“No, you do not do anything at all! We’re going to do it the traditional way”  I say cheerfully because my maintenance problem is solved – anyway in theory, “You’re there to supervise, I’m there to lend a hand, Kors is there to look at it and to comment. and Broes does the job.”

We both laugh.
“Oh yes, almost forgotten”  I add,  “and Net comes by now and again to see if things are going well, and to warn that the coffee is ready. Then we get “five from the boss” and then we go on again.”

We’re video-whatsapping about how to handle things with a-wall-with-problems.

As every homeowner knows, you sometimes have to do some work on your house

A thing here, a repair there, a leaking tap or a grubby wall that needs to be painted. We don’t have one but eight houses, so there’s always something going on. Always improvements to make, so we’re nice & busy in the winter.

Now we suffer from a wall that tears. It is not serious, but you have to do something about it. Anchors are involved, has just been decided.

I am happy to be able to consult a technical advisor. My brother-in-law Dik is a handy man, and that is very nice. I’ve learned a lot here, but I still do not know everything!

With more serious maintenance, the procedure is usually:

define the problem – ask various people what they would do – keep using your common sense and keep an eye on your budget – presenting it to the technical advisor (the one you 100% trust) – take time to think – decide which way to go.

Sometimes the latter is very complicated. Sometimes I come to a stage that I think: we break it all down and we start again!

But then it must be very bad. As with the last leak, years ago already, thank god. That took a few days before we could “define the problem”.

No treatment without diagnosis, so that was quite frustrating. In the end it wasn’t so very bad. Just a small leak in a pipe intersection, which needed a new rubber. It happened exactly in the wrong place: right above a ceiling lamp. There was only a plaster ceiling between them.

And yeah, electricity and water don’t go well together.

This wall needs special treatment

It is mosaiced on both sides. You don’t just hack into it, it has to be done with some more subtlety.

Anyway, the solution is there. And the method.

We’ll do it in the traditional way.

Watch it!