The praise report is that the landlord agreed to pay for all the work that needed to be accomplished - which was a lot. During the entire process, the landlord has been very responsive and accommodating.
Below shows the work that was to be done.
In the bathroom, all we requested was to have the bathtub fixed or replaced, but the landlord decided to redo the entire bathroom! Including the floor and walls...
The windows in 2 rooms were rotting from the frames, and needed to be fixed.
The windows in the bathroom had glass slats, and it was cold and airy .
The living room windows had been replaced long ago, but not all of the old windows were removed. The bottom panes remained along with the original framing, and the new windows were installed outside of the original windows - and theses were not airtight. This allowed for the wind and moisture to come in, which was again cold and airy.
So the result between the old window framing and the new exterior windows was - moss.
The laundry room was interesting. The laundry room is not heated (which is normal) and included a balcony that had been enclosed, but the railing was never removed. Also, the floor of the balcony was not a safe structure, and you could see through the cracks into the neighbor's apartment below.
The radiator in the living room had been previously replaced with a new radiator. The problem was that the new one was slimmer in design and the original plumbing wouldn't allow for it to be situated properly on the wall. An attempt had been made, but as you can see it wasn't successful :) This caused the radiator to be un-parallel with the wall, and to be insecurely attached.
The kitchen cupboards and countertop were replaced at some point with these 30 year old cupboards (I guess these colors were not only popular in the US at that time, but also in Israel).
But the need for replacement was not because of the lovely color. There had been a leak at some point, and even though it was fixed, the damage was already done. There had been water damage behind the cupboards with some molding.
So, as we held our breath and braced ourselves for 2 weeks of major renovations, and men in and out of the house, we emptied the kitchen since we were told that is where they would begin. For almost 2 weeks, all food (except in the fridge) and dishes, etc were kept in the living room covered with sheets to keep the dust out - and boy was there a lot of dust!!!
We were told they would arrive at 8 am on Sunday morning on December 18, and we got off to a great start when they arrived at 8:10 am. Let the fun begin!!
Well, needless to say, they didn't start in the kitchen, but in the bathroom - with a very large jack hammer. We quickly went downstairs to our neighbor to warn them, it sounded like they were going to go through their ceiling!!! Our neighbors were very kind during the whole loud process.
We learned that the bathtub was cemented into the bathroom, and it was not an easy process to remove.
After gutting the room, they filled the holes with mud, and started putting the plumbing in place.
After the bathroom got going with a bang, other men came to install the windows. We were very happy it was a sunny day, right before some cold weather was due to roll in. The new windows are great!
New window in the bedroom.
New windows in the bathroom.
With the railing gone, they began to prepare the floor to be installed in the laundry room.
Here you can see they have added dirt to the floor in the bathroom. This is common is Israel - dirt is an insulator. The bathroom was the project that ended up taking the longest. In fact, it's still not complete...
The apartment also has a 1/2 bathroom - thank God since we were without the other bathroom for 2 weeks! They had to break through the wall in this bathroom the reach some of the plumbing in the other one.
Surprise, surprise!! We needed to give the contractors a key to the apartment so they could continue the work while we were gone each day. As we mentioned in the previous blog, we provided Turkish coffee every day for the workers to drink throughout the day. After their first day alone, we came home to this!! They actually washed the cups and left them to dry - amazing!! Sad to say, though, this was the first & last time we would see this...
Oops! Something got broke - don't know who or how....
The bathroom is starting to look like a bathroom again! And the dirt smell that lingered in the apartment for a few days is beginning to dissipate. Along with the smell of cigarette smoke - Jim had to put his foot down and tell them they would have to smoke outside - it took a few requests for this to become a reality.
Wow! It's really beginning to take shape!
All we need now are the shower walls! :)
And all in one day we got new cupboards (minus the countertop - that would be the next day, with the sink). The landlord agreed to replace the bottom cupboards and sink and countertop, and to put new doors on the top original cupboards.
Here's our old cupboards :)
And there they go.....about 3 weeks later the trash men went on strike!
The laundry room is coming along nicely with a wood floor
and drywall to help insulate it.
Hmmm.....well, they fixed the hole in the wall of half bath, but they didn't seem to remember to clean up afterward. This seemed to be a common practice over the 2 weeks - not cleaning up after themselves.....So who is expected to do all this cleaning? Well, when Jim asked them about it, they explained how all he needed to do was use water... :)
Uh-oh! Is that our extension cord? Ummm, it doesn't seem to be as long as it used to be, there's a few feet missing. Don't worry, we found it - they needed more wire when they moved the light in the bathroom to be situated over the new sink. They ran it along the top of the tile and covered it with tile grout so it wouldn't be quite so obvious...
Not only that, but something about this light doesn't seem quite right....it's broken and crooked and points into the corner.....
Wow! That's a nice piece of glass - high quality. They told Jim they forgot a "part". He asked if it was the shower door.....no, silly, the curtain rod! But is there a shower floor to catch the water? No, that is what the squeegee is for!
