5-Room Resale (Light Industrial) Learn & Share

[honeybunny 1]

wow! luckily you took lots of pictures during the reno process and found the cause. 

[Josephine1304 0]

Hi ilkl, 

Can you PM me how much for your house reno and the contractor company and contact? 

Thanks. 

 

 

[lazarus73 0]

On 8/8/2017 at 11:43 PM, ilkl said:

Hello guys! It's been a while since my last post.... We've moved in for 4 months now and we're very happy at our new home, but I thought I'd share some things which hopefully will be useful for my fellow RT readers!

Air-Con Leakage

So within 3 months, we got our first leakage from our master bedroom AC (which is the only one being turned on every night)

Water came out of the joint between the blower unit and the trunking. We called All Best and they promptly sent someone down to fix it since there is a 5-year Installation Warranty. According to them, there was too much condensation and so they double taped the joint and reassured us it won't happen again.

Less than 2 wks later, water leaked not from the joint, but from the drainage pipe below this very same AC unit:

So we called All Best again, and this time around, our original installer came down. After he inspected, he said there is likely blockage in our drainage pipe due to "jelly" formation, causing backflow and thus, leakage. He advised us to call their servicing team down to suck the drainage pipe. There is one problem, however. The drainage pipe goes into our master bathroom, and the end of that pipe is now concealed inside the box up which we had done up for the shower area.

So here's TIP #1: As ugly as it is to have an AC drainage pipe in your bathroom, don't conceal it because your AC servicing team can access the end of the pipe to suck out any blockage inside, which in return reduces risk of leakage.

But the installer had an idea, he says since part of the drainage pipe outside at the AC ledge is still accessible, they can cut the pipe and fix a "T" joint to it - thus creating an access for them to suction the drainage pipe. He conveyed the message to the servicing team, and when they came down to our place, that's exactly what they did. However, during the suctioning, he could hear a blockage present, and he told us likely there is a problem at the concealed end of the drainage pipe - the contractor probably blocked it with debris etc.

This is where my husband got a little fed up with the "push-here-push-there, blame other people" attitude these people have. From the sounds of it, the AC guy says it's the contractor's fault. Ok, so we informed our ID, and although he was responsive despite our project ending many months back, he sounded like it was not his fault and we will need to pay them some labour fee to knock open a hole in our box up to access the AC drainage pipe.

I decided to look through my photos of the renovation process, and after seeing this photo, my husband was convinced the problem was here:

He says the drainage pipe is blocked because it is taped up. I myself am skeptical, so was my ID. They taped it to prevent debris from getting into the pipe while they did the box-up etc, and would have removed it after, at least that's what I thought (Cannot be so blur, right?). But my husband was insistent, so the ID arranged for tiler to come and solve this mystery once and for all.

TIP #2: Take loads of photos to document your renovation process - they end up being very useful sometimes!!

Today, the tiler came and this is what we saw:

Pipe is still taped up. And best of all, it's confined inside the metal frame and water is just pooling there!!! WIN LIAO LOR.

So which genius did this? My guess is the box-up guys, but of course no-one will admit right? At least our ID got nothing to say liao. But I'm not blaming him, not really, because at least he still follows through with us when problems crop up in our house.

For now, the hole in the box up will be covered back with a tile which will be sealed up with silicone once the drainage pipe is extended into the hole in the ground. So still look pretty... but on hindsight, we would not have concealed the drainage pipe if we knew what we know now!!

Hope this is a lesson for everyone!

 

any thing that need maintainance cannot be box up

[KFC1189 11]

On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 9:48 AM, ilkl said:

Hi guys, sorry was away for a while so haven't replied.

Thanks for the compliments! Yup took the photos using husband's DSLR and wide angle lens. Phone camera really cannot compare la.

As mentioned before, the system is meant to be as hassle-free as possible, there is no need to water the vertical garden as it has a built in timer which will turn on the watering 2 times a day, and also the growth light. Just need to pour in liquid fertiliser once a month for added nutrients, and pruning about 1-2x a month. The system is also not meant to grow herbs on it as it will diminish the aesthetics of the garden.

