Lighting Concept- Living Room

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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