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.

Related Posts:
Renovation is tough work - Part 7
Renovation is tough work - Part 6
Renovation is tough work - Part 5
Renovation is tough work - Part 4
Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

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

Related Posts:
Renovation is tough work - Part 6
Renovation is tough work - Part 5
Renovation is tough work - Part 4
Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

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.

Related Posts:
Renovation is tough work - Part 5
Renovation is tough work - Part 4
Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

Renovation is tough work - Part 5

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.

Related Posts:
Renovation is tough work - Part 4
Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

Renovation is tough work - Part 4

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.

Related Posts:
Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

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.

Related Posts:
A Peek at the New

Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

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 ;)

Related Posts:

Renovation is tough work - Part 3

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

Renovation is tough work - Part 3

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.

Related Posts:

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout

Renovation is tough work - Part 2

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.

Related Posts:
Renovation is tough work - Part 1

Rectification

Stop Work Order

Torn Down
New Home Original Layout