Small House Holding Our Big Dreams

[Catt 8]

22 minutes ago, stray said:

Missed your comment about changing your gate this Saturday, exciting! Can't wait to see it.

And thanks for X-ing it all for me, quote did come in, yay! Can I ask you something — why do you have to buy the excel pull-out spice rack on your own? Couldn't your contractor do it all? I'm asking cause sourcing for individual items now too, wondering how much of a nitty gritty should I get myself into.

You can definitely ask your contractor to get the small pullout larder for you and fix it in (specify the brand and model type). Or if you like more control (i.e. you want to hunt around, find some obscure brand or model that generally they are not familiar with and are worried about getting wrong) then you can order yourself. For my contractor, when I mentioned it to him, he asked me to get it first and then have it delivered before the carpenter came to discuss the carpentry with me. I think for various reasons of his own (one was he did mention that the Caeserstone almost caused him to make a loss...so maybe he was afraid I was going to say Blum... or he was afraid I wouldn't approve of the design he ordered...) he preferred me organizing it myself. It didn't really cross my mind either to ask him since I just click click the buy button on the excel site..haha!

[stray 12]

Okay, got it! I think I prefer your way of sourcing, that way QC is better! 

[Catt 8]

25 minutes ago, stray said:

Okay, got it! I think I prefer your way of sourcing, that way QC is better! 

Remember to let him know you are doing so and show a pic with specifications...if not they may tell you after you buy that they can't fix it in. True story, this happened to my colleague who bought 6 pullout baskets from Taobao. 

[stray 12]

Good reminder! I'm trying to do my cabinets all in modular units ala ikea 20/40/60/80cm, so hopefully easier to find ones that fit! 

[Catt 8]

3 hours ago, stray said:

Good reminder! I'm trying to do my cabinets all in modular units ala ikea 20/40/60/80cm, so hopefully easier to find ones that fit! 

Ohhhhh so you are going to end up with Ikea cabinets or something you can switch the doors to?

@stray show you this...i wanted to but was lazy. Alternative to Blum 

www.hettich.com/sg_EN/products/drawer-systems.html

 

 

Edited September 21, 2016 by Catt

[mopiko 0]

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

20 Jul'16- Another Helluva Day

Went down today at the request of my contractor to discuss 'stuff'. Mainly to deal with the subway tiles in the kitchen and other miscellaneous items like door catalogues, paint colours, measurements and confirmation of this'n'that. I'm quite naggy and he's quite forgetful...together we form the 'old couple' team. Maybe I should be more professional when talking to him, rather than saying things like "I'll beat you if you make me wait for 90 mins again".

Anyway, I was really happy when I got there, cos I saw this, and I got that feeling you get when you nagged at your parents that you want a puppy and one day there's a pet carrier sitting in the house when you get home from school..... or when you are checking your Toto numbers and when you get past the first 3 sets and your numbers match:

Half-finished product:

The frames and tinted glass still stacked in a corner:

 

A not very good picture of the subway tiles being put up at the kitchen. I love my subway tiles as they are so small and cute!

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....

My father thinks that they have done a really good tiling job, and I have to admit that the gaps are really even between each tile. I don't see them using tiny strips of cards to create an even gap and yet they got it so uniform.

I left the unit in high spirits then checked my email while waiting for a cab back to work....and my spirits fell into the bottom of my heels. Amazon CS wrote back to say that they were sorry for not updating my shipping status for the Kraus Farmhouse sink and tap for 9 days since I first ordered. The sink was out of stock and they didn't know when it would be available. I nearly threw myself in front of an oncoming lorry, but my heel was stuck firmly in a gap on the road and I couldn't jump. When I got back to the office, I frantically called Amazon US and the CS told me that that piece of information was wrong as there were 13 pieces available now. They gave me free (and upgraded) Global Expedited Shipping for the mistake (ok I saved SGD$350 there), but the ETA is still going to be end of August or 1st September.

Wah lao eh. Scared me!

 

Im sorry, i din read thru each and every thread. Just wondering how did u finally manage to solve that 3D subway tile corner issue? I bought the same tile for my bathroom, but have not have it fixed yet. Just trying to get a heads up before i get this kind of meltdown after tiler are done with their job

[Catt 8]

2 minutes ago, mopiko said:

Im sorry, i din read thru each and every thread. Just wondering how did u finally manage to solve that 3D subway tile corner issue? I bought the same tile for my bathroom, but have not have it fixed yet. Just trying to get a heads up before i get this kind of meltdown after tiler are done with their job

Hi mopiko, I lived with it. Hahaha. Maybe different tilers will have different ways to deal with it. Some put in this PVC (??) strip to round the corners. In my case they just put in extra thick grouting. Grouting will have fine cracks when it dries, so if you cannot stand that type of thing then I would say use 3D tiles only on flat walls.  The sum of the entire thing looks fine to me as long as I don't just focus on the grout. It's kinda like how a slanted aircon trunking bugs people until they start living in the house, then it's just part of the walls and one hardly thinks or looks at it.

