Friday, September 30, 2011

Getting My Mind Out of the Gutter

If you've been following my whining of late, you might recall that I had my roof replaced a few weeks ago because of damage from our big hail storm back in July.


The company I hired had the old roof ripped off and the new one on in 2 days, which was great. But do you notice anything missing from this picture?


Yup, no gutters. They ripped the old ones off, but didn't quite get around to putting the new ones up.

So.... when they called to ask how the work went, I told them that it was great, but that there were no gutters. "Oh - they'll come by tomorrow to do that part" they assured me.


Yes, well, tomorrow came and went and alas, no gutters.

So when they sent a supervisor out to do clean up and inspect everything. I asked him when the gutters were going up.

"Oh - they should be put up in the next day or two."

Yes, well.... the week went by and still no gutters.


Soon a bill appeared in the mail.


It said "Due upon completion of work" so I promptly put in a folder and ignored it. You never Never NEVER pay a contractor until the work is done.

And yet... no gutters.

So Monday I get a call from the company wondering where their money was.


I politely informed them that I still had no gutters and would not be paying them until the work was completed. The woman apologized profusely and assured me that the gutters would be put up the following day.


Yes, well... you guessed it. Tuesday came and went and STILL no gutters.


By this point I was starting to get a bit frustrated. I mean seriously, this was getting gutterly ridiculous! I figured I was gonna have to call them up and start spouting off.  I mean really, what kind of soffitstry is this anyhow? At least I'd been able to channel my frustrations productively by painting the trim while the gutters were off.


OK... sorry for the puns, but a girl's gotta do SOMETHING to maintain sanity in crazy situation.


Anyhow, the fellow FINALLY showed up this afternoon and I now have beautiful new gutters.


And it's a good thing because this whole thing was really starting to go down the drain!


Seriously though... I realize that I haven't slept real well in weeks because I've been waiting to be awakened at the crack of dawn by workers banging on my door. I know it's sort of stupid, but it's just hard to sleep in when you feel like you might have to leap up and answer the door at any moment... and we all know I am NOT a morning person!


Anyhow, all I can say is that I'm really REALLY looking forward to getting my mind out of this particular gutter!

12 comments :

  1. Lemons/Lemonade..... Seriously, sadly typical of contractors. We (um, I) once had a painter come to do the outside of the house, and paid half up front. yeah, I know! They power washed the house, brought all their stuff to our side yard, then disappeared. I couldn't even get them to pick their cr*p up until I said it was going in the trash, as abandoned, if not picked up! Then, he had the gall to call 2 months later to see if they could finish the job. I said, well you'd need to power wash again as it had been so long..."power wash?..." last I heard from him.
    Expensive lesson. Next painter was a gem, SHE only needed $ to buy the paint up front, and they did an excellent job.
    The first had been recommended on a local parents' network, the second had done a house across the street. Never can tell.
    What gives???
    Oh, also had a cr*ppy roof (leaked for years), courtesy of a brother-in-law. Then there was this sheetrocker ..... *sigh*
    Terrible industry, no watchdog group, whatever.... sheesh!

    You did the right thing, BTW! Sadly, they finished the work when their cash flow required it.
    Here's to a leak free year!

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  2. Yikes! You're makin' me feel like I got off easy! Well, the roof passed city inspection, so hopefully it won't leak!

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  3. Well, clearly I wasn't as smart, savvy as you!
    Actually sounds like the roof will be perfect, and maybe it's the time of year, and your community's storm aftermath which may have overwhelmed them.??

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  4. Every single contractor who comes to my house points out something that the house flippers did weird/wrong. This week, I had to have a plumber open up a wall to replace a valve that had something squirrely with it; the flippers had put it in when they remodeled.
    Methinks the only way to get through home ownership is to hold on to your sense of humor with both hands so it won't run away on you.
    p.s. I loved your cartoons.

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  5. At the least there should be required disclosures as to what has been "renovated". Watching those shows a few years back would make me cringe, the worst part being a buyer couldn't possibly know what hidden "work" has been done! Not fair.
    I don't think the city even inspected our roof, and other work ... well, the walk through was just that. Second time around, we did go with a, much more expensive, well known roofer and got -amongst other things- a warranty. Much better.
    Thank goodness we went with reputable for the electrical!

    Anyway, great story! Congrats on standing firm.

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  6. Hopefully you had no hassles with your insurance company over the roof replacement. That would really add insult to injury. We had similar hail three years ago and (luckily) were treated fairly by our insurance co. Other neighbors weren't. Interestingly, I had a cousin who lost her house and all her belongings in an F4 tornado a few months after our roof situation and she had the same insurance company. She had a similarly good experience. So, I've stuck with them.

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  7. SO glad to see that the work is finally complete! What a mess. I hate dealing with companies like that. Good job standing up for yourself. Enjoy those shiny new gutters!

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  8. you have THE strangest luck with some things (for one i'm reminded of the post in which you were attempting to give away free [books i think it was] and had a helluva time...but it sounds like you're a pro at handling these situations.

    :)

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  9. "a girl's gotta do SOMETHING to maintain sanity in crazy situation."

    I hear ya sister! Hilarious post. You made my evening.

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  10. So glad y'all are enjoying my warped sense of humor!

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  11. Haha. How could they forget to install the gutter? That makes me wonder. Anyway, I’m glad that all your gutter issues were over. It is hard to imagine a house without a gutter. It is a very important part of the roof structure, and it helps prevent rainwater from getting inside the house.

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    Replies
    1. You know, the sad part is that this post was written over a year ago, and I have yet to finish painting the trim! Sigh.

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