Our HDB Flat Renovation in 2009

DIY- Decorating Boy's Room (HDB common room)

2013-10-22T00:07:00.001+08:00

While teaching the boys to read the clock, we realized that their bedroom wall was a little plain, especially after doing up their baby sister's bedroom.

We first bought the decals for the vehicles and clouds but found it a little plain. So we bought some roads and added more to the wall. See the results below.

HDB common room decoration with wall decal for Boys

See the link to purchase the decal online from amazon.
Decal for vehicles

Decal for clouds

Decal for roads

Comments are welcome!

Also see

Decorating a baby girl's room

Glass doors and children

Guest Blogger: Holiday Surprises For The Family

2013-10-12T23:58:00.001+08:00

Holiday Surprises for the Family

In order to bring richer content to our readers, we have tied up with other bloggers to post as a guest.

Please welcome today's guest blogger Bob from http://metalhandyman.com

I look forward to the holidays because they remind me of wonderful childhood memories. I'm a pretty sentimental guy so when I get the chance to think back to those memories, I take advantage of the opportunity.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two big holidays I spend the most time preparing for. I enjoy spending time with my family and I make sure that my home has a few memorable surprises every time they visit. I've taken the liberty of jotting down some of the projects I've worked on in the past. These projects provided the right amount of excitement. I love the look on their faces when they come over!

1. Paint Job
Painting was probably the easiest and cheapest holiday project I worked on. I didn't paint my entire house green and red, but that was one of my initial plans. It was going to cost more than I thought to wrap my home in paper and bow. Instead I decided to paint my bathroom. It's the smallest room in the house and I knew that if I got sick of it, repainting the room would not be a huge problem. I sketched a few branches on large brown paper and taped them to a freshly painted white wall. I then painted over the paper with red paint. The result was a winter landscape against a bright red Christmas background.

2. Light Fixtures
In the past I've changed light bulbs in the kid's rooms to reflect the Christmas mood. I know it sounds corny, but green and red lights shining through the bedroom door made me laugh uncontrollably. A simple green tinted bulb can supply all the Christmas cheer you need. I also heard of a great DIY project involving wine bottles. These bottles are usually ornately designed so adding a few inches of LED lights inside a few of them can provide some interesting decoration. I'm stilling thinking whether or not I want wine bottles sitting around on my table. I saw an article about changing a light fixture so I've given thought to installing a special light fixture in the dining room. Maybe it will give our dinners a fancy feeling.

3. Kitchen
The kitchen is probably the most important room in your house for the holidays. It’s where everyone will gather. It’s where the kids will roll out sugar cookie dough, where your uncle will go for Thanksgiving Day game beers and where your mother will say the gravy is too lumpy. Don’t give anyone anything to criticize by giving your kitchen a quick update. Fresh paint on the walls can breathe new life into the kitchen. Or, if the cabinets are in good condition but about as stylish as big ’80s bangs, fresh paint and hardware on the cabinets can make them look as good as new. White is always a classic, or consider painting the upper and lower cabinets different colors for a contemporary look. New hardware – silver or matte black are very “au courant” – will finish the look.

4. Bathroom
I spent a few years as a plumber so the bathroom is my favorite place to make changes. One of the first projects I worked on was actually turned into a gift for my daughter. I placed steel fittings around a mirror and surrounded it with LED lights.For me the bathroom is probably the the most important room for the holidays. My family sometimes stays over for entire weekends so I know the bathroom will be a busy place. I already mentioned the paint job idea I implemented before. Alternatively I thought about simply coordinating towel bars, wastebaskets, toothbrush and even toilet paper holders with holiday themes. I've also considered making general changes such as adding a new vanity and sink which can cost as little as $100. I'm most familiar with the shower and sink but I've never been able to think of anything fancy for the holiday. I saw an article about channel drain showers and thought about how amazing the looked. Maybe one of the models from Quick Drain USA. They make the bathroom look incredibly modern. That's not really my style but I know my family would be so excited about it.

HDB Ceiling fan installation (Part 2)

2013-10-09T23:27:00.000+08:00

Caught this comic strip on the Straits Times last week.
Advises consumer on the basic checklist on ceiling fan installation.

HDB ceiling fan installation from the Straits Times

Also see

Ceiling Fan installation- our HDB flat

Advantages of ceiling fans

How to check for quality in a ceiling LED light

Making a long living room feel spacious

HDB Energy Saving: West facing Apartment? Beat the Heat!

2013-09-23T18:31:00.000+08:00

In sunny Singapore, the west facing apartments will always face the brunt of the setting sun. Our HDB apartment happen to be one of those.

HDB Flats in Sunny Singapore

In our experience, the late afternoon sun approximately 4pm to 5pm has the biggest influence on the residents' thermal comfort. The discomfort and inconvenience is 2 tiered.

Firstly, the indoor ambient temperature 4-5pm can sometimes can be unbearable and be as high as 35 Deg Celcius.

Secondly, at about 5-8pm, the wet facing wall would have absorbed sufficient radiation from the sun and starts to emit heat into the room. This is also known as a "hot wall" effect. Air-conditioning cost will increase to cool the "hot wall" down.

What can we do about this?

