I am in nothwest Dallas County and have almost 40 years of experience.It might be because of plastic that a lot of cities made builders do.  

Hang a plastic liner on the shower pole, that costs nothing and looks good/better then nothing,better pictures and talk about the viewCould you use a new vanity in the bathroom and could your mirror be better/  How about your counter top there?

Everything in the house that was plastic had to be replaced.I realize that this thread discusses the damage to structure not contents but think of all the plastic items inside a house.The irony to my friend's story is the fire department was literally across the parking lot (less than a 9 iron away).

As well, if I take a bunch of raw steel, plastic, and copper that fetches $5k as raw material ... and turn into a car that has utility in the economy and fetches $20k ...

taking a drawer with you when you look at colors is a great idea.Also, check out the faux metal backsplash stuff they have a Lowes/Home Depot these days- 20'x20' squares of this plastic stuff, easy to install (glue it on) and really looks nice.

Anyway, the most important component of the system is the patch block which is sometimes a tan or black plastic box mounted to the back of the building from which the wires are distributed to different apartments.

I spent $4,000 recently for a problem with a sewer line that ended up being a chunk of plastic lid off the sewer cleanout.

To make matters worse, the window blinds (cheap plastic blinds that I believe were installed by the builder probably 15 years ago) are also very difficult to close, which makes it more difficult to deal with the windows.We met with the landlord today, and explained that last year we "lived with" the windows, but were fairly miserable struggling with opening and closing them during the hot summer months in Michigan.

Tell them they don't take plastic and listen to them get out of that one.Get a whoopie cushion and put it under a seat cushion in any public place for your friend to sit on.Kids at Halloween: The best was the old burning bag trick.

The windows need to be taken care of no matter what as some have panes that were replaced with plastic or have gaps between the frame and glass.