Argentina weather

There are 1,518 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 133,082 times. The latest Post () was by UK Man.

    People don't even know what double glazing is when I talk to them.


    Windows in my apartment are like paper. We also get the brunt of storms that come face on to my balcony window. Everyone else has a roof, but being on the top floor our balcony is open. When it's a bad storm and it comes directly face on, we get flooding through the balcony and kitchen window.


    In the second tower, the portero lives on the 10th floor and he has it the same. We have tried all the home remedies, like inslulating the sides of the windows etc. It helps but not enough. Another thing is the extractor for the our thermotank is also face on to most storms. On windy days coming directly at the building the wind will blow all the gas back into the kitchen when running hot water. Beautiful.


    When we moved in, we were the first in the apartment so everything looked spanky new. However, it was a facade and it's just clear that everything was either done on the cheap or in a rush. More likely both. It is not like this in buildings on lower floors. I suspect the building project was running out of time and money when the building was finished around 6 years ago and they rushed to complete it with what little money they had left.

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    Now that I read about your account, Semigoodlooking, I am believing that also our unit was the last one to be completed as they 'forgot' to add the drain under the kitchen island where the large appliances should be, and put the island countertop too low to accommodate standard appliances. The tiles in our shower are not even, etc.

    Of course, this is not even closer to what you describes in terms of health and comfort.


    Our 'fancy' industrial style windows, which occupy the whole side of the bottom floor because there are no other windows, are with a single glass and there is wind blowing from under it. My desk is next to the window and I could feel the wind on my ankles!

    We tried to fill it with 'topetina' (spongy sealing) and we roll up towels to stop the remaining whiff. The window doesn't close well and it is not clear if it was poorly executed/installed or if it was damaged when the previous owner decided to put tiles on the original concrete floor. I have dreamt to replace all windows of this house because we too are on the top floor.


    Our condo is on two levels, and the level upstairs has a solarium with a glass roof and a glassdoor that opens on our private terrace. At the base of said window there was green mold and the baseboard / skirting board was soaked and thus we had to remove it. When it's humid, the solarium glass is all wet in the morning, and the drops falling from it have ruined the concrete floor.


    When doing the glass roof they didn't think about the wall it was standing on, and instead of having the glass protruding from the wall, it is flush. As a result, when it rains the wall gets infiltrated with water and we have large patches of humidity on the walls.

    The wall point became bubbly, and we removed it to allow it to dry. Unfortunately, it has to stay this way because the issue is in the roof.


    I am too baffled by the low construction quality and lack of knowledge of basic standard of the last 50 years. We ordered new kitchen cabinets before the quarantine. They are custom made by a family business in Zona Norte. Very nice design and highly customizable. I asked for soft-close drawers and I got blank stares. "They are expensive!" the girl told me. And I told her "Okay, but if I am going to re-do the kitchen I want something better than I have right now". This is the only country where I have consistently experienced down-selling.


    I asked for hinges that open to more than 90° and, again: "They don't exist. It is impossible. How would the cabinet door close flush?!"

    So I looked on Mercadolibre and I found them. They had NEVER heard about it. Yes, they are more expensive than regular hinges, but not crazy expensive (at least for me).


    Basically, every time I want something custom made they try to talk me down. Now, I know that spending 50 USD in soft-close hinges seems a lot, but it's furniture I am going to use for another 10 years, so I think that 50 USD for better furnitures for the next 10 years is totally worth it!

    I'm not surprised to hear about the quality of contruction. New housing in the UK can be cheap as chips but at least they have certain quality controls they have adhere to. I suspect quality controls here either don't exist or you just slip someone a few quid for them to turn a blind eye to it.

    Carlos can tell us, but I believe the architect traditionally oversees his buildings, to prevent this very kind of problem. In this case, you’d have to assume that either there was no architect at all, or the builders chose not to pay the architect for this oversight?

    Around BsAs many buildings have the architect’s name on the cornerstone. If these bldgs were designed by architects rather than builders’ draftsmen, they surely must have relied on the site mgr/ general contractor to do the follow-through -

    Quote from Rice

    Carlos can tell us, but I believe the architect traditionally oversees his buildings, to prevent this very kind of problem. In this case, you’d have to assume that either there was no architect at all, or the builders chose not to pay the architect for this oversight?

    Yes, theoretically an architect is competent and its duties include to oversee the buildings. But here constructon is a mere business. Normally they repeat typologies of buildings adviced by the real Estate offices (las inmobiliarias) and they obey without objection. That's why architecturequality levels are now not that good from those of the 1930's, which made remarkable buldings as the Kavanagh.

    Many of the architects that builds today are inside a chain formed by developers, investors, Real Estate companies, and many people which lacks even the least interest in doing good architecture. If you are not inside this group, you will not have important jobs. Only small houses received by commissions of close friends, that's all.

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    Quote from Carlos

    Many of the architects that builds today are inside a chain formed by developers, investors, Real Estate companies, and many people which lacks even the least interest in doing good architecture. If you are not inside this group, you will not have important jobs. Only small houses received by commissions of close friends, that's all.

    My husband's younger half-brother is studying architecture and my husband is always curious to know what assignments he is working on. My father in law (their father) was an architect, although he ended up working at Ford motors designing buses.

    My husband doesn't like the concrete-squared-shaped buildings his sibling designs. However, he may be better off practicing on what the market will actually ask him to do than what is artistically better-looking but more expensive to build.


    It appalls me to see factory-like homes being built in the luscious green suburbs of Zona Norte. Who could think about putting a Walmart-like house between English-styled mansions?! Apparently, it is a status symbol... Maybe it's the new riches with money but no taste, like Carlos once mentioned! My husband thinks alike.