Thursday, May 06, 2004
Well Explodes !
Ok, now that we have a competent GC (General Contractor) on-line things are starting to move....Sort of.....When I got around to hiring the Well guy (Forage St Denis) he promptly notified me that he was unable to drill in the location as identified on the surveyors drawings... (Keep in mind I spent about $1,000 big ones getting the city and Surveyor to agree to everything....) It seems that his enormous drill rig would sink in our property and he would have to cut down half our trees as well as relocate our neighbor's shed to facilitate drilling. No Problem I said , I'll just give the new city inspector a call to see if we can move the well about 12ft, and get permission from our neighbour to drill from his property.etc.............Recent feedback from locals had identified this new inspector as a BNBTB Inspector "Bad News By The Book" inspector who was uncaring as to cost or reason. I prepared for the worst..... I was met by a pleasant (and attractive, did I say very attractive ?) lady who was open to my input and was extremely cooperative . She simply asked for a brief identification as to the new proposed location and she would investigate the specifics to see if all was possible.... A call later that day let me know to ensure 100ft separated the well and septic system, and to call her before we started to drill.... Sounds good eh ?..
I preped up the drawings identifying the specifics and after sending in an email, I received a call from the inspector....
Hi Mr Flack, she begins, I just wanted to tell you that I just completed a course on well drilling (On Monday) and that I(Mr Flack) will be the first to benefit from her recently gained knowledge, and that I will have a "Perfectly" positioned well by the time we are finished......(Did you ever try to put on a smile, and say "That's Great" while at the same time you were gritting your teeth and jumping up and down saying "Oh No, No No Why me ?" ) .... I was hopeful that we had already finished.... My well guy was/is to begin drilling this week !
I sent her my latest drawings, and........No response.........(More to follow)
Hired ! Hired ! Hired !
After extensive reviews of contractors for Heating (6) , Plumbing (7) , Electrical (4) I decided yesterday to award the contracts......
The electrician was on site the same day hooking up additional power for the carpenters (Who had gone deaf listening to their generator on site for the past month) , Plumber was preparing to do the rough in for the basement plumbing (He was really impressed by the HUGE amout of Foundation Fill I had ), and the HVAC guy... Well he is around somewhere.......
I have enclosed links to the "Spreadsheet" estimates forms should anyone care....
Electrical
Gyproc & Joints
Plumbing
Septic
Note: I have left out the drawings that were also enclosed.
All Roof trusses delayed. 2 ft too short !!!
Well we found out why our trusses were delayed by almost 4 days. Apparently the client before me had placed an order for trusses but neglected to inform the firm that they had enlarged the house by 2 feet. So, all trusses were 2 ft too short. They promptly remanufactured them for the client but delayed our order in the process..... Delivered yesterday !
Urgent Meeting Called by Contractor. Translator to be present !
Ok, my old contractor called me into town to have a meeting to discuss a few items at his house. He said he was also calling in a translator to ensure all items are clearly understood........"Jaws Music". As we sat down to review his agenda, he blurts out WE need $3,000 or we are not going to support you if you have any problems in the future ! Sensing some tension in the air, I sat quietly and listened, as he explained that his recent refund of funds to placate my complaints about the foundation being too expensive, were how should I put this.. Excessive... They wanted $3,000 back to cover future incidental costs, and besides that, they were not making any profit on the house at all. Everything was being provided at contractors costs....
So being the little Hitler that I can be, I continued to complain about excessive costs, and asked for some additional breaks from the foundation guy... (Well, they almost exploded. Talk about red faced...Pissed off...Incoherent) When the arms started flailing in the air I knew I was pushing them a little to hard, and I simply denoted I had no problem providing them with an additional 3K as long as they were able to get me a good price on landscaping and a new septic system....I think I had to repeat the statement about 3 times as smoke was still billowing from both of their ears and they couldn't hear properly. (Could also be caused by the rental generator) Once the smoke had settled, we continued to review new bills and projected expenses... Miraculously, all other expenses are now right on budget, with little or no projected over-expenditures.
Temporary Permanent
Talk about ups and downs... Mothers are always worry warts and so, being the dutiful son that I am, I feel it important to issue an item to Mom to worry about...(It makes her feel better). Now keep in mind each time I do this it causes her a lost nights sleep, and countless memory cells (Which are already in decline)....The latest in a series of items on her list was that our expenses were too tight and so I was going to have to delete a few items from the house (Namely a cement floor in the basement and garage). She lost the nights sleep wondering how the car would stop from sinking in the garage without a floor and she simply just couldn't picture herself walking on a gravel floor in the basement to get to her "Freezer". To make a long story short she went to the hairdresser, to relieve some stress and get a permanent to further beautify herself. After over an hours delay, I went to visit her at the hairdressers, to see her almost in tears as the hairdresser was incredibly apologetic. (I know what you are thinking her hair was burnt to a crisp eh ?) Well, not really, apparently, if ones metabolism is out of whack, due to stress or an over/under active Thyroid the application of a permanent may or may not take.
