Stone Care

SCL Etch Protector
It is designed to protect any polished surfaces such as marble or granite countertops and bathroom wall surfaces from soap scum and perfume spills. It will also prevent glass rings from forming on bar countertops. Etch protector will enhance thr brilliant colours to a well condition darker colour stone but it will not give shine to a worn and dull marble surfaces.
Retail Price SGD 18.90 / Unit

Link: http://www.home-fix.com/storefront/Product...?ProductId=1406

Granite : Cons

Initally i wanted to choose granite top but decide to choose solid surface top instead bec of the following reasons :-

1) Lines between granite tiles.
Cos granite come in a certain size and for tops that is long, u can see the separator lines between granite. Asethetic wise not so nice

2) More porous than solid surface
It is more porous than solid surface and stains marks easily get 'eat' into the top. Also, it get burns easily, if u have hot pots resting on granite top.

3) Lesser choice of selections
The most nicest granite top is galaxy i tink.. the rest are not so nice lor..

Granite

From http://www.keidel.com/design/select/tops-matl-granite.htm

Living with Granite
Unlike marble, synthetic and laminate countertops, granite countertops will not blister, scratch or chip under normal use. It is heat resistant, so a hot pot can be placed on it without using a trivet or pad. Its cool polished surface is ideal for rolling out pastry dough. Granite countertops are a beautiful, durable and cost competitive solution for countertops.

However, granite is subject to staining and etching if not maintained with sealers.

Granite is porous and It will absorb oils, such as cooking oil and grease, leaving a permanent dark spot unless it sealed. Hairspray leave a residue, and many common foods and toiletries contain acids and other ingredients that may etch or dull the stone surface.

Protecting the Surface
Granite is a natural stone product and has a certain degree of porosity. Therefore, after installation, it must be cleaned and sealed. Only impregnating sealers that are semi-permeable are acceptable. Impregnators do not cover up the natural beauty of the stone and do not wear off like a surface coating.

Solid Surface

All acrylic and polyester solid surfaces are not heat nor fire resistant. They are still plastics and will melt. So you can't place hot surfaces like heated pots or pans on them.

While solid surfaces made from reconstituted granite are heat, fire and to a certain extent chemical resistant. The only recon granite solid surface I know of that is available in Sg is Silestone. Other brands of the same type of material include Caesarstone (not available in Sg). These are expensive - $160p sq ft and upwards.

The quality of Acrylic and Polyester based solid surfaces are determined by the amount of acrylic / adhesive mix. The more acrylic, the higher the grade and cost. Corian is one of the best there is.

But no matter how high the quality, even white Corian will stain and scratch. Choose a mottled light coloured surface to avoid seeing the stains and scratches. e.g. Grey Field by Corian

Solid Top usually comprises of material made from Acrylic and Polyester. Different brands got different mixture ratios.

Brand: DuPoint Corian
Composition: 100% Acrylic
Price: S$110-145 per ft run
Warrenty: 10 Years
Remarks: Considered the BEST of solid surfaces... but i think this reput was earn when they are the only company producing 100% acrylic surfaces.

Brand: LG Hi-Macs
Composition: 100% Acrylic
Price: S$90-110 per ft run
Warrenty: 15 Years Limited
Remarks: Proberly the next best alternative, however some ID advised against using this due to little price difference with branded stuff like corian.

Brand: Hardstone
Composition: 100% Acrylic
Price: S$70-80 per ft run
Warrenty: unknown
Remarks: Was introduced by ID on this brand, similar to corian also using 100% acrylic. Very limited colours.

Brand: Samsung Staron
Composition: Acrylic Resin + Aluminum Tri-hydrate
Price: ??
Warrenty: 10 Year Limited??
Remarks: na

Brand: Montelli
Composition: Acrylic + Polyester
Price: S$70-75 per ft run
Warrenty: 10 Year Limited?
Remarks: One of the standard solid surfaces used by local contractors. Not much info on this, but often see this brand's catelogue at IDs place.
1 year warranty

Brand: Cresto
Composition: Acrylic + Polyester
Price: S$65-75 per ft run
Warrenty: 1 Year?
Remarks: One of the standard solid surfaces used by local contractors.
10 years warranty

Other Alternatives:
Granite - around S$90 per ft run.

Extract from http://www.hometips.com/hyhw/surfaces/179countertop.html

Natural stone such as granite and marble are considered to be the height of elegance and will last longer than most kitchens. Stone, however, is very expensive and requires some care: grease will stain granite and acidic foods such as orange juice will etch the finished surface of marble.

