More of Israeli home nuances

amother

↑ Bubblegum

Yesterday at 11:54 pm

water_bear88 wrote:

That last one is a good point, true. I'm happy with the cinderblock walls between my apartment and my neighbor's, but if I ever have cause to renovate I think I'd prefer built-in closets between bedrooms.

AFAIK cinderblock walls are 10cm thick and so are sheetrock walls, so in terms of space saving, sheetrock isn't saving any space. So you can have built in closets with cinderblock or sheetrock, doesn't really affect anything other than price (and mice).

I think one reason why the standard is not to have American type closets is because they are much less space efficient. Even American olim designing their own apartments here (not necessarily the super luxurious ones, referring to the nice sized on Israeli standards apartments and cottages) don't put in those kinds of closets because there just isn't enough space.

heidi

Yesterday at 11:57 pm

amother OP wrote:

Why the impossible to maneuver trissim?

And why do doors need keys to lock them from inside? What a challenge when we lose one key and one of us can't leave because we can't lock...

The top floor less cabinet with dish drainer kills a storage cabinet for me as I use disposables.

Many apartments I stayed in needs Sun for hot water. On a cloudy day if you forget to manually turn on the hot water boiler you have to wait to have hot water.

OP, I have been living here for many years and honestly, have a list of things that I like better in America. But your post oozes hate and revulsion.
And that's really sad.
If you can't see past the MINOR INCONVENIENCES to the major benefits and zchut of living in Eretz Hakodesh you probably shouldn't be here.
Please try to focus on the many many many beautiful aspects of living in our land. You will be a happier person.

↑ water_bear88

Today at 1:20 am

amother Bubblegum wrote:

Looks like you're right. I do wish I had a coat closet, though, as opposed to a wardrobe.

amother

Indigo ↓

Today at 2:03 am

I'm an American and when I designed my apt in Israel, I specifically put in the over sink dish racks. It's a brilliant way to keep your counters empty! The new ones come with a tray underneath so the water drips on the tray. Mine are stainless steel so they don't get moldy either. I have 2 shelves over each one so I still have cabinet space.

I love trissim. I have such a hard time sleeping in America with so much light coming into my room at 5:30am! Trissim closed tight are awesome for getting a good sleep!

Dud Shemesh saves a ton of money and you get used to turning on the dud in the winter. We have a new one which only takes about 10-15 minutes to heat up so it's really not bad.

Closets- I do miss American built-in closets but that's because they come with American sized bedrooms! In small Israeli bedrooms, free-standing closets with built in drawers and shelves are the best use of space. I love the shoe drawers on bottom - brilliant!

amother

↑ Indigo ↓

Today at 2:08 am

Doors with keys to lock them - first of all the keys are standard and can be bought in every hardware store. We have tons of replacement keys. My front door and my bathroom doors do not need a key to lock them - there is apiece on the inside that turns. We were given the option of that type of lock on our bedroom doors but didn't want a kid to get locked inside. With keys - even if the key is inside, you can knock it out with another key from the outside and then unlock the door, so it's safer.

Shoddy construction - that's because of bad construction workers. The Arab workers are known for making "mistakes" on purpose. I wish there were more trustworthy workers.

The thing I really don't like are the tiny ovens and stovetops. They do sell bigger ones but they are so expensive. It's not an Israeli thing - it's European. I bought an American sized oven and it's a huge time saver when cooking for shabbos and yom tov.

amother

Seagreen

Today at 2:15 am

logical wrote:

It's not standard like the other things OP mentioned. I wish my new build rental had a special cupboard for potatoes!

I have that but I don’t use it for vegetables because I need the closet space. Also the dish drying rack just keeps stuff, I dry my dishes after washing. What I need is more cabinet and pantry space, not weird shelfless cabinets or space for veggies where pantry items are supposed to be.

↑ Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Today at 3:08 am

amother Indigo wrote:

The stovetop is too small for you? You wanted more gas burners? Do you have four pots cooking at the same time call the time? I don't get it, please explain.
Oven size: got to agree with you.

