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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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 Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2005 7:36 am Post subject: |
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| just because wrote: |
| the eye wrote: |
8,000,000 IS a lot for an apartment...you are in daegu, right?
i think you should do them the favor. |
8 million for key money(presumming it is over 2 years and there was no rental as most hagwons will do that, for the size of the place the OP describes is a frigging steal and not expensive.
I've been looking at 16 pyeong places(relatively new) in downtown Changwon(a little more expensive than Daegu) and it is between 40 and 50 million key money for two years(that is no rental) or 10 million and 200 000 a month. |
i assumed the 8mil was for rent alone for 1 year. my last school showed me a lease that read 2.4mil...and it was aside from key money. |
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teachingld2004
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:33 am Post subject: switching apts |
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| So nrvs, what happened? |
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nrvs
Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: standing upright on a curve
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| Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 9:03 am Post subject: |
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| teachingld2004 wrote: |
| So nrvs, what happened? |
This week I checked out my coworkers' "dump" and it's not as dumpy as I thought it'd be. I think they have different standards than I do...or something. It's actually quite large -- nearly as big as my current place. And it has a better kitchen, much more light, more furniture, and a bigger bathroom.
But...although it's not as bad as I thought, the mold problem is there. It's on the plastic floor covering and clinging to the cheap wallpaper Koreans happily slap over bare concrete. The water leak is coming from the �µ� pipes in the floor. Apparently a pipe froze and burst a couple months ago because the heat was turned off. They were repairing a leak in the kitchen area, and I guess the heat had to be turned off to fix it. 
Part of the mold problem lies in that my coworkers had enough of the Korean repair process. They told my school to stop with the repairs until they finished their contract. I'm sure when the leak is fixed the mold won't come back. The apartment is well-ventilated (read: drafty  ). Isn't it hard to grow mold on bare concrete anyway?
Anyway, the deal I'll present after ���� is that I'd be happy to move into that place. But they've got to go all out for a week or so to fix the leak. Jackhammer the damn floor, make a big mess, whatever it takes. Replace the moldy wallpaper. Swap the shoddy water heater. I'll be happy to stay at my girlfriend's apartment while the repairs are done. And then, when everything's fixed and non-leaky, I'll move in.
I can only speculate on this, but I know the school will save a bunch of money by keeping this apartment. I think they'll be okay with it.
The air conditioning is another issue. The apartment doesn't have an air conditioner. However, one of my coworkers has one in his hogwan-leased apartment and that'll be my big negotiation tool when spring rolls around. I'll start with a nice request and elevate it into unpleasant whining at staff meetings if it's necessary. Surprisingly, temper tantrums are how previous employees obtained air-conditioning last summer. My bad-ass Canadian coworker says he'll quit if they don't give him one. Such are the pleasures of being able to work privates on a six-month tourist visa. Alas, I have to hold back on the drama because I'm American.
I'll let you know what happens during my meeting with them (either Friday or Monday). |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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| nrvs wrote: |
| But...although it's not as bad as I thought, the mold problem is there. It's on the plastic floor covering and clinging to the cheap wallpaper Koreans happily slap over bare concrete. The water leak is coming from the �µ� pipes in the floor. Apparently a pipe froze and burst a couple months ago because the heat was turned off. They were repairing a leak in the kitchen area, and I guess the heat had to be turned off to fix it. |
Akk!! A couple months ago? So the ondol has been leaking since... December? Oh boy. How have they been keeping warm since then? Space heaters? Surely they're not trying to run the leaky ondol system, thereby worsening the leak... In fact, if it's a serious leak, the system won't even function properly. What did they do for baths and laundry without hot water? Or are the hot water and heating separate? (Still not sure if this place is an apartment or a villa...I'm guessing the latter.)
Yes, they'd have to turn off the boiler and drain the water from the ondol "pipes" (PVC hose, these days) if they were replacing the burst section.
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| Part of the mold problem lies in that my coworkers had enough of the Korean repair process. They told my school to stop with the repairs until they finished their contract. |
Ugh... I can appreciate that it was a nuisance for your coworkers having their home "invaded" by workmen for a few days. But that's not the kind of repair you want to delay, not if you're the owner of the unit. Or, rather, not if you're the school/hagwon which, being the nominal tenant, is required to return the unit to its original condition. Doing that can get costlier the longer things are allowed to fester.
So, who shut off the heating during winter? That's the great pity of the whole situation. As common as tales of burst ondol pipes might be, it's almost an accident that can't happen my accident. Those pipes/hoses don't freeze and crack just because the temperature dropped to zero. Temps typically have to fall below zero and stay there a few days in a row. No-one's going to sit at home for days with their teeth chattering and not think to turn on the heat.
