Mayhem

That about sums it all .. there were three groups of people. The aircon people from Gain City, the electricians and the tilers.

The tiles were still work in progress ...

.Aircon pipes - Upgraded the copper pipes to SWG-22.

Upgraded the insulation to 1/2" Armaflex Class 1. Additional $180 for Sys-3 unit and $120 for Sys-2, copper upgrade included.

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Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

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Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

Renovation is tough work - Part 7

Many hours were spent comparing prices, deciding on the dimensions ... even for accessories like a towel bar, towel hook or a shower basket.

After some browsing, I decided to go for these from Amazon and its resellers.

Grohe 40 364 robe hook - US$21.45 from Amazon

Grohe 40 462 Essentials 24" Multi-Towel Rack - US$85.56 from www.faucetdirect.com.

Grohe 40 507 Essentials Cube Tissue Holder - US$63.67 from www.faucetdirect.com.

Grohe 40511000 Essentials Cube Robe hook - US$44.28 from Amazon

Grohe 40 689 Concetto Single-Post Tissue Holder - US$29.7 from www.faucetdirect.com

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Renovation is tough work - Part 6

Today, we met up with the id for a discussion on the carpentry. As with all discussion, it's never a half hour thing, especially when we have the two kiddos with us ... it's a weekend, can't possibly leave them with our parents. Parents need a break as well.

It took us one and a half hour ...

More costs ... the electrical and additional items like windows, false ceilings for the bedrooms. Wants vs money ... wished I had more of the latter.

I do hope the end result is worth it.

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We bought lights from OSK Lighting at Eunos. I would expect that we are paying higher because our id bought us there. My wallet was lighter about $3,100.

They also have a bathroom section. However, their bathroom accessories prices were a bit too high for me to stomach.

So the search continue and it brought me to Jalan Besar. I dropped by Poh Seng, Royal Franco and GR Link Marketing. All these three shops have a limited display space but the owners were all quite friendly and forthcoming with their advice and opinions. In the end, I selected GR Link and went down the next day with CP. After all, CP has to like the stuff as well.

I think in all, I probably visited these shops 10 times, some with repeated visits. I'm glad because I saved about $900 compared to some shops at Balestier ... However, if you are a high-pay earner, I guess you have to equate if the time spent on these visits are worth the $900 savings, afterall, considering the rate per working hour, time is money ....

This shows that my pay is low, yah? :(

Items bought:

1. WC Baron 888 with basin at $390.
This is one of the most popular now because it comes with Gerberit flushing system and a 10-yr warranty. I actually used a Baron 9 yrs ago and didn't know that it would rise up to be a leading brand in SG.

2. Joven Storage heater 25L at $230. Seems quite alright, a UK brand. I had some relatives using this.

3. Ariston FK62 CXS oven at $899. Ariston had removed the pizza function from their entry models, e.g. FH52... forcing those who need the pizza function to get the higher-end models. They also did away with the rotisserie function, which probably wasn't that useful after all.

Specs:

• End of Cooking Timer
• Catalytic Cleaning
• Integrated Ventilation System
• End Of Cooking Timer
• 120min Auto Cut-off Timer
• Glass Inner Door
• Double Glazed Door
• Internal Light
• Anti-Fingerprint Stainless Steel
• Embossed guides
• 2 Grids, 1 Tray
• 6 standard programmes:

    .Multilevel
    .Barbecue
    .Gratin (Fan Grill)
    .Pizza
    .Pastries
    .Traditional

4. Fujioh hood FX900. This is one of the most popular because it's suction power is good and it doesn't use charcoal filter, so no regular replacement needed.

 5. Fujioh FG 773 SGVL hob. Cost us $750 together with the hood. We found a seller online retailing this for $720 but decided to go with a single shop. We chose the white glass top for this. I quite like glass. I had a hard time cleaning the water stains off the stainless steel hob I had used before.

Other misc stuff like mirror, washer taps, bidets eventually brought up the costs to about $3,200. Renovation is certainly not cheap.

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After further research on Amazon, prices from other websites, I decided to buy locally. I guess the benefits would be fast delivery, local servicing and proven compatibility. Faucets bought from US would need a thread adapter to connect to our local pipes.

or me, Grohe or Hansgrohe for the bathroom would be good either way. Hansgrohe had most of their products still made in Germany. Grohe outsourced quite a number of their products to Thailand. That's for the BauLoop and BauEdge range of products.

The deal clincher was that this shop, Home and Bathroom in Balestier. It's along the row of shops where Hafary is located. It carried a extensive Hansgrohe range and the rainshower was going at a good discount, at $1,057!

Also bought another shower set (include mixer, shower pipe, basin mixer) for $373 and kitchen sink mixer for $243 from Hansgrohe.

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Car repair

For about 2 months, there had been a rattling sound at the back of the car. We couldn't determine what it was. There wasn't any loose object lying around. We searched high and low but still couldn't determine where it was coming from.

So I decided to send the car to VW service centre for inspection. During the test drive, which took half an hour, there was no sound at all! However, the moment I drove the car out of the service centre, the sounds came back. Probably needed some time to warm up .... Back to the centre I go.

