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A house means a safe roof over your head, somewhere to shelter when there's rain or wind or snow or even too much sunshine. Maintainence is an ongoing task and is often expensive. Then there's the promise, when you need fast action, of 'tomorrow' which might mean next week or next month. Fortunately I am married to a handy man. He can't do everything but always knows someone who is a 'mastora' of the trade and this person often owes him a favour so our problems get fixed fairly quickly. The urgent ones anyway.
And naturally botherations come in threes.
This is a photo I have posted before of our kitchen window sill. Look at the window behind it. That's not a blurry photo. It's double glazing gone wrong. All the windows along one side have a problem. Moisture has got in between the two panes of glass. There is nothing we can do about it but change the whole line of windows. And these are our windows with a view. They have been like that for a few years because the expense is just too much. We are getting used to our 'foggy' view. At least our big balcony doors are not affected, yet.
Solar heating. For the second time in ten years we have had to replace our solar heating tank. It has been leaking for months. We half solved the problem by turning down the water pressure but the leak of course got worse and it was right over a broken roof tile where water mostly only came in when the rain and wind was gale force. In fact the broken tile probably happened when they replaced the last tank. As the leak got worse more water leaked into the house, down the wall, causing a nasty crack.
The tank has now been replaced. It cost what it cost plus a bottle of whiskey. All our fixer-uppers get a drink and meze when they're finished. Maybe that's another reason they all turn up so fast. Their work may only take 5 minutes but they will spend 2 more hours drinking, eating with 'mine host'. discussing, debating and gossiping.
Our third problem was the roof tile/s. We have had a cousin of his up on the roof several times. He fixes one problem only to find another. This time we are crossing our fingers. The next storm will show us the result. Drips or no drips?
Now we just need to repair the crack in the wall but that won't be till spring when we will see whether it is surface damage or goes much deeper.
Nasty.
You need to win the Lottery and go and live on a beautiful Greek sun drenched island. Oh you do anyway. 😊
ReplyDeleteI am sure you can just get the glass panes changed and leave the frames. Are there no home improvement grants?
Laughing long and loud, Dave. My daughter has been trying to get a home improvement grant. She lives in our old house and has far more problems. The same person put in double glazing for for, just one big window. It leaks, the draught from all around it is incredible. That window man was NOT mastora.
DeleteAnyway. My daughter often deals with govt agencies and knows all the ins and out of paper work. It took her forever to get it done and then she discovered that Ks father who built the house had not followed the original plan and some of it was illegal. No grant and a lot more hassle. Another story there.
One problem causes another. I hope that crack isn't too bad and that a "window mastora" is in your future. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteWe need a Real Mastora. Preferably a big company that gives 10 year guarantees and will come and replace things that go worng. This guy was a clown.
DeleteAnd there was me thinking such s**te was uniquely a feature of English cowboy build jobs.... I hate renting but have to say it has been a pleasant interlude from roofs and boilers and breaking concrete and backed up drains and strange developing moldy patches ... and yes those foggy windows too. We managed to get a new double glazed unit put unto the same frame in our kitchen, so not quite so expensive (it just has to be the biggest window doesn't it?) Sounds like Greek island communities work like kiwi rural ones - mates rates.
ReplyDeleteLooks like thats what we will eventually do, get the glass replaced. One sunny day. Trouble is with these houses, they are bulit in the summer and the builders forget that we actually do get a winter, a wet winter. Our old house where my daughter now lives was built by my f in law and it was built in a very strange way. The walls are so hard you cant bang a nail in to hang a picture yet the damp comes in from the roof and the walls. She has a dehumidifier going day and night. When we lived there one very wet winter I ended up having to throw out piles of bedding which were in a top cupboard. Constant dripping had turned it all mouldy and I didnt find it all till the summer.
DeleteMates rates is right. Thank goodness.
It's funny but I never think of sunny Greek island homes having problems with rain, damp, leaks etc. which are so much of a feature of our cold, rainy little island up here.
ReplyDeleteThese old houses are built for summer. Newer buidlings are not so bad. Half of the house we live in now is built of breeze blocks. The old part. The rest is insulated and generally sound. The breeze block part was going to be insulated but the economic depression hit us and it has stayed as it was. Icy cold in the winter.
DeleteI saw something of government grants when you were speaking to Dave. My father avoided all grants because of too many questions. Around here there is always someone available to fix what you want.
ReplyDeleteYour father was very wise!
DeleteThere is always something to be done with a house. I too associate Greek Islands with warm weather and sunshine! Sounds like you need a new mastora.
ReplyDeleteWe need someone who knows what he's doing! Yours right there
DeleteThere seems to always be something needing to be done around a house. I hope all the issues get sorted sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteWinter is not a great time for repairs. I hope it's all sorted
DeleteSounds like our yeqr so far.
ReplyDeleteEvery issue we fix has led to another
Hopefully now it’s all over, well once the reverse cycle unit is replaced and we can live for a few more years drama free
We don't need anymore drama this year or next !!
DeleteOur house is about 300 years old, so repair work is done quite frequently. The front of the house is leaning at quite an angle, and there are interior cracks to prove it. One day it will probably fall down and have to be rebuilt, but we're hoping that won't be for another 100 years.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in a place like that in Crete. Luckily we were renting. But those old houses do seem to last forever
Deletewe have just moved house and we have 5 tiles that have slipped or been lost. Being Scotland we need them fixed yesterday, so I feel your pain. We have had windows like yours and we have just had them cleaned inside and re gased. It is normally a seal that has gone, could be due to extreme temperatures in the summer makes the seal fail... such a pain isnt it
ReplyDelete