The former politician, journalist, and lecturer Anta Rugāte lives on the top floor of the five-story house and most vividly feels the consequences of an uninsulated roof in winter. The apartment is surrounded by giant icicles, and though the weather is still freezing, they drip. However, the manager of the house – “Riga House Manager (RNP)” – is not rushing to solve the problem.
“They [the house manager] are not responding, they are not climbing on the roof, the snow is dirty and the roofs are the same as the old ones after the renovation,” Rugāte stated.
She said the icicles stretched two to three meters long and formed an ice wall as they melted together. After that, residents of the lower apartment arrived, who initially thought Rugāte had a leak from her radiator.
Rugāte's downstairs neighbor Renate Rēvica said that she first called the manager on Sunday and informed him that water was pouring into the apartment: "They said there was nothing they could do at all during the weekend, to call 8900 on Monday morning. I rang, I explained the situation, I was told they would look into it within two working days and call me back. To the fact that it was pouring water into the apartment, they replied that there were plenty of submissions and I had to wait."
Meanwhile, Rugāte tried to combat the icicles by herself, putting on protective goggles and banging icicles with a shovel.
Residents can't get on the roof themselves, so icicles form and people's property is damaged. The water had already flowed to the apartments on the third floor.
"The roof cleaners finally came yesterday and started breaking the icicles. Now, as a result of that, I had a full balcony of icicicles and they are melting again,” Rugāte said.
The house got to a new roof in 2018. Some 28 thousand euros have been spent on it from the house's savings. People have paid for new roofing out of their pocket and it has proved useless after five years.
“At the meeting, we were in no way able to reach a single conclusion with the technical staff that when we change the roof and don't insulate, then what's the point?” Rugāte said.
The “manager of Riga houses”, meanwhile, declined comment in person, and sent a written explanation – in 2018 the roof was changed for the house due to the expiry of the service period and the functionality has been restored.
RNP cannot respond to residents' claims about not cleaning the roof either, because, as the manager emphasized, during the last week the roof has been cleaned twice, while at other addresses the snow has not been cleaned at all. However, it turns out these works have not been effective. After filming the 4. studija story, Rugate sent a further video showing the icicles getting longer and dripping again, meaning that the floods will start on other floors as well.
"It is not possible to comment on the technical condition of the roof during the winter. As soon as outdoor weather permits, a survey will be carried out in order to assess the situation," – said “Riga House Manager”.
When asked who would cover the losses due to the flooding currently taking place in the house, which is likely to last all the time while snow piles up on the roof, the manager noted that each case is assessed individually.
