Beyond Blue Home Improvement Thread

geoff · ‎28-09-2017

Hi everyone. I'm Geoff and have been a dedicated Volunteer on the forums for 13 years. I am proud to have stopped some of the stigmas that are associated with mental health as well as doing my best to help others too

Before my health went south I was a builder in all aspects of home construction and renovation. If you don't have a handyman around I hope I can offer you some tips that may be of help. I have had many years of experience in home renovation and will do my best to help you out if you are stuck and need some advice

I hope my experience may be of help to the people on Beyond Blue and make their life a little bit better. Even if you need help with the most basic painting job or putting up a shelf I can help there too with some tips

I will do my best to get back to anyone that has a question when I can as this is social yet important thread

Geoff

SapereAude · ‎06-03-2020

Great post. Unfortunately I am the polar opposite to a handyman. I admire those who are handy though and wish I had better skills in this regard. I’m okay in the garden but my strengths are more white collar.

will follow this thread with interest!

take care!

Hanna3 · ‎06-03-2020

Hi Geoff,

I'm intrigued by the "rubber shovel" - not quite sure what it means!

Housing gives you about two hours to view a property, that's after a long drive and also it was actually snowing at the time I came here... I certainly didn't think to open the windows and slide them up to check the windowsills... basically you have time to do a quick look around at the basics (bathroom, kitchen, carpet, is there a closet anywhere or not, heating, what is the yard like? - hard to see with the snow, etc). I certainly wouldn't have known to check windowsills for chipping or peeing paint! After that I had to do the paperwork at the office which took about another hour - so sheer exhaustion by then.

I'm laying low with Housing until I can work out what to do, if they plonked me in one of the awful block of Housing flats here I'd go completely nuts. I'm hoping to be able to look at a couple of towns around here that have housing - but it's almost the case that until I know how/where to get somewhere better, it's safer laying low here. I really am stuck to know what to do. I do want to know if the paint is lead, but I haven't found a paint shop yet to test it. Even if it's not I'm sure it's not healthy to have bits of it flying through the air in the house...

So until I work out how and where on earth I can go, I'm pretty much stuck. It's a bummer. Thanks for keeping in touch because it really is a help to have someone like you to talk to about it. I will let you know when I find out anything else if that's OK?

geoff · ‎07-03-2020

Hello SapereAude, great to have you onboard this thread and gardening is also included and your advice/help would go a long way in helping other people.

Sometimes people who are white collar workers do have their own talents and don't know their own capabilities, in other words, they know what they want but are unable or don't have the tools to complete it.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

geoff · ‎07-03-2020

Hello Hanna, a rubber shovel means and I hope I get this right, only means that you are unable to hammer a nail into a piece of wood, or perhaps not sure how to use a tape measure, in other words, much better in doing anything other than handyman work.

It would be very difficult to view a house because you can't be sure until you actually start living in the house/flat and the windows would have been your last concern and can't believe that a government department has actually put you through this.

They shouldn't expect you to 'jump from the frying pan into the fire', moving you into a house/flat that is worse than what you are living in, and if it was me they would have their hands full from what I'd be doing, but you have to be in a similar situation like this before.

I really wish I could help you further and please let us know what's happening.

Geoff.

Hanna3 · ‎07-03-2020

Hi thanks Geoff now I know what a rubber shovel is at least!!! (Definitely me yes)…

I took some pieces of the paint and tried to find a paint shop but I drove up and down the street where they were supposed to be and couldn't find them, drat. This is a big town and the traffic is busy maybe I missed them somehow, I'll try again next week.

I'm going to dig out that waiver form from my pile of paperwork and read it again and I'll let you know what I signed if that's OK!

Meanwhile at least the heatwaves are over, Autumn will be OK then the house will definitely be a refrigerator, I'm dreading that... I actually found a number of people's experiences in poor quality public housing on the internet, it was from Victoria but still worth reading how utterly inadequate the housing is - I couldn't put a link on BB so I just put how to Google it on the Housing and mental health thread - but the mention of people simply dying during heatwaves from inadequate housing, the general state of it etc, is worth reading. Australia should do better than this.

The unit I lived in where I moved from had a toilet which was blocked by tree roots each month, I went two to three days at a time without a toilet before they sent a plumber to unblock it until the next month - this went on for over a year until a decent plumber turned up and said this was not good enough and took Housing to task over it and got the path jackhammered up and the old clay pipe replaced so it wouldn't block again for a long time. It's not fun not having a flushing toilet for days on end!

I do really appreciate your time thanks so much. I'll definitely dig out that waiver form and see what I signed and let you know... thanks again Geoff!

geoff · ‎10-03-2020

Hello Hanna, please let us know about the waiver, it's rather curious and I'll definitely look at the Housing and mental health thread.

I have a chap who lives in a Housing unit, as I've probably said before and the lack of not only the concern but the attention they provide in order to rectify any problems is not suitable for the mental health of the tenant.

Look forward to hearing back from you.

Geoff.

Hanna3 · ‎10-03-2020

Hi Geoff, sorry I've been slow to find the waiver - it's getting very cold here and I'm trying to fix up one bedroom so we can pretty much live in that for the winter - and I haven't been to well the past few days. So I'm a bit behind...

Just the people's stories at the end of the article are worth reading, you don't have to go through the whole report - the personal accounts at the end are definitely worth looking at though and it's clearly not good enough...

Thanks so much for your support, I am sorry I'm behind with things... still haven't found a paint shop either.

Hanna3 · ‎10-03-2020

Hi Geoff,

I finally dug out those Housing forms. they state that "the property may have health or safety risks that are not visible, such as asbestos and/or lead paint. These are not sufficient reasons for me to reject the offer of the property. If I suspect I have been exposed to lead, I should see my doctor. Lead is not considered sufficient reason to move me from the property. If I think there is lead paint that is chipping or peeling, they will send someone out to check and repaint it, but it is still not grounds for requesting a transfer to another property."

On the same form they state that "lead is highly toxic and can affect every system of the body."

So it seems even if I am exposed to it and become unwell, it is still not grounds for seeking a transfer to another place!!! They state they will only remove a child under the age of four years if lead exposure is found.

So there it is... I am stuck apparently!

I would have to go on the heat in summer issue I suppose - probably still not sufficient to get me moved.

Thanks for any thoughts you have Geoff! Cheers.

Guest_1584 · ‎13-03-2020

Hi hanna.

tbh doubt it's lead your probably just a bit off colour with something else, Geoff would know but l think any older place was lead paint before acrylics. l always thought it was only certain treatment specialist type paints had more lead but housing, windows trim doors weather boards just enamel which anyone older than say 50ish their parents and their parents lived in a house covered in it,1'2 the population still living in it. Flaky bits and stuff never hurt anyone l ever heard or knew anyway and we sanded down whole houses with belt sanders got covered in it was the norm actually, windows and bits you'd just scrape n sand a bit and repaint it , any older house has flaky bits . So from your own point of view l wouldn't worry unless maybe your someone susceptible,

So yeah despite all the fuss these days, they'd just repaint it so unfortunately , yeah, they probly won't offer you another place just for that, same with the window stuff, their just normal fixes really. Maybe you could come up with a sick rally gotta move excuse or something.

rx

Hanna3 · ‎13-03-2020

Thanks randomx, my GP yesterday thought it definitely warranted a blood test to check the lead level in my system - she wasn't happy about it at all. I'd rather err on the side of caution and have myself checked just in case!