.. and The Joins Stained .. and The Big Sacrifice Awaits Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Thursday, August 07, 2008

We almost lost Uncle Chong - the principal joiner of Reiki Sanctuary.  To us, and also Chiauw, Uncle Chong is a meticulous joiner.  We have seen his works and he takes extreme care about details and kinda fussy to technicalities.

Wardrobe done by Uncle Chong in another project:

Wardrobe n Drawers Done By Uncle Chong

Ah, it sounds almost like Chiauw!  And, indeed, when we put the two of them together, they often engage in friendly arguements - always!  Uncle Chong is the practical guy who needs a detailed drawing so that he can exercise precision with the final products.  Chiauw, on the other hand, is very architectural and she needs exact measurement before she can lay the final products into a drawing. 

As the renovation is slowly taking shape, and new ideas or site technical problems cropped out, Chiauw feels the joinery drawings can only be finalised when all the wetworks are completely done.  But Uncle Chong insists on a drawing now so that he can start with all the wood works. 

And so, the drifts have started *sad*.

Uncle Chong has been awarded with our joinery works right from the very beginning of our renovation project and had been briefed on layouts for the whole house - the location, the type of wood and wood finishes.  We have a lot of joinery works in this house, even the TV consoles and bed frame and its side tables are to be customed made by Uncle Chong.  Simply, Uncle Chong understands our basic requirements.

We like both of them.  We strongly believe that each one of them will give us the best for Reiki Sanctuary.  But, right now, we are smacked in between.  Uncle Chong wants to quit and Chiauw is not going to heed.  As long as Chiauw is not going to give him the final drawings, Uncle Chong cannot deliver the goods by early September.

Chiauw, however, strongly feels that she can only finalise the drawing by end of this week when all the false ceilings and tiles/teakwoods are completely installed.  She feels that Uncle Chong can already start with the small parts based on the earlier drawings for the doors, kitchen cabinet drawers, study area etc.  But Uncle Chong has a different work style - he prefers to focus on one project and complete it before he takes on another one.

We have no choice but to interfere in their differences now.  As much as we want to move in by the first week of September, we are now making big sacrifice to move in on the third week [earliest] or end of September [latest].  We hope this will give them back their many years of business relationship.  We feel that the only way not to stress the two of them anymore, we have to extend our deadline.

Definitely, we will suffer some inconveniences especially when many things have been arranged for early September.  Now we wonder, will we be compensated?

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.. to the Drawing Board 9 Written by : Reiki Sanctuary Date : Sunday, June 29, 2008

These were the geometrical drawings that we discussed yesterday:

Heaps of Geometrical Drawings

These drawings were the finalized concepts for our electrical socket powers and lightings, plumbing pipe run and layout plans for floor tiles and teakwood given to all the contractors.  Chiauw had invited few contractors for different works and they were at the site for briefing.  At the end of the briefing, each was given the drawing and we hope that they will adhere to them closely.

On Monday, the joiner, Uncle Chong will start to lay planks in the living and dining area to protect the floor tiles that we intend to keep from the previous owner.  Uncle Chong has also been awarded the task to dismantle the kitchen cabinet and the built-in wardrobes.  He will also be the man that will install our architectural woodwork - doors, cabinets and other wooden fittings.

Meanwhile, Chiauw will be going down to HDB Town Council tomorrow to apply for renovation permit.  We will then know the start date for the wet works including the demolition of walls, hacking of floor tiles, waterproofing, screeding and tiling.

I guess, to let an architect design our place gives us a different approach and it would be different should we have engaged an interior designer.  With an architect, we are at a freewill to pick and choose our contractors for different works around the house.  Also, every structural aspect of the house is re-constructed, from the marco level of how to integrate into our lifestyle to the micro level of construction details.

Chiauw engages the design process to give Reiki Sanctuary the sense of form, texture, structure, materials and the pragmatic elements such as cost, construction limitations and technology.  At the end of it, she wants to provide us a home that is functional, economical, practical with artistic and aesthetic aspects.

It is hard to single out a house theme and style for Reiki Sanctuary.  From the start, we do not want to narrow down to a specific theme but we want consistency throughout.  We want clean and modern finishes, yet warmth and cosy and a sense of spaciousness.  We believe Chiauw has able to give us that.

We left Reiki Sanctuary to head down to another light shop along Balestier Road.  Chiauw wanted us to look into the ceiling lights and the specific type of warm light that we want to deploy all around the house.  And hopefully, we can find the hanging light for our dining area too.  We didn't get to find our dining light but managed to select the frame for the ceiling light and chose the code for the warm light.

We are not in favour of halogen lights but we have no choice.  Firstly, we want the false ceiling not to exceed certain height so that ceiling-floor height is maintained.  And only halogen frame fits our design.  Secondly, halogen lights emit more heat, though it is possible to use a dimmer.

The Spain Ceiling Light Frame - using halogen bulb:

Halogen Bulb Frame

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