A bathroom that is higgledy-piggledy, a damaged kitchen floor and mold spots that crawl under the fresh layer of paint. Thanks to a major renovation, the house of Dorothé Beks from Geldrop should improve. But instead, she just got more headaches. “The delivery was supposed to be on Thursday, but my house is still a ruin. I can cry,” she says.
Her house in Willem van Ruysbroeckstraat is one of 314 rental properties in the Coevering district that are being tackled by Woonbedrijf and Ballast Nedam. And that was much needed. One of the bedrooms was completely full of mold. And the bathroom and kitchen were also due for a renovation. Dorothé was happy that her house was finally being renovated, but as the weeks passed, that changed. “It has become hell. It gets worse every time I go here.”
“The sink and toilet are not level. And the tiles in the shower are crooked.”
The new kitchen and bathroom have been sloppily installed. “The holes for the sockets are not drilled, but cut out”, Dorothé shows. “The sink and the toilet are not level. And the tiles in the shower are crooked, so the water doesn’t drain away.” Moreover, the mold in the bedroom now seems to be coming back. “They just threw paint over it,” thinks Dorothé. And there are more annoyances.
The house was supposed to be delivered on Thursday. The construction workers will not make it, says Woonbedrijf. But Dorothe fears that it will never be finished. “It is a ruin in our eyes. I understand that you first have to experience misery before it becomes beautiful, but it only gets worse. I can cry.”
“It also doesn’t help that she comes every once in a while to take a look.”
The housing association regrets the situation, but believes that it will not get the chance to properly deliver Dorothé’s home. “We have done everything we can to ensure that they experience as little inconvenience as possible from the renovation, with a guest house,” explains spokesperson Dorien Braakman. to take.”
According to Braakman, the errors discovered by Dorothé will be corrected. “It does not mean that it will be delivered that way. We do this within the applicable standards. And if there is still mold or if other things are not right, we will solve it.” She understands the fear that the planning will go further than planned. “But that is why we continue to talk to the residents.”
Dorothé is not the only one who has her hands in her hair. Out of frustration, a residents’ committee was set up. According to the committee, sixty residents of the one hundred houses addressed would complain. “Agreements are not kept and the results are sad,” says Hans Bevers. “There are leaks, mold and the window frames are full of cracks.”
Woonbedrijf admits that there are complaints, but does not know how many there are exactly. “Complaints we hear are mainly about communication and changes to the schedule. We will solve that as quickly as possible,” says Braakman. “But it is difficult to make so many homes more sustainable as quickly as possible. Fortunately, many residents are also very satisfied with the renovation.”
