Friday 21 September 2007

Home invasion

The house we currently live in is up for sale. It has been ever since we moved in to it. When we first moved in I thought here was a place I could truly call home and together M and I set about doping all those things people do when they finally get a nest to play in except we have this landlord / administrator who changed all that.

Over the course of time his constant comments of you know this house is for sale and if you don't buy it someone else will eventually got to me and suddenly this house was no longer OUR home, it was a house, we rent that coudl be taken away at a moment's notice. Okay so a moment's notice is actually several months but still that secure feelingof HOME was removed, neatly, effectively and forever.

Our second year here was a fucking write off due to work issues, a LOT of financial and job uncertainty and me starting serious menopause hell. It was not much fun and a lot of negative stuff happened on a personal scale. A lot of negative stuff happened on a house scale too. The house which is now just over 3.5 years old began to settle seriously on its foundation and cracks began to appear.... we informed the landlord as we have about all the issues that have cropped up and he brushed it off, as did the architect. Okay let's review this... there is a crack that traverses the North facing outside wall, it cuts clear across from the outside to the inside ( think layer cake) and it is getting longer the length of the wall now and bulges more each time it rains... when it rains by the way the water runs in through the edge opening betweenthe concrete wall andthe zipper like glass bricks that are running up th eheight of the house.

Along with the livingroom wall leak which was so bad lasttime I had to remove the apintings because they were about to get damaged this is causing me to raise eyebrows. This wall leak was fixed 2 x before. Apparantly it is coming from the bathroom. ...ooooooooooookay...

The bathroom window in M's small bathroom is rotten andthe wood is cracked and broken. When it rains the water runs and I do mean runs into the bathroom at the bottom of the this round window. Yes we have told them about it and the answer was oh it's minor, nothing a little silicon won't fix and it's due to the condensation from the shower.
Yep..
I happen to have photos of what happens when it rains here, and gosh is that wet stuff running through the bottom of the window imaginary water??? hmmmm.

Lets not also mention the new neighbours who just moved in with their never eneding big barky dog, the loud german retirees and their screaming grand kids, or the fact that we live directly across from an end station old folks home which is VERY noisy what with TVs being played at top volume at 3 am, or peopel screaming for someone called vanessa or their mothers, monitor machines beeping and so on...

This place ain't quiet and it sure as hell isn't dull and dark either it is sun central here.

Yesterday people came by to look at the house, they want to buy. They seemed like decent enough folks I guess, her in her dolce and gabanna glasses and him looking non descript. Mid thirties maybe older... I don't think they were too impressed with teh damage and she commented on not liking too much sun... dear me, this house has a GLASS ROOF, sun... omg without end in the summer can we say OVEN boys and girls...

Having people walk through your home, looking at everything is invasive. (Remember we are not the ones selling the house, we mostly enjoy living here and we pay an outrageous amount of rent to do so) but I draw the line at people taking pictures without MY permission. The landlord allowed them to do this while neither M or I were with them at the time and I was furious. That's not just impolite it's rude and VERY invasive. At the time this was all going on we were both dealing with the oil delivery guys who had just shown up.

So I will state for the record, this is not a show house it is my home. I have no idea if the people actually looking inside and wanting to take pictures are really interested in buying or just casing the joint.

If I give off get the fuck out of my house vibes it is because this is my HOME and I don't like having strangers trapse through it poking into everything. deal with it and my not so subtle unhappiness - which is why incidentally I leave and hide in my work room and let the landlord get on with the isn't this house wonderful speach...

By the way, the damage going on with the leaking and the walls is not due to the shower, it is because this house is settling badly on its foundations and the supporting walls can't deal with it... I wonder if they care that the stair case join to the supporting wall is cracking BADLY.

I have photos...

If people want to see the house I require at least 24 hours notice because I am assuming that they'd rather see a clean house than our usual clutter everywhere. I will not be answeringthe door nor the phone unless I know 100% who is calling before hand because I am not dealing with this BS of handy men and strangers arbitrarily showing up when ever without me knowing first ( this went on for the first 6 months we were in this house)

There will be no more taking of photos. We have a BUNCH of great pictures taken of this house before we moved in, so it is empty and I am MORE than happy to provide copies.

The gods and powers that be have made it clear, our time in this house is slowly coming to an end... it has THAT feel to it.

so I will state for the record... I hate moving - meh! But it will mean a new home, maybe even one that feels more like OUR home and less like a pretty pink box we keep our stuff
in.

2 comments:

  1. I hope you find something that suits you better--and with better walls. I have to say that I don't get why the house was so poorly built as to be settling(you are in mountains with lots of bedrock)like tha and let's face it--most houses there last a long time. Settling is something that happens here on clay. (Okay, I know it happens there too-but it means poor construction work). I too hate people coming through my house--and I can't believe the landlord let them take pictures given that it's not his stuff. Good luck looking for a new place--although the light in current place is wonderful if you can stand the heat. --hugs--L

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  2. Oh, my dear. A place with that many cracks and leaks and a landlord who makes light of them doesn't sound like a place you should stay in longer than you have to. I say this with sadness, because otherwise it sounds like a good place and I like the pictures I've seen. I'd forgotten it was for sale....
    time for you to start hunting, I guess.
    love and hugs
    Kaththea

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