Creative Passive Solutions:

1. If you are lucky to have the laundry drying area facing the west, dry your laundry on the west facing side. Although I was told by many seniors citizens that it is better to dry wet clothes in the morning sun. I wonder why this is so... Please share if you happen to know.

HDB Laundry scene

2. Beat the 4-5pm heat by going to the National Library to enjoy free air conditioning.

National Library of Singapore, Courtesy of nlb

3. Chill out in a swimming pool 4-5pm for less than 2 dollars at the neighborhood SSC swimming pool.

Chilll out at the Swimming Pool, courtesy of SDSC

4. Stay on the rooms on the east side.

Now that you have loosened up..... here is the real stuff.

Active Solutions:

1. On the west facing wall, close all windows, day curtains, curtains to provide maximum insulation against radiation penetration. This was the first thing we did, unfortunately, our curtains were not thick enough to black out the evening sun. The indoor temperature was could be as high as 33 Deg Celcius. Looks like we need to spend some moola to get some comfort.

2. Convince HDB to use "cool paint" to repel radiation.

There are products available in the market to help improve our lives. Can we use it? Are developers looking into this or they are just considering mass production? Check our solacoat, a water based acrylic coating with membrane additive which helps to reflect solar rays. This option is a long shot.... I can't do it alone.

3. Hang blinds on the west facing windows.

I would have pushed for this if we are allowed to hand the blinds outside the window pane. The blind gets in the way of the curtains which also serves a value aesthetically.

4. Apply Solar films on the west facing windows.

High reflective solar films was initially my favorite choice. Until I learnt that HDB has a 20% cap on the reflectance for solar films that can be applied on HDBs. If so, what is the point of applying the solar film??

An associate who applied the solar films on her windows advised us against the solar film as she claims that the film will deteriorate after 2-5 years, turning the window into an unsightly bubble pop. In turn, it was a nightmare to remove the "melted" film which has bonded tightly to the window pane under extreme temperatures.

5. Apply Black-out curtains on west facing windows.

Surprisingly, these are not common in Singapore, given the all year round summer. This was our eventual solution. The details are coming up in the next posting!

Choosing Ceiling LED Lighting (How to check and ask for quality)

2013-09-16T14:29:00.004+08:00

With the emergence of a large variety of products from the "emerging" economies, (no pun intended) it is sometimes difficult to tell good value for money.

In my context,
Good value for money = fair price + good quality
Fair value for money = high price + high quality OR fair price + fair quality OR cheap price + cheap quality
Poor value for money = fair price + poor quality OR high price + fair quality
In short, you pay for what you get.

After some investigation, we would like to share our 2 cents worth with all the readers.

HDB renovation 2009- Ceiling Light before installation

1. Look for thick plastic

HDB renovation 2009- Ceiling Light, thicker plastic is better

2. Look for Metal hinges (plastic ones will crack after 2 years when you try to remove cover for bulb changing)

HDB renovation 2009- Ceiling Light- ask for metal hinges

3. LED ( aka Light emitting Diodes) are the latest trend in the market. They are energy efficient, requires lasts much longer but are more expensive. We will not cover the details of LED here. But in short, the LED must work with a driver (which converts Singapore Power's AC current to Direct current) The drivers usually fails before the LEDs.

So the trick is to ask for 2 sets of LED with their independent Drivers. If 1 driver fails pre-maturely, the other set is running, so you will not experience a total blackout.
This is of course on top of the warranty!

HDB renovation 2009- In 1 Ceiling light fixture, 2 independent sets of LED (Small squares arranged in a circular fashion) and drivers (the white boxes)

Also read:
Shopping for Lights
Problems with False Ceiling and Lightings
Lighting- cost savings
Lighting Concept

Ceiling Fan Installation (Part 1)

2013-09-16T14:09:00.002+08:00

We have shared the benefits of having a ceiling fan in a HDB flat and the choice of ceiling fans was also explained for the readers' benefit. To complete the story on this topic, this post covers the ceiling fan installation process.

1. Preparation and Delivery
a. Clear a working area below the designated ceiling fan area.
b. If there is an existing installation to be displaced or removed, plan in advance.
c. Standby a home ladder if you have one
d. On the arrival of the fan installer, explain what needs to be done.
e. Check the delivered items against your order form.

HDB renovation- Ceiling Fan and Ceiling Light delivery

HDB renovation- Check the delivery item to your order document

f. Prepare some refreshment for the installer. Helps increase the quality of work!

2. Removal of existing installation (if any)
a. Plan beforehand if this installation (eg lighting or old ceiling fan) is going to be used else where or to be disposed of.

HDB renovation- Removal of Existing Lighting

b. By briefing the installer when he arrives, he can plan his sequence of works effectively. You can also negotiate for disposal into your purchase.

HDB renovation- Preparing the Lighting for disposal

3. Anchor Bolt
a. Check the instruction manual for the recommended number of bolts required
b. Most ceiling fans will recommended at least 3 to 4 secure bolts per fan. Note that the bolt is only considered secured if the bolt-nut can be tightened with increasing resistance.

HDB renovation- Installing the Anchor Bolts for the Ceiling Fan

c. There is also a minimum spacing between all bolts, including those from the previous installation.
d. Most experienced installers will know how to reduce dust using paper and plastic bags. However, it cannot be 100%.