↑ Bnei Berak 10 ↓

Today at 3:11 am

amother Seagreen wrote:

Convert dishdrying cabinet it to regular one.
If you have space on your mirpeset sherut hang up shelves/cabinets.

↑ Ruchel ↓

Today at 3:24 am

Something I've noticed is often a lack of insulation for noise. My husband asked me if I took a shower (because he thought I was resting). It was the neighbors. This was a luxury Airbnb. And the noise on shabbes there...... Inside I mean due to insulation. I don't understand.

↑ JasmineDragon ↓

Today at 4:26 am

amother Indigo wrote:

I think OP was talking about the front door. I certainly was in my earlier post.

carrot ↓

Today at 4:29 am

amother Moccasin wrote:

Kitchen cabinets are hung too high.

Many half bathrooms aren't hooked up to the hot water .

General sloppy workmanship. Almost everyone I know has at least one socket that you have to push against while unplugging something or the socket will get loose/come out of the wall.

On the other hand, the toilets are great. Very strong flush.

wait, WHAT???? I was just reading through this thread and planning to get through to the end before I commented (I was going to say that these seem to be more problems of living in an older rental than problems across the board with Israeli housing) but this stopped me in my tracks.

you have toilets with a strong flush????? tell me more, please! I have lived in three different rentals here in Israel and in none of them did the toilets do the basic toilet job of flushing away fecal matter the way I expect them too. so then you have the constant use of the toilet brush... (it's like the cat and the hat comes back, only with grossness instead of pink paint.) now BH we are very grateful to have bought a place and we are renovating it, and all I want is toilets that flush. what brand/type? where can I get one? please tell me more.

amother

↑ Indigo ↓

Today at 4:29 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

The stovetop is too small for you? You wanted more gas burners? Do you have four pots cooking at the same time call the time? I don't get it, please explain.
Oven size: got to agree with you.

The gas burners on Israeli stovetops are smaller and my big pots used to take forever to boil. My American oven has a really big burner for my big pots.

amother

↑ Indigo ↓

Today at 4:30 am

JasmineDragon wrote:

I think OP was talking about the front door. I certainly was in my earlier post.

My front door also doesn't need a key from the inside. In my older apts, I did need a key but things have improved.

amother

↑ Indigo ↓

Today at 4:31 am

carrot wrote:

Try Geberit or Grohe toilets.

amother

↑ Indigo ↓

Today at 4:32 am

Ruchel wrote:

I think that's also old apts. The same ones that get moldy are also noisy.
BH my new apt (4 years old) has amazing insulation which blocks noise and mold.

↑ JasmineDragon

Today at 4:35 am

amother Indigo wrote:

My front door also doesn't need a key from the inside. In my older apts, I did need a key but things have improved.

There are still plenty of older apartments around. I'm glad they're not still making these doors, but that doesn't mean they're not still a thing you might be dealing with here. I also don't get why they were ever standard.

↑ Ruchel

Today at 4:37 am

amother Indigo wrote:

I think that's also old apts. The same ones that get moldy are also noisy.
BH my new apt (4 years old) has amazing insulation which blocks noise and mold.

Brand new, gorgeous, a/c everywhere, beautiful, huge, (too big), mamad, super high end building, buuuuut insultant against noise... terrible Sad

↑ carrot ↓

Today at 4:40 am

amother Indigo wrote:

Try Geberit or Grohe toilets.

Thank you. I'm glad to hear that! The brand we are looking at is Geberit so this is promising. Are you the one who posted about the super strong flush? Do they actually have that?

Then within the Geberit there are different lines, some say "water saving" and some say "turbo flush" so we are definitely going with turbo flush... But then there's one that says "most clean" or something and I would LOVE to know what that means.

amother

↑ Indigo

Today at 4:43 am

I'm not sure - maybe someone else can answer. I was told to choose those brands but in the end, my apt came with a specific brand and they didn't let us change. My friend has Grohe and is very happy with them.

↑ carrot

Today at 5:00 am

Got it, thank you.

Actually, I can't help it. I have to get graphic. Do you know from your friend whether the Grohe actually flushes the poop completely? Even when a kid poops?

(Or anyone with a Geberit who cares to chime in?)