Small House Holding Our Big Dreams

[ricepapergirl 21]

17 hours ago, Catt said:

Trcd: Guess you know what I'll be doing this weekend with the patch above the blower. Will try the soap and water and hope it comes off!

I did take down the dimensions of the sink so if the contractor needed to he could get the carpenter to start work. However I really hope that it arrives sooner as my colleague went through the same thing (with an undermount Taobao sink) and the online dimensions were slightly off in comparison to the real thing. I'm just very paranoid because these sinks are not common here and I don't want the carpenter to forget that this baby weighs a hefty 30kg (empty). I believe the folks in US build a different type of support for farmhouse sinks.

I realised you bought pendant lights instead of tracks...I did the opposite (first idea was to pendant light the whole house). Hopefully it's bright enough, if not I still have 6 emergency Ikea floor lamps to 'aid' me. Gotta thank @ricepapergirl for the Chan Huat recommendation though, bought all the lights in one afternoon. 

Hahaha so glad I helped! Love Chan Huat if you're the kind that needs to see the light before you buy it (and see it switched on and off!)!

Wow your 45 degree tile problem! Hope it gets solved! I have similar 3D subway tiles in my kitchen but we only tiled the backsplash so we had no issues with the corners... phew?

[Changbp 5]

12 hours ago, Catt said:

Nice idea Changbp, it does make it look neater. The tiler did suggest it, but my dad doesn't like it unfortunately... he has some weird aesthetic reasoning of his own. I know it's my house, but since I've shot down every one of his ideas, I'm just giving in to one of his.

So I'm going with the "rough-and-ready" look since it's subway tiles and throw my OCD-ness out of the window. Times like this, my fingers itch to do the work myself....

Sure, I can imagine it is not easy to grout a big gap, with gravity working against it too? Grout may droop from its own weight if it takes a significant time to dry.

[Catt 8]

Yep! Guess time will tell...I'll visit again on Saturday and scrutinize it!

 

[Catt 8]

Update for 30 July 2016

Wow...just wow, looks like everyone's trying to cause me to have a meltdown. 

I guess I've been too nice and smiley? Probably they want to see me freak out?

Before anyone asks why the progress is so slow... I've given them a nice long time period to complete renovation. Everything is pretty on track at the moment (tiling and hacking took a month, I know right...but I'm not rushing) except this trunking issue. Electricals are done by a sub-con,,, my main contractor seems pretty pissy about them as well. He's supposed to arrange for a meeting with the subcons this coming Friday/ Saturday, so I shall do some meditation before that so that I will not erupt in an explosion of vile temper. But this workmanship is NOT acceptable. I've lived in some pretty **** crappy rental homes and I've never seen such inexcusable bad work. The tilers were trying to placate me when I first spotted it (yes I DIDN'T notice this till 2 weeks later..so my fault?) by telling me that they usually plaster up the gaps. Oh for crying out loud, if you zoom into the picture, you can see that a triangle gap was badly patched with a square piece of trunking so there are more gaps....don't tell me you can plaster that up because if I need to open the trunking in future to add another light or fix something, who is going to come and patch it back up for me again? How am I going to trust them with the installation of the lights? Do I have to stand behind those two subcons the entire day and watch them like a hawk? If so, luckily I have a month's leave to clear.

Unacceptable!! *FUMES*

Discovered some chips in the first 2 rows of floor tiles before they grouted it, so they promptly rectified it which was fine. I'm just not sure if I am required to go down on all fours to run my fingers on all the tiles in the house to check for chips on my next visit.

Amazon has NO shipping date available for the sink yet (I'm faithfully calling them up every 2 days so they don't forget me, but seriously what the **** Amazon...).

On a more positive note, it seems that Harvey Norman may be having a National Day sale, so I'm going to bank on that to get the fridge and washer.

The contractor also called me up to confirm on the creation of some shampoo ledges in granite (the initial proposal was two pieces of tiles pressed together- ugly!) yesterday, probably to placate me about the ugly-arsed trunking. 

Edit: Amazon finally sent me the Kraus sink ship-out information and eta today (27 Jul 2016). Maybe my pestering did work?

