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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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 Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 4:51 pm Post subject: Replacing the floor in the Housevill -- rant |
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My building, The Housvill in Bundang, is a little over one year old. My apartment has a wood floor. Not the fake wood linoleum (sp?). It's a kind of cheap, soft wood glued to harder crappy boards underneath. A sort of composite stuff, where the final layer is a sort of pink styrofoam stuff. It looks good on the surface, but is not at all durable. If something hits the floor, like the plug to my iron, or my belt buckle, for example, it dents the floor.
After several months, the styrofoam on the bottom layer of it must have smashed and broken down. The individual pieces of wood lost their correct flatness, and started to curl up around the edges and break under my chair. I had a pad/carpet under the chair, but it still curled up under the pad. I noticed this, and asked the 5th floor office for help in replacing it. My co-workers are suffering the same problems.
My building's office told me they would replace it for free (meaning that they would charge it to the general building maintenance fund, which we all pay a part of) but they cancelled the first appointment. They never called me to let me know the appointment had been cancelled. Now, two months later (on a Friday, I might add), they called me last night at 4pm.
The conversation was like this:
Them: "We're coming over tonight."
Me: "But I'm in Seoul right now (I live in Bundang), and have dinner plans. Can we make it another day?"
Them: "I'm sorry, no. They are here today only."
Me: "I would have appreciated a bit more notice."
Them: "You said you would be home after 4:30pm each day."
Me: "Sure, but you should give me notice. And it's a Friday night tonight."
Them: "Can you make it before 6? He will be here then."
Me: "So after 2 months of no contact, and absolutely no notice, you are calling me two hours before you're coming, on a Friday night, to say they are coming to fix it NOW, and only NOW?"
Ugh... so I had to beat a retreat back to Bundang, fighting rush-hour traffic, to meet the install guy.
To top it off, the install guy scolded me for having a chair on the floor. I mentioned that I had a carpet underneath it, and that the same problem happened to all of my co-workers. I also told him I thought the floor product was inferior.
Oh no... the floor is not inferior, I just shouldn't be putting a chair on it.
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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 Housevil... that is some great konglish |
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casey's moon
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: Daejeon
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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So then where are you supposed to put your chairs if not on the floor?  |
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funplanet
Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Location: The new Bucheon!
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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| don't you just love how "ville" has somehow turned into "vil" in Korea? are they that dense??? |
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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| casey's moon wrote: |
| So then where are you supposed to put your chairs if not on the floor? |
It's the frustrating thing about Koreans. They NEVER want to admit they are wrong. NEVER. Even in obvious situations.
Your flooring product is inferior.
No, you just shouldn't use chairs on it. |
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schwa
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Location: Yap
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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| "----vill," though wrong, has a logic to it. "Ville" would come out "villa" which is something different. |
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Real Reality
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing the floor in the Housevill -- rant |
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| Derrek wrote: |
I noticed this, and asked the 5th floor office for help in replacing it. My co-workers are suffering the same problems.
Me: "So after 2 months of no contact, and absolutely no notice, you are calling me two hours before you're coming, on a Friday night, to say they are coming to fix it NOW, and only NOW?"
Ugh... so I had to beat a retreat back to Bundang, fighting rush-hour traffic, to meet the install guy. To top it off, the install guy scolded me for having a chair on the floor. I mentioned that I had a carpet underneath it, and that the same problem happened to all of my co-workers. I also told him I thought the floor product was inferior.
Oh no... the floor is not inferior, I just shouldn't be putting a chair on it.
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Two months wait, last minute notice, and the installation person is yelling at the client (or customer).
Why does this happen? |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Korea is the land of slap dash. My bathroom door is too big for the door frame. You'd think someone would have noticed that when they installed it. "Say this doesn't quite close..." |
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Universalis
Joined: 17 Nov 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Derrek wrote: |
It's the frustrating thing about Koreans. They NEVER want to admit they are wrong. NEVER. Even in obvious situations. |
Very true... At our cafe in Hongdae, cigarette butts would magically appear on our outside deck overnight. Seeing as how right above our deck were several windows to the apartment of the owner of the building, I put two and two together and figured that the owner would smoke at his window and just toss the butts out, falling on our deck below. The fact that the butts we found matched the ones I witnessed the owner tossing on the street outside strengthened our case even more. After collecting dozens of these things, we broached the subject to the owner and his wife.
"Wasn't me," he said.
So my girlfriend asked him to explain how they got there.
"One of your neighbors must have done it," he suggested.
Of course, the neighbors he spoke of were about 8 feet away from our deck with windows that opened sever feet below the level of our own deck. In other words, it would be frickin impossible to regularly toss butts at such a distance. The idiot must have thought we were as stupid as he was.
He never did cop to doing it... asshole.
