Workmanship - Windows

If you intend to replace the windows in your bathroom and kitchen, you should do the replacement before you tile the wall in the toilet, shower or kitchen. Removal of the old window damages the wall around the window frame, hence the windows should be replaced before tiling the affected wall.

In my case we could not do that. The ID's regular window fabricator had already closed for the Lunar New Year's holidays in mid-Jan 08 when I signed the renovation contract on 14-Jan-08.

Sure, my ID could have gotten another windows fabricator. But he preferred using the regular fabricator because it did excellent work at a reasonable price.

Besides, I had wanted the windows in the toilet and bathroom changed to top-hung casement type, with ventilation fans installed. Given the fabricator's long experience in the industry, the ID was confident his regular fabricator would be able to get HDB's approval for the replacement. I grudgingly conceded.

Hence instead of the targeted completion date before LNY, completion has been delayed to this Sat, 22-Mar-08!

Work at my flat had practically stopped during the LNY holidays. Rather than wait for work to resume after LNY, I decided to call a paint contractor to plaster and paint the flat (refer to post dated Feb 11, 2008 - Nice Paint Job).

Close-ups of the good material quality:

Felt was used to give an excellent seal against dust and air draft:

As you can see from the photos, the quality of workmanship is very good: windows open easily and firmly and don't wobble or fit unevenly like those I saw in some flats.

More importantly, the rubber seal and felt around the window's edge both act in unison to effectively stop fine dust and smell from entering the flat interior.

Smell? Yes, before the windows were replaced we would sometimes get a stale smell wafting into the flat from the ageing Tek Kah market below, despite shutting the windows.

Now, we do not detect any smell with the new windows shut. We also notice the floor needs less frequent mopping than before. Tek Kah market is scheduled for a total makeover and upgrading, and hopefully should not smell at all in the future after the total cleanup.

Click link for Workmanship Series.