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Post by oldman on Oct 4, 2014 7:23:01 GMT 7
Any one knows any good painters who can do a good job painting for the exterior of a house? I am looking for someone who can also patch up the cracks in the wall and do the necessaries apart from just painting. I have a quotation from Nippon Paint but they included quite a bit for bamboo scaffolding and I am wondering if there is an alternative. Apparently, bamboo scaffolding is more expensive than metal scaffolding as only a few companies do bamboo scaffolding. Recently, I got a few carpets cleaned by de Hygienique and am pleasantly impressed with their service. One of my rugs is 2.3m by 1.7 m and they charged $140 which works out to be around $36 per square meter. I have not cleaned this carpet since I bought it 4 years ago as the salesman told me that it can only be vacuumed. This company offers to either clean the carpet in the house or to take the carpet away. I think taking the carpet away will give it a more thorough clean and hence, I opted for the latter..... and I am very pleased with the result. www.dh-asia.com/ |
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Post by oldman on Oct 10, 2014 11:13:17 GMT 7
My auto gate was not working properly and after a search on the internet, I found this website : www.automaticgaterepair.com.sg/ and spoke to a William Koh. He was most friendly and was trying to help me diagnosed the issue with my gate and even went so far as to give free advice to see if that sorted out the problem! I told him that I preferred him to come over and this morning, he came over. He immediately saw that the top casing to one of the gates was cracked and told me that water has already seeped through that casing. When the casing was removing, there was lots of water collected in it and this was why when it rained, it was harder to open the auto gate. He then replaced the top casing and mechanism but the way he did this also amazed me. For those of us skilled in DIY, we can see the difference between someone who wanted to get the job done quickly and someone who did it as if he was repairing his own gate. William very obviously was the latter. I then asked him whether he can show me how to change the code to the gate and without hesitation, he showed this to me and even showed me the other aspects of the circuit board and how to change the timing of the individual gates! When he saw a lizard in the circuit box, he immediately sealed off all the entrances to the circuit board with silicone and told me that lizards are dangerous in circuit boards as they can short the circuit boards. It was such a pleasure talking to him that I spent the hour chatting while he repaired the gate. Very informative guy and I will certainly recommend him for anything to do auto-gate repairs. |
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Post by me200 on Oct 10, 2014 11:57:26 GMT 7
Oldman, You are very lucky to meet a honest and skillful contractor.  I have bad experience with aircon contractors.  My auto gate was not working properly and after a search on the internet, I found this website : www.automaticgaterepair.com.sg/ and spoke to a William Koh. He was most friendly and was trying to help me diagnosed the issue with my gate and even went so far as to give free advice to see if that sorted out the problem! I told him that I preferred him to come over and this morning, he came over. He immediately saw that the top casing to one of the gates was cracked and told me that water has already seeped through that casing. When the casing was removing, there was lots of water collected in it and this was why when it rained, it was harder to open the auto gate. He then replaced the top casing and mechanism but the way he did this also amazed me. For those of us skilled in DIY, we can see the difference between someone who wanted to get the job done quickly and someone who did it as if he was repairing his own gate. William very obviously was the latter. I then asked him whether he can show me how to change the code to the gate and without hesitation, he showed this to me and even showed me the other aspects of the circuit board and how to change the timing of the individual gates! When he saw a lizard in the circuit box, he immediately sealed off all the entrances to the circuit board with silicone and told me that lizards are dangerous in circuit boards as they can short the circuit boards. It was such a pleasure talking to him that I spent the hour chatting while he repaired the gate. Very informative guy and I will certainly recommend him for anything to do auto-gate repairs. |
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Post by oldman on Oct 10, 2014 12:17:25 GMT 7
I agree. I had so many horror stories with contractors. Once, I was scratching my head why my night lights were not working in the toilet as the wires seem to be all connected. After replacing the bulb and the sockets, I finally decided to replace the wires and later found out that some of the wires used were of such inferior quality that they oxidised with time. No joke. That means that the copper wire will simply disintegrate into powder form and this was why electricity could no longer travel in the cable! I am shocked to learn that this is quite a common practice to safe cost! Suffice it is to say that I will not use the same electrical contractor again! As for aircon contractors, the one I am using currently is called Poh Meng ( www.pohmeng.com.sg/index.php/what-we-do/services-of-air-conditioning ). I have a 1 year service contract with them and they charge roughly $20 - $25 per unit and