And how did you "fix" the radiator so it would be parallel with the wall? You bend the pipes, of course! Well that ended up not being a very good idea, because as you can see, it began to leak. So we needed to turn off the water running to the radiator until a plumber could come fix it - because the contractor said he couldn't fix it. So that means a few days with no heat in the living room, but a mobile electric heater.
We experienced many "unusual" trials during this adventurous season of renovation. And it was quite a challenge for us. Every day we'd come home to something else, here are just some of the highlights: they cut a bath towel in half (guess they needed it for something...), they used our dish scrubbies to clean the mud off the walls in the bedrooms along with a washcloth & dish towel, they used Jim's paint, paintbrushes and roller to paint the walls where they installed the new windows (not only did they not ask, but they didn't clean the brushes or roller, and they used the wrong color paint. We now have a peach wall in a white room.), and they never cleaned anything - that's left for us. One day we came home to not only the coffee cups we left for them to use (dirty), but disposable ones we had packed in a box in the living room and covered with a sheet. Guess they needed more than what we provided and went looking for more...
Men were coming and going for 2 weeks - with the keys to our home. They would leave the lights on when they left, and sometimes the windows open. They said they were finished (more than 2 weeks ago) but they are definitely not finished. We still don't have the keys back. The landlord is not very happy, and has agreed to let us hire someone to complete the work and have it deducted from the rent. He doesn't know about our recent discovery today - the new toilet is leaking :) We will also be changing the locks on the doors, although we are happy to say we have had no issues of things missing during the renovation.
Trying to keep the right perspective while taking sponge baths in the kitchen for 2 weeks and coming home each day to see what happened while we were gone was quite challenging. Jim did much better than I did. We tried to laugh about it as much as possible, but I shed a few tears as well. One day another volunteer told me I was looking "quite fragile", and she was right, I was. But my dear, sweet husband always helped me see things clearly. One day about 1 1/2 weeks into the kitchen sponge baths, I didn't think I could take it any more. I must have had a look on my face, because Jim said, "Well, we could be in the jungle of Africa." I imagined myself having to walk to the river and bring a bucket of water back to take a bath. It immediately gave me the right frame of mind to be able to keep going and know "I can do this".
One of the many opportunities we have here in Jerusalem is to help poor and needy families with various apartment and home repairs. We'll attempt to do the repair ourselves with our volunteer staff, if the repairs are minor, or we'll either coordinate an effort with a visiting volunteer group to complete the repairs or if need be, hire a local contractor. Well, this experience certainly allows us to relate to some of the challenges they face. We really do love the people here - it's more of a cultural difference that we notice and experience, rather than an attitude problem. The last attribute we would label the people here with is, lazy - they are far from it, and we hope this story doesn't suggest that. We chalk this up to an "Adventure in Israel".
Life will throw many challenges our way that we never even considered possible. It's our job to see them as opportunities. An opportunity to have the right attitude, to act and speak with the right character, to 'walk the walk' & 'talk the talk', to not "lose our witness" to those around us who are watching what we say and how we act when the difficult times come. Are there things I wish I'd done differently? Absolutely. But we're making it through this most recent adventure, and if we were to experience it anywhere, we're glad it was here in Israel.
The good thing about the last story with the radiator leaking, is that Jim had me go get Yitzak (the va'ad man) who is our next door neighbor. This is the nicest couple you'll ever meet. They are the ones who collect the va'ad for all the apartments (maintenance fee). They have been very kind, and offered their assistance throughout the renovations. Anyway, the day before, he had looked at the radiator to see why it wasn't heating properly for us. It's not his job, but he is a very kind man, and offered to take a look. While Yitzak was at our apartment looking at the radiator, another neighbor (Shimon) showed up to pay the va'ad as well (Yitzhak's wife told the neighbor that he was at our house). These two men looked at the radiator to determine what was wrong and what needed to be done to fix it.
When the contractor came the next day, Jim had me go get Yitzak so he could talk to the contractor in Hebrew on our behalf. So when I went next door to ask if he would come over, his wife answered the door and said, "Yaffa! You miss me already?" :) She calls me by my Hebrew name :) I said, "Yes I do! Can Yitzhak come talk to the contractor about the radiator?" As he was leaving with me, she gave me a hug and said, "I am like a mother for you." My heart melted right then and there!!! Later, after Yitzak explained everything to the contractor, I told him thank you and gave him a big hug in front of everyone :) After all, he is now like a father to me as well, yes? Yitzak was born in Israel before it was even a nation, and has fought in all its wars. We look forward to spending much more time with them, especially when it gets warmer. Jim and Yitzak are going to trim the shrubs together :) We love making new friends...
We look forward to posting the completed pictures in a blog soon. Praise be to God who always finishes what He starts.
THANK YOU LORD FOR TEACHING US THROUGH THE GOOD TIMES
AND THE HARD TIMES. HELP US TO ALWAYS KEEP
EVERYTHING IN YOUR PERSPECTIVE.
