Sunday, July 21, 2013

20 July 2013 - Playing host and IKEA purchases

Met up with one of his neighbours at around 11am, befriended on Facebook. She wanted to look at the workmanship which he had been crying about.

Met up with T for the membership card, had a quick brunch at the food court before going to the flat.

The guests were early, and he had to apologize for a bit.

Brought them into his house and showed them around. They had requested to take pictures of the finishes of the kitchen cabinet. Also showed them the paint works, the water heater trunking, and the tiling works. Apparently, she was interested in getting the same hood, and he advised that they should emphasize and document the specifications for the Fujioh FX900.

After they left, T hung around to talk about his renovation experiences, and also helped him moved things here and there, to get a feel of how to place things.

Oh, and just recalled that he had arranged with Dream Lights to get their installers to fix his lighting fixtures. 27 July, 9am.

Dad, Mom and Littlest Bro arrived at about 3am. Showed them around the house for a bit before heading to IKEA for an early dinner.

He had gotten a GOMMAREN 90 degree curtain rail from IKEA, but unfortunately, it didn't exactly fit. Luckily though, IKEA has a fabulous return policy. The refund was done in a form of a gift card.

At IKEA, they had 12-piece chicken wings and 20-piece meat ball for the party (forgot that it had beef, Dad stayed away from the meat balls). Coffee for Dad, tea for Mom, soft drink for Littlest Bro, and just plain water for him. Had a hard time finishing all the food, just because Littlest Bro refused to eat.

After that, they had a very tiring time in the store. Lots of walking, Mom and Littlest Bro just wanted to sit down at the settings and not get up at all.

Thought of getting a bench for the shoe rack. This BESTA shelf seemed to fit the bill. Maybe just throw in a cushion to soften the seat.

Saw another BESTA TV bench, able to stand on its own, and looks to be able to accommodate his NAD amplifier. Just that the shoe seat and the TV bench will look the same.

Checked out the BISSA shoe cabinet, but disappointed that it has to be mounted to the wall. Had been thinking about getting 2 of this side by side. And then setting up a mirror above it. Or, upright to check last minute dressing. Something like that. (self-edited) The top could be used to put keys, ornaments, while the settee could be used to put magazines, newspapers, or event slippers? Hmm. This will be on hold.



Bought 3 sets worth of SKULPTUR finials, BETYDLIG mounts, and HUGAD rods (up to 10kg, vs the thinner one at 5kg). These were going to be his curtain rods, which he'll try to negotiate with the Dream Lights installers to fix up. After coming home, he realized that for lengths longer than 140cm would require a 3rd mount in the middle. Looks like a return trip to IKEA very soon.

Also bought the BAREN glass shelf, liked it better than the GRUNDTAL one. And they are of tempered glass, as compared to normal glass in the hardware shops he visited. The mounts are a little different though, with the former looking more flimsy.

Earlier on, he had merely asked Dad if he owned any power drill, and level device. Did not expect Dad to just go ahead and get the extra screw and plug sets, and the level device itself. Dad even brought the whole set along to his new place. A misunderstanding, but sure made him understand again the term "blood is thicker than water".

Friday, July 19, 2013

18 July 2013 - Unofficial work validation

Met up with David today to go through the works. He was very defensive and loud. No point in arguing as he was not absorbing at all.

The miter joints for the tiled skirting were badly done. Made Dad's 30 year old house shine.

The uneven laminate/PVC cuts were due to the textured laminate, that was what David offered. See for yourself.


More heartache.


The promised PVC underside of the drawers never came.


The wardrobe at the master bedroom had unfinished edges. David said that some customers liked it that way, because when the paint touch-up fades, it would make things worse. He also mentioned that the edges were like that because his laminate was very thick.


Haphazardly punched hole and dangling wire for the water heater. Just what did he pay for?


So much for paying for premium paint. How did the painters do this? Peeling off already.


Check out the IKEA finishes. Much better, huh?



Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Second Discharge

Discharged again today (17 Jul'13), after getting warded again on the evening of 14 Jul'13 due to an allergic reaction. He had hives all over his body which got really painful later. He would then take a taxi to the hospital.