Solid surfacing, a relatively newer countertop material, is quite durable and offers seamless, easy-care surfaces that often imitate the look of natural stone such as marble, granite or slate. Though these materials can be machined with standard woodworking tools, installation requires a professional.

Some natural stone care products in Home-Fix has some kind of sealer for granite..... maybe these products will help protect the granite top? I choose granite because of the hardness and price was reasonable compared to the high end solid tops. Think for granite, must apply sealers. With sealers, the cons of granite seems to be resolved.

Kitchen : Comparison

Kitchen Top Material Comparison

1. Budget? $$
- Postform cheapest, follow by solid suface, & Marble/Granite (most x-sive)
2. How often u cook?
- Low/Medum: Solid surface, High: Marble/Granite. While Postform fits both.
3. Last but not least, can the worktop surface u choose go w/ the design & lifestyle u want.

Kitchen Worktop Surfaces

1. Postform top, material: Wood & glue. Compressed @high temp. Come wif a layer of laminate.
- Adv. hardy & scratch resistance.
- Disadv. water seepage at the corner may cause the wood to pop.

2. Solid surface, material: natural mineral (chip stones)+ acrylic/ polyester resin serving as a binder.
- Adv. Can be mould into many shape & sizes. No visible joint line as can be polished away. Stain resistant, fire retardant n resists impact damage, but it still remains machinable. (this statement might be more correct for granite instead)
- Disadv. Light color stain can be form & seen, dark color scratches easily seen (but can polished away).

3. Natural Stones top, like marble, granite, slate & etc.
- Adv. Extremely hard and durable, and is practically scratchproof.
- Disadv. got joint line, may hv non-uniform color. Damaged if a hot or metal dish is placed directly on top of it, natural stains being prosphous in nature acidic liquids like citrus juice, alcohol or soda or harsh chemical/abrasive cleanser can cause damages. (This statement might be more correct for solid surface instead)

Kitchen : Tips

Postform Kitchen Top

How to avoid the water to seep into the egdes of postform top for kitchen top:

1) Top mount the sink and put a thick layer of silicon "under" the sink (Before the edge).
2) To coat a layer of clear color paint at all the 4 edges.

Top Mount Sink

Do silicon from within. if u put silicon on the top edge, its both ugly and will grow fungus in time to come coz of the constant dampness

2 ways to change top mount silicon :

1. Easy is to juz line it on the surface ard the edge of the sink but be prepared to strip it and redo every few yrs when its turned black from fungus.

2. Other way is harder coz need to get plumber to dismantle pipes so tat can lift sink then line thick layer of silicon under the edge then press down onto the cabinet.

Material used in Cabinet Doors

While choosing a kitchen we can easily get confused by the large selection of materials which are used in making cabinet doors. Here's a quick guide.

The laminated door
A laminate is an outer covering based on phenolic or melaminic resins; it's normally applied to wood based panels like particle-board or MDF. It has optimal technical characteristics, it's tough and it's hygienic. In common terms it is often called "formica" and is composed of a series of resin sheets glued together to create a thickness of about 0.6 mm. The best kitchen manufacturers today use HPL or high pressure laminate: it's a laminate which respects the EN 438/1 law and is exceptionally waterproof, stable and resistant to wear.

High Pressure Laminate is the tough laminate used by the best names in kitchens. It has exceptional qualities of hardness and resistance, whether to scratching, bumps or abrasions. It remains stable even under extreme temperature changes. It respects the UNI EN 438/1 characteristics and it has an optimum price/quality ratio.

The melaminic and polymeric laminated door. These doors are composed of a particle board whose surface is covered with a synthetic PVC material of variable thickness which confers an agreeable look to the panel and also a high resistance to liquids, bumps and scratches. It costs slightly more than laminate. The polymeric is part of the range of "noble" laminates, or those which are covered with an additional layer which increases their resistance to liquids, bumps and scratches. The other types of cabinet door covering are: melaminic when the panel is covered by a decorative paper impregnated with melaminic resin, and phenolic if the paper is impregnated with phenolic resin.

The veneered door is made of a panel whose surface is covered by a thin sheet of wood obtained by slicing a trunk. Often a solid wood panel is covered with a sheet of more prestigious wood to increase its aesthetic appeal. Veneered doors cost more than laminates. The wood is processed by the best kitchen brands with high-quality varnishes which anyway can’t completely protect the door against persistent infiltration of water, drips or steam.

The solid wood door this term indicates parts made from solid trunk-wood. Unlike the previous materials, solid wood is the least resistant to liquids and scratches. And it's surely the most expensive of all.