they will service these 4 times a year.... ie, $80 - $100 for the 4 services per unit per year. What I like about them is that if any of your aircons give trouble during this period, you can simply call them up and they will sort out the problem without additional charges. If your aircon leaks and you are not on their maintenance, I think they will also fix the problem under a new maintenance contract. When these folks come to clean your aircon, I think it is important for someone to be around and appear knowledgeable. Many times, I just see them wiping the plastic coverings without doing too much more! I think just wiping the aircon plastic for $25 per unit is a very expensive wipe! Previously, I used Gain City but I think their service level is not as good as before. Not so easy to get appointments and I saw new people all the time. This was why I changed over to Poh Meng. I like to see familiar faces. Oldman, You are very lucky to meet a honest and skillful contractor. I have bad experience with aircon contractors. |
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Post by pain on Oct 10, 2014 13:15:19 GMT 7
Aircon cleaning is subjective. Basically, you must know what type of aircons you have. I am not an air con contractor but most people will have split units if in apartments, units, etc.. For landed, some will have cassette air con. For Split Units:Basic cleaning - will be dusting / cleaning the Fan Coil Unit (FCU). Normally, I do this myself. Chemical cleaning of aircon is very much misunderstood. If the FCU is not detached from the wall itself, this is not chemical cleaning. Some contractors will charge a very high price to the tune of $180 -$250 per unit and claims that chemical cleaning is done. For chemical cleaning with FCU on wall, I do the cleaning myself too. Not advisable for anyone to try this unless you know. Can be electrocuted / BBQ!!! I engaged a contractor AceCool (Andy) to do proper chemical cleaning but his men said that the pipings of FCUs are brazed together and thus difficult to take out FCU. I don't blame them. It will take time and new copper pipes / valves to do this job. Normally, contractors will prefer you order new aircons and they will do the installation at a cost. Dont fall for the ruse of aircon refrigerant freon R22 not more already! That why your air con is not cold. If your aircon is really 'rosak', remember to buy the environmentally friendly aircon using R410A refrigerant. Why? R22 refrigerant will not be in production after 1/1/2020 which is 6 years from now as ozone damaging. For Cassette UnitsDo get a contractor for this job. You will need 2 persons to dismantle unit at height for chemical wash. Hope the people interested in aircon servicing DIY remember the above risks. For AirCon cleaning, I will recommend: 1. AceCool (Andy) - HP: 9388 9301 2. Ghani Antara AirCon - HP: 9794 9498 (Check through forums on aircon cleaning, highly recommended - didn't engage b4) I agree. I had so many horror stories with contractors. Once, I was scratching my head why my night lights were not working in the toilet as the wires seem to be all connected. After replacing the bulb and the sockets, I finally decided to replace the wires and later found out that some of the wires used were of such inferior quality that they oxidised with time. No joke. That means that the copper wire will simply disintegrate into powder form and this was why electricity could no longer travel in the cable! I am shocked to learn that this is quite a common practice to safe cost! Suffice it is to say that I will not use the same electrical contractor again! As for aircon contractors, the one I am using currently is called Poh Meng ( www.pohmeng.com.sg/index.php/what-we-do/services-of-air-conditioning ). I have a 1 year service contract with them and they charge roughly $20 - $25 per unit and they will service these 4 times a year.... ie, $80 - $100 for the 4 services per unit per year. What I like about them is that if any of your aircons give trouble during this period, you can simply call them up and they will sort out the problem without additional charges. If your aircon leaks and you are not on their maintenance, I think they will also fix the problem under a new maintenance contract. When these folks come to clean your aircon, I think it is important for someone to be around and appear knowledgeable. Many times, I just see them wiping the plastic coverings without doing too much more! I think just wiping the aircon plastic for $25 per unit is a very expensive wipe! Previously, I used Gain City but I think their service level is not as good as before. Not so easy to get appointments and I saw new people all the time. This was why I changed over to Poh Meng. I like to see familiar faces. Oldman, You are very lucky to meet a honest and skillful contractor. I have bad experience with aircon contractors. |
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Post by oldman on Oct 10, 2014 13:37:34 GMT 7