The first month will see some casualties, but the vendor included a complimentary maintenance at one mth where they will replace the bad plants FOC. I haven't asked how much the normal maintenance fee is, but think it's probably a little bit pricey so planning to self-maintain.



Our garden at one month - casualties highlighted. The maintenance is scheduled this Saturday.

One thing we regret is getting ferns - they really look nice but man, do they shed!! So everyday there will be dried leaves on the floor, all from the ferns. If you look closely at the floor in the photo, you will see what I mean. I'm thinking of replacing the ferns to spider plants to minimise the hassle of cleaning up the floor. So if anyone is keen on getting this vertical garden indoors, beware of the ferns!!

Hi ilkl, I am wondering how is your vertical green wall going on after 5 months. Have you replaced the fern with spider plant? 

Edited October 4, 2017 by KFC1189

[Mannequin 0]

On 12/04/2017 at 1:21 PM, ilkl said:

Hello @CZL, you've asked a very good question! Because just yesterday we spoke to the electrician big boss who came to collect money and we learned something from him.

Fibre Termination Point Hoo-Ha

A bit of backstory first: our ID suggested having the fibre termination point to be in our TV console because that's where we planned to have our Starhub TV and router there. He said they will provide a connecting wire which runs in the existing false ceiling. The logic of doing that is to hide the fibre wires otherwise the fiber installation people will run casing all the way which is so ugly! When the electricians came, they insisted that the intended place is too far and it cannot be done. We weren't really involved in the discussion but somehow our ID managed to sort it out with the electrician: they will run a dummy wire in the false ceiling from outside the house to our TV console, and the exposed part at the feature wall (because we didnt do a plywood panel) will be in black PVC pipe. When Net Link Trust (formerly Open Net) people came, that dummy wire acts as a threader basically - they tied one end to the fibre optic wire, and pulled it in all the way (through the false ceiling and the black pipe) into the TV console.

Now I'm not an electrician and I didn't study electrical engineering, but I think distance and length of the fibre optic wire should not affect the connection (because then in Singapore you will have difference in speeds according to area?) so placing the fibre further in the house is not contraindicated. The fuss that the electricians kicked up was the fact that the further the distance the fibre wire has to travel, there is a higher chance of the wire breaking and getting lost in the false ceiling, so they said it cannot be done to save them the hassle.

Luckily all went smoothly and our Internet connection is totally fine.

So why I brought up the electrician big boss? Well, he was the very first person who came to site visit and ran through the whole plan for wiring with us and our ID and he was not aware that we were building a full height shoe cabinet which we could hide the DB box in (the existing DB box was on the opposite wall and very high up). He thought we were building a half height shoe cabinet and we are not shifting the DB box (this was a miscommunication - the full height shoe cabinet was in the plan all along). However, when renovation started, our ID and ourselves decided to move the DB box into the shoe cabinet (cost $400), and the boss said if he knew about that, he would have suggested we have the fibre termination point done next to the DB box, very much like what all BTOs are doing now. All he needed to do was to install a double amp socket there for the modem, and he will add a data point to the TV console which is way easier to connect to the fibre point/modem at the shoe cabinet, rather than going through all that trouble we went through (which cost an extra $220).

So who do we blame? Partly the ID cause why they never suggested this in the first place (probably cause they also don't know), partly the electrician team (big boss excluded) because they were the ones shifting the DB box and complained about the fibre being too far inside the house, how come never suggested this simple solution? And also partly the electrician big boss (eh hello, you probably blur and remembered wrongly, cause the full height shoe cabinet was planned since day 1 ok?). And also a little bit blame ourselves cause we really didn't know (but we home owners le, not professionals, of course we dunno right?). 