Many familiar faces seen, the A&E doctor, the business office admission lady, the butlers. And they recognized him. Of course, coming back in for a stay so soon. Steroids were pumped in via IV, and there was another painful injection at the left arm. He had to swallow a few pills too.

The dermatologist thought that his tolerance for irritants could have been lowered due to Arcoxia that he was taking for the back injury (due to the taxi crash). She prescribed him Desloratadine for 2 weeks, before he would be due for a review with her.

Afterwards, it felt like he had something preventing the expansion of his lungs, something tight at the base of the throat / upper chest. The cardiologist was called in, and he was put on a 24-hr ECG. Luckily the results were normal...

Sunday, July 14, 2013

9 July 2013 - Traffic accident

He had just boarded Silvercab SHC6855A for 5 minutes when the driver did an emergency brake on amber at the traffic junction, causing the vehicle to be in the junction box. From the opposite direction, a factory bus started to turn with the lights in its favor. Somehow, the cabbie decided to accelerate from the stationary position. He started shouting at the cabbie to stop, and that there's a bus in front, but within those few seconds, the cabbie did not respond. Not until after the crash. It was quite lucky that the taxi crashed head-on into the side of the bus. Things could have been much worse if it was the bus that had crashed head-on into the side of the taxi.


The cabbie then turned to the left, and stopped along AMK Ave 3. He did not bother to check if his passenger was OK, merely told him that he has to take another cab. Such selfishness.
 
 

The bus driver and the cabbie exchanged particulars. He would say OK to be the bus driver's witness.

 

He had agreed to help another colleague, and had intended to continue on his way to the office. Until he started to feel nauseous and pain in his lower back. When he finally got the taxi, he went straight to Mount Elizabeth Novena. And as it turned out, he would be only be discharged on Saturday (13 Jul'13).

Quite a bit of people visited him, and he drew a diagram to lessen the pain of repeating the sequence of events over and over again.

  

 Nice gesture from the company.
 

As of today, he still has pain in the lower back, and the pain also goes down the leg. Can't sit, stand, or lie for too long. Can't play badminton. What luck.

Monday, July 8, 2013

08 July 2013 - Updates

David called back in the afternoon.

1. David had noticed the doors were not the chosen ones, but felt that it wasn't "nice" of him to point out. So he chose to keep quiet, and never thought that the discrepancy would be spotted. Said he discussed with the supplier to offer a discount of $100 if he would keep the doors.

What? You knew that it was wrong and tried to let it go by quietly?

2. David mentioned that the crack in the bathroom floor tile was definitely not made by his workers, and would cost $50 just for repairs.

Oh well, no pictures of the original, not much of a choice huh. Hopefully Mabel from HSC would help him fix that one tile. Just too bad for him.

3. David complained that he was not given the specifications of the hood.

The hob and hood items were bought early to, just to facilitate the carpenter's measurements. It's gonna be for long-term, can't be sloppy about this. Also, it is the carpenter's responsibility to measure the dimensions before building, isn't it?

Hiccups are bound to occur. Not all is bad, David has been responsive so far, and he hopes that David will maintain some form of quality till the end of the works.

Also, David had been very accommodating to his ever changing requirements, and that is very much appreciated.


Sunday, July 7, 2013

27 Jul 2013 - Progress updates

Ran over last Friday right after work to check out the progress. Had just those last few minutes of light, and was glad that the corner skirtings were rectified. However, they didn't seem well done at all. Also, the tiles at the utility room were left as they were. Found lots of dried paint on the floor, maybe they were flakes? David did not put protective layer over the flooring. Corrugated paper rolls?


Today's a good day. Skies are clear, with beautiful cloud formations. The recent nights have been cool, and that meant good quality sleep. View of Sengkang again.


View of the expressway.


And the snaking LRT tracks towards Punggol interchange.


Carpentry for the kitchen done halfway. Was quite pleased with how the Ibiza Yoko laminate turned out, though... it looks similar in color to the bare plywood.


