Catching up on the House

Home repairs continue to be an adventure.  We finally got our hot water installed but not without some headaches.  Despite checking with AGS about which water heater we were considering, we had to exchange it for a different model.  It seems he never really looked at the specifications other than the height of the unit.  So when he came out to install it he discovered it was too big to fit through the opening in the ceiling.  Our only options were to special order one (who knows how long the wait would be), or go with a smaller model.  So we changed to a 40 gallon model with a 6 year warranty and he finished the install at about 8 that night.

While he was out at the house the subcontractors came to measure the rooms for how much drywall needed to be replaced etc.  After some hits and misses with the main contractor we arranged to start the repairs on July 5th.  They asked what time they could show up for work, mentioning that the sooner they got started the more work they could accomplish on each day.  We told them David was staying home all day with them and they could come anytime after 7 AM.  

When the contractors started they told us it was a 3 day job, maybe 4 if there were issues.  It might have worked out that way if they had actually worked at it.  To get done in 3 days we figured they would need to get the drywall up and taped/mudded on the 5th.  Instead they hung the drywall in the bathroom and bedroom and then called it a day.  When we asked about the hallway work that needed to be done they told us they were not doing anything in the hallway because it was a "pre-existing condition" and would not be covered.  We spent several hours trying to get our adjustor on the phone only to find out he was on vacation until the 9th and we would not be able to get an answer before then.

On the second day of the rebuild they came out and applied the tape and mud to the walls, then left.  They basically said there was nothing they could do until the mud dried and it would take 8-10 hours for that to happen.  David asked about a problem with the wall of the bedroom that was supposed to get fixed.  They had "forgotten" that and got to work fixing that and remudding the area.

After the weekend the subs came back and asked if we "minded" if they stayed late.  David told them of course not, they could stay as late as they needed to get the work done.  When they entered the house they discovered that 2 separate areas had to be remudded because cracks had appeared.  This could, of course, have been redone on Friday if they had done it all on the Thursday.  After repairs, they sanded the rest of the walls/ceiling and then left at 3PM.  So much for staying late  

Tuesday was the 4th day of actual work, they worked 7:30 am to about 6:00 pm.  When they arrived we informed them that the insurance company said that they did have to fix the issue with the hallway wall that they were trying to get out of.  They called their boss to verify and said "Well we are not finishing today then". They worked the whole time except for when they disappeared for about an hour which is when I assumed they went to lunch.  They spent almost the whole day sanding, and then started painting about 4:00 PM.  

Wednesday.  Day 5 of the rebuild.  We could not stay home again so we let them in around 7:00 am, and they were gone when we got home around 5:15 pm.  In their defense it looks like we lost power for a little bit so they might have left because of that.  As far as work they finished, it looks like they put 1 layer of paint and did half the trim in the master bathroom.  There were also apparently problems with the downstairs bedroom because they have remudded the ceiling (3rd time) and the wall (2nd time).  They "finished" painting the rest of the downstairs bedroom trim, but then dripped paint (including a hand print) on the walls meaning they will have to be repainted.  In addition we found paint stains on the carpet going upstairs.  

Thursday. Day 6 of a 3 day build.  Once again we could not stay home and let them in around 7:00 am, mentioned the paint on the stairs and they claim it is dog poop, said the dog pooped in one of the rooms they are working on and they accidently stepped in it and must have tracked it on the stairs, only problem is the color on the stairs is blue and it feels like paint, they also have plaster or mud from the walls on the hardwoods upstairs.  David and I have started making bets on how little will actually get accomplished.

Frustrating does not being to describe how I feel.