4. Assembly and installation (Ceiling fan and Ceiling lights)
a. Take the chance to check that the parts are new and in good condition.

HDB renovation- Ceiling Fan Assembly

HDB renovation- Ceiling Fan Assembly, LED light kit add-on

b. Most fans would include a safety lock mechanism that would prevent the fan from falling in case of failure and would stop the motor spinning.

HDB renovation- Ceiling Fan mounting onto the bracket (in black)

5. Testing
a. Try out all the fan speeds, light kits and remote controls.
b. Go through and clarify the warranty card as required.
c. Ask the technician for his name and direct contact number. In case of any troubleshooting, at least you will be talking to the same guy.

In case anyone is interested, we bought our ceiling fan and ceiling lights from, drop me an email.
Service was good and prompt.

Also read:
How to Choose a Ceiling Fan
Ceiling Fan Comparison Chart
Advantages of a Ceiling Fan
Shopping for Lightings

Decorating Baby Girl's Room Wall

2013-07-11T23:32:00.001+08:00

Having conditioned the baby to sleep through, we managed to find time to decorate her room, but was on a tight budget. My wife was keen to make the room more lively and "girlish".

She found an elegant and economical way to create a theme wall for our girl's infant room, DIY decal style. It is a quiet forest theme with an owl, porcupine and squirrel.

Take a look at the finished product here. Stickers are reusable and of surprisingly high quality. So there was no worry about adjusting the picture arrangements to your preference.

Decorating Baby Girl's Bedroom economical DIY

There are other 2 choices which we found to be pleasant and suitable for baby girls, but without being too pinky

Also see
DIY- Changing cabinet knob
DIY- Decorating Glass Door with Decals
DIY- Decorating a boy's room

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303 (part 2 of 2)

2013-06-23T03:22:00.002+08:00

This is a continuation of Part 1.

Insert Square headed bolt through bolt and slide catch into seat base assembly.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bolt + catch on seat base (viewed inverted)

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bolt + catch on seat base slide in (viewed inverted)

Repeat for other side.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bolt + catch on seat base 2 sides (viewed inverted)

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Bowl without seat and cover

Insert 2 x transparent rubber spacers.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- Insert 2 transparent spacers into 2 anchor holes on toilet bowl.

Align bolts and insert into bowl anchor holes

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- align seat assembly's bolt to bowl's anchor holes

The bolt needs to be secured with nuts from underneath. See below pics for a thousand words.

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- bowl without seat and cover elevation

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303- nut and washer to secure inserted bolt from under the bowl.

Repeat for other bolt.

Also see:
Feedback of water cabinet baron w303

Other Maintenance Postings:
Changing chair fabric
DIY home repair cabinet knob
Does a refrigator need plinth
Wet floor toilet design

Changing Toilet Bowl Seat Cover- Baron W303 (part 1 of 2)

2013-06-23T03:21:00.002+08:00

After 4 years of use, we decided to replace the toilet seat in the master bedroom with a standard oval shaped cover-seat (aka non-original) which was commonly available costing SGD26.

It proved to be an unwise choice as

1. The seat and bowl shapes did not match. I guess it still works well, but we started questioning why the decision to get a designer toilet bowl in the first place.

2. Due to the incompatible dimensions between the bowl and our purchased seat, the sitting position became awkward, which required the user to lean forward. In short it did not work.

Without much options, we searched for original seats and had 3 quotes, ranging from SGD40 to SGD55 all before GST. Naturally the cheapest one was picked from Klisss.

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303 invoice

It came in a rather plan box for a designer product.

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- simple box

However, the box was clearly labelled as "SLOWLYFALL". See the video here to know what it means.

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Labelling

Supplied components included (clockwise in picture below) assembled cover-seat, 2 rectangular catch, 2 sets of plastic bolt + nut + washer and 2 transparent spacers.

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Supply components

Plastic rectangular catch.

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Catch

Complete assembly of the Catch + washer + nut + Bolt assembly

HDB renovation DIY- change toilet seat cover Baron W303- Catch+ washer+nut+bolt assembly

See Part 2 here

Feedback of Water Cabinet Baron W303- 4 years

2013-06-23T02:11:00.003+08:00

Initially, we provided a feedback after several weeks of usage and are not sure if we should be providing a 4-year feedback as it seemed like a pretty "unhygienic" topic to dig into so much detail. Since we have done the dirty job, we might as well save the readers the trouble of the same journey.

After 4 years of use, we observed the following:

1. The Baron W303 was the most economical designer bowl we could find in 2009. It added to the hotel-like toilet look we were after.

2. As a designer toilet bowl, the seat came with a "Slow fall" or silent falling function, which started to show that it is wearing out after approximately 2 years. At 4 years the cover was behaving like any normal cover, ie when released, you can hear the contact sound. Ironically, this made life easier as the new cover took more than 20 seconds to "fall slowly".

2. In addition, the toilet seat was less child friendly when compared to a standard oval shaped bowl, specifically:
a. The built-in resistance for the "fall slowly" cover poses a slight challenge for our 3 year old boy learning to pass urine on his own.
b. Baron W303 had a non-standard seat shape and curvature that was not compatible to some child-potty seats.