Thanks Pain. I will certainly try AceCool when my current contract expires middle of next year. I am not entirely satisfied with my current aircon contractors as I see them just cleaning the aircon plastic most of the time as I usually clean the filters myself. Yes, they also clean the FCU but this really is not that difficult to do either. If I understand you correctly, you do the maintenance yourself and when you cannot handle, you call AceCool. Thanks. Aircon cleaning is subjective. Basically, you must know what type of aircons you have. I am not an air con contractor but most people will have split units if in apartments, units, etc.. For landed, some will have cassette air con. For Split Units:Basic cleaning - will be dusting / cleaning the Fan Coil Unit (FCU). Normally, I do this myself. Chemical cleaning of aircon is very much misunderstood. If the FCU is not detached from the wall itself, this is not chemical cleaning. Some contractors will charge a very high price to the tune of $180 -$250 per unit and claims that chemical cleaning is done. For chemical cleaning with FCU on wall, I do the cleaning myself too. Not advisable for anyone to try this unless you know. Can be electrocuted / BBQ!!! I engaged a contractor AceCool (Andy) to do proper chemical cleaning but his men said that the pipings of FCUs are brazed together and thus difficult to take out FCU. I don't blame them. It will take time and new copper pipes / valves to do this job. Normally, contractors will prefer you order new aircons and they will do the installation at a cost. Dont fall for the ruse of aircon refrigerant freon R22 not more already! That why your air con is not cold. If your aircon is really 'rosak', remember to buy the environmentally friendly aircon using R410A refrigerant. Why? R22 refrigerant will not be in production after 1/1/2020 which is 6 years from now as ozone damaging. For Cassette UnitsDo get a contractor for this job. You will need 2 persons to dismantle unit at height for chemical wash. Hope the people interested in aircon servicing DIY remember the above risks. For AirCon cleaning, I will recommend: 1. AceCool (Andy) - HP: 9388 9301 2. Ghani Antara AirCon - HP: 9794 9498 (Check through forums on aircon cleaning, highly recommended - didn't engage b4) |
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Post by pain on Oct 10, 2014 22:08:01 GMT 7
Yes, you can say that. I do not have the R22 gas bottle (costs $140++) and gas gauge / vacuum. To dismantle FCU, there is a possibility of gas leakage for chemical wash. As my AC is already >10 years old and copper tubings brazed, AceCool did not dare to take the risk and spoil the FCU and the earlier reason mentioned. Other air con contractors I believe, will not take the same risk too.  FCU on wall with chemical cleaning - aka half-baked cleaning and if not done properly may damage the coil instead. I have the chemical bought long time ago which is not available to retail. Hence, I can DIY - Half clean and did not sign any maintenance contract with any contractor since I bought the place. Thanks Pain. I will certainly try AceCool when my current contract expires middle of next year. I am not entirely satisfied with my current aircon contractors as I see them just cleaning the aircon plastic most of the time as I usually clean the filters myself. Yes, they also clean the FCU but this really is not that difficult to do either. If I understand you correctly, you do the maintenance yourself and when you cannot handle, you call AceCool. Thanks. |
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Post by oldman on Oct 13, 2014 9:06:38 GMT 7
The reason I had to change the code on my autogate is because the original vendor that installed it, put in a code that was so simple that it is so easy to guess. I would not be surprised if this is the default code! Am now able to post this photo as I have since changed the code to a much more complex one! If you have an autogate and yours work on dip switches like in my photo, you should open up your remote control and make sure that the code is not as silly as the one my original installer installed! This morning, I also played with the dip switches on the motherboard that controlled how the 2 doors of the gate open relative to each other. Fascinating.   My auto gate was not working properly and after a search on the internet, I found this website : www.automaticgaterepair.com.sg/ and spoke to a William Koh. He was most friendly and was trying to help me diagnosed the issue with my gate and even went so far as to give free advice to see if that sorted out the problem! I told him that I preferred him to come over and this morning, he came over. He immediately saw that the top casing to one of the gates was cracked and told me that water has already seeped through that casing. When the casing was removing, there was lots of water collected in it and this was why when it rained, it was harder to open the auto gate. He then replaced the top casing and mechanism but the way he did this also amazed me. For those of us skilled in DIY, we can see the difference between someone who wanted to get the job done quickly and someone who did it as if he was repairing his own gate. William very obviously was the latter. I then asked him whether he can show me how to change the code to the gate and without hesitation, he showed this to me and even showed me the other aspects of the circuit board and how to change the timing of the individual gates! When he saw a lizard in the circuit box, he immediately sealed off all the entrances to the circuit board with silicone and told me that lizards are dangerous in circuit boards as they can short the circuit boards. It was such a pleasure talking to him that I spent the hour chatting while he repaired the gate. Very informative guy and I will certainly recommend him for anything to do auto-gate repairs. |
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Post by oldman on Nov 20, 2014 7:13:23 GMT 7
