Dad once started the job of renovating the balcony on the first floor, with plans to turn it into a proper brick extension. He never got round to finishing it, thoughnot that he ever finished much, but to be fair, he was always a bit short of energy. Not long after he passed away, my wife and I, along with the kids, moved into his old house, and our family decided to take on the idea of rebuilding the balcony. The old structure was in an awful state, crumbling to bits, so we agreed to tear it down and start over. My wife arranged for a builder to give us a hand, not only with the calculations, but with the actual construction as well. We worked together on weekendsslow going, but in the end, the balcony was done just in time for winter.
Its worth mentioning that my dad had, back in his day, secured the necessary paperwork for the building work. Once the new balcony was finished, I managed to convince my wife to cover it with a cream-coloured cladding, which went quite well with the brickwork of the house. We were all thrilled, as were our neighbours, or so it seemed.
That feeling of contentment was short-lived. Just a week after the work was done, someone scrawled graffiti across the balcony. We felt both upset and annoyed, and to make matters worse, the women next door came round to give us an earful about how the mess had ruined the appearance of the whole house and that we ought to sort it without delay.
Not long after it had been cleaned offa week, perhapsthe same thing happened again. Strange words and symbols appeared on the balcony, and yet again, we were on the end of the neighbours grumbling.
This time, the cladding was badly damaged, so we had to repaint it. My wife decided to move the car from the usual spot on the street and parked it under our window instead, so the dashcam might catch anyone messing about with our property. The footage wasnt brilliant, but it was just good enoughyou could see it wasnt a bunch of teenagers, but four grown men, not only painting but even tearing off the cladding in the evening, when wed nipped out to the shops.
I cant help but suspect that our neighbours are behind it all. Why would local kids go to so much trouble in exactly the same spot twice, and risk getting caught? Jealous neighbours, thoughtheyre another matter entirely. Some folk cant be bothered to do anything with their own homes, so they end up ruining the hard work of others.
My wife reckons itd be best to catch the culprits red-handed and ring the police, but since we removed the cladding and left the brick exposed, things have gone surprisingly quiet. The balcony doesnt look as nice now, but the neighbours have stopped complaining. While my wife gets quotes for new cladding, I cant help but think, Do we really need it?the same way I wonder if we really need poor relations with our neighbours. If that cream cladding wound them up so much, perhaps its better to leave things as they are and dodge any more trouble.
Its made me realise: sometimes, keeping the peace is worth more than having a beautiful balcony.