3. The dual flushing power was decent so far. There was no significant loss of flushing power over the period of use.

4. Seat cover surface started to deteriorate after 4 years of use by 2 adults. However, we have to admit that it is still functioning well except with a slight loss of contact comfort. Baron's original seat replacement was not commonly available and the cheapest quote was SGD40 before GST. In contrast, a conventional oval shaped seat-cover is readily available island wide for SGD 10 to SGD 26. See posting replacing the Baron W303 seat cover.

In conclusion for the above feedback, while the Baron W303 provided high aesthetic value at a decent price, the maintenance cost expectation should be kept at that of a designer bowl. Recommended for the Master Bedrooms but not for common toilets with heavy wear/tear and toddler use.

Also see:
Feedback on Baron W303 after 2 weeks of use

Concerned about maintenance cost: also see:
Advantages of installing ceiling fan
Lighting concept cost savings
Compare LED vs energy saving lighting

Compare LED vs Energy saving lighting

2013-06-14T01:10:00.001+08:00

What are the benefits of using LED lights at home?

There is much hype about LED lights claiming to save significant wattage over the compact Flourescent Lights (CFL) and replacement cost. Is it really worth considering this for HDB dwellers?

Before that, lets start by some definition.
LED = Light Emitting Diode
It is a solid-state lighting technology that has been around for decades. The technology has only picked sufficiently for LED to be increasing reliable.

To be continued...

Ceiling Fan comparison Chart

2013-05-19T05:47:00.002+08:00

This is a follow through article after research on the general considerations in choosing a ceiling fan. If you have not read it, the link is here (coming soon)

Unique to our needs, we have summarized our requirements as follows:
1. Size of fan in accordance to the room size.
2. Ceiling height about 2.3m. We cannot afford a low hanging fan.
3. High Aesthetics is important to satisfy my better half's requirement
4. Light kit is a must!

Guided by the above requirements we visited 7 showrooms over 2 weekends and shortlisted 5 options as follows:
1. Crestar Rainlite
2. Crestar Skylite
3. Fanco FF707
4. Acron Ventieulator 218
5. Vento Mela distributed by Amasco

You can probably guess our final choice from the photos below. For the benefit of the readers, we still want to share the selection process. Our 2 weeks of fact finding and comparison has been summarized into the following comparison chart.
Note that the Fanco FF707 specs are from our living room ceiling fan purchased in 2009. Read the review here (coming soon!)

Comparison Discussions with the sellers:

1. Crestar Fans offer great value with their Aluminium cased motors. Aluminium releases heat well and does not rust. One seller explained that Crestar used German Technology, built in Taiwan. I loved their functional appeal. Unfortunately, its aesthetics did not appeal to my better half.

HDB Renovation Ceiling Fan- Crestar Rainlite

HDB Renovation Ceiling Fan- Crestar Skylite

2. Fanco has a competitive price (at least in 2009 when we bought it) This is a good choice for something decent looking but on a tight budget. The have very similar design to Amasco. Read our review on our Fanco FF707 here (coming soon)

HDB Renovation Ceiling Fan- Fanco FF707 WH

3. Although we have never heard of the Acorn brand, but we asked extensively about it as we found the unit on display elegant. The motor body is largely hidden by the light kit. The seller explained that Taiwan makes the "best" ceiling fans. He explained that several ceiling fan marketing companies that have their products OEMed by the same few Taiwanese factory. Thus they have the same quality despite the different brands. Acorn is one of them.

HDB Renovation Ceiling Fan- Acorn Ventilateur 218

4. Vento's Mela really caught our hearts. See here to understand why. It remained our 1st choice until the last minute when we realized the price tag was sufficient to purchase 3 standard ceiling fans. There was also an unfounded doubt on the ease of maintenance and lifespan of the blade rotation bearings.

HDB Renovation Ceiling Fan- Vento Amasco Mela

5. KDK is a household brand I grew up with. However we did not consider KDK as they did not provide much options with lighting kits. Perhaps another reason is our choice of showrooms did not promote KDK aggressively.

The most balanced choice was the Acorn.

Also see
Advantages of installing a Ceiling Fan
How to choose a Ceiling Fan
Installing a ceiling fan

How to choose a ceiling fan

2013-05-19T03:54:00.000+08:00

How to Choose a Ceiling Fan

From our research, generally the key recommended considerations are the room size, ceiling height and lighting kits.

1. Room size: 44” or 54” sized fans?

Firstly, the measurement of the fan sized we were told is NOT measured from the diameter of blade tip spinning path. It was rather complicated and we gave up trying to understand it. If anyone knows please let us know. As recommended by several sellers, for optimal performance:

For room size below 100 square feet

(typical old HDB 4R common bedroom) - use size around 44”

For room size 100 to 200 square feet

(typical old HDB 4R master bedroom) - use size around 50”

For room size 200 to 350 square feet

(typical old HDB 4R living & dining room) - use at least 54”

2. Ceiling Height

Standard HDB ceiling height are less than generous. Unless the ceiling fan is mounted above a non-walking path eg dining table or bed, the choices are pretty limited. For low ceilings there are a few low profile and flush mount fans available in the market. One of the smallest one we found is the KDK M11SU

3. Light Kits

Some ceiling fans models come with light kits and most have optional add-on options. It is a good way to mount one more light in the room and saves the cost of an extra light point.

