Progress in my new house on 18th December 2012:~
Its carpentry work all the way in the afternoon....
But before I get to all the woody stuff, the OpenNet guys came in the morning to fix up the internet access.
It was a HORRIBLE roller coaster ride with OpenNet before this faithful day came.
To have the majority of my income compromised because of this?!?
No way!
Allan called up M1 and asked if they are able to 'do something' to make the installation happen BEFORE WE move in on Christmas Eve 2012.
Guess what?!?
There is a reason why M1 starts with 'M '.
They performed MAGIC!!!!
A friendly M1 staff called back after a few hours and confirmed the installation to be on 18th Dec 2012!!!
Whoo-hoo!
We were thrilled!
THANK YOU M1!
We love you.... for more reasons than one.
Without M1, I would NOT have met my beloved Dearie and married him.* wink*
Thank you M1 once again!
We were hoping that the carpenter would come in the morning too, so he could tell the OpenNet guys where to place the OpenNet Point exactly, so that it could be just beside the hidden power points.
In other words, to 'hide' the OpenNet Point.
Unfortunately, our wish did not come true....
*sigh*
The carpenter could only come in the afternoon.
As a result, the OpenNet Point is exposed, not hidden.
===========
Ok, let's get down to carpentry work now....
Beginning with my favourite BLUM System.
My LOVE!!!
It started off with a simple action of picking up brochures at a Furniture and Interior Design Exhibition in Sing Expo.
Took the white and orange theme booklet from one of the stands and discovered this fantastic concept : BLUM Corner Unit.
With this Corner Unit Concept, it makes full use of the hard-to-reach corner of a L-shaped kitchen cabinet, which is exactly what my new kitchen cabinet would be : L-Shaped.
I did not like the round-about/turn-around corner unit system that is so commonly found. I like none of them because the frame of the round-about/turn-around corner unit system is usually made of a few strips of metal.
Thus its very easy for things to drop behind or fall over into the base of the kitchen cabinet, making it extremely hard to retrieve. However, there is a reason why they had to use such light material as metal strips; because it needs to maintain light weight for easy rotation.
In other words, if you use such round-about/turn-around corner unit system, you can forget about putting stacks of porcelain plates and bowls. 'Cos it would be too heavy and thus creating too much pressure on the centre 'spine'.
The following are some examples of the corner systems which I mentioned above and I do NOT Fancy any of them: ~
But I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE MY BLUM corner unit system TO THE MAX!!!!!
We went direct to BLUM on our own WAY BEFORE we confirmed our renovation contractor.
We source for the retailer and were hoping to get a good price.
However, sadly, they ONLY supply to professional carpenters or renovation companies.
But since we were already at their showroom, which is in Dover area (this location is accurate at the point of my last visit there in November 2012), we want to know how much it would cost, so as to set aside a budget for it.
'Cos I REALLY WANTED IT!!!!
Very much like a toddler craving for chocolates!
*laugh*
The lady in the showroom told us the damage would be S$600+.
By the way, there are 3 different depth for the BLUM corner unit drawers.
This S$600+ is based on 1 Deep Drawer and 2 Shallow Drawers.
We did not opt for the Medium Depth Drawer.
At that point, deep in my heart, I know the carpenter will definitely charge more than that.
Am I upset?
Of 'cos NOT!!!
Hey! Carpenters need to make a living too!
C'mon! I am not expecting them to charge me nothing for fixing the pieces of wood for the base of each drawer!
I would be a total Jack Ass if I have even an ounce of such thoughts.
And true enough, he quoted us $1000+ for the material, the fixing and the alignment.
It was really difficult to get the angle right .
The carpenter had to keep shifting a few mm each time the BLUM corner unit hits the neighbouring cabinet doors.
No joke.
It was really shifting mm by mm.
And only after the fitting is set, he can inform the factory to do the 'doors' of these L-shape drawers.
Its made-to-measure for sure.
A mm more would be disaster as it would hit the cabinet doors on the left and right.
It was hard work!
I am more than willing to pay that amount to them.
Not only were the doors for these BLUM Arrow-Shaped drawers were not installed today (18th Dec), the rest of the doors for the kitchen cabinet were also not fixed up.
The only doors fixed on the cabinet was the two beside the BLUM corner unit, just for the purpose of testing and getting the right measurement for the L-shape doors.