The lacquered door The lacquered door is normally made of an MDF panel (made of wood fiber), painted with polyester or polyurethane paint. The lacquer can be glossy or mat.
The open pore lacquered door: In this type of cabinet door, the varnishing is done after polishing the wood. The polishing is a cleaning treatment for the wood that can be carried out by sanding or with chemical agents, and which highlights the grain and texture of the wood. Once stripped, the door is lacquered, and thus the wood grain stands out in a refined and pleasurable way.


RULES FOR MATCHING COLOURS IN THE KITCHEN


The human eye can perceive milllions of distinct colours, but this can mean millions of ugly colour combinations.
In colouring your home it's enough to follow a few simple rules to avoid making choices you will regret.

The 60 - 30 - 10 rule
It's a valid rule for any kind of interior: the most pleasing colour combinations are invariably subdivided in percentages of 60 - 30 - 10. On a background of uniform colour (that is 60%) there will be a colour that attracts the visual attention (the 30%) and a colour which is barely hinted at that emerges from the others (the 10%).
This division could be compared to that of a man's formal suit, where 60% corresponds to the colour of the jacket and pants, 30% to that of the shirt, and 10% to the colour of the tie. Transferring the metaphor into the kitchen, we get:

- 60% will be the colour of the walls
- 30% will be the colour of the panelling and or upholstery of the furniture
- 10% will be the colour of a unique piece or floral arrangement.

Choose a colour scheme
The colour triad you choose will make up your personal palette. But it's easy to go wrong. To simplify the process you can make use of a colour wheel and limit your choices to two-colour schemes. You can therefore proceed, for example, by matching two complementary colours (on the opposite sides of the colour wheel), like red and green or blue and orange. Visually, a room with these colours will be stimulating and also formal. These colours would go very well for a dining room. If you prefer analogous colours (neighbours on the colour wheel) like yellow and green or blue and violet, you will get more casual rooms, they will be more relaxing.

Don't forget the black
It's an old interior designer trick. By adding a black element (a lamp, a vase, a picture frame, etc.) you accentuate all the other colours present.

Follow nature
The most common error in these situations is not so much the matching of colours, but their shades. It can happen, for example, that one side of the room is too dark and feels "heavy", whereas the other side, with light tones, tends to visually "float". In this case, the space has not been correctly balanced in terms of shades of colours.
The secret for avoiding this mistake is to reproduce the natural shades of the outside world inside the room: the darkest shade for the floor (the ground), medium shades for the walls and / or furniture (trees and mountains) and light shades for the ceiling (which symbolizes the sky).
Following this "vertical" principle, one should get a pleasing interior.

Take a hint from a model
Still don't know what colours to use? Here's a hint: get ideas from the colours of the most important object in the room (curtains, uphostery, paintings, etc.). For example, if your curtains are white, yellow and red, you could choose yellow at 60%, white at 30% and red at 10%.

Kitchen : Ideas

Solid Top edges

Study : Ideas

Drawing for custom-made fixtures/furniture

It is extremely important to go by the scaled drawings. The drawings must have following features:

1. It must be drawn to scale with DIMENSION stated. Sketches will not do.
2. It must be signed by ID and when the drawings are OK, you countersign them to give YOUR APPROVAL.
Without your approval, construction MUST NOT BEGIN.
3. Drawings must be DATED and if possible have a way to show that it is the FINAL because you're have several revisions before this.

Blacklisted Reno Co by Forummers

Name Address

Contractor
1 Eagle Design Pte Ltd Blk 1 Everton Park #01-37, Bishan st22 Blk283, West Coast RD 154
2 Prestige Image
3 Unique Design
4 Ingez Dezign Little Road
5 Home Concepts Interior & Design TradeHub 21
6 Strategic Design Ubi

Furniture
1 3T Veerasamy Road
2 Designer Lightings Balestier
3 The Furniture Club
4 Style Furniture Sungai Kadut Way
5 Black Apple IMM
6 Suntec Curtain Interior Finishing
7 Allure C
8 Strass Lightings
9 Palace of Lights Balestier
10. elite illumination @ 1 jalan besar beside macdonald.

