Our 4-Bedder Resale Condo Reno Journey 54.5k (excl electric works)

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A Public Holiday Well Spent

Mega Electrical Store

After a late breakfast we headed to a large electrical store to shop for kitchen appliances. They had a wide range on display. 

We went with the intention of checking out Bosch appliances. Sales personnel trashed it till its not worth a cent. Kept promoting a particular Italian brand. When we walked arnd to look see other brands, same thing happened, kena trashed. 

We were ready to cut a deal on the Italian brand recommended. But when i removed the burners for the hob, realised that in the event of overflow, liquid will flow right in. This really bugged me since i have 2 teenage boys who does abit of light cooking. Wanted to get another brand's hob, but was told nope. I had to settle for a hob of the same brand that didnt go well with the whole kitchen look or no deal.

Decided to put our purchase on hold since we'll be heading to Sim Siang Choon in the afternoon.

Next Stop Lamitak Showroon@Lavender

ID informed us mid week that for bedroom 4 wardrobe(No 3D drawing for this room), the laminates chosen will have uneven surface because of different thickness of the laminates. Although the diff in thickness is only 0.3mm, its quite obvious frm the side angle and the surface feels rough where the two laminates meet. Something for owners gng thru reno to note here if you are combining laminates to create design.

We went to Lamitek showroom ourselves as we didnt want to trouble Wayne. Chose 2 different laminates and watsapp him. A few minutes later he replied back with the changes aldy reflected in 2D drawing for our confirmation. 

 

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Notice the gap and uneven surface where the 2 laminates meet?

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After lunch we wanted to go to Lion City at Geylang to nego a deal. It turned out to be a drive by instead since they're closed on public holiday.

Sim Siang Choon @ Changi South

We compared design and prices of the taps we saw on Lazada and those on display. Seems like a great difference in price, will purchase this online. 

They had very few kitchen appliances on display and didnt seem to carry the brands we were interested in

We wanted to buy those pull out steel trays for kitchen cabinet but mechanism didnt feel smooth. We bought their corner stainless steel unit instead. Mechanism felt really smooth and the trays look sturdy. 

Forgot to get the name of the sales staff. He was very helpful, even helped to load up the heavy box into my car.

Headed to Parkway Parade

First stop Best Denki. Very limited appliances on display. Sales person kept promoting another Italian brand's appliances. Whats up with sales personnels and Italian kitchen appliances??

Hravey Norman@Parkway

Huge kitchen appliances display area. Hoods were connected to power points and we could test the power of air suction. Realised the advertised airflow of some brands were actually so so in reality. Thanfully we were assigned a very neutral and knowledgeable sales lady. She explained to us that certain brands remove all the filters when they test airflow. So the advertised figures are not accurate. Her method of test was just a simple paper test, but it worked!!

We settled for a Brandt bundle, a brand we didnt even consider in the first place because of pricing. She offered us a really good deal and Harvey Norman truly lived up to their reputation " We wont be beaten on price!"

Decided to get a Samsung washer as well, and again she gave us a gd deal. 

Tips :-

1) When buying things at Harvey         Norman, dont just look at the price displayed, everything is negotiable.

2) If like me you are bad at bargaining, Head down to their Parkway outlet and look for a lady with short hair and wearing glasses. Her name beigns with the letter E. She'll do her best to cut you the best deal. No bargaining required.

[fingerscross 3]

We bought Brandt gas hob TG1493B, Hood AD995XC2, and oven BXE 6538XS as a bundle for $2k. Not sure if its the best deal, but felt that its a good enough deal for us to commit since the finishings looked good. Below is the corner pullout tray from Sim Siang Choon

 

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Hi all, just checking if anyone bought this switch socket before from Taobao? Is it safe to use & suitable for Singapore? Thanks

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20 hours ago, fingerscross said:

Hi all, just checking if anyone bought this switch socket before from Taobao? Is it safe to use & suitable for Singapore? Thanks

Posting here gives me the same "nice" feeling i get when talking to my teenage boys, that feeling of talking to yourself and answering yourself.

Just in case anyone is interested....just got our lights from Space@Tampines. Learnt abit frm the lights sales guy. This switch and all other switches frm tao bao are a NO NO, spore electrical need safty mark or your fire insurance will have compensation prob in the event of fire.  Same goes for track lights. 

[Raylowwl 1]

On 02/09/2017 at 10:16 PM, fingerscross said:

Hi all, just checking if anyone bought this switch socket before from Taobao? Is it safe to use & suitable for Singapore? Thanks

I'm looking at the same series of switches from them.... Some with USB charger.... i think it should be safe... Any advise from others???

[izong 4]

On 9/2/2017 at 0:33 PM, fingerscross said:

After lunch we wanted to go to Lion City at Geylang to nego a deal. It turned out to be a drive by instead since they're closed on public holiday.

Sim Siang Choon @ Changi South

We compared design and prices of the taps we saw on Lazada and those on display. Seems like a great difference in price, will purchase this online. 

They had very few kitchen appliances on display and didnt seem to carry the brands we were interested in

We wanted to buy those pull out steel trays for kitchen cabinet but mechanism didnt feel smooth. We bought their corner stainless steel unit instead. Mechanism felt really smooth and the trays look sturdy. 