With this in mind, check out our

Ceiling fan comparison chart

Lighting Concepts
False ceiling and Lights

Also see:

Advantages of installing Ceiling Fans

Choosing an air-conditioner (coming soon)

Installing the ceiling fan (coming soon)

Advantages of installing Ceiling Fans

2013-05-19T02:45:00.001+08:00

Why we had a ceiling fan in the Bed room.

Room ventilation generated by ceiling fans can make the ambiance feel cooler by a few degrees. This is something standing and wall fans are not designed to achieve.

When applied intelligently together with air-conditioning, it can help to save electricity consumption. This was how I convinced my wife the savings without doing a laboratory test:

When using the air con with ceiling fan, this 2 additional steps were applied:

1. Set the thermostat on the aircon to 3 to 5 DegC above the preferred ambiance temperature. For example, if you are used to sleeping at 20DegC, set the aircon thermostat to 25DegC.

2. Set the auto off-timer on the aircon to 3 hours before your wake up time. For example, if user sleeps at 10pm and wakes up at 6am. Set the aircon auto off-timer to 3am.

	Thermostat set on air con	Air con Operating hrs	Fan operating hrs	Energy consumption per month (KWhr)	Estimated cost savings (April 2013 SP rates 26.7c/kWhr)
Aircon (2.5KW) only	20DegC	8hrs	0hrs	2.5KWx8hrsx30days= 600KWhr	S$ 160
Aircon (2.4W)+ ceiling fan (0.08W)	25DegC	5hrs	8hrs	2.4KWx5hrsx30days + 0.08KWx8hrsx30days = 380KWhr	S$ 102
					S$ 58 per month per room

Assumptions:

(A) Assume 0.1kM savings from thermostat temperature difference of 5DegC.
(B) Typical 1 air con blower from a system operating at 8,540BTU/hr = 2.5kW
(C) Typical ceiling fan power consumption = 60W to 90W (costing about S$300 to purchase)
(D) Estimated electrical consumption = Input (kW) X No. of hours used X No. of days per month X Current Utility Rate

The choice seems clear! Conservatively, even if the real difference is only half of the calculated, the electrical tariff savings will pay for the ceiling fans in 10 months! The only exception I can think of is if users cannot sleep in a “windy” environment due to arthritis.

Disclaimer: We are not trained electrical engineers. The above is a heartlander trying to make sense of the small things in life. Apply at your own risk! If there are any experts out there who can correct or verify this, please leave a kind comment.

Also see

How to Choose a Ceiling Fan

Our Ceiling Fan Comparison

Choosing air-conditioner (coming soon)
Installing Ceiling Fan (coming soon)
Cost savings from using LED lights (coming soon)
Lighting-concept-cost-savings

Lighting Concept- Cost Savings

2013-02-14T01:02:00.001+08:00

Cost Comparison

Option 1 Costing: Our ID's proposal for down lights and cove lights and false ceiling

Original ID with Down Lights and False Ceiling

Install partial false ceiling and light holder (living room and 3 bedrooms) = S$1,730
Lay electrical lighting points: 42nos x S$30ea = S$1,260
Installing lights (labout only): 42 nos x S$8 = S$336
Purchase down lights/ cove florescent tube: 42nos x S$15= S$630
TOTAL COST: S$3,956

Option 2 Costing: Traditional way of mounting lightings directly on ceiling or wall

Lay electrical lighting points: 22nos x S$30ea = S$660
Installing lights (labout only): 22 nos x S$8 = S$176
Purchase lights and 3nos. of chandelier: S1,700
Supply and install Cornice: S$330
Increase budget for ceiling fan with lights: S$100
TOTAL COST: S$2,766

Overall savings Option 2 over Option 1 = S$990
End Result...

Also see Shopping for lights
Also see Lighting concept
Also see False ceiling and Lighting

Lighting Concept- Living Room

2013-02-06T01:33:00.003+08:00

The approach to the lighting concept was to have a "functional lighting" and a "mood lighting".

Functional light

1. Choice of white light for reading on the sofa

2. With a ceiling fan and no downlights or cove lights (see why here) we opted to choose a ceiling fan with built-in light to reduce the spinning shadow effect caused by the light located above the fan blades.

Mood Lights

1. Choice of yellow light

2. Can be used as a night light during the childrens' quiet time before bed.

3. Installed through wall mounted and ceiling mounted chandlers.

Also see Shopping for lighting

The cost savings of converting from down lights/cove lights to the above lighting concept can be found here.

Improved Toilet Layout- Cost of Renovation

2013-02-06T00:51:00.000+08:00

There has been numerous inquiries about the cost of renovating the toilet.