Brian |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2005 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| Korea is the land of slap dash. My bathroom door is too big for the door frame. You'd think someone would have noticed that when they installed it. "Say this doesn't quite close..." |
That's why it takes us 3 times longer than most to rebuild or remodel. And let me assure you, a job done right nearly always goes unnoticed and unappreciated, too. For instance, when we lay, fit and angle the drains properly, I don't expect a tenant or a buyer to say, "Wow, Guru! We just love how you took the time to do that so there's none of that sewer-stinky-bathroom-problem we've had everywhere else Korea!" Nope. Never heard that once. What I'm likely to hear is, "So, why is your place more expensive than another one we saw which is the about same size?" |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 5:47 am Post subject: |
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| JongnoGuru wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| Korea is the land of slap dash. My bathroom door is too big for the door frame. You'd think someone would have noticed that when they installed it. "Say this doesn't quite close..." |
That's why it takes us 3 times longer than most to rebuild or remodel. And let me assure you, a job done right nearly always goes unnoticed and unappreciated, too. For instance, when we lay, fit and angle the drains properly, I don't expect a tenant or a buyer to say, "Wow, Guru! We just love how you took the time to do that so there's none of that sewer-stinky-bathroom-problem we've had everywhere else Korea!" Nope. Never heard that once. What I'm likely to hear is, "So, why is your place more expensive than another one we saw which is the about same size?" |
Korea has taught me to appreciate so much 
One year here and this is what has broken on me:
1) My fridge
2) My washing machine
3) My sink leaks a bit now if the knob is isn't exactly centered
4) My boiler has started leaking
5) My vacuum cleaner doesn't suck as well. And it's an Electrolux! Nothing sucks like an Electrolux. Grrr.
6) My a/c's directional fan stopped working
Yep. |
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namsanboy
Joined: 10 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 9:09 am Post subject: Re: Replacing the floor in the Housevill -- rant |
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| Derrek wrote: |
Me: "But I'm in Seoul right now (I live in Bundang), and have dinner plans. Can we make it another day?"
Them: "I'm sorry, no. They are here today only." |
They are here today only? Well, then they're out of luck. Call me back next time they're in country. |
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peemil
Joined: 09 Feb 2003
Location: Koowoompa
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 11:30 am Post subject: |
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| Universalis. I've always found if someone throws cigarette butts at you, you should throw molotov cocktails at him. |
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 2:10 pm Post subject: Re: Replacing the floor in the Housevill -- rant |
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| Derrek wrote: |
My building, The Housvill in Bundang, is a little over one year old. My apartment has a wood floor. Not the fake wood linoleum (sp?). It's a kind of cheap, soft wood glued to harder crappy boards underneath. A sort of composite stuff, where the final layer is a sort of pink styrofoam stuff. It looks good on the surface, but is not at all durable. If something hits the floor, like the plug to my iron, or my belt buckle, for example, it dents the floor.
After several months, the styrofoam on the bottom layer of it must have smashed and broken down. The individual pieces of wood lost their correct flatness, and started to curl up around the edges and break under my chair. I had a pad/carpet under the chair, but it still curled up under the pad. I noticed this, and asked the 5th floor office for help in replacing it. My co-workers are suffering the same problems.
My building's office told me they would replace it for free (meaning that they would charge it to the general building maintenance fund, which we all pay a part of) but they cancelled the first appointment. They never called me to let me know the appointment had been cancelled. Now, two months later (on a Friday, I might add), they called me last night at 4pm.
The conversation was like this:
Them: "We're coming over tonight."
Me: "But I'm in Seoul right now (I live in Bundang), and have dinner plans. Can we make it another day?"
Them: "I'm sorry, no. They are here today only."
Me: "I would have appreciated a bit more notice."
Them: "You said you would be home after 4:30pm each day."
Me: "Sure, but you should give me notice. And it's a Friday night tonight."
Them: "Can you make it before 6? He will be here then."
Me: "So after 2 months of no contact, and absolutely no notice, you are calling me two hours before you're coming, on a Friday night, to say they are coming to fix it NOW, and only NOW?"
Ugh... so I had to beat a retreat back to Bundang, fighting rush-hour traffic, to meet the install guy.
To top it off, the install guy scolded me for having a chair on the floor. I mentioned that I had a carpet underneath it, and that the same problem happened to all of my co-workers. I also told him I thought the floor product was inferior.
Oh no... the floor is not inferior, I just shouldn't be putting a chair on it.
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It's called a laminated floor. It can be cheap as hell in North America ( roughly a dollar or two per square foot). People usually buy it because they can't afford hardwood floors (6-8$ a square foot). Most of the stuff in Korea that I've seen tends to be of the lower grade, but they'll charge you an arm and a leg to install it (I've only seen a floating floor once in Korea (it isn't glued down to the surface, but fastened by interlocking the pieces. Many people install them on their own.)). I laughed when they tried to make me believe the floor in my appartment was hardwood (it isn't wood, it's laminate (basically, recycled sawdust)) and that it was worth 4 million won. I found out the construction company had the stuff mass produced in its design, so it probably didn't cost them more than a few hundred won a square foot. Nice racket they have going on.
http://doityourself.com/laminate/basics.htm |
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scarneck
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sat Apr 16, 2005 3:07 pm Post subject: |
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that sewer-stinky-bathroom-problem we've had everywhere else Korea!"
Got that in Daewood Trump World III! Real nice place, but the bathrooms smell like a$$ For this much money, I'll be moving this summer. |
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