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We all know about the big issues in apartment living – pets, parties, parking, smoking and short-stay lets.
But what about those little irritations – the ones that are no big deal but still drive you nuts? Here are a few minor gripes that might just push you or your angry neighbours over the edge.
LIFT LOSERS: Your neighbour is in a hurry to get out of the building so they press both call buttons, up and down, stupidly thinking it doubles their chances of getting the closest lift.
Inevitably, someone on their way up has their trip interrupted by opening lift doors door and the simpering, semi-apologetic smirk or irritated, accusing scowl – because it’s your fault they left home too late – of the double-dipping brain donor. Press one button. You’re only going one way.
RUBBISH RESTERS: Ooh, this bag of kitchen waste really stinks so I’ll leave it outside the front door and pick it up on my way out … after I have updated my Facebook page, written a few tweets, replied to the replies, updated Facebook again, called my bestie about last night and, hang on, why is someone knocking angrily at my front door?
LOBBY LOITERERS: You’ve had a fabulous dinner party with your very smart and witty friends but your drunk colleague with the very loud voice never got round to telling you that hilarious story about the time he got lost in the Ardennes.
So, as they exit, the party moves into extra time in the lift lobby – only now everyone on your floor can hear the story. Ping. The lift bell chimes and is ignored. Ping. There it goes again and he isn’t even at the interesting bit. Ping. Shut him up, shove him in and send him home, please!
RECYCLING REBELS: There are signs everywhere – don’t dump plastic bags in the recycling bins, they screw up the machinery at the depot.
And yet every bin has at least one bag, presumably left by people who find the whole concept of recycling an affront to their “me first” world view. The bag bin is just over there. You can make it, honest.
DOOR SLAMMERS: Every apartment front door has a device that shuts it automatically. Many are set to maximum slam which is great for people who have mysteriously lost the ability to hold a handle. In the words of Hodor, “Hold the door!”
What minor irritations bug you most? Join the gripe-fest on the Forum.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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One thing that gives me the gripes is when the caretaker removes all the rubbish bins to the road for pickup at least 18 hours before the truck is to arrive. This means I have to take the last bag of my garbage out to the road in the darkness .
Not only do we have those problems with people who insist on putting plastic bags and other rubbish in the recycling bins, the rest have a problem with using more than one of the regular bins. Although we have about 12 bins, just one bin seems to get used, with rubbish to about 150% of capacity while the bins next to it remain empty.
Our council “allowance” is half a rubbish bin per unit per week, but every time someone moves out, we find they fill up six or seven bins with their unwanted clothes, bedding, appliances and even furniture.
People who just don’t get the concept of strata title. Who treat volunteer EC members as if they were well-salaried politicians of whichever political stripe they least like.
People who complain, with no sense of irony or shame, about the “lack of consultation” while attending a meeting that was called so that all owners could directly challenge and ask questions of the expert whose written advice had been sent to all owners with the letter inviting them to the meeting to further enable consultation.
People who sarcastically ask this EC member who approved certain features of a refurbished common property facility, implying unilateral decision making, when those features were clearly shown on a diagram circulated to all owners, a plan in which other aspects were revised in light of feedback from owners (who were engaged and paying attention) before the final version was taken to a general meeting at which the plan got overwhelming approval.
Residents who hang their washing on their balconies in clear view of all and sundry walking past…..and in my block, residents of one particular unit hang their clothes on the curtain rods in the window as a make shift wardrobe. There are communal washing lines on the common property, and built in wardrobes in at least one bedroom, and surprise surprise………there is also electricity supplied to the laundry of each unit to power a clothes drier!!
I know I sound like a snob, but I don’t want my property which was the biggest purchase of my life, to resemble an apartment block in a ghetto of some third world country
Junk Mail Dumpers – these are the people who remove the junk mail from their letterboxes, and then drop it on the ground or place it on top of the mailbox area, waiting for the wind to blow it away. We provide a bin for this purpose, but some still find the task too complex to complete.
And what’s with the plastic bags screwing up the recycling machinery? My dog has no trouble ripping a plastic bag to shreds. Is the recycling machinery made out of recycled paper?
Agree on junk mail dumpers.
Disagree on objection to clothes drying on balconies. I know this is a hot button issue for some but i would say one of my gripes is people who say ‘Use a clothes drier so I don’t have to see washing’. I would much rather see clothes dried with the sun and wind than using electricity. A simple clothes line, avoiding energy intensive electric driers, is the most accessible, cost-effective item of renewable energy technology there is (except perhaps a bicycle).
And what’s with the plastic bags screwing up the recycling machinery? My dog has no trouble ripping a plastic bag to shreds. Is the recycling machinery made out of recycled paper?
If you’ve ever seen a paper shredder jammed with paper, or a whipper-snipper jammed with grass wrapped around the shaft, then you’ve got an idea of how multiple layers of many torn plastic bags could cause problems.
There’s also the issue of having recycling items within bags obscuring whether a bag might also contain non-recyclable items. Often the recycling processes your Council contracts can’t just pluck a suspect bag off the production line on its own, and so many of the recyclable items beside the bag get removed as well. These removed items are then often dumped as general waste; nobody is going to open the bags and hand-sort them – too time-consuming and costly. (Besides being an awful thing to have someone do.)
Not all Council recycling contracts are the same, and not all contractors’ recycling capabilities are the same. You really need to check what items can AND can not be recycled in your local area. Just because an item (such as a plastic bag) has a recycling symbol on it doesn’t mean it’s suitable for your recycling bin .
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