Renovation Planning & Schedule

1 House inspection
1 Inspection Checklist
2 Safety Inspection (Police - Crime Prevention Officer)

2 Set Renovation Objective

3 Budgetting
1 Reno
2 Furnishing
3 Appliances

4 New Design
1 Overall objective/theme
2 Modification scope
3 Draft layout
a. MBR
b. MBR Toilet
c. Common Toilet
d. Balcony
e. Dining
f. Living

5 Measurements

6 Material & Fixture selection
a. Floor
b. Wall
c. Ceiling
d. Fixtures
e. Electrical wiring points
f. Piping

7 Get Permit

8 Choose Contractor
1 Quotation Comparison
2 Check with RADAC
3 Plan & Drawing
4 Material Designation & Identification

9 Renovation Work
1 wet work - hacking, laying of tiles
2 windows if you are changing
3 plastering
4 electrical point
5 false ceiling
6 painting
7 these 3 can be any sequence
a. plumber - if changing to stainless steel water pipe
b. install lightings & down light
c. install window grilles
8 carpentry
9 curtains
10 Inspection
* http://www.singaporebrides.com/forumboard/messages/409/362178.html?1212119913

10 House cleaning

11 Furniture & Appliances Buying
1 List
2 Quotation Comparison
3 Purchase
4 Inspection

ID / Contractor Quotation : Itemised list

1 Professional Interior Designing
Design Concept Consultation
Space Planning & Furniture Layout Plan Proposal
Furnishing Consultation
3D Computerized Perspective Drawing
Materials & Colour Scheme Proposal
Hassle-free ISO formatted Project Management & Site Supervision & Audit
5 Years Warranty With Guarantee After-sales Services

2 Demolish Works
Hacking of living & dinning floor finish & skirting
Hacking of store room floor finish & skirting
Hacking of all bedrooms floor skirting
Hacking of all bathroom floor & wall finish
Hacking of kitchen floor finish
Hacking of kitchen exposed area wall finish
Hacking of cement motar bases & dapoh slap
Hacking of bathroom door & frames
Hacking of bathroom fittings & accessories
Hacking of kitchen cabinet

3 Masonry Works
Laying of 600mm x 600mm polished homogeneous floor tiles c/w skirting at living, dining & store room
Laying of HDF laminated flooring c/w skirting at all bedrooms
Make good to damaged wall for laying laminate skirting at all bedrooms
Laying of ceramic or homogeneous floor tiles at all bathroom
Laying of ceramic full height wall tiles at all bathroom
Laying of ceramic or homogeneous floor tiles at kitchen
Laying of ceramic wall tiles at exposed kitchen wall
Laying of waterproofing membrane at all bathrooms floor
Laying of waterproofing membrane at kitchen floor
Construct 50mm cabinet base
Construct 50mm washer base
Construct 50mm fridge base
Construct shower kerb at all bathrooms

4 Plumbing Works
Replacement of new copper piping to new kitchen sink position
Labour for installation of kitchen sink
Laying conceal drainage pipe for kitchen sink
Replacement of copper piping to new washing machine position
Laying conceal drainage pipe for washing machine
Labour for installation of bathroom accessories
Labour for installation of storage or instant heater

5 Ceiling Works
Construct false ceiling at foyer area
Construct false ceiling at bedroom passage way
Construct L-box light holder at living area
Construct L-box light holder at dining area
Construct 2 rolls of L-box light holder at master bedroom
Carpentry Works: external in laminate finishes

6 Design & fabricate 20ft kitchen cabinet in ABS trimming laminated door c/w :
1) design handles & cutlery tray
2) Supply & install stainless steel dish rack
3) Labour to install cooker hood & hob
4) Stainless steel backing at cooker hob

7 Carpentry Work
Design & fabricate 2'L tall cabinet for oven or conceal pipes
Design & fabricate 8'L x 8'Ht feature wall c/w swing door at household shelter
Design & fabricate 6'L TV console at living area
Design & fabricate 6'L x 6'Ht feature wall above TV console at living
Design & fabricate 6'L wardrobe in laminated floor finish at master bedroom
Design & fabricate 5'L x 6'Ht headboard feature wall at master bedroom
Design & fabricate 5'L suspended computer table at studyroom
Design & fabricate 5'L top-hung cabinet & shelf at studyroom

8 Miscellaneous / General Services Works
Painting of whole unit's wall & ceiling with pentalite emulsion paint
Painting of all pipes, doors, door frames & gate with gloss paint
Paint or re-vanish of existing main door
Supply & install acrylic bi-fold door at all bathrooms
Supply & install 10mm tempered glass shower screen at master bathroom
Laying of floor protection after completion of flooring
Chemical washing for whole unit
General cleaning upon completion

Top Mount / Under Mount Sink ?

