Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Peranakan tiles for the front porch step. Just an assortment of the blue/grey ones. Edited June 7, 2016 by Changbp Fixed imagelinks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 TV console choices.1. Size is perfect, like the design of the console doors very much. Though seems like there is no track record of sales for this item. Wonder if I should take the risk or not? Seller reputation only 3 diamonds on Taobao. Also wonder if the bottom is high enough to fit a robot vacuum charging unit.2. 2nd Choice, same seller.1. 3. My 3rd Choice. Size slightly larger than what i wanted. However this is a Tmall seller and this item has track record. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luxexplorer 2 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) Choice 1 and 3 both very nice and I like the first one for its colour . Indeed your home will be a different 3 room flat from many of us BTW the view from your living is super fantastic ! Sky and green .. makes one feels calm looking at it Edited December 13, 2015 by Luxexplorer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 Choice 1 and 3 both very nice and I like the first one for its colour . Indeed your home will be a different 3 room flat from many of us BTW the view from your living is super fantastic ! Sky and green .. makes one feels calm looking at itThanks, i'm leaning towards item 3 now as I just noticed that my TV is width is 1.1m and item 1's width is at 1m which may end up looking top heavy when mounted to the wall above it. Only concern with this unit is that the design is too "strong" for my living room which will be mostly grey/white. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) This is sort of late. I thought i should share my experience with the contractors selection. Like many before me, i contacted and met up with quite a few IDs/Contractors before settling with the current one i am using now. It was extremely tiring to run thru 3-4 hours of explaining to each of them. To those who can do more than 10... You are Good! I thronged thru all the Tblogs from early 2012's till now and I skipped those that are so popular as I'm afraid they may have so many projects at hand and not able to concentrate on mine. As I'm naturally very into details(read picky) and would need people who would note and action on trivial stuff that i say. So here is the list. 1. The first one was and online contractor. homedesign.sg. They had an online site with transparent pricing and had good recommendations of renovation stuff. It was a good place to go to see how much the expected reno would cost. Called up the number listed and was answered by a lady. Asked to see their showroom but was told they only had an office in NUS so requested for a meetup at a starbucks. She told me will contact me back but didn't. Either too busy or could not remember. Which may indicate could not remember the details i wanted. So strikeoff this company off my list. 2. Absolook - Don, This was highly recommended from a camp mate of mine. Turns out the ID is also from my camp (though we'll seen each other a couple of times but never communicated before). I went thru 2 meetups with him about 6 hours total as he was one of my shortlisted. His response time by whatsapp is within a couple of hours usually, the longest is by the next day. Generally feels ok, understood my need, able to tell me what is practical and what is not. Pricing on the higher side. Seems to be quite busy too.3. Divas - HS Lim. From the older blogs i chanced upon this ID. At that time he was at another company now he is with Divas. Superb response time. Replies within an hour and the fastest to provide a quote. 1st quote received within 3 days and 2nd quote within a day. As such he was one of my shortlisted contractors. He is exactly like the older blogs described, extremely polite and honest(feels like it). He is the only ID who remembers and address me by first name. Would give differing views to your wants but if you insisted he could still do it but would persuade you not to. Pricing is on the low side. However got GST. Divas also had one of the best looking showrooms among all those that i visited.4. Khong Yee - Dylan. Recommended from my wife's colleague who signed up with him. The most customer service oriented ID I've met and was shortlisted to be my 1st choice. All the other IDs just followed what i requested for or try to dissuade me from doing certain things the way i wanted... This one is different. He did not dissuade me on any stuff and even offered better ideas on top of mine even though that may cost more or be more of a hassle to do as its non standard . Response time is good. Replies to whatsapp within a day however it took a week to get a quote. Pricing is stiff and is on the high side. The quote threw in a lot of freebies which i don't really need as im not doing standard stuff. ie. I don't need a Blum Aventos but could not get a further discount since i'm not doing a dish drainer at the top cabinet. Their showroom cabinet workmanship totally cannot make it. I can spot uneven gaps on the cabinet joining partitions and I even "destroyed" the PDdoor when using the bathroom. The door lifted off the lower rail when I tried to open it so it may have been a case of poor workmanship. He explained that these are FOC works from one of their subcon which they no longer use. As I was still pretty keen on going with him with his excellent customer service(pre-sales, aftersales dunno), I visited one of his site. Workmanship is not too bad. Eventually as he was unable to further reduce his pricing after the 3rd meetup I thanked him and said goodbye.5. Space N Living - Encountered the most amazing and strangest stuff here. Was walking around IMM when my wife was attracted to the IPAD displays of their portfolio. So spoke to one of the IDs that was free at that time and repeated the same wants for a good 2 hours to him. Before i left i was told that it was a busy period for them so the quote may take a week. Eventually the quote came but took about 3 weeks later. Obviously no matter how low the price is i don't think i will go with them. What is amazing is that the ID could actually remember every single item that i described and quoted to me exactly item by item after 3 weeks. Non of the other IDs could send me a first quote without needing a correction even though they quoted within 3 days. The strange thing was, ID called me before sending the quote and enquired what were his competitors quoting. I replied that their quote range from $24k to $30k. and Know what? His quote is $36k! 6. Kiat Siang - Bernard. Was recommended by Wife's friend who used his service before. Very experienced and superb response. First meet up immediately on site and he could on the spot drawing 3d perspective sketches within minutes base on what i want. Extremely practical too and can advise on what is good and what is not. Price is on the high side though. Supposedly very reliable since he settled all my wife's friend's issues without hassle. Base on this point alone he was on my shortlist. 