 

Edited July 27, 2016 by Catt

[GoldieG 1]

On 7/20/2016 at 4:43 PM, Catt said:

20 Jul'16- Another Helluva Day

Then the tiler pointed this out to me (that's my darling father's thumb in the pic- I visited with him yesterday). WHY?! Argh! It didn't occur to me that I couldn't do a 45 degree cut as the tiles are different in thickness due to the 3D effect. So there's this ugly-looking gap at all corners/ beams. My father suggested grouting the gaps in white instead of black or grey so that the uneven BIG gap would be less noticeable. Luckily he was there otherwise I would have another meltdown...  I spent the evening staring at the tofu tiles in the toilet of my rental house while showering, thinking how ****tily done up they were but yet still neat around the corners....

 

Hi Catt,

Would it be possible to use single dimensional/flat tiles (eg mosaic?) to cover the exposed area?

 

[Catt 8]

Hey @GoldieG! We did explore that as well, but it only works if the tiles are flat. Unfortunately the subway tiles are 3D and of uneven width throughout. Thank you for the suggestion though! I think I can live with it, it doesn't look that noticeable to be honest.

[GoldieG 1]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

Hey @GoldieG! We did explore that as well, but it only works if the tiles are flat. Unfortunately the subway tiles are 3D and of uneven width throughout. Thank you for the suggestion though! I think I can live with it, it doesn't look that noticeable to be honest.

Good to hear that you can live with it. Are the edges sharp/rough and therefore snag on fabric? Like when you brush the corner.

I was toying with the idea of using similar tiles as the outcome looks gorgeous. Thanks to your post, I'm now thinking that this would be more suitable for a single/flat wall.

[Catt 8]

@GoldieG haven't had the opportunity to touch it yet (the last time I visited they were tiling the kitchen floor). Yeh I think it would be better on a flat wall than wrapped over beams and corners. But they are very pretty... I love my kitchen walls!

 

[trcd 13]

@Catt I think your kitchen wall is going to turn out quite cool with the 3D tiles. Any more photos this week?  

[Catt 8]

@trcd I've not had the chance to take more pics since the last visit where half the house was a swamp and they were tiling the living room (I couldn't get near to the kitchen). I'm going down tomorrow to speak to the electrician and supervise the airconditioning folks, so hopefully can get more pics and finally figure out why the kitchen floor tiles look more grey than brownish grey . By the way am so happy for you that your toilet is done up and fan(s) installed!

 

[trcd 13]

@Catt yes, supervise with HD vision eyes!   i'm regretting not being able to be there all the time to keep an eye, and then discovering little things a little late.

funnily, my bathroom door arrived today and it looks brownish grey rather than grey! trying to get things resolved...

all the best for your reno works!

 

[Catt 8]

30 Jul'16:

Been busy with end of quarter workstuff, and also grateful that my boss is pretty flexibile when it comes to working hours as I've been requested to run over to the house now and then for hours to supervise the workers or to provide inputs into what what I want to do. Plenty of grief, plenty of happiness!

Today I spent my Saturday working with the carpenter and also going back another time just to check on the toilet accessories which I was finally ask to have delivered. The Taobao/ t-mall medicine cabinet for the washroom had also arrived 10 mins before the Universal Union toilet/ kitchen items. The UU guy kindly waited for us to arrive so that we could check the items' condition.

So many grievous issues (mostly my fault as I had an idealistic view of things and how I thought things should look) but thank goodness my dad was there to hold my hand and calm me down, offer me alternative ideas and also to reason with me. Darkling Half was also super happy as I ceded and managed to get the gate she wanted....photos to come when the house is ready.

Here are some pics of the progress:

Flooring done. Skirting almost done. Progress is slow ( I am quite lax to be honest) but the tiling is really pretty. Nothing cuts my feet and the gaps are really neat and small. Nothing to fault at all:

 

 

This caused me some grief and I was sweating so badly because I could feel myself getting really pek chek. The **** pipe! The carpenter had advised me to box up the pipe which I did not want as the box-up would be an awful hatchet shape that would mar my beautiful subway-tiled wall. Of course my father reasoned with me, and after a car drive with him, I came to a solution, where I would end my kitchen cabinet before the pipe and not encase the rubbish chute door in a cabinet. I mean the door of the chute is flat against the wall, and doesn't look awful at all...I could live with it I guess.