However, there are a few assumptions before sharing this information:
1. Do bear in mind that this was priced in end 2009 and offered as part of a complete renovation package.
2. Excludes demolition works and installation of all other toilet accessories.
3. Toilet is approximately 4.8sqm in floor area

a. S$1700: To Supply and Lay ceramic floor tiles c/w water proofing (Material cost up to $3/ft2)

HDB renovation- toilet floor waterproofing

For your information:
water proofing needs to be done under the toilet floor tiles. The failure of this waterproofing is often the cause of a wet/ leaking toilet roof between neighbours on the upper and lower floor.

b. S$1500: To Supply and Lay glazed wall ceramic tiles including low wall @ 1 toilet (Material cost up to $3/ft2)

HDB Toilet- Wall tile near completion

c. S$920: To supply and install 1500mm wide vanity top c/w integrated Bowl
d. S$820: To supply and install 1500mm wide suspended cabinetary c/w mirror panel door (Material soild ply/Laminates)

HDB toilet- Vanity Top and Wall Mounted Cabinet Construction

Improved Toilet Layout- Feedback Dec 2012
Wet Floor Toilet Design
Improved Toilet layout

Improved Toilet Layout- Feedback Dec 2012

2013-01-28T01:35:00.001+08:00

Generally, visitors complimented on the spacious feel of our MBR toilet. However, their perception, like any photo viewer would have limited depth in the functionality of the layout.

After using the "new concept" toilet layout, this article is targeted to provide a genuine user feedback for renovators to make an informed decision. The following are some of the highlights.

1. Shared Shower-sink concept
PLUS: This concept created a spacious feel be removing the conventional glass shower wall.
MINUS: The only concern on this the constantly wet floor. Earlier blogs covered the solution for this by buying an anti-slip mat. See the link here

2. Vanity Top with Sink

PLUS: There has been no complains about the generous table space from the vanity top. We still try to keep it uncluttered by storing as much as possible in the wall mounted storage shelf. Maintenance is extremely easy using a small water wiper.
MINUS: Cannot think of any at this moment.

3. Full Wall mounted Storage Cabinet

Wall mounted Storage Cabinet in Toilet

PLUS: Fantastic Storage Space! We use it to store spare toiletries, make-up, toilet paper etc. In addition, replenishment is immediate in the toilet.

MINUS: We observed that lipsticks grows moldy faster when stored in the cabinet as compared to those outside the bedroom, probably due to higher humidity in our naturally ventilated toilet.

4. White Colour
PLUS: Adds perceived space to the toilet when coupled with white light.
MINUS: little observed yet, However, we expect the white wall and floor tiles to become yellow in time to come.

5. Cove Light under the storage cabinet.
PLUS: The cove light is a good lighting option when we wake up to use the toilet late in the night. The cove light provided sufficient indirect brightness to move around without demanding the pupils to make drastic adjustments to the main lighting.
MINUS: If any, it would be the cost of an additional lighting point and bulb.

If you like to read about the concept of the Toilet Layout, please click here.

Also see
Improved Toilet Layout- Cost of Renovation
Wet Floor Toilet Design
Feedback of Water Cabinet Baron W303- 4 years

Changing the chair fabric

2012-11-13T01:05:00.003+08:00

Dining set consisting of 1 table and 4 chair set was purchased back in 2009.

To cut the long story short, after 3 years of wear and tear, the "leather" started to disintegrate.

We contacted several contractors and found it difficult even to get a quotation. It was only until we found Cheong and Mun on renotalk before they sent someone to take a look and offered a price on the spot.

In the discussion, we found the following facts, posted here for your benefit:
1. The original material was made of PU synthetic leather ( aka polyurethane)
2. Accoding to the saleman, a more durable material would be PVC synthetic leather ( aka polyvinyl chloride) which should last for at least 5 years if it is properly cleaned with water and soft soap. It is also the most water-proof amoungst the 3.
3. The most comfy, but at nearly double the price is cow skin leather. It can last at least 5 years provided it does not get wet and will last even longer if regularly maintained with leather cream and oil.

See the difference here and there

Verdict:
1. With 2 yound children, we expect frequent fluid spillage.
2. Leather cream and maintanence would take a lot of quality time.
3. Probably more worthwhile to choose PVC now and if there is no desire to change the furniture, in 5 years time, to replace with cow leather. This is a time where we optimistically expect lesser "waterfall: incidents after the children are more grown up.

Will post an update when the skin change is done.

DIY- Home Repair: Cabinet knob

2012-11-03T23:24:00.000+08:00

It has been 2 years and 9 months since we bought these cabinest for the kids from a neighbourhood furniture shop, S and C. Unfortunately the knob came loose a while back. Notice the swing door on the right in the photo below. Since the kids were too short to reach for the knob, we procastinated fixing it.

Recently, this issue re-surfaced after my wife reminded me that the kids are now old enough to access the knob. Took out my trusty DIY box and tried to force-screw the know tight. To cut the long story short, the ceramic knob broke.

We called the furniture shop to ask if we can purchase 1 knob. The boss was really helpful and tried to ask the factory for a free knob replacement. Unfortunately, it was not available. Instead, he receommended that we can get it direct from a shop in 5068 Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2, #01-1465. Cannot remember the name off the top of my head now.

There was a large variety of DIY parts available from taps, window hinges, pvc pipes etc. The first thing that came to my mind was "so this is were the renovation contractors buy their parts". Unfortunately, we were not able to find the exact design. My wife chose a ceramic knob with the closest design and paid S1.50 for it. We had nothing to complain about the price for 1 piece.

The fixing was simple and with a screw driver.

