5 Rm Bto @ Costa Ris

[rilkeanheart 4]

Would you recommend doing up aircon before or after reno?

[rilkeanheart 4]

ya...but that 'runway' costs a lot because we will need to pay for approx 57ft of top+bottom cabinets and quartz table top. Our ID brought us to visit his on-going project with the kitchen cabinets' downlight, and we really like it despite having to give up quite significant amount of storage space. But we eventually have to pass this design idea because we have cement base for our kitchen sink and stove, which have to be sit on the floor. Instead of 50%-50% different design of bottom cabinets, we go for the normal but more practical design

Is that really the measurement of your kitchen? Both sides included, I mean...

[wyx03 12]

Is that really the measurement of your kitchen? Both sides included, I mean...

Oops...my mistake. 57ft is the total length written in my reno quotation. I just checked the actual measurement I took last time, it's about 17ft 1 side. So both sides should be ~34ft. I guess the 57ft quoted was based on top and bottom cabinets.

For aircon installation, I let my ID to work out the schedule since I am not in town. He started the aircon and false ceiling installation concurrently since they are related. In our case, we run the trunkings across all the rooms and hidden inside the wardrobes, so aircon need to be installed 1st before we can start the carpentry works. Everything went smooth except that the false ceiling contractors forgot to wrap the aircon when they were laying the false ceilings , so all the fan units are now full of dust on their suction holes. Not a big deal though but will have to spend an hour or two to vacuum them before use.

[wyx03 12]

Have been receiving PMs on how to make online payment by using NETs. Hopefully this step-by-step procedure can be helpful for those who likes to try TB/Tmall.

Sorry for the pictures quality as my gallery album has already hit the max of 50 photos.

Edited October 19, 2014 by wyx03_2002

[intonewlife 2]

Hi, which type of lights are to be used for display area for the shoe cabinet?

Is power switch from taobao usable in sg?

Can you please provide the link for led strips and t5? What color are t5 and led strip?

[wyx03 12]

We have bought both warm and cool white LED strips and LED T5 tubes. Haven't decide which one to use, but most likely will use warm white LED strip since it's slimmer.

We bought a lot of Philips 4-ganged light switches. They are standard 10A rated with fire-proof materials. The quality is definitely much better than those standard power switches installed by HDB. However, don't buy those power switches with stainless steel polished faceplate. They look solid and classy, but I don't think anyone will feel comfortable touching a electrical metal switch .

For electrical power socket, buy only if you feel comfortable because power sockets sold locally have the Safety Mark stickers on them.

Here are the links to the LED strips and T5 tubes. Their LEDs are either from Taiwan Chimei (in LED strip) or Samsung (in T5 tube). I bought quite a lot of spares since they are so much cheaper than buying locally, and I can replace each LED individually if they happen to fail prematurely

LED T5 tube:

http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=35675365653&spm=a1z09.2.9.533.LOjDNg&_u=jvr2rgb20ad

LED strip:

http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=37523938302&spm=a1z09.2.9.414.LOjDNg&_u=jvr2rgb157e

Edited October 19, 2014 by wyx03_2002

[wyx03 12]

I am wondering if anyone here who has ever met a contractor or ID that walked away from a discussion after failing to catch up your reno schedule as per committed date before you signed on the contract? I would appreciate if you could PM me your experiences before I consult CASE for dispute resolution. Thanks!

[watzup 1]

Hi wyx03_2002,

Sorry to hear about the problems with your ID/contractor. I am afraid I don't have any advice to share but hope the dispute is resolved soon. It is common for homeowners to harbour high hopes when embarking on their renovation process as we had placed our faith in the contractors/ID we had picked. It is heartbreaking and utterly stressful when things didn't turn out as expected and planned.

I am very grateful that my renovation was a smooth and uneventful one, thanks to Lovescandi for introducing Contractor J to me.

Hang in there!

BTW, I am really pleased with all the LED lights purchased from the Tmall vendor you referred me. Thank you.

[wyx03 12]

Nothing much in term of my reno progress since ID just walked away before we could discuss the schedule for the remaining outstanding items.

Since he told us on Sunday that he couldn't secure the vinyl flooring for the bedrooms, which we had decided a month ago, and asked for 2 weeks of delay, me and wife rushed down to Evorich an hour just before their showroom close to secure our vinyl (bcoz I need to fly out to US on Mon early morning). Surprisingly, our ID told that we have switched away from the contract and he will remove the $3.3k discount from our $69k reno quotation. So, we lose another $4k+ and the reno costs goes beyond $70k.....

Anyway, glad that you like the LED lights. Hope they are reliable

[snowy89 12]

Sorry to hear that your ID is so irresponsible!

I don't think he can withdraw the discount just like that, and we can always take the item out of the quote should we find another cheaper alternative? Try to withhold any balance payment till your house is almost completed and then try CASE.

[simple13 0]

Your ID seems to be good yet bad........

I really hope ur reno will carry on properly soon

[DaddyWinter 10]

Sorry to hear that.. I doubt they can just withdraw a discount like this, especially your project is $69k, seems like a huge project to me.

Filing small claims seems fair but do try to work things out again this final decision.. Gd luck!

[wyx03 12]

Spoken to CASE officer last Monday morning before leaving town and was strongly advised to look for another contractor to complete the remaining works, then lodge a complaint with CASE against my existing ID. CASE officer told that this type of dispute is very common and my side of story sounds convincing to him, they just need to review the relevant documents to assess further. But wife prefers to "退一步海阔天空". After all, my ID's contractors workmanship is still acceptable so far and moving to new home is suppose to be a joyful experience. As Daddy Winter pointed out, wife also wants less trouble and will try to work out with the ID this Friday.....then decide the next step.

[Pea88 0]

Hope there will be more works to the false ceiling to your mbr aircon area. There don't seems to be enough clearance above the aircon required for it to work. The other 2 aircon in the bedrooms seems to have the same issue but cant tell since they are not completed yet.

[wyx03 12]

hi Pea88, I m not sure will the limited space above the aircon affect its efficiency or operation, but for sure it will be a headache when come to maintenence because there's no space to squeeze in the vacuum cleaner nozzle to clean it.......just hope that the aircon installer knows his work well.