Living with other people
One buzzer, several people, and whoever is on the panel doing the answering. Sharing it fairly, changing it when somebody moves out, and getting a guest in when nobody is home.
Buzzer access for a subletter or a short stay
Four months, then it has to end cleanly. Why putting a subletter’s number in the panel is the version you will regret, and what to do instead.
4 min readThe buzzer only rings my roommate’s phone
Not a fault, and not something your roommate did. The panel holds one number and theirs is in it. What it costs both of you, and the three ways out.
4 min readCan two people be on an apartment buzzer?
Not in the panel, and asking the building will not change that. The reason there is only one field, and the one place a second person can actually be added.
3 min readLetting somebody in when you are not home
A friend arriving early, a cleaner, a technician with a two hour window. What actually works from somewhere else, and what only looks like it will.
4 min readYour partner moved in and the buzzer still rings one of you
Everything else got shared. The buzzer did not, because the panel holds one number and nobody thought to change it. What to do in the first month.
4 min readHow to take someone off the buzzer
Whether it takes seconds or a written request to your building depends on one thing you decided months ago. Both routes, and what to do if it is urgent.
4 min readYour roommate moved out and the buzzer still rings them
Someone who no longer lives here can currently open your building door. Why nothing updated automatically, and how to get it changed this week.
4 min readYour roommate never answers the buzzer
Before it becomes an argument, check the three things that make a buzzer call invisible on a phone. Two of them look exactly like being ignored.
4 min readWhen your roommate works nights and the buzzer wakes them
A shift worker on the panel gets buzzed at 11am about a parcel that is not theirs. Why do not disturb is the wrong tool, and what to do instead.
3 min readSharing the buzzer without handing out your phone number
A housemate, a subletter or a partner’s kid needs to let people in. How to give them buzzer access without your personal number ending up in a building directory.
3 min readFour people, one buzzer: the shared house problem
At four housemates the buzzer fails on a schedule you can predict. What a shared house should put on the panel, and the fair-use cap worth knowing about.
3 min readWho should be on the apartment buzzer?
A household decision people make by accident on move-in day. The four rules worth agreeing on, and why picking a person is the option that ages worst.
4 min read