My video gate intercom system was giving trouble and I contacted a few intercom specialists. Only one gave me a quote of $1,200 to replace the entire system without any additional cabling work. After a few weeks of waiting, I decided to do it myself. I went to ebay and found a Korean company that will send a new camera unit for $100. When it arrived, I realised that it was an NTSC system instead of PAL and hence, did not work. I am in the midst of returning the set to them. While installing the new camera, I realised that it was a cable that was faulty. Fortunately, there is a spare cable running the distance from the gate to the house. After changing this cable, everything works perfectly now. Only thing left to do is to put in some cement as the housing was not done correctly by the original installer. First time I am cementing and I am looking forward to learning about this. Yes, life is but learning all the time. Sometimes, it is just better to DIY as one can be certain that the job is done correctly.  |
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Post by chlio on Nov 20, 2014 8:00:43 GMT 7
My video gate intercom system was giving trouble and I contacted a few intercom specialists. Only one gave me a quote of $1,200 to replace the entire system without any additional cabling work. After a few weeks of waiting, I decided to do it myself. I went to ebay and found a Korean company that will send a new camera unit for $100. When it arrived, I realised that it was an NTSC system instead of PAL and hence, did not work. I am in the midst of returning the set to them. While installing the new camera, I realised that it was a cable that was faulty. Fortunately, there is a spare cable running the distance from the gate to the house. After changing this cable, everything works perfectly now. Only thing left to do is to put in some cement as the housing was not done correctly by the original installer. First time I am cementing and I am looking forward to learning about this. Yes, life is but learning all the time. Sometimes, it is just better to DIY as one can be certain that the job is done correctly. I read with envy the D-I-Ys work you have carried out in your house and car. I recall when I was a boy, I too liked to take things apart to check how they worked. Once, my older cousin asked me what my aspiration was (you know, the most-asked question) and I naively said, "An inventor." He just laughed at me. Ahhhh.... it is funny how 28 years since then I could still remember that incident when I was in Primary Six. Recently, I met this cousin again. Although not quite an inventor, I wished I could tell him I did put some ideas into drawings and have made things into mass productions in the thousands. |
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Post by oldman on Nov 20, 2014 8:08:41 GMT 7
Chlio, one day when the market has collapsed, I hope to take over a listed company and will then piece together all the businesses that I love - internet, properties and DIY. |
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Post by hope on Nov 20, 2014 8:30:21 GMT 7
Good morning Oldman
Will wait for the day to come...dont forget to jio us along too!
How do you find the recent stock market...up fast, down also fast.
I have sold off 80% and now waiting to get in...on the ground, sin economy like slow down, most of friends all cut down on holidays during this school holidays... very strange.
Also like many people whom i know lost money in biz venture, scams....retails biz slow.
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Post by me200 on Nov 20, 2014 8:38:02 GMT 7
Oldman, Thought you are now retire and spending precious time with your family. Taking over a listed company (PCL?) and rebuilding it take lots of time and stress/pain. No? Chlio, one day when the market has collapsed, I hope to take over a listed company and will then piece together all the businesses that I love - internet, properties and DIY. |
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Post by oldman on Nov 20, 2014 9:10:06 GMT 7
Yes, you are correct. I am enjoying myself with the family. But I am a planner and I like planning ahead. In a few years time, my youngest will also have grown up and I know what I like to do then..... build up a super duper company along the lines of Berkshire Hathaway... and then pass these on to the kids. Yes, everything is for the family. When the kids are young, you worry about their education. When they grow up, you worry about their future as the world is becoming a tougher place for them. Oldman, Thought you are now retire and spending precious time with your family. Taking over a listed company (PCL?) and rebuilding it take lots of time and stress/pain. No? Chlio, one day when the market has collapsed, I hope to take over a listed company and will then piece together all the businesses that I love - internet, properties and DIY. |
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Post by oldman on Nov 20, 2014 9:13:42 GMT 7
The stock volumes have dwindled quite a bit and the excitement of the stock market has died down significantly. I really don't know how long this lethargy will last but this is certainly not good for our markets. I still continue to buy into situations that I like though I am taking my time as I too fear for the markets. Trouble is that when everyone is fearful, it is unlikely that the market will tank anytime soon. Hence, I still think that there is still some bull left in the market. Good morning Oldman Will wait for the day to come...dont forget to jio us along too! How do you find the recent stock market...up fast, down also fast. I have sold off 80% and now waiting to get in...on the ground, sin economy like slow down, most of friends all cut down on holidays during this school holidays... very strange. Also like many people whom i know lost money in biz venture, scams....retails biz slow. |
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