So for these two days, I thought it worthwhile to rent a car, which was a good choice because it rained the next day.

Googled car rental, came across Asia Express. Pickup quite near my home. Took an Toyota Altis for $75 a day. Condition of the car was very bad, seat can't adjust upwards, internal lights not working ... engine gave out strange noise intermittently ... I'm so spoilt with my VW! A likes the car very much though, it's the car of his Aunt :)

Things are Moving

Things are progressing along quite well. Today, the door frames are up. Tiles still work in progress. I quite like the matte tiles we selected for the kitchen.

Leading to the kitchen:

 Door frames for rooms:

The management office subsidised $180 of the cost to replace this rusty pipe. I only had to fork out $100.

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A Peek At The New

The 3D drawings. Of coure, this is not the finalised product. There are bound to be changes. Of course, we won't be choosing the chandelier. Things always looks better on paper ;)

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Went to Heritage Bathroom Gallery at Geylang and Watertapz at Balestier today. Didn't find anything at Watertapz. They seemed to be doing renovation and it was quite messy there.

I'm quite alright with the prices at Heritage. Once I can confirm on the stuff, I think I'll order through them.

The Grohe kitchen sink mixer. Most of my taps are from Grohe. There's a 5-yr warranty and the prices are not really that high for the entry level range. Some of the non-branded taps are already priced closed to Grohe's.

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Went down to Hupfarri at 255 Jalan Besar. They seemed to carry some Grohe stuff but in the end, I think the salesgirl was more interested in promoting their housebrand. Otto, it's a local brand. Not sure if it's a rip off from Toto ...

Guess their prices weren't very cheap. They were on par with Wasserbath and Universal Union but, none of the taps I chose at Hupfarri was Grohe ... So why would I pay so much for non-Grohe stuff ...?

I plan to visit maybe two more shops, maybe the Bathroom Warehouse at Changi. Quite tiring, I dread to think of the process for the lightings ...

Some of the Otto rain showers.

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Stop work order aside, the next step is to start looking at toilet accessories and aircon. Went to 3 different shops for bathroom stuff today.

1. Ho Kee at Genting Road
2. Wasser-bath (WB) at Balsetier
3. Universal Union (UU) at Geylang.

The selection at Ho Kee was quite limited, especially for Grohe stuff. My must have for the renovation this time round, a Grohe rainshower with thermostatic control. I found the cheapest at $888 before further discount. Interior Affairs was retailing at $1041 even after a 49% discount ... Pays to look around a bit more.

Saw this a Wasser-bath, same price as Universal Union. It had a problem ... it required conceal water piping ... We were doing exposed piping ... oh oh ...

Eyeing some of the other Grohe stuff

Prices were about quite near between WB and UU.

After this, I still had to go to Gain City to order the aircon.

Bedrooms (kids): 9,000 BTU each - MSY-GE10VA

Master bedroom : 12,000 BTU - MSY-GE13VA

Cost: $3,099

Bracket:$150

Extended 2 - 5 yr warranty: $99 (unlimited claims) - Promotion

Upgrade insulation and pipe: $180

Living Room: 24,000 BTU - MSY-GE26VA

Dining: 9,000 BTU - MSY-GE10VA

Cost: $2,649

Bracket: $150

Extended 2 - 5 yr warranty: $99 (unlimited claims) - Promotion

Upgrade insulation and pipe: $120

2 times installation: $85

Total: $6,631

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A is back to his usual self

The doctors at KKH had A did another blood test and the dengue results were negative, which was a relief. We had a very, very difficult time drawing blood from A. His veins were so hard to find, we had to wrap him in a large towel, and poke a needle at his foot. Even then, the doctor had to pull the needle in and out for the blood to finally flow ...

In the end, the doctors could only determine that it was a viral fever. I spent the nights with A at the hospital and CP took over during the day. Finally the fever seemed to be gone for good on Sat. His platelet count shows a good increase over the past 2 days and he is good to be discharged.

A was reluctant though, he probably thinks the hospital is like a hotel .... he loved the food and the kiddy car there ... Me, I'm just glad to be out of there. The couch is never a substitute for my comfy bed!




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A is sick

Rectification

The PE engaged his own contractor to repair the beam. Hopefully with this, the work can be allowed to proceed. The upper floor owner had even complained to the BCA ... hope to resole this asap.

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Baby A's sick

Oh man, this is a first time I rather not have. A was admitted to hospital. He had been having a fever for the past 6 days and a very blocked nose. He couldn't sleep at night, woke up every 30 min. We couldn't sleep too ...

Today after a very difficult blood test in the morning ... the pd said that he could be having dengue fever and advised us to admit him to KK Hospital.

Look at him now having his dinner ... doesn't look sick at all ... :)

Work Stop Order

Today the management office called me. They informed me that the workers had damaged part of a structural beam and were ordered to stop the renovation works. I left it to the ID to take care of it. After all, we had the PE's approval before hacking works.

Well, my ID did mention that he will bear any costs incurred. Good to hear that. Let's hope everything will be settled without any problem. Anyway, it seems like the $1000 deposit will be forfeited ...