I have browsed the long thread from a decade ago on Hexagram 18 UC.
It's the first time I've gotten it.
This is in regards to a beautiful 2 bedroom apt in a historic building for which I signed a lease. I had originally put a deposit down in October on the only apt available at that time, a studio, with the promise that doing so would put us at the top of the waiting list for the coveted 2 bedroom 2 balcony line. The current owners renovate when an apartment vacates. The studio shower line was caked with minerals and the flow was poor. He said they would go through another apartment instead of having to break through the floor etc, then he said it would only require a small hole. Meanwhile I told him about my environmental sensitivities and I would need to pay for my own nontoxic paint (although, I did not realize how no voc paints are now available everywhere including Lowes and Home Depot) and sent him a paint wheel.
It took them six months to actually fix it as they finally figured out the only solution was to run a feeder line from three floors up, which meant breaking into walls in 4 apartments. They opened up a huge hole in the bathroom, half the wall. I'm environmentally sensitive and this didn't make me happy. Lots of dust and they left it open. In the meantime, a one bedroom opened up. However when I went to look at it I smelled cigarette smoke and it turns out the tenant next door is a chain smoker. Even though there's a no smoking rule in the lease. They said they would tell her to smoke out the window but I thought that was unlikely to be enforceable so I passed.
Another one bedroom opened up during this waiting period. I went to look at it and the manager who is actually a super nice guy but perhaps disorganized said why don't you just take the 2 bedroom its only $200 more. I said what 2 bedroom. It turns out a coveted 2 br with 2 balconies had opened up and they'd already renovated most of it. Including with cheap contractor's paint. I knew that was going to be a serious problem for me but I liked the apt so much I decided to take it, thinking it would offgas over time, and/or I could bake it out or seal it. Meanwhile I bought reversible window fans, we opened the windows, had them on low, and kept one balcony door open for the last month.
I decided against baking out after research because the building is 100 years old and there's lead paint under there, oil based, and who knows what i would wake up with a bakeout. Then when I took a look again yesterday the paint smell was as strong as ever. I know it will make me sick--the last time I used regular paint in a bedroom over twenty years ago I had joint pains that were really really painful for 6 months until it finally wore off.
I threw the I Ching and frankly my interpretation was that I am going to be unable to get situated in a home that syncs with my soul and self until I do more work on inherited patterns. That this crazy situation is a manifestation of the sins of the fathers. I don't feel I can easily fix the situation. The only sealer I know of that is tolerable is shellac and I thought we could hire someone to do all the glossy areas the painter remembers touching up (he doesn't remember exactly everything he did but he says he did all the trim and doors) but when I looked yesterday, the style of the rooms which are quite large, is to have little trim/molding running up and down the walls in various places creating huge 'squares' of space, and to shellac that would require taping--in fact--one would need to tape so excessively and extensively to not end up with shiny shellac on the beige paint that is inside those squares. I realized it would be a huge job and I still wouldn't know if I'd gotten the flat paint or where it was as he said he did "touchups" ie a wall here or there.
The only room that doesn't smell of paint is the bathroom. I see a nice grey paint on the walls there, which is one of the manager's favorite colors when offsetting white, and I would have been completely happy to have just taken the apt with no new paint or other renovations. It was already in good shape and the floors had been sanded and polyurethaned a year ago.
Any thoughts? I'm really upset as the apartment has views for 50 miles and my partner is even more upset as every time he was over there he asked after 2 bedroom availability. But I'm not mad at the manager, he's nice, he just is maybe not cut out for being very organized. I hadn't reminded him recently about a 2 BR as they were said to open up only very rarely and I can see why. The woman who was living there was transferred to a job in Texas or I'm sure she would not have left.
It's the first time I've gotten it.
This is in regards to a beautiful 2 bedroom apt in a historic building for which I signed a lease. I had originally put a deposit down in October on the only apt available at that time, a studio, with the promise that doing so would put us at the top of the waiting list for the coveted 2 bedroom 2 balcony line. The current owners renovate when an apartment vacates. The studio shower line was caked with minerals and the flow was poor. He said they would go through another apartment instead of having to break through the floor etc, then he said it would only require a small hole. Meanwhile I told him about my environmental sensitivities and I would need to pay for my own nontoxic paint (although, I did not realize how no voc paints are now available everywhere including Lowes and Home Depot) and sent him a paint wheel.
It took them six months to actually fix it as they finally figured out the only solution was to run a feeder line from three floors up, which meant breaking into walls in 4 apartments. They opened up a huge hole in the bathroom, half the wall. I'm environmentally sensitive and this didn't make me happy. Lots of dust and they left it open. In the meantime, a one bedroom opened up. However when I went to look at it I smelled cigarette smoke and it turns out the tenant next door is a chain smoker. Even though there's a no smoking rule in the lease. They said they would tell her to smoke out the window but I thought that was unlikely to be enforceable so I passed.
Another one bedroom opened up during this waiting period. I went to look at it and the manager who is actually a super nice guy but perhaps disorganized said why don't you just take the 2 bedroom its only $200 more. I said what 2 bedroom. It turns out a coveted 2 br with 2 balconies had opened up and they'd already renovated most of it. Including with cheap contractor's paint. I knew that was going to be a serious problem for me but I liked the apt so much I decided to take it, thinking it would offgas over time, and/or I could bake it out or seal it. Meanwhile I bought reversible window fans, we opened the windows, had them on low, and kept one balcony door open for the last month.
I decided against baking out after research because the building is 100 years old and there's lead paint under there, oil based, and who knows what i would wake up with a bakeout. Then when I took a look again yesterday the paint smell was as strong as ever. I know it will make me sick--the last time I used regular paint in a bedroom over twenty years ago I had joint pains that were really really painful for 6 months until it finally wore off.
I threw the I Ching and frankly my interpretation was that I am going to be unable to get situated in a home that syncs with my soul and self until I do more work on inherited patterns. That this crazy situation is a manifestation of the sins of the fathers. I don't feel I can easily fix the situation. The only sealer I know of that is tolerable is shellac and I thought we could hire someone to do all the glossy areas the painter remembers touching up (he doesn't remember exactly everything he did but he says he did all the trim and doors) but when I looked yesterday, the style of the rooms which are quite large, is to have little trim/molding running up and down the walls in various places creating huge 'squares' of space, and to shellac that would require taping--in fact--one would need to tape so excessively and extensively to not end up with shiny shellac on the beige paint that is inside those squares. I realized it would be a huge job and I still wouldn't know if I'd gotten the flat paint or where it was as he said he did "touchups" ie a wall here or there.
The only room that doesn't smell of paint is the bathroom. I see a nice grey paint on the walls there, which is one of the manager's favorite colors when offsetting white, and I would have been completely happy to have just taken the apt with no new paint or other renovations. It was already in good shape and the floors had been sanded and polyurethaned a year ago.
Any thoughts? I'm really upset as the apartment has views for 50 miles and my partner is even more upset as every time he was over there he asked after 2 bedroom availability. But I'm not mad at the manager, he's nice, he just is maybe not cut out for being very organized. I hadn't reminded him recently about a 2 BR as they were said to open up only very rarely and I can see why. The woman who was living there was transferred to a job in Texas or I'm sure she would not have left.