I was not the ONLY one who was loving the BLUM system's SOFT-CLOSING technology.
My younger son was literally PLAYING with it!
No matter how hard he pushes.
The drawers just do NOT slam!
It moves fast at first, but as it reaches the last inch, it slows down and closes silently.
*muack*
Love It!!!
So you must be wondering, "What?! The carpenter just did this on 18th December?"
Noooo....
He is a very hardworking individual.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the carpenter had so many projects on hand as it was year end, thus he only sent ONE WORKER down to my house.
So if you are thinking of renovating your house, do NOT do it during the months of November, December and January. It is their peak season!
Well, though he is a one-man-show, I love his work.
Gentle yet secure.
It was a hard day for him.
All alone in my house doing endless hammering, adjusting, drilling, screwing, etc
Thanks to him, my storeroom finally has a door!!!
My TV console is up too!
However, we were not pleased.
No, not his workmanship but with the boss who came down to take the measurement.
As you can see, the Featured Wall is NOT IN-LINE with the beam on the wall above it.
That was NOT what we want.
In fact, we wanted it to go all the way UP to the Ceiling!
Somehow, there is a miscommunication somewhere and this was what the boss told the factory to make : A Featured Wall which was NOT what we hoped for.
When we called our renovation contractor to ring up the carpenter for an explanation, the carpenter highlighted the 'weird look' of a Feature Wall if it runs all the way up to the ceiling, especially when we told him we intend to put wall paper on it.
He said, "If it goes all the way up to the ceiling, from the side view, the Featured Wall will show two different thickness. Thin on top, because of the beam, and thick at the bottom. Not Nice."
Hhhhmmm.... we didn't think of that!
Quite true.
So we changed our mind from wanting a Featured Wall that goes all the way up to the ceiling, to a Featured Wall that is in-sync / inline with the beam.
Are they going to demolish the whole Featured Wall and do a brand new one for me?
Dream On!
They will try to find a big plank of wood that has the same / similar thickness as the difference needed to let the Featured Wall have a 'smooth flat look' from the edge of the beam.
Then bring that plank of wood tomorrow (19th Dec) and just nail onto what is already stuck to my wall.
Now that I look at the above photo once again, I recalled how unhappy I was when I saw the big gap between the OpenNet Point and the Featured Wall.
I made a marking for the carpenter, 'telling' him where to 'place' the Featured Wall; AS WELL AS told my renovation contractor to convey my message to the carpenter in the morning, after the OpenNet guys have left.
But instead of following my instructions, he chose to leave a bigger space!
His reason was: "If based on the marking, the gap would be too small for the wall paper guys to work on the edges of the Featured Wall."
Humph!
I do not know if he is right or wrong till I meet the wall paper guys on 29th December 2012.
So we shall see!
Humph!
I believe that was the ONLY thing I was unhappy with him.
Every other job which he did for us, I would give two big Thumb Ups!
My beautiful ShoeRack (below). *smile*
My lovely Wardrobe.
Slides with ease and guarantees that the doors will not fall out because the tracks are running on a U-SHAPE strip and not the traditional V-Shaped strip.
The last thing I want is to have the doors fall out like what happened in 2010.
Read what that fallen door did to my younger son's toes here : "Love For Brother Paid With Blood"
I loved the carpenter's boss's suggestion of having 'exposed' drawers for the wardrobe.
Gives me such ease to find what I want.
*Thumbs Up*
================
OMG!
*panting*
Can you believe it?
Yesterday's post was longer than my sidebar.
Today's post is EVEN longer than yesterday's.
*faint*
Tell me!
How can I blog a whole week of events in one single post?!
It would be insanely lengthy!
My fingers may never straighten again by the end of that and you, my dear readers, might end up having a big jump in your astigmatism.
*tongue in cheek*
So it was a good decision to do a daily post instead!
*pat on my shoulder*
*laugh*
My dad used to say this so often: "Self Praise is NO Praise."
Ooops!
I'm doing it now....
*bleh*
Next post might or might not be up within the next 7 days, as we will be busy preparing for our boys' First Ever Plane Ride!
*wink*
1 comment:
This one is absolutely JAW-DROPPING! I'm completely stunned with the BLUM corner unit system you have! The carpenters you've just hired are truly skillful and talented.
Post a Comment