Category Archives: Renovation

Water Booster Pump for home

13 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Gadgets, Home, Renovation, Shopping

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I was listening to BFM (Business FM) this morning interviewing the Managing Director (SEA) of  hansgrophe. It was a really interesting interview as I know I was quite fixated on good toilet fixture during our renovation. LOL.

At the end of the interview, the BFM team usually does a short wrap up and one of them mentioned that all these beautiful fixture would be useless unless you have a good water pressure. I concur.

Many Malaysian’s home do not have good water pressure especially on their 2nd floor onwards. It’s really frustrating to have a shower sometimes. There was once I turn off my water pump and forgotten to turn it back. It took me ages to rinse off. At the end, I think I spend more than double the amount of time but I still don’t feel refresh after the shower. le sigh… YES – I LOVE my rain shower ! And without the water booster, it’s more like a bad leaking tap. bleh.

So, before you ran out and spend a fortune buying all these beautiful fixtures, you must first think about the water pressure in your home. If it’s bad. FIX that first. The easiest way would be to install a water booster pump to pull water out from your water tank into your shower.

Hub and I spare no thought into getting a really good and solid one from Grundfos. We prefer the Uni-E type. Grundfos Uni-E Pump

There are several model and booster power. So, you really need to check with the sales person which is suitable for you.  Personally, I think for any normal size water tank, any of these 3 model below should be sufficient to do the job. Why do I say water tank and not the size of home? In my opinion, if you have one decent size water tank, it should be use to serve at most 3-4 frequent use bathrooms. IF you have more rooms, it would be better if you have a 2nd water tank anyway.

Grundfos Uni-E Pump Performance curve

Even if you have 4 showers and 4 taps, the Uni-E 5-5 should be sufficient. You probably rarely have all the fittings (4 showers + 4 taps) all turn on anyway. So, there’s no need to go overboard getting an over-powered booster. It is going to cost you more for the electricity.

Have fun hunting for a good water booster !

My bedside table dilemma.

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Furniture, Home, Renovation, Shopping

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I have been hunting for our Master Bedroom bedside table forever. Flipping thru every ID magazine I have, and googling up bedside table images whenever I have free time. It was like the item which bugs me constantly (every night when I go to bed!)

Actually, my ID did design a nice layout for our bed which includes the bedside table…

But, I much prefer one-piece standalones items whenever possible. I am an advocate that build-ins should only be at areas where the shape is odd or when you need the shelving to totally blend into the background.

Unfortunately, there is really limited selection of nice bedside table here in KL/PJ/SA area! If I found any, it is priced at between RM1,8k – RM 3k for ONE ! So, a pair would cost us like RM 4k?! (Way over our budget. Sigh…)

I refuse to look into IKEA’s offering as I didn’t want a mass production feel in our bedroom (Don’t get me wrong, I love IKEA, but, I just thought our bedroom should be special). Hence, the search continues… I told hub that we should take our time and find ‘the bedside’. He just rolls his eyes whenever I hunt for my bedside table. For him, it’s not an important piece of furniture. Bleh..

But, for me, it’s important.

I have been living with most of my bedside items (glasses, cups, books, Ipad, hp and etc on the floor). Is it REALLY frustrating I tell you! Every morning when the alarm goes off, I had to quickly sweep my hand along the floor to locate the handphone to switch it off / put it on snooze. Sigh… after a month, I develop special method to locate the phone. First, I locate the charger and then, I reel my handphone in (like fishing). bleh.

There were times that I was ready to cave-in and call my ID to come and just do it… Finally, I decided I have enough. I shouldn’t let the bedside table bug me anymore. I opened the IKEA browser and look under bedside table. Hehehe…

Surprisingly, I found 2 which I kinda like. It’s not ‘the bedside table’ but, it’s good enough. Which should I get? Hmm…and they claim it to be solid wood (I usually take it with big spoon of salt when it comes to IKEA’s claim to solid).

I like this

and

I finally choose the RM199 one. Reason? I love the clean look and the availability of open space below. Can put Ipad there and also books!

I’m glad that’s out of the picture… let’s see… What’s next? 😉

My HCE Granite Sink and Sorento Kitchen Mixer

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

Posted by in Home, Kitchen wares, Renovation, Shopping

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After using the HCE granite sink for a month (Read on why I choose this sink here), I really like it a lot. The only drawback is that IT’s not BIG enough. hehehee…

The color I chose is grey. I love how it makes the little specks of my quartz countertop more prominent. After hunting around, I finally matched it with a mixer from Sorento. I love how sleek it looks. The combination is perfect !!! (in my opinion anyway). hehehe..

Ta-da. Here’s my sink up close and personal. 😉

ohh.. Look..I even got the grill matching with the sink. (Actually, I got the sink to match my grills. hehehee)

I find the best way to clear the sink of water droplets after using, is to sweep it down with a squeegee (window wiper). It is really easy and fast.

 

Update : July 2013

Hi Ivan H & Pauline,

After some digging around, I finally manage to find a picture I took of the sink before they cover it with the quartz.

Sink mountingAs you can see, the sink is mounted like a top mount on the wooden carcase first. The contractor makes a step down so that the sink sit flush to the wooden surface.

After that, they lay the quartz stone over the sink. As per the picture above. Hope this helps. 🙂