Does anything need to be repaired or improved?
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Blocul (2016) Maria Șalaru
Well, there is the terrible old carpet upstairs, which badly needs replacing…
For ages, the selector lever for shower or bath was stuck on shower only…
But the plumber has just managed to fix it…
Bath now possible again…
Adam J. London, UK
The door handle on the door to the bedroom, the kitchen walls (wallpaper needs to be taken down and they need to be painted).
Jiska. Oslo, Norway.
The flat I live in was refurbished relatively recently. The wardrobe in the hall needs a new door, and the door frames need a new coat of paint. The block itself is in good condition and well maintained, in spite of being old.
Ida. Halden, Norway
Yes, we want to decorate the interior of the balcony!
Iulian. Bucharest, Romania
Hi, I am quite good at fixing things quickly when something breaks. But updates are needed! The kitchen is impractical and old. I have bought nice wallpaper to one of the walls in the bedrooms, where I also will paint. I want a curtain between the kitchen and the laundry room. Best, Linda.
Linda. Halden, Norway
Yes, we need to repair the ceiling of the bathroom because our neighbours from the top have flooded us. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic we could not ask for a painter to come. It follows…
Cătălin. Bucharest, Romania.
Does anything need to be repaired or improved?
FLORA: Windows and other openings should be repaired for better insulation, so I wouldn’t be too cold or too warm inside.
KAROLY: Maybe a few doors and working radiator valves wouldn’t hurt (so I don’t have to pay for heating the entire flat during wintertime). But that probably won't be my problem, because I’ve to move out soon.
Does anything in your flat remind you of someone?
FLORA: I put my favourite photos of my best people (friends and family members) on the wall next to my bed, so I’m reminded of them every single day.
KAROLY: Each month I take one volume from the “Collected Works of Mor Jokai” (a kind of famous 19th century novelist) to a bookbinder for restoration. Though I inherited those books from my grandfather, I haven’t met him since he died years before my birth, nevertheless, they remind me almost every day of what I heard about him.
What will you miss about the lockdown?
FLORA: The feeling that, finally, I don’t have to meet other people (I’ve nothing against them, but sometimes I prefer to read a good book).
KAROLY: Cycling through the totally abandoned Buda Castle Tunnel on my way home… that was an oddly satisfying (and a bit uncanny) experience.
What kind of animals do you see in a week?
FLORA: Those I don’t like: green shield bugs, ants, and spiders. Those I like: my H pihe (meaning “snowflake”), a black tomcat, and stray cats I meet on the streets.
KAROLY: Some ants and different sized spiders, once a creepy centipede. I also saw a black cat living in a house on the opposite side of the street.
Flora and Karoly. Budapest, Hungary
The first thing to improve is respect between the inhabitants and between the inhabitants and the materiality of the building. Then security is definitely an issue. And then above all and all around us, the facade needs to be completely redone.
Gaia Cara. Brussels, Belgium.
Hi Inge,
In our flat – we’ve had water through the ceiling for some months, once or twice from the neighbour upstairs, but more often it seems from an external walkway, when the wind [blows] the wrong direction + the rain heavy. Who knows when/if it will be fixed. May be tricky, but still…
In out block – the construction site that surrounds us just needs to go, after 5 + years! The noise, the dust, the disruption have been appalling. The we can re-decorate, at last! Andrew
Andrew. London, UK.
I should have changed replaced the stop cock in the bathroom. I was ordered to do so last year, but I never got around to do it. I should get a dishwasher, since I live her with my son, and 30 minutes to an hour with dishes after he has gone to bed in the evening is actually too tiring. I should have been spending that time by reading a book on the sofa instead. The days pass, I there is still no stopcock and no dishwasher.
Frøya. Oslo, Norway .
The kitchen cupboard door, the fly screens, and the wall in my bedroom is cracking apart because the foundations on that corner of the building are collapsing! It is worse for my neighbour living underneath me - they have a gap in their wall through which they can see right into the garden outside.
Sara. Melbourne, Australia.
The thermic rehabilitation / insulation was done [by the council] and now it is the responsibility of the [owner’s] association to repair the interior [of the bloc].
Dan. Bucharest, Romania
I don’t have a good eye for repairs and details like that. However, I remember long discussions with neighbours after the Grenfell tragedy about the fire escape; how it is not enough to have one in a large building like outs, especially as it is next to the main electricity source by the lifts. We feel the delay in the publication of our fire safety report is deliberate (3 years!)
Eszter. London, UK
