Man stuck in newly-renovated bathroom for hours, called out to his wife, but she couldn’t hear because she was watching TV

After renovations, one should expect things to work better than before, not worse, right? Unfortunately for one man, this did not turn out to be the case.

A Mr Huang, 63, ended up trapped in his own bathroom, which had just undergone renovations, for hours.

The lock of the bathroom’s folding door, found at the top of the door, was faulty, he discovered.

Mr Huang told Shin Min Daily News that the HDB recently carried out improvements in the bathroom of his flat, which is located on the fourth floor of Block 270 Bangkit Road at Bukit Panjang, under the Home Improvement Programme (HIP), which is heavily subsidized by the government. 

The improvements began on Aug 26 and ended on Sept 2.

On Saturday (Sept 3), at around 1 o’clock in the morning, Mr Huang took a shower in the newly-renovated bathroom.

But when he tried to exit the bathroom, he discovered that the door was stuck because of a faulty lock and that he could not open it.

He then called out to his wife, who was in their bedroom watching television.

But due to the volume of the TV, she only heard him after he had been calling for help for about an hour.

She was unable to open the door from the outside as well.

After working together for about an hour trying out several ways to get the door open, they managed to take the door out off its rails.

It was only when he used a screwdriver to pry the bathroom open and then pulled the door from its rails with the help of his wife that he was able to get out.

The door has since been replaced for free, due to the fact that the renovations had been carried out under the (HIP), mustsharenews reported.

However, in the aftermath of the incident, Mr Huang’s wife is reluctant to lock the bathroom door, as it could get stuck again.

The door authorities replaced is exactly the same, and Mr Huang was told that if he wants a different one, he will have to pay for it out of his own pocket.

Since Mr Huang’s mother, who is 91, lives with them, he is willing to do so, as he does not want to risk anyone else in his family getting trapped in the bathroom should the incident repeat itself.

Replacing and installing a new door could cost him as much as $400, however. /TISG

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