 

This made me so happy and for a few minutes I forgot about sewage pipes and ugly trunkings. I'd initially agreed to have the shampoo shelves done with two toilet tiles pressed together. However, the contractors' didi had suggested I ask for it to be done in granite or marble. So here they are, in Black Galaxy granite. It might cost me a bottle of mid-standard wine..but I could live with that:

 

My friends who had their air-conditioning drainage pipe buried and joined to their drain pipe would sniff at this, but I was really happy with what I saw. There are no annoying long pipes that would  breed mold! The pipe is covered with cement dust at the moment and looks a bit dirty...but whatever right! 

Nah, more toilet pics. I think the washroom is my new favorite place until they add the pipes and trunking for electricals . Here's the full view of the shower area. The step-down can't really be seen since the tiles are the same. I hope I don't trip and fall one drunken stormy night.

    

The view from the shower into the WC area. WC just arrived today and will be installed on Monday with the sink etc etc. I found it really funny that they changed the pipe to move it closer to the sewage pipe but they didn't cut the entranceway bigger. Anyhoos, still pleased and happy with the tiling work.

Lastly, the AC trunking. Looks nutty and ugly but this was suggested by my dad. We ran everything around the edge of the wall so that the original placement (running parallel next to the window) wouldn't obstruct the installation of blinds/ curtains. Looks freaking horrible and my bed's headboard would never lie flat against the wall...but hey, if I wanted it all perfect shouldn't I work harder and get out of a HDB? However, overall I am still quite pleased with the trunking work of these boys and I have no complaints. Good job! Walls are yet to be painted and I'm procrastinating on providing the paint type numbers to my contractor.

Next...skeptical me will renovate well into Hungry Ghost Festival. Woo woo!! BTW my door number almost hit the first prize lottery. If it's near..means it's gonna strike soon!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Catt

[Catt 8]

36 minutes ago, trcd said:

@Catt yes, supervise with HD vision eyes!   i'm regretting not being able to be there all the time to keep an eye, and then discovering little things a little late.

funnily, my bathroom door arrived today and it looks brownish grey rather than grey! trying to get things resolved...

all the best for your reno works!

 

@trcd I totally agree on the HD vision eyes. I'm quite a 'focused' person so I don't notice things that aren't on my mind to be noticed that particular day. It's been extremely helpful having another pair of eyes to tell me that something's not quite right. 

Colours! OMG I empathize with you deeply. I could't figure out the colour of the kitchen tiles and at one point thought they had sent the wrong colour... now I'm reluctant to send in my paint colours as I think they will turn out to be not what I think they are. Laminates too!

I hope you manage to solve your door issue!

Edited July 30, 2016 by Catt

[JohnJohn 13]

Try not to think too much about the Hungry Ghost month. I was bothered about renovating and moving in during that time but someone told me that if the other non-Chinese races continue to renovate and move during that period with no mishaps, why are the Chinese so special... I was more relaxed about it. 

Glad to see that things are shaping up. There will be hiccups along the way and I've encountered my fair share but as long as it is generally going well, I decided not to be too fussed about things.

[Catt 8]

12 minutes ago, JohnJohn said:

Try not to think too much about the Hungry Ghost month. I was bothered about renovating and moving in during that time but someone told me that if the other non-Chinese races continue to renovate and move during that period with no mishaps, why are the Chinese so special... I was more relaxed about it. 

Glad to see that things are shaping up. There will be hiccups along the way and I've encountered my fair share but as long as it is generally going well, I decided not to be too fussed about things.

Thanks JohnJohn for sharing...glad I'm not alone on this Hungry Ghost thing. My friends have been nagging me to death about this and I just find it interesting how people are able to pick and choose what they believe in...

Looks like your own reno journey is coming to an end. Time to finally enjoy your home!

Edited July 31, 2016 by Catt