Keeping the heat out while starting the fire within

We got ShieldShade International to do our solar films for the house. It was largely fate that we chanced upon them because when we were finding other contractors, we saw their leaflets at our house door, and with a very competitive price on it. A rough gauge on solar film is that 3M, a household brand, cost about $8psf. We got ours at half its price, but the catch is that the warranty does not last as long. In the previous post, they did use their gadgets to measure the heat and we were impressed and so, we decided to give this a shot.

The three installers were hard at work, cleaning the windows and getting the film up. Did a quick check after they are done and we thought they did a great job. The main reason we decided to get the solar film is that we do not want to come back to an oven-like house at the end of the day. Plus this keeps out the dangerous UV rays that are harmful to us and our furniture so it has multiple uses. Let's hope the next time we go up to the house we could feel the difference. Stay tuned!

Could you spot which window has the film up and which has not? We chose the 50% VLT because we did not want it to be that dark. Again the purpose is to keep the heat and UV rays out, not so much about blocking the views and making the room dark. We have our blackout curtains for that. It does dim down a little, but overall, it was still decently bright when the curtains are drawn. Regardless, the windows are likely to be opened when we are at home too anyway.

At our service yard, we decided to paste the film on the inner door/windows because we will be air-drying our clothes in the service yard and we wanted the heat to come in there instead of blocking them out. But the heat would be blocked by the inner door/windows so that they do not enter our house. This was the plan because we did not want to hang the clothes outside as it is cumbersome to keep the clothes one by one when it starts to rain (as you cannot keep the clothes by taking the whole rod in so you have to un-kiap one by one), and that it is still very dusty outside due to the many renovations taking place at our new BTOs.

Additionally, we got the darker one with a 10% VLT as we realized we forgot to take this windows into consideration for our projector. At the current situation, the sunlight from the service yard would cause half of my projector screen to be flushed out as it is too bright. Hence, we went with 10% VLT to keep the light out. We did not go with black out black because we felt it may be too dark and not look nice too. Turns out the 10% VLT is just sufficient for our projector.

We also done the frosted film for our toilet glass door but we forgot to take the picture!

Our queen sized mattress is delivered! It looked so small, but we guess it would be perfect for the two of us since we are considered small-sized. Beside, all the more reason for us to sleep closer to one another uh!

The Citygas installer also came up today to attached our gas pipe to our hob. We decided to go with the gas pipe so that we would never have to worry about running out of gas, or that we have to cater a space for that bulky gas tank. We did not go electrical too because gas is cheaper than electricity, and that we would save a lot more in the long run. The fires were shockingly strong and huge, and it made our current house fire feels so inadequate. Let's hope we can get used to this strength of fire and not injure ourselves in the future!

After the installation, we went to check the gas meter outside and we were shocked why there were bubbly soapy liquid at the pipe. We were about to report it to Citygas worrying that there are something wrong but it turns out (as indicated in the manual for the gas hob) that one should use soap liquid at the joint to test for gas leak. So apparently our installer had did just that and tested for gas leak, but we felt that it would be much better if it were cleaned up instead of left there. Ohwell.

We will be moving in soon! Real soon!

Carpentries IV - Massive Work Today

Please rise for the arrival of all my carpentry! It was a rainy weather, and I really hope that none of them were damaged by the rain. Too much horror stories of mold and mushrooms growing in wood pieces had gotten me paranoid over such matters. Hopefully they dries up nicely and last us for the longest time.

But wait... there's more! The amount of carpentry we got for our house is massive. It kinda cost us a hand and a leg but that's the price we are willing to pay to ensure that our first house is exactly how we wanted it to be. We did not want to get things off the shelves because it may not give the sense of together-ness with the other furniture. Hence, everything was designed, customized, and built into our house. If we move house next time, it will be so easy because we could not bring any of them along haha!

Headed up while the carpenter carried every piece up himself. Really have to give it to him, single-handedly doing the entire house carpentry. His works are remarkable and very detailed. From my ID, he is one of the best carpenter, but tend to be slower than the others. Well, I have the luxury of time, and quality over speed, so I am really happy to have him fixing up all my carpentry.

The kitchen quartz top has been installed. Love the starry black quartz although it is not really visible in this picture. However, the higher quartz was not done properly. It was slanted and it looked weird with the middle piece. Some rectification will be taking place here.

We did not really put much effort and thoughts into the planning of the kitchen, but we were really glad it turned out this great. With a kitchen this beautiful, we would definitely spend more time here whipping up a feast or baking some delicious cakes.

Stove is up! I believe it is Fujioh's. We bought these based on the recommendation of our ID and the shopkeeper. Let's hope it lasts! We always feel uncomfortable buying things without reading the reviews, but there are almost no reviews on things like stoves and ovens.

Our black sexy sink! We had opt for the undermount because we felt it is easier to swipe the things on the quartz into the sink this way. There were many comments online recommending overmount instead, including my ID, but we insisted in this. One of the major potential problem is that the water may seep into the wood between the sink and the quartz, and prolong seeping may cost it to rot, destroying the entire kitchen cabinet. However, we weigh the pros and cons and decided it is a risk we are willing to take for the convenience. A better alternative would be to have a cement base for the sink area. That way, you are able to have an undermount sink without fear because there is no contact between the wood and the sink. But it comes at a price.

And eventually everything's moved up from the void deck. And get this! Every carpentry you see in this room, are meant for this room. Without proper arrangement, one probably wonders where do we even put the bed at. So crazy, but so crazily excited how it will turn out.

Oh wait... there's more! Here are all the doors and drawers for the bedroom, in all different height and sizes.

A glimpse on our shoe cabinet and our walk in wardrobe. Stay tune!