SO, LONG STORY SHORT, TLDR VERSION:

• If not planning to build full cabinet to hide DB box (which is usually situated near main entrance), then you can run the fibre into the house via conventional method of having Net Link Trust installing wire casings all over the house, or through this special method of using dummy wire/threading method described above.
• If you are building a full cabinet and you are relocating your DB box inside, best to install your fibre termination point next to it (and don't forget to have at least 2 sockets for your modem - happened to our friend, they couldn't have internet until electrician came to fix it)
• If you already have fibre point in your house when you bought it, good for you! Otherwise must pay Net Link Trust $235.40 to install.
• if you have a BTO, then good for you too! Gahmen already thought out the best way for you! It's other mortals like us who got resale who may have this headache to deal with.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

P/S: Sorry haven't updated this thread for a while, we just shifted into our house yesterday so it's quite a havoc now! Hopefully I can add some updates soon!

Do you mind to recommend your electrician? Thank you.

[ilkl 6]

On 10/4/2017 at 8:05 PM, KFC1189 said:

Hi ilkl, I am wondering how is your vertical green wall going on after 5 months. Have you replaced the fern with spider plant? 

Hi @KFC1189,

The vertical garden is still doing well.

I have replaced the ferns with spider plants during the first month maintenance at $4 each plant, and then decided to replace the aluminium plants (pilea cadierei) in August because they were looking stringy, shedding a lot and harbouring pesky mealybugs despite many attempts to get rid of them. Ad hoc maintenance was $120 plus any plant replacement at $4 each.

This is the new improved vertical garden now:

I tried replacing the plants myself but since I'm now pregnant and not allowed to climb ladders that's why we just engaged them to come do the hard work..

Edited October 6, 2017 by ilkl

[ilkl 6]

17 hours ago, Mannequin said:

Do you mind to recommend your electrician? Thank you.

Hi @Mannequin,

Our electrician is Welmate and they were pretty good but maybe a little bit more pricey than others?

Welmate Electrical & Aircon Services
61 Upper Paya Lebar Road #01-03/04 Tat Wan Building Singapore 534816
HP: +65 9746 9849 Email: welmate_electrical @yahoo.com.sg

[KFC1189 11]

3 hours ago, ilkl said:

Hi @KFC1189,

The vertical garden is still doing well.

I have replaced the ferns with spider plants during the first month maintenance at $4 each plant, and then decided to replace the aluminium plants (pilea cadierei) in August because they were looking stringy, shedding a lot and harbouring pesky mealybugs despite many attempts to get rid of them. Ad hoc maintenance was $120 plus any plant replacement at $4 each.

This is the new improved vertical garden now:

I tried replacing the plants myself but since I'm now pregnant and not allowed to climb ladders that's why we just engaged them to come do the hard work..

Hi, first of all, I'd like to congratulate you and your husband for your pregnancy which will bring joy to your family.

Just one more question, what kind of liquid fertilizer do you use and where do you add it since your water supply is piped in without a water tank. Thanks in advance. 

Edited October 6, 2017 by KFC1189

[Songz 132]

Love the vertical garden.

Who did you engage on this ??  

[KFC1189 11]

1 hour ago, Songz said:

Love the vertical garden.

Who did you engage on this ??  

You should go and read her earlier posts on her vertical garden.

[ilkl 6]

22 hours ago, KFC1189 said:

Hi, first of all, I'd like to congratulate you and your husband for your pregnancy which will bring joy to your family.

Just one more question, what kind of liquid fertilizer do you use and where do you add it since your water supply is piped in without a water tank. Thanks in advance. 

There is a fertiliser tank attached to the water supply. They call it a "fertigator" lol. Any organic liquid fertiliser would do, just dilute it with some water first. So far I've not added any fertiliser and I don't think I need to because as you can see, the plants are growing rather bushy so any addition of fertiliser, I might end up with an unruly-looking garden!

[Songz 132]

18 hours ago, KFC1189 said:

You should go and read her earlier posts on her vertical garden.

Ok thanks. 

[opila 2]

Thanks for sharing. 

I have been a silent reader of this forum for 3-4 years and this is definitely one of the more useful blogs which I have came across. Very organised and informative. I find myself keep coming back to re-read the blog as my own renovation is drawing nearer.

[michmichtooo 0]

Who is the ID that you have engaged ?

[ilkl 6]

Dyel.