1/5 The Helmond Leonardusbuurt is still being renovated (Photo: Alice van der Plas)
Leaks, mold, drafts. These are problems that normally occur in outdated homes, not in a newly renovated home. Yet renovations regularly turn into nightmares for residents. This is evident from a visit by Omroep Brabant to three neighborhoods where renovation is underway. Striking: opinions about the renovation differ enormously from door to door.
There is a lot of renovation going on in Helmond’s Leonardusbuurt and Planetenbuurt. The Coevering district of Geldrop is also being renovated. There are scaffolding, construction chains and vans from construction companies everywhere. Houses get a new roof, new window frames or a new front door. In many houses the bathroom or kitchen is also in need of attention. And sustainability is being implemented: new heating systems and solar panels.
An old draughty house with a sky-high energy bill should then become a cozy palace that meets all the requirements of today. But in Marslaan in Helmond, some residents are at their wits’ end. What is striking: where one resident is very satisfied and gives the renovation a score of 8, it is a completely different story for a resident two houses away: many complaints and a score of 4.
“They drilled straight through the roof. My daughter got the debris on her head”
“After the renovation I woke up in a wet bed,” says a resident. “The dog sleeps with me and I thought: how is it possible that my little dog pees so much? Then it turned out that there was a leak in the new roof. The water ran down the walls.” According to the resident, the renovation should have been completed a long time ago, but the work took months to complete and all kinds of things went wrong. “They drilled straight through the roof twice. My daughter got the pieces on her head.”
They are the same homes, the same work, the same renovation project. Yet everyone experiences it very differently. “You can always complain about something, but I just get over it,” says an older resident of Astronautenlaan in Helmond. “I even called the housing development to thank them for the beautiful renovation.”
“Then you sit at home all day waiting and no one comes”
Residents also notice differences in Geldrop, where the houses have new roofs and solar panels. A woman says that the ground floor remains drafty and chilly, while the neighbor in a T-shirt opens the door and says that it is 23 degrees in the bedroom and she is not getting any colder.
In Helmond’s Leonardusbuurt, residents have very different experiences with the renovation of the Willem Beringsplein. Residents of a corner house are very happy, the residents of a few houses further complain about drafts in their necks. “We feel that our facade is still not properly insulated.”
A frequently heard complaint is that workers often do not show up. “Then you sit at home all day waiting and no one comes,” says a resident of the Planetenbuurt. “If they let us know in advance, there is nothing wrong, but if you don’t hear anything, it is very annoying.”
“Construction workers were very nice people, everything went perfectly”
Also, what is promised is not always done. Or, according to residents, is it only a beautiful exterior, while the inside of the house is a mess. “It was a beautiful story. You are improving, they said. It will look nicer. There is now a hole in the wall between my bathroom and my bedroom, I can see under the bathtub from my bed.”
Rude behavior by construction workers is regularly reported as a complaint. “They destroyed my entire bathroom,” says a resident of Willem van Ruysbroeckstraat in Geldrop. “I got an ugly shower screen back. Just the cheapest of the cheapest, of course.” The neighbor down the street actually praises the construction workers. “Very nice people. Everything went perfectly.”
Also, what is promised is not always done. “We would get a new facade,” says a resident of Helmondse Marslaan angrily. “But they only installed secondary windows. They lied to us. They promised all kinds of things, but they didn’t deliver.” According to the housing association, the final plan never included new facades.
Later today, Omroep Brabant will publish an article with the response of the residential companies involved.