Listening to the birdsong and letting the soft January sun shine on your face: that would have been Renate and Norbert Karl’s plan given the mild weather last weekend. But as soon as the former electrician opened his balcony door at Schulstrasse 4 in Gnigl (Salzburg), the couple moved back into their two-room apartment.
For more than five years, the retiree has been annoyed by his oasis of well-being, which no longer exists: “In 2014 there was water damage, a few floors above us. In 2019, it wasn’t just our balcony that started to rust. The tiles are bent.”
All processes documented
“When we asked the GSWB, we were told that everything would be ready by June 3 of the same year,” says Karl, referring to his blue folder in which he documented all the processes. He can even recite the order number A-21207 by heart.
After all: in June 2020, a year later than announced, two pieces of natural tiles were replaced. Nothing has been done about the rust on the substructure and on the balcony above. The balcony floor has long since become uneven again because the tiles have shifted again.
“We kept complaining”
At the edges you can see the green of the meadow below through ever-widening cracks. The Karls no longer want to enter their former solar gas station. “We kept complaining. “It’s not the only thing that doesn’t fit in the house,” says Norbert Karl. “It was always said something would happen, but nothing happened.”
“At some point the balcony will have to be completely replaced”
When the Karls read about the leaked internal emails of housing association GSWB at the beginning of this week, which showed that the control agency had been misled, the pensioners turned to the “Krone”. “Maybe everything is being systematically postponed, is there a lack of money? In any case, it’s stupid not to fix something so small right away. The damage will only get worse – at some point the balcony, which is less than 25 years old, will have to be completely replaced.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