1. more likely u should consider if u comfortable with the sink edges protrude out? - top mount
2. or u prefer to have convenience when preparing food at sink -undermount
3. if u are comfortable with the replacement of sink procedure -undermount
4.if u want the flexibility to replace sink easily - top mount
5.for aesthetic reasons? to each's own on which one looks nicer

Carpentry Material

‘Wood’ material use in furniture:
1: Solid wood – refer to real wood that chop down from tree (wood log), that cut to plank & timber. Example: Teak wood(use in Balinese furniture & good in outdoor & ship/boat cause of good withstand to weather & moisture), oak wood(some make it to kitchen cabinet but easily cost around 15k in local), cherry wood, pine wood(soft wood) etc etc.
Solid wood is expensive & require high skill to make into furniture cause wood move (shrink & expand according to humidity), warp, tear etc & it is expensive.

That’s why we mostly use ply wood nowadays for cabinet. As for chair, bench, & some table we still use real wood for its strength.
If u thinks that all ur cabinet is making with ply wood… think again. Don’t forget there’s ‘chipboard’ & MDF (medium density fiberboard).



2. Particle board (sort of chipboard)
Poorest quality among ply wood & MDF, better than OSB imo. Bad, bad idea when use in Sink support, fish tank support. Also beware of kitchen top that use chip board (so call postforming- more on it later.) Also use in some laminated flooring.



3. OSB (real chipboard)
Real chipboard, not totally useless. Inexpensive, good sound insulation (that’s what I had heard) God bless u if u use it as cabinet.

I had read other thread in this forum about the confuse of ‘Solid plywood’.
So what exactly is ‘Solid ply’ & ‘non-solid ply’?

These need some explanation:
Back in the day when we cut strip of plywood & make it like a flame. Than paste with 3mm thin veneer (real wood veneer or none real wood veneer-more on this later) to both side to save material. This forms a hollow plywood; U knocks it, it will sound very hollow. (There are still a lot of these nowadays at smaller furniture shop.)
So some of us Interior designer/contractor in order to be better deal than other ID will emphasis that we use solid ply.
I won’t say this type of furniture is totally useless. Why not If u r looking for a lightly use cabinet & got a tight budget. At least it is cheap & still will last u several years.

Solid Plywood
Solid ply means whole piece of plywood (without cutting into flame) paste with veneer.
So plywood is just plywood, there actually no solid ply or non-solid ply. Just that what people make it into.



So that means if ur cabinet is not make by solid wood, chipboard, particle board & MDF it should be plywood right?
Wrong!

Recently things had changed (not sure since when it started), carpenter start to replace plywood with blockboard. Now 90% of custom furniture (just a guess) using blockboard instead of plywood cause it is lighter than ply wood hence easier to work with & handling than plywood so it had become the carpenter's choice.
Moreover it is slightly cheaper than plywood. (I don’t think all ID know this, usually the one that know well is the carpenter himself, not the ID.)



Blockboard
Made out of strip of core of tree, both side paste with a thin layer of ply (3mm?).
Lesser quality than plywood (that’s what I heard from a senior carpenter) because the core of tree is softer than the main body.

Frankly speaking, I’m not sure which is better, Blockboard or plywood cause I never seen a blockboard or work with it back in my carpentry day but too bad cause most price listed as per foot run for kitchen cabinet is not base on plywood.( I could be wrong.) Maybe the ID will need to up the price if u tells him u want ‘solid plywood’.

I believe there’s some pro & cons between the two, like hinges is attached more firmly in blockboard due to light weight? Which one more water resistant?
All & all I’m not too sure but I will take on plywood any day.


Veneer, laminate, post forming, what is that?
It is not too complicated, but still it is not too simple because we misused the word laminate. According to wikipedia, two or more layer of same or different material layer together is call laminate.
So plywood is also laminate.
Lets simplified it here; I will call those veneer, laminate, Formica etc a Skin.



Veneer
Veneer is a thin slice of real wood but in the industrial there’s still ‘mainly’ two types of veneer- Real wood veneer & man-made veneer.
Real wood veneer comes in two forms. One in a roll form (less than 1mm that could cut into strips & later paste at the edge of a said plywood. One comes in 3mm-3.6mm thickness sheet. It is also a 1mm less wood veneer but pre pastes into 3mm ply in factory.

Man-made veneer (Engineered veneer) could be a sheet of printed paper or PVC etc (I’m not too sure what some of the material used) that still could look like wood veneer but less the nice real wood grain.

Laminate
I like to call all laminate, Formica, polyester, PVC what ever unknown material other than real wood- laminate.

Postforming
This term was misused too. Postforming actually means a type of technology to laminate- using heat & pressure to bend the finishing layer (laminate sheet) to the material (example plywood).
It could be Postforming to chipboard too. That’s why a Postforming kitchen top could be chipboard, particle board, plywood etc.


One thing for sure is that the laminate use in postforming top is good as kitchen top because of its heat resistance, water resistance & scratch proof.