Forgot to get the name of the sales staff. He was very helpful, even helped to load up the heavy box into my car.

Headed to Parkway Parade

First stop Best Denki. Very limited appliances on display. Sales person kept promoting another Italian brand's appliances. Whats up with sales personnels and Italian kitchen appliances??

Hravey Norman@Parkway

Huge kitchen appliances display area. Hoods were connected to power points and we could test the power of air suction. Realised the advertised airflow of some brands were actually so so in reality. Thanfully we were assigned a very neutral and knowledgeable sales lady. She explained to us that certain brands remove all the filters when they test airflow. So the advertised figures are not accurate. Her method of test was just a simple paper test, but it worked!!

We settled for a Brandt bundle, a brand we didnt even consider in the first place because of pricing. She offered us a really good deal and Harvey Norman truly lived up to their reputation " We wont be beaten on price!"

Decided to get a Samsung washer as well, and again she gave us a gd deal. 

Tips :-

1) When buying things at Harvey         Norman, dont just look at the price displayed, everything is negotiable.

2) If like me you are bad at bargaining, Head down to their Parkway outlet and look for a lady with short hair and wearing glasses. Her name beigns with the letter E. She'll do her best to cut you the best deal. No bargaining required.

I did a few with HN at one of their fair at EXPO. Realize that (after given the advise by many here & there) it's sometime a lot cheaper if you buy them online eg Qoo10 with discount coupon. Mine was close to $300 more expensive then getting it online when i compare prices.

[izong 4]

23 minutes ago, Raylowwl said:

I'm looking at the same series of switches from them.... Some with USB charger.... i think it should be safe... Any advise from others???

Ray, u might have problems even getting an electrician to fix this up for you and unless you get it from their actual online store, i'm not sure if you should be getting them at all.

I think if you really want, can try getting them from JB instead.

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On 03/09/2017 at 10:39 PM, Raylowwl said:

I'm looking at the same series of switches from them.... Some with USB charger.... i think it should be safe... Any advise from others???

Izong is right on this, dont think any licence electrician will fix this for you. I have read thru Spring Spore website....confirm switches are listed as controlled items, even the light switches. Safety mark required for this items. 

Could not find any info on track lights requiring safety mark thou....would really appreciate if anyone can correct me on this. The sales guy said the fire at toh guan was caused by LED track lights at the furniture showroom hence now the requirement for safety mark. This scared the crab out of me, as my kids have the habit of forgetting to switch off the lights at night.

On the other hand, i understand frm Spring Spore website that LED downlight drivers require safety mark. So that is something to take note of when u guys go shopping for lights.

 

Edited September 4, 2017 by fingerscross

[matchalatte 16]

i would change all the light switches/plates to a matte black if i can, the default HDB ones are hella ugly. problem is, to have a uniformed look, the existing ones would have to be replaced as well. is it really feasible to do that? 

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8 hours ago, matchalatte said:

i would change all the light switches/plates to a matte black if i can, the default HDB ones are hella ugly. problem is, to have a uniformed look, the existing ones would have to be replaced as well. is it really feasible to do that? 

Not feasible at all. After sitting down to think....the plain old boring white switches are able to stand the test of time. They still look new after many years. Will the powder coated type of switches look gd after just 2 years, with sweaty hands switching it on and off countless times. 3 pin plugs gng in and out wld definitely scratch the surface some what.

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14 hours ago, matchalatte said:

i would change all the light switches/plates to a matte black if i can, the default HDB ones are hella ugly. problem is, to have a uniformed look, the existing ones would have to be replaced as well. is it really feasible to do that? 

 

6 hours ago, fingerscross said:

Not feasible at all. After sitting down to think....the plain old boring white switches are able to stand the test of time. They still look new after many years. Will the powder coated type of switches look gd after just 2 years, with sweaty hands switching it on and off countless times. 3 pin plugs gng in and out wld definitely scratch the surface some what.

Sorry i shld not say not feasible bcos changing the switches can be done. I am getting my ID to change my switches, but will prolly stick to white. If u want coloured switches can check out legrand, not sure the pricing thou. 

[fingerscross 3]

In case anyone wants to buy cheap bathroom accessories(close to, but not tao bao type of cheap). You might wanna head down to the lighting shop at Space@Tampines. They are clearing their display stock. Cash n carry. Sales guy said they r clearing their bathroom area to display more lights. While you r there feel free to ask abt LED drivers and safety mark, sales guy is v friendly. They carry okawa drivers. We got our lights there, definitely not the cheapest. But to be worry free, i prefer to pay more for safer products.

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Went to Choo Chiang today to chk out their coloured switches aft reading another t blog post last night.

Told the sales guy i prefered somethg that wld last and was recommended the Schneider ZENcelo range. Material looked good with a protective lacquer over the switch. Not much colour choice but the colour was the exact one i was looking for....bronze with silver casing. Since my house is mainly earth tone n silver it shld go well almost everyway except bedroom4. Will most likely just change the light switches since the socket switches are mostly hidden

Price..1 gang=$6+, 2 gang $10+, 3 gang 14+, there r prolly other places selling this slightly cheaper but i am really quite lazy when it comes to sourcing (dont make a good purchaser thats for sure). Was advised that whether i buy 1 or 10 no diff in pricing. Will count with ID how many i need after getting keys then buy.