7. Inlookz Home - Dorothy. Found her from some blogs in 2013. Initial perceptions is that she is a quick, practical, no fuss type of ID. Similar to Bernard(similar age too). We directly met on on site where she immediately noted down measurements with a laser ruler which I was quite surprised compared to others who fumble with a measuring tape when taking measurements of long distances. I went thru her portfolio... and well... its decent but nothing spectacular. She also made an arrangement to visit one of her works which was from a return customer. That i suppose would mean she is generally trusted. Workmanship is okay but nothing spectacular. I was quite particular about my bathroom tiling, and she was the only ID who combed thru the tile suppliers and sent me pictures of the tiles base on some pictures that i showed her during the first meetup. Response time was ok, generally replies by the next day.There should be one more ID whom i could not remember... Anyway after much consideration between Don, HS Lim and Dorothy, I chose Dorothy as I find her quite sincere on the part sourcing for my bathroom tile and that won me over.In the course of searching for IDs/Contractors unlike some of the other blogs that i read I have not met anyone pushy or does hard selling. Or tells you strange stuff like must buy their initial 3D before they quote the whole works so i hope you would find the above information useful for your renovation. Edited December 14, 2015 by Changbp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 14, 2015 Bought some Mirrors from Taobao. Hopefully they will arrive without breakage. 65daigou even cautioned me that they will not be responsible for any damage for international shipping. Anyway I still pressed on but next time I think I will go for Peeka with better customer service.This one for placing beside the Main Door.This one(smaller sized 500x700) for the master Bathroom.Either one for the service yard or Bathroom.Keeping my fingers crossed Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 20, 2015 (edited) Question on the pipe source for storage heater. As my heater is in the service yard, nearest point to connect to is the common bathroom sink which can totally conceal my piping.HDB supplied a U shaped pipe at the top of the bathroom to connect the storage heater to. But my piping would be visible. I wonder if I pipe parallel to the sink point would there be any issues? Since the elevation is also lower(pipe size also?), I'm concerned on pressure issue may be affected.Anyone knows? Edited December 20, 2015 by Changbp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 22, 2015 Changed the hood to the chimney type from telescopic. Same brand. Very good service from teka. Just a phone call i got it amended without needing to go down.This is the one.Didn't manage to get some of the mirrors posted in earlier threads as no response from taobao seller. Anyone knows where to get similar looking mirrors without costing 1 arm and 2 legs?Rgds,Bp Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luxexplorer 2 Report post Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) Cant help you with the mirrors as I usually buy from ikea or customise them at the shops.Probably all the better since the risk factor is much higher for shipping mirrors and I think buying it in Singapore is worth that piece of mind Edited December 22, 2015 by Luxexplorer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricepapergirl 21 Report post Posted December 22, 2015 Hi Bp!Not sure specifically whether these shops would carry it, but have you tried looking on Overstock.com or Qoo10? I think Qoo10 is more expensive than Taobao but they are local so stuff might not break as easily?Another possibility is maybe to DIY? Pop over to Spotlight or neighbourhood shops and look for that sort of ornate picture frames, and swop it out with mirror backing? You can also try the art shops at Bras Brasah like Art Friend if you want to DIY it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) 800mm hollow block wall up. Also some electrical relocation done and concealment. Messy stuff. Edited June 7, 2016 by Changbp Fixed image links Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) Some Electrical works. All exposed trunking/conduits will all be covered by false ceilings or built in carpentry a few posts later. The dangling cables are not so neat though (unlike some of the other blogs i see the excess length is nicely curled up in circles). Anyway I'm happy with the electrician. Knows his work and does not complain even you keep changing your mind on relocation and he had to keep repeating some of the work. Long side of the kitchen Short side of the kitchen Hall. Passageway Edited June 7, 2016 by Changbp Fixed image links. and i must say now i notice the wirings are not twirled nicely like i see in some other blogs. (not that it matters though) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 22, 2015 (edited) Both Bathroom overlay partially done... Common Bathroom. Short on some tiles that Black strip tiles which I made a mistake of buying too little. The floor was not completed as waiting for delivery of some nicer looking strainers. My beehive frame for the shower head.... Master bathroom There was a change in design cos i was not able to get subway tiles that had the earlier kind of "running" marble look and it costs too much to import them in. so ended up became a more classic white large panel tiles with some vague grey/blue horizontal lines. Xmas feature tile wall for the column wall that covers the pipes and swimming pool tiles for the shower recess. Swimming pool Accent tiles for the shower head recess. yeah please ignore the pacman looking thing on the recess. its the drainage strainer which i will replace with a better looking one. 1 tile step up to prevent water seep out of the bathroom. Also to hide the overlay gap . Edited June 7, 2016 by Changbp Fixed image links Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Luxexplorer 2 Report post Posted December 24, 2015 (edited) Is your flat a BTO that's why you overlay the toilet tiles? Edited December 24, 2015 by Luxexplorer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Changbp 5 Report post Posted December 24, 2015 Is your flat a BTO that's why you overlay the toilet tiles?Yes its a BTO. Yes, I didnt like the original tiles that came with it.First timer, i would have opt out on a lot of stuff if I new what was happening at the time of purchase. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
