KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Happen to chance upon this thread.

Maybe you find this helpful. Not my blog, found it online only.

http://mylittlecasa.blogspot.sg/2011/09 ... w.html?m=1

Hi everyone,

This is the first time I post comment regarding renovation contractor in the forum. The quality, workmanship and after sale service of Legate is so bad that I taught I have to share it with those who are planning to install invisible grille.

We have our invisible grille installed by Legate about 3 years ago. Our place is over 2000sqft, and we had the grille installed throughout the house, ie balcony, 3 bedrooms, kitchen, and dining. We live in an old apartment and had a full renovation done when we bought the place, all the windows are all from wall to wall, so it was quite a big project.

We felt the workmanship is rather average. We had 3 castment window installed so that we can access the aircon compressors. The paint work and finishing are rather substandard compare to the new window that we installed throughtout the house. Anyhow, we didnt complain about it, but just thought we should have done our homework better before engaging them.

Few months back, I started to noticed that a lot of white vinyl coating that encase the wiring started to peel off and expose the stainsteel wire (I think thats what the wiring is made off), then I ran a check on all the wiring, I think about 30% of the wiring are affected, especially those facing the morning sun. I also noticed that the paint on one the casement window has came off very badly, and most parts are rusty espcecially the hinges and the lock. The locks in 2 out of the 3 window are no longer working so we have to use tiewrap to secure the window.

I called up Legate, and asked them to rectify the problems as it was still under warranty (warranty period was 3 years). They explained that the peeling of the coating was due to the heat from the sun. But I find it rather unacceptable as the material should be weather proof to start with. And the condition has deteriorated so much, so quickly in such a short time. After many phone calls and weeks of waiting, they finally sent someone to inspect the grille and casement windows, and took photographs. Then it was another few weeks of silence. My husband said it was ok not to fix the coating, as it will be a big job to change most of the wiring, but the rust and lock on the casement window had to be fixed for safety reason.

We called many times, they promised to look into it, no reply and no news. We have given up as the warranty has already expired.

Please consider carefully before getting your invisible grille.

Thanks for sharing.
These grilles look great on tv ad.

I got no problem with our invisible grill installed for few years already

In fact I think it's a good choice

Let us have a piece of mind coz it's installed in my boy's room and it's nice

I don't know how to upload photo else will try to show how mine looks like

Not sure how to post photo here, but i have uploaded some photos in another forum regarding the condition of my Legate invisible grille...

it is just getting from bad to worse by the day....

we have only installed it for about 3 over years, the warranty is for 36months, informed them, they tooked photos before the warranty expired but refused to do anything.....a picture says a thousand words.....

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/288 ... ntry877010

I wanted to do invisble grilles for my 3 bedrooms and balcony. My windows are big for condo standards. I asked for quotes from LeGate and CSA. Both quotes were almost the same, around $4500 for my place.

I haven't done them yet as i am still deciding on which company.
In the end, i decided not to put invisible grilles in my bedrooms. We have large sliding windows, the type that slides horizontally, left & right. They are very low, which means that if i stand on my bay windows, the window open from around my knee to above my head. I have two young kids and are petrified when they stand on the bay windows.

I found a cheap solution which works very well for my bedrooms. It is window wedges that you can stick onto the top of your window to restrict the size of the opening. The great news is that you can remove the wedge and restick (it uses strong velcro) whenever you want to open the windows wide. Our windows are high so our kids cannot reach the wedges. We put the wedge to allow only 10cm window to be opened. Once the window wedge is in place, even an adult will not be able to open the windows beyond the wedges, unless you remove the wedge from the window itself.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000H4C6F ... SY200_QL40

I dont work for the company, honestly, but just wanted to share an alternative to invisible grilles for sliding windows that we have found as a great (& cheap) solution.

I will update once we install invisible grilles for our balcony.
We have been quoted roughly the same price from both LeGate and CSA to do our balcony ($1400-$1500 incl Gst.) The price is the same even if you do 3inches or 4inches width between each grille. They quote based on area. The difference in grille thickness is not noticeable.

Csa invisible grilles
2.3mm thick
Load bearing approx= 500Ib
5 yrs guarantee

LeGate invisible grilles
2.0mm thick
Load bearing = ?? (Less than 500Ib)
3 yrs guarantee

At the moment, i am leaning towards csa, but want to do more research first.

Hi

Am thinking of doing invisible grilles with Le Gate for the safety of my small children, a baby and a 3 year old as i stay at high floor

The salesperson say there are 2 inch, 3 inch and 4 inch gap grilles.
Which one should i choose?

I am installing grilles for all windows and we have no balcony.

Thanks

2 inches gap is for people with pets, such as cats.

Choose between 3 or 4 inches, given that you have young children.

Of course, small width means better security but at the cost of aesthetics (it may start to look more like a prison with so many steel lines), plus it makes cleaning windows even more challenging if you install the fixed grilles.

You may also need to check with your building management council if there are any specifications that you need to comply with. For example, my management council stipulates that we use 4inch gap for our balconies, which is the maximum rcommended gap by various professional bodies to protect young children from accidental falls.

Citymumto2,

So 4 inch gap is ok for small children? 4 inch seems quite big.

I think it should be okay, but it is really up to you.

I have a 4yo and 3mth old baby. I just measured my baby's forehead and it is already wider than 10cm. She is an average sized baby, by the time she starts crawling, i think 4inch gap will be good enough for our balcony.

However, i am installing full height grilles on my balcony, and the glass railing is just under 1metre high, and so 4inches will be sufficient for my needs. Do your bedroom windows open from quite low? For extra security and peace of mind, it is not uncommon for families with young children to install 3inch wide gaps between grilles.