It was only after we replaced the broken knob before we realised for a uniform look, it was probably better to replace the other 4. Driving back to the industrial park a second time was too much of a hassle. But that is a consideration for you. Hope this blog helps!

Glass Door and kitchen-living window

2012-08-25T02:40:00.001+08:00

Hi everyone, we wanted to share our feedback on the choice of a full-glass swing door for the kitchen-living room door.

Firstly, the kitchen and dinning area is connected by a door. Initially we were following the concept of a design that has a similar longish layout like ours here. It was using a wood frame-glass panel bi fold door. As the design developed, after we decided to introduce a "window" between the kitchen and living room (so we can keep an eye on the kids in the living room while cooking), the decision for the door naturally followed. see our kitchen-dining area concept below

kitchen-dining area concept with glass door

An elevation view of the "window" and glass door. If you have noticed, we put some decals and clear stickers as a few of our first time visitors did not realise the glass door and bumped into it. Using a sliding door would have compromised into our storage space to the sliding pocket and would block the "window". Another option was to use bi-fold doors but we did not like the rails especially in a heavy cooking oil environment.

The glass is made of a full piece of tempered glass, meaning that it has been strengthened by heat treatment so it is harder to break. In any case it is broken, it will shatter into harmless tiny pieces of glass. We have asked specifically for the edges of the glass door to be chamfered to remove any sharp corners.

window and glass door with decals and stickers

The glass door can open in and outwards. This allowed for some flexibility in usage.

glass door swing outwards

glass door swing inwards

Feedback:
Overall we are quite happy with the choice. Specific points as follows:

Plus points
1. effective keeps out kitchen oil, probably like any other systems
2. fits into our design and the adjacent window
3. in-out swing was useful when serving hot food
4. allows light sharing between the living room and kitchen which gets the evening and morning sun respectively.
5. no rails or sliding pocket

Minus points and what we could have done better
1. However, a word of caution is to train babies and toddlers not to plan in the door swing zone. The glass door edge and floor can form a nasty pinch on the little toes, which has happened twice. Besides reinforcing that this it a NO-PLAY zone, we would probaby looking into attaching a soft rubber for the lower door edge to reduce the pinching effect.

2. The glass door swing mechanism is a PH and is still working fine. It was only after it was installed before we researched that Dorma was the best brand. I would insist on a Dorma if I knew earlier.

Does the Refrigerator need a Plinth?

2012-08-12T00:50:00.001+08:00

Do you need to create a plinth for the refrigerator? That was one of the "minor" points my ID was trying to play down and convince me to avoid the plinth. His argument was that without the plinth, it was easier to roll out the fridge to clean up the dust behind.

As the end-user, my concern was to address the case when the kitchen floor gets flooded from the washing machine malfunction, it would damage the fridge's electrical circuits. Read about front load washing machines having this risk here. "But that is a 1:1000 chance of happening", he argued back. I figured he was trying to find the easy way out, as without the plinth, the tiler will have a much easier time. Click here to read the reasoning. Anyway, to cut the long story short, I won the debate, which I now am glad having doing so. To protect the washing machine from the flood, we have also placed the rubber blocks to raise it above the floor.

Fridge on a plinth, adjacent to stacked drier on Washing machine which is on blocks.

Washing Machine on blocks

After moving for 2 and a half years, the "1:1000" incident happened... the kitchen floor was flooded when the water discharge tube from the washing machine was accidentally pulled out of the house outlet pipe.

The fridge on the plinth and washing machine on blocks were safe from the flooding. The only thing to handle was cleaning up the flood. Snapped some photos while moving the washing machine and drier out to clean up the wet floor. All these effort to prevent permanent damage to the fridge and washing machine.... I'd say it is worth it.

1. Shifted out the drier and washing machine
2. Create a temporary extension plinth to roll out the fridge (using newspapers and plywood shelf board)

Note the concrete tiled plinth on the left. Fridge has a white wheel and black adjustable leg.

3. Roll out the fridge to access the kitchen outlet.

4. Clean up the kitchen outlet

Kitchen water outlet was located under the fridge. All the flood water was discharged through this outlet. Also note the back of the fridge (on the right) has a lot of electrical works, vulnerable to flooding.

In conclusion, while making design decisions for your renovation, do consider some worst case situations, especially if they can cause some form of permanent damage to your assets.

Also see kitchen layout

Kitchen Design Concepts and Specifics

2012-05-06T02:02:00.001+08:00

My wife and I spent a fair amount of time deciding the approach to the kitchen design and layout. After weeks of discussion, of which some are less than cordial... here is what we agreed on.

Concepts:
1. Who has the Ultimate Say? My wife, being the primary user will have the ultimate say in the choice of layout for funationality and material/colour choice for outlook. For the new couples working on the renovation for your new home, it can be a lot of tension while making decisions along the way. My personal experience is always good to give and take.

2. Do we believe in FengShui? Yes! From my limited memory, our FS master dictated the Stove direction, refrigator facing direction, and insisting on avoiding clashes between the "hot" and "wet" elements are a few key parts. "Hot" elements are like stove and oven. "Wet" elements are prepresented by toilet door, sink and washing machine. We did some research work to check back. But if you want to take into consideration your GUA number, you may consider engaging a FengShui Master to help you early in the design stage. These FS guidelines will form part of the controlling parameters to guide your decision making.

