a minor surprise. The air con foreman told us that the Daikin 18k btu unit we ordered is larger than the space available and will require the some bricks to be removed. Luckily, our contractor , Jake, managed to help us negotiate with our air con specialist to change all to Mitsubishi Electric since its 18k btu dimension will fit just nice.

The trunking for the aircon in the study is hidden by the partition box and full height carpentry
So the only air con trunking that is exposed is the one from living to study area which will be this....
Because it is awkward to box up and we cannot drill a hole in the home shelter to hide it.




Yay we are happy with our air con trunking. Thanks to Jake, the air-con specialists and the partition specialists.
Actually, I have no idea if going into all these details is helpful to the Renotalk community at all. We just thought this is what we hoped we had access to during our reno planning stage. If all these details is helpful or boring you guys, do let us know .

Edited March 15, 2015 by nickguthe

[nickguthe 30]

Other happy updates...

Two weeks ago, got the City Gas people to install the gas pipes. Installation done within 30 mins. But the scheduling of installation must happen a week plus in advance.

And this week, our kitchen carpentry is done!

Edited July 13, 2014 by nickguthe

[Songz 132]

Great progress on the house.

The Aircon trunking was very well planned.

Hope to see how the carpentry looks like after it is complete