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| I'm sure when the leak is fixed the mold won't come back. The apartment is well-ventilated (read: drafty ). Isn't it hard to grow mold on bare concrete anyway? |
Hard to do on bare concrete, but damn easy between wallpaper and concrete. This happens a lot in Korea because of condensation on external walls in over-heated & poorly ventilated homes during winter, and because of all the humidity during summer. There's an anti-mold & mildew treatment they can use on the primer strips, and some brands of wallpaper are mold-resistant. I use both, because in this climate you need it.
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| Anyway, the deal I'll present after ���� is that I'd be happy to move into that place. But they've got to go all out for a week or so to fix the leak. Jackhammer the damn floor, make a big mess, whatever it takes. Replace the moldy wallpaper. Swap the shoddy water heater. I'll be happy to stay at my girlfriend's apartment while the repairs are done. And then, when everything's fixed and non-leaky, I'll move in. |
Water heater... gas boiler? If that's heating the water, then this has to be a villa. Anyway, what's wrong with the boiler? |
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teachingld2004
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: apartment |
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Mold is bad. You can get super sick from living with mold. Koreans are sick so often, I have wondered if mold was a cuase.
Good luck, and be carefull. It may take more then a week to get rid of the mold. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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| You can use a bit of diluted bleach to get rid of the mold. |
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teachingld2004
Joined: 29 Mar 2004
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:53 pm Post subject: new apt. |
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yes, diluted bleach can get rid of the smell of the mold, but if the mold is really bad it may not get to the 'root ' of the problem. It is sort of, but not like, the flue. When you take medicine for 3 days, even tho it seems like the flu is gone, it really may not be. Know what I mean?
You just have to be carefull with mold. |
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Ryst Helmut
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Location: In search of the elusive signature...
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| Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2005 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Hollywoodaction wrote: |
| You can use a bit of diluted bleach to get rid of the mold. |
You know, I don't really remember...but I think there was a thread (no, I am not in the mood to wade through 3 million posts with "mold" written in) that was about mold in Korea. I think the consensus was that mold could not be cleaned/killed by bleach.
Dunno.
Homework time. More later.
!shoosh
Ryst |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 12:58 am Post subject: Re: new apt. |
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| teachingld2004 wrote: |
yes, diluted bleach can get rid of the smell of the mold, but if the mold is really bad it may not get to the 'root ' of the problem. It is sort of, but not like, the flue. When you take medicine for 3 days, even tho it seems like the flu is gone, it really may not be. Know what I mean?
You just have to be carefull with mold. |
Actually, you don't call them roots but hyphae. |
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nrvs
Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: standing upright on a curve
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 6:32 am Post subject: |
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So, on Friday I spoke with my director. It was a short meeting; I won't be moving until April 20th. There wasn't much else to talk about.
After reading the past few posts, I'm glad I won't have to worry about mold-related illness in the months to come. Or negotiate the Korean repair process.
Also, I totally cleaned my place over the holiday and it'll be nice to enjoy the fruits of my labor! |
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Kenny Kimchee
Joined: 12 May 2003
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| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2005 8:58 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like bleach is an ineffective mold killer on porous (read: non-concrete) surfaces http://www.moldinspector.com/bleach-ineffective-mold.htm
Advice should be taken with a grain of salt, though, since this site looks like they're hawking some mold killer of their own... |
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nrvs
Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: standing upright on a curve
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| Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 4:25 am Post subject: |
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For those still following the story: my situation has changed again...for the better! I found out this afternoon that I won't be moving at all.
As my moving date approached, I began to dread it more and more. So, I decided to put the "verbal agreement" aspect of Korean business practice to a test. I presented a deal with my hogwan's management that I would give up my air ticket home in exchange for staying in my big apartment.
And they went for it! Of course, I omitted the fact that I'm not planning on going home at all. My plan right now is to take the boat to Shanghai to kick off a long period of travel through Southeast and South Asia. I know that they refused to give a former coworker the cash equivalent for his flight home to Canada because they knew he wasn't going home. He had a W300,000 flight to Hong Kong instead. The hogwan paid for it, but they saved a bunch of money. So, rather than deal with stress and uncertainty in October, fighting for the million won a ticket to America would've cost, I decided to give it up. For my comfort and sanity now.
Also factoring into their decision was the immense task of moving all of my heavy-ass furniture out of my big apartment. Since I'd be stepping down in size, nearly all of it wouldn't fit. I've got a full-size couch, a gigantic wardrobe, a pretty big dresser, one of those shoe cabinets, and a double bed. They'd have to transport all of it somewhere else -- and then deal with the additional cost of storing it. Or the headache of selling it. And then they'd have to buy smaller furniture. My boss and supervisor came to visit my apartment last weekend, t-minus 2 weeks to moving day, and I saw their expressions pale when they realized the enormity of the situation. It's funny how they totally didn't plan ahead for this! Like I was sleeping on the floor and living out of my suitcase for the past 6 months. But that's Korea for you, I guess. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sat Apr 09, 2005 5:57 am Post subject: |
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| That's great. Glad it all worked out. |
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