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The 2-Year Apartment Rule

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Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#141

Post by quickthrowman »

esperent wrote: post #124
mrngld wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have HVAC? Maybe some of my difficultly understanding is being American I'm in a hotter, much more humid climate, so we've got central HVAC. A key feature of heat pumps isn't just that it lowers the temperature of the air, it also reduces humidity. I've got a lot of exposure to new home construction here and can tell you I don't even know what "damp proofing" is, and our bathrooms don't need special paint. The…

No, I've never seen a residential house with HVAC, even in big apartments. It's all split wall mounted AC units here, or if you're fancy a ceiling version that's basically the same. I think Americans call these heat pumps?

Split AC systems remove moisture from the air when they’re running too, that’s why there’s a condensate drain on the evaporator (and the condenser, but that is outside).

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#142

Post by triceratops »

> Right now, with my current apartment, the treadmills in the gym are always broken, more and more roaches keep appearing in the kitchen, the elevators have started breaking down

This is common building maintenance. What does it have to do with whether the author has just moved in or approaching the 2-year mark?

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#143

Post by malfist »

gib444 wrote: post #130
bob1029 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend dehumidification over chemicals. It's much simpler and way more thorough. It also suppresses pests like silverfish. Allergies probably much better too. If you can keep your home under 45% RH, mold simply cannot grow. You'll never have to think about it. The longer and more persistent the dehumidification, the better the outcome. It can take weeks for the moisture to get pulled completely out of your drywa…

I don't understand how they don't end up just drying the fresh air? The average home has a certain amount of fresh air coming in. Outside is often 50-80% here in the UK. Am I just spending 150 watts to constantly dehumidify fresh air? Is it really dehumidifying the walls, furniture etc or just the new fresh air?

In the US a lot of new buildings are build with ERVs or HRVs that allow deliberate outside air exchange through the central ducting without losing heat/cooling or without gaining/losing humidity

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#144

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

tartoran wrote: post #131
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it depends on where you live. Baltimore is a tough town. The roaches have a reputation to maintain.

Do you actually believe roaches in Baltimore have evolved in a different way or is it the locale?

It’s a joke.

Nevermind.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#145

Post by slibhb »

esperent wrote: post #37
tasuki wrote: post #9

> Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen. When I started reading the article, I thought the whole point was gonna be that the author doesn't take care of the apartment. The recurring leak might not be the author's fault, but the mold in the bathroom and roaches in the kitchen definitely ar…

I've unfortunately lived in too many houses where mold becomes a problem. It's never my fault, it's always been because the house is old/doesn't have proper damp proofing/cheap paint was used, or no damp proofing applied on exterior walls. I clean it, of course, so I'm not literally living in a house with moldy walls, and I keep the house as dry and ventilated as possible. But in certain climates it's nearly inevitab…

Get a dehumidifier and put it in the room with the mold problem.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#146

Post by ipsento606 »

mrngld wrote: post #89
esperent wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've unfortunately lived in too many houses where mold becomes a problem. It's never my fault, it's always been because the house is old/doesn't have proper damp proofing/cheap paint was used, or no damp proofing applied on exterior walls. I clean it, of course, so I'm not literally living in a house with moldy walls, and I keep the house as dry and ventilated as possible. But in certain climates it's nearly inevitab…

Do you have HVAC? Maybe some of my difficultly understanding is being American I'm in a hotter, much more humid climate, so we've got central HVAC. A key feature of heat pumps isn't just that it lowers the temperature of the air, it also reduces humidity. I've got a lot of exposure to new home construction here and can tell you I don't even know what "damp proofing" is, and our bathrooms don't need special paint. The…

> Maybe some of my difficultly understanding is being American

In the UK, in winter, ambient exterior air is both fairly cold (let's say 40F) and extremely humid, often around 80% relative humidity.

Houses are both poorly insulated and poorly ventilated. Heating is (relatively) very expensive.

Most housing units don't have clothes dryers, and it's common to dry clothing indoors on wire racks.

The net result is that you end up with extremely humid indoor air in the 55F-65F range, while the exterior walls and windows of the building never really heat up properly.

It's a recipe for condensation on the interior surfaces of those walls and windows.

You can fix this either by heating the building enough that the exterior walls actually heat up beyond the dew point (which few people can afford to do), or by keeping windows open in winter to provide some ventilation (which makes the already-poorly-heated building even less comfortable).

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#147

Post by ipsento606 »

HPsquared wrote: post #43
esperent wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've unfortunately lived in too many houses where mold becomes a problem. It's never my fault, it's always been because the house is old/doesn't have proper damp proofing/cheap paint was used, or no damp proofing applied on exterior walls. I clean it, of course, so I'm not literally living in a house with moldy walls, and I keep the house as dry and ventilated as possible. But in certain climates it's nearly inevitab…

There is specific kitchen / bathroom paint that is smoother and has some anti-mold ingredients. Makes a huge difference to use the correct paint in a damp environment. Condensation itself is a function of the air conditions (temperature and relative humidity ie dew point) and surface temperatures. All surfaces should be comfortably above the dew point to prevent mold. You can use a hygrometer to measure the air, and…

> All surfaces should be comfortably above the dew point to prevent mold.

I agree that this should be the case, but actually achieving this in the UK (where heating is very expensive and housing is poorly insulated) is prohibitively expensive for many people.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#148

Post by onaclov2000 »

This may be slightly off topic :). But I think I see this happen in other places beyond just housing, and maybe the timeline varies, but at the end of the day, company X puts a bunch of money into building an attractive place to attract consumers Y, however on top of that, they are also looking to make money, so once the initial investment goes in, the hope is that you don't have to invest (as much) to maintain, but ultimately entropy sneaks in, and the things that once made something amazing break down, and if a owner didn't pull in as much as they hoped going into it, (plus let's be honest if the first two years, let's say, you didn't have to do any repairs, it's definitely a struggle to be like....yes let's fix that expensive thing immediately, inaction is much easier, and it is hard to see the effect immediately.).At some point the attractiveness has worn off so much, they have to rename/remodel to get new consumers in the door. Now of course this article doesn't mention going back to prior places to live. I wonder if they have ever returned to a place that....didn't remodel, but that they felt still was nice upon return for 2 years, I think that might indicate other issues.

In my mind I'm thinking about gyms,now they will look shiny and new for a few years and then just get rundown, even though they pulled in regular recurring payments from members.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#149

Post by footy »

this is bizarre. I lived in my last apartment for almost 9 years and it was great for the first 7.5 of those.

Things did start going downhill when it went from being owned by a local, private family business to a publicly traded American corporation, but I don't blame that on time. And my apartment _itself_ was fine, it was the common areas that were degrading.

Re: The 2-Year Apartment Rule

#150

Post by whalabi »

tasuki wrote: post #9

> Things start off fine, but then mold starts growing in the bathroom, and a recurring leak springs up in the living room, and then roaches start appearing in the kitchen. When I started reading the article, I thought the whole point was gonna be that the author doesn't take care of the apartment. The recurring leak might not be the author's fault, but the mold in the bathroom and roaches in the kitchen definitely ar…

The article seems mostly about noticing a fun coincidence backed by anecdotal evidence, except I’m currently going through the same thing, so I’m lending the theory more weight. (The elevators were always fine; now, two years later, they’re constantly out, and the garage door is busted for the first time.)

My thought was that it could plausibly be that renting goes in cycles: the building is desperate for renters, so they fix everything, advertise, and so on. Then, once they’re full, the company cuts costs by reducing maintenance. Then they lose renters, and the cycle continues.

However, I then thought about my last two buildings, which were cheaper, and things were just broken right from the start, so… who knows.

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