Usually on the weekly Roundup, I start with a story that’s caught my eye or piqued my curiosity and then lead into the best of the questions on the Forum.
But this week, as far as I’m concerned, the story IS the forum. After a computer glitch on Monday left us offline for a couple of hours, we sent out an email saying we were back – and got absolutely swamped by responses.
Not only that, after something like 15 years and 22,000 posts, you’d think we’d have covered every possible twist, turn and nuance of apartment living.
And to be fair, there are some issues that just keep coming up, time and time again. We run those questions and answers because they keep coming up again – they are the bread and butter of people’s strata lives and you guys need answers.
At this point I have to acknowledge my dedicated, knowledgeable largely unsung Stratagurus, Sir Humphrey, Lady Penelope and ScotlandX who all bring a slightly different expertise to the Forum.
Which is just as well as there isn’t a week goes by that we don’t get a question that leaves us scratching our collective heads and wondering where the heck that came from.
Take this week’s query from a committee member asking why their 12-year-old strata scheme’s machinery isn’t covered by insurance when it keeps breaking down.
Good question – and you’ll find the answer HERE. But there are dozens of other questions, answers, comments and pieces of advice that have come up on the Forum since we last met.
For instance, there’s the committee member who has developed a low-key but highly effective way of deterring rogue parkers who illegally leave their cars in visitor parking. That’s HERE.
Then there’s the question of who pays to fix a common property balcony that was tiled by a previous owner without permission?
The committee says it should be the current owner as they have inherited the problem. But are they right? That’s HERE.
What do you do when you don’t want to change the strata management firm but do want to change the actual strata manager that you deal with on a daily basis? That’s HERE.
And then there’s the terrible banging from water hammer every time a couple of a Flatchatter’s neighbours turn on their taps.
The block’s strata manager says that since the neighbours are causing the noise by using their taps, they should pay to fix the problem. Is he right? That’s HERE.
There will be more Qs and As on the Forum by the time you read this … especially if you stop and listen to our new weekly podcast about the best of the website, called the Flat Chat Wrap.
You can follow THIS LINK to hear The Wrap – please give it a listen and let us know what you think.