The glass-door dish rack at the corner. Opens up to a 80 degree thereabout.


His elation was cut short. The recommended height to mount the hood was 80cm from the worktop, but this was barely 60cm (each wall tile is 20x20cm). Definitely a head-knocker. Fed it back immediately to David, but he had not replied.


He remembers reading at IKEA that the recommended was 80cm, and he flipped Fujioh's manual. Also 80cm! Sigh, more hiccups. Also, the underneath of the drawers were bare ply instead of PVC as promised. He'll allow the workers to complete it before making any noise. However, he'll drop a gentle reminder to David tomorrow morning.


Carpentry at master bedroom up next. Overall structure done. Found that the drawers also were bare ply on the underneath, and there were some plaster here and there. Also, the walls were dirtied.


Close up view of the white wood laminate finish. 


Details of the Brazilian Teak veneer door. No wait, isn't this the Wenge instead?! Seems like someone's got the wrong door installed.


Looking to the room's entrance. By the way, the workers used their own "silver" metal door brackets instead of the "gold" brass one by HDB. Wonder if they would keep it or return it to him, if they would be any use at all.


Found some defects today, sad.

The tile at the master bathroom was chipped. The chipped edges were quite sharp.


The skirting's plaster were showing cracks despite having been painted over. Also, the paint had spilled onto the tiles.


Check this out at the master bedroom's windows. Nippon Paint's Ordor-less Premium paint. Freshly painted days ago and peeling. Wonder why he paid so much for the paint. Talking about that, the service yard and his store had not been painted too. There were damages, chipped walls at those locations.


Hmm, the door stopper for the store's door went missing.


Stayed for a bit to feel the breeze at the windows before finally deciding to go. Was still thinking of either IKEA or Courts, and opted to head to Serangoon NEX, for Courts and King and King Wong.

Good choice, saw many interesting items there. Like this chopping board.


Door bells, bells, literally. Saw some other dining table sets and home accessories, but realized that there was a no photo-taking policy, and there were more salespeople around him now. No photos...


Monday, July 1, 2013

30 Jun 2013 - Progress check

Went to the new place for a second day in a row, Saturday was to receive the deliveries for kitchen and bathroom accessories from Universal Union, and lighting fixtures from Dream Lights. Couldn't do too many checks as he had to turn up for badminton. This will be a consolidation from the weekend.

Found cigarette ash on his kitchen floor. How nice to have your house dirtied. Informed the contractor of his (dis)pleasure.


The kerb for the kitchen cabinet is up. His parents' house have the top laid with tiles too, not this time apparently. Could the dark patch at the right corner be due to the workers mixing their cigarette ash with the concrete? Also, with the kerb built around the floor trap, he's also curious to know how the cabinets would sit on the kerb. Maybe they are planning not to have him open the floor trap in future.

 

Saw his sliding windows up at the service yard. Some plaster were left on the track.


And guess what, looks like some people did some damage to his walls. Informed the contractor.






Looking out, he could see the air-con pipes. The insulation seems a little damaged/torn at the opening of the trunking.


Turned around to check how he should mount his lighting at the service yard. Thought that he should have it wall mounted, such that it wouldn't be blocked by hanging laundry.


The protruding 90 degree skirtings in his house are all like that at the moment. After discussing with his friends on Facebook, he was reminded that a proper joint could be a "miter joint". Even Dad's 30 year old house had a properly done miter joint.


Looking around the house also revealed some better finished joints. Like the kitchen kerb for example.


Another miter joint at the service yard.


Used sand mounds as viewed from his living room. Could need topping up real soon. He likes standing at his window, good breeze.


Loot from the various sources, FortyTwo.sg, Universal Union, Dream Lights, Everjoint and Lightings.com.sg.


Trunking in Bedroom 2 taking up previous wardrobe space. No chance for a full-height wardrobe anymore.


 Picked up the others that had not dropped in yet.


Found stones in the master bedroom's sink. One was found caught inside and wouldn't get dislodged. 


Is this becoming a nightmare?