3. Do we actually cook or bake regularly? Yes and quite a fair bit! Thus, to isolate the stir-fry and deep frying fumes from spreading to the living room, we decided to keep the kitchen "closed" aka non-open concept. From the above,
a. The choice of stove and oven was clearly important.
b. To reduce cleaning, we decided to choose a high performance hood.
c. We chose to introduce a glass door to isolate the kitchen from the living room while cooking. A glass door was chosen so we could keep an eye on our children in the living room.
d. Tabletop space needed to be increase for baking and food processing. These extra tabletop doubles up as a breakfast table.

4. What kind of theme do we want? We both wanted a neutral theme, but it has to look spacious. Thus we adopted a "white kitchen" concept. There are other themes like cottage or 2-tones. Some of our research references are here. Looking at photos helped us visualize and decide what we wanted. Communication with the ID is also easier with photos.

5. What is the Storage plan? After visualising how our movement would be like while cooking or baking, the wall mounted cabinets, tabletop cabinets where added around the stove, ovens, sink and refrigators. For more details, most of our ideas care from here. My wife wanted the following:
a. Sliding shelves for stir-fry sause beside the stove
b. Commonly used staff to be at middle level for ease of access
c. Staff that is seldom used a should be a at a low level, so the user will not need to squat or bend over too often.
d. Staff that is required once in a bluemoon is stored at the highest level. A stool may be required for access.

A glimpse of the completed kitchen layout as follows:

Also see
Glass Door and kitchen-living window
Does the Refrigerator need a Plinth?
Pre-renovation Preparation

Wet Floor Toilet Design

2012-05-02T22:18:00.001+08:00

Its been 2 years since our renovation has been completed. If you have been following on our choice of "Improved Toilet Layout", we chose to have a common standing area for the sink and bath zones. Thus our toilet does not have a Dry or Wet floor area.

The floor is always wet. Unfortunately, we have also not picked a floor tile that was sufficiently rough. As the result, the floor is slightly slippery when wet. "The solution was simple", I thought. Just get a floor mat!

My first mat choice was a perforated foam mat, supposedly made in Germany. It seemed to have a lot of friction when I tried it at the hardware shop, which obviously did not have a wet floor. But after the first trial, where I simulated a "slip" under wet conditions, it proved to be still slippery. No Go.

My second attempt was a mat made from hard plastic strips. it worked! Paid about S$40 from Homefix for a standard size.

Why it worked: I supposed the reduced contact area from the black strips allowed water to trickle through. In addition, the reduced contact area created a larger friction force against the black strips and the wet toilet floor. To verify this, a control test was done by pushing the mat on the wet floor with my hands, it slipped. I tried the "slip", that is with my body weight on the mat, which passed with flying colours. You may be interested to know that for the foam mat, the results were the exact opposite. There you go Physic fans!

After the toilet wash, we would stand it up in the corner of the toilet to allow the water to dry off completely to prevent floor staining. From the following photos, you can see the black strips that provides good friction against the wet floor.

Also see Improved Toilet Layout- Costing of Renovation
Also see Improved Toilet Layout- Feedback
Also see Improved Toilet Layout

Making a Long-shaped Living room feel Spacious

2010-08-14T01:01:00.000+08:00

Our flat layout is a long rectangular shape.
Thus, it feel narrow and long, more like a corridor than a living room.

This particular layout was one of our main concerns before signing on the Option. But my wife likes the location so much and I thought maybe we can figure out a way to re-design the layout so it feels more spacious. Indeed, this has become one of the most challenging issue in our renovation.

Together with our ID, these following methods were applied to create a more squarish spacious feel to the living hall.

1. Colour Scheme

Found some useful resources paint supplier's website. There is also a simple video commentary of the effective use of colours. The following is a summary.

How to raise ceiling?

Colours can be used to change the size of your home. You may use 3 different shades of colour to make a low ceiling appear higher. Simply use the strongest shade of colour on the base of the room, then paint the medium shade of colour for the walls, and finish off with the lights tint of the colour for the ceiling.

Choice of colours in Living Room

We chose the 3 different shades of Cream for the florr Magnolia yellow for the wall and white for the ceiling. We wanted an earthly version of the european classic feel. What do you think of the effect?

How to create width in you hall?

A long narrow hall will appear shorter and wider if the end walls are decorate with a dark or warm shade of colour, and the side walls with a light or pastel colour.

Choice of colours in for the End Wall

The end wall was painted with a Dark Cocoa colour to try to make the living room feel wider.

2. Feature Window & Glass Door between the Kitchen and Living Room
Our ID guy proposed this glass door and feature window to allow break the long walls of the living room.
It also allowed for visual communication for the people in the kitchen and the living room. My wife agreed to the idea saying that it will allow her to monitor he helper cooking while she is in the livving room.

3. Floor Tile orientation
The tile chosen was a creamed coloured homogenous with light brown streaks running in 1 directon.
Our ID recommended that the brown streaks run across the width of the living hall to make it look wider. But I feel the effect was not obvious as the brown streaks were too faint.

Also See
Kitchen design concepts and specifics
Choosing right fan for your room
Glass door and kitchen living window
Chandelier Lights