I realise I never took a specific picture of the grouting after it was completed. Below I just zoomed in and cropped a picture that contained it. 

Hope this helps.

[mopiko 0]

Thanks @Catt that was helpful~! At least i now have a reference, and see what my tiler's alternative suggestion is

[stray 12]

Just saw your Hettich link. OMG how did you read my mind!?!!? *creepy telepathy* I just dropped by Blum today and the lady was trying to convince me that the $6800 blum kitchen promo was a good deal. I was like  on the inside, wanted to blurt out, I only wanted a cheap IKEA kitchen! Haha! But she was saying that the modular MDF doors and carcass could be better workmanship than carpenters, even tougher than some plywood that carpenters use. Is that true? Since I was already sold on the modularity of IKEA, I wanted to retort hey it's just like IKEA but branded and more expensive! Haha *cheap(skate) thrill*

Do you know if Hettich is more pricy than Blum? I only have experience with Blum cause my current rental is using it (the low end version), hahahah.

[stray 12]

So excited i forgot to answer your question! Yes, very tempted to get interior drawers + runners from IKEA (read: cheap), but get carpenter to do carcass and door only, BUT I don't know if the carpenter would feel very insulted?! Is this even a valid concern? 

[Catt 8]

7 hours ago, stray said:

So excited i forgot to answer your question! Yes, very tempted to get interior drawers + runners from IKEA (read: cheap), but get carpenter to do carcass and door only, BUT I don't know if the carpenter would feel very insulted?! Is this even a valid concern? 

Errr is it really cheaper this way? Thought they also quote you as a whole. E.g. cabinet with soft-closing. Anyway it's really up to you what you want... you are the one paying so if you want to have 24k gold handles too,  no one is going to feel insulted. 

[stray 12]

Guess what you're totally right again! I think the trying-to-save money wherever will come back and bite me in the end and best to just suck it up and pay.

Your gate is coming today?! pictures!

[Catt 8]

24 Sep'16 Update:

So the gate finally got changed and I'm as happy as a bird. The gate reminds me of those mesh-screened doors they use in apartments in Australia. So when I miss those days in Uni I just need to look over and pretend I'm there surrounded by stinkin' flies and spiders and spitfires.

Had to mosaic out my unit number for P&C reasons. The numbers are lasercut into the gate so I don't have to fuss over getting signage. Here's another example I was sent by the Steeldios rep (Thank you very very much @trcd for the contact!!)

Now I need to muster up energy to putty and paint the wooden frame!!

[Catt 8]

17 hours ago, stray said:

Just saw your Hettich link. OMG how did you read my mind!?!!? *creepy telepathy* I just dropped by Blum today and the lady was trying to convince me that the $6800 blum kitchen promo was a good deal. I was like  on the inside, wanted to blurt out, I only wanted a cheap IKEA kitchen! Haha! But she was saying that the modular MDF doors and carcass could be better workmanship than carpenters, even tougher than some plywood that carpenters use. Is that true? Since I was already sold on the modularity of IKEA, I wanted to retort hey it's just like IKEA but branded and more expensive! Haha *cheap(skate) thrill*

Do you know if Hettich is more pricy than Blum? I only have experience with Blum cause my current rental is using it (the low end version), hahahah.

Sorry didn't see this comment @stray. No idea if Hettich is less expensive than Blum but in my mind I keep thinking it is as Blum is over-publicized. I believe Ikea soft-closing is made by Blum. I'm not too fussed about soft-closing but I think anything built fòr heavy-loading better get better and well-known brands. Afterall you're pulling in and out drawers that could possibly contain 30kg worth if crockery.

You get uniformity with MDF as it's man-made. Just make sure they give you a long-term warranty cuz if the MDF is not of a high-grade it may swell when it kena water. Pros n Cons...wood also expands and warps too. As long as not compressed particle board (aka Billy bookcases and other IKEA cheaper furniture) I think it's fine....should last 

[stray 12]

Gate is very chio!  You have that stencil cut-out for your unit numbers too? I like it! Are you painting your door lilac? heh heh

I'm getting a wire mesh gate too. Do you mind PM-ing the price from Steel Dios? I got a quote from Doctor Doors and it's more pricey than what they listed on their website! So zzzzzzz 

Edited September 24, 2016 by stray