Needless to say, Mom has her cement floor back in the garage and basement.....(Instead I have now deleted the fireplace, brick and siding from the house. I told her not to worry about these until winter time when it gets cold and wet...She didn't sleep again last night... Poor woman)
Good Excrement disturber
Well I never thought I would be caught dead talking about how much shit could a toilet move if a toilet could move shit. Yup believe it or not one of my acquaintances now works for the government testing laboratories (Standards Specialist, Standards Department ,Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada) and he heard I was looking for a good toilet. (I guess I am paranoid about broken toilets now that I have had a flood that cost us $80,000 in damages). So this guy sends me a link to Maximum Performance Testing of Popular Toilet Models
I actually read the god damned article and have even included Figure #3 (Page 8) as one of my minimum performance specifications for a toilet. Must be able to move at least 500 grams in a flush.... !
Ok, now that we have a competent GC (General Contractor) on-line things are starting to move....Sort of.....When I got around to hiring the Well guy (Forage St Denis) he promptly notified me that he was unable to drill in the location as identified on the surveyors drawings... (Keep in mind I spent about $1,000 big ones getting the city and Surveyor to agree to everything....) It seems that his enormous drill rig would sink in our property and he would have to cut down half our trees as well as relocate our neighbor's shed to facilitate drilling. No Problem I said , I'll just give the new city inspector a call to see if we can move the well about 12ft, and get permission from our neighbour to drill from his property.etc.............Recent feedback from locals had identified this new inspector as a BNBTB Inspector "Bad News By The Book" inspector who was uncaring as to cost or reason. I prepared for the worst..... I was met by a pleasant (and attractive, did I say very attractive ?) lady who was open to my input and was extremely cooperative . She simply asked for a brief identification as to the new proposed location and she would investigate the specifics to see if all was possible.... A call later that day let me know to ensure 100ft separated the well and septic system, and to call her before we started to drill.... Sounds good eh ?..
I preped up the drawings identifying the specifics and after sending in an email, I received a call from the inspector....
Hi Mr Flack, she begins, I just wanted to tell you that I just completed a course on well drilling (On Monday) and that I(Mr Flack) will be the first to benefit from her recently gained knowledge, and that I will have a "Perfectly" positioned well by the time we are finished......(Did you ever try to put on a smile, and say "That's Great" while at the same time you were gritting your teeth and jumping up and down saying "Oh No, No No Why me ?" ) .... I was hopeful that we had already finished.... My well guy was/is to begin drilling this week !
I sent her my latest drawings, and........No response.........(More to follow)
Hired ! Hired ! Hired !
After extensive reviews of contractors for Heating (6) , Plumbing (7) , Electrical (4) I decided yesterday to award the contracts......
The electrician was on site the same day hooking up additional power for the carpenters (Who had gone deaf listening to their generator on site for the past month) , Plumber was preparing to do the rough in for the basement plumbing (He was really impressed by the HUGE amout of Foundation Fill I had ), and the HVAC guy... Well he is around somewhere.......
I have enclosed links to the "Spreadsheet" estimates forms should anyone care....
Electrical
Gyproc & Joints
Plumbing
Septic
Note: I have left out the drawings that were also enclosed.
All Roof trusses delayed. 2 ft too short !!!
Well we found out why our trusses were delayed by almost 4 days. Apparently the client before me had placed an order for trusses but neglected to inform the firm that they had enlarged the house by 2 feet. So, all trusses were 2 ft too short. They promptly remanufactured them for the client but delayed our order in the process..... Delivered yesterday !
Urgent Meeting Called by Contractor. Translator to be present !
Ok, my old contractor called me into town to have a meeting to discuss a few items at his house. He said he was also calling in a translator to ensure all items are clearly understood........"Jaws Music". As we sat down to review his agenda, he blurts out WE need $3,000 or we are not going to support you if you have any problems in the future ! Sensing some tension in the air, I sat quietly and listened, as he explained that his recent refund of funds to placate my complaints about the foundation being too expensive, were how should I put this.. Excessive... They wanted $3,000 back to cover future incidental costs, and besides that, they were not making any profit on the house at all. Everything was being provided at contractors costs....
So being the little Hitler that I can be, I continued to complain about excessive costs, and asked for some additional breaks from the foundation guy... (Well, they almost exploded. Talk about red faced...Pissed off...Incoherent) When the arms started flailing in the air I knew I was pushing them a little to hard, and I simply denoted I had no problem providing them with an additional 3K as long as they were able to get me a good price on landscaping and a new septic system....I think I had to repeat the statement about 3 times as smoke was still billowing from both of their ears and they couldn't hear properly. (Could also be caused by the rental generator) Once the smoke had settled, we continued to review new bills and projected expenses... Miraculously, all other expenses are now right on budget, with little or no projected over-expenditures.
Temporary Permanent
Talk about ups and downs... Mothers are always worry warts and so, being the dutiful son that I am, I feel it important to issue an item to Mom to worry about...(It makes her feel better). Now keep in mind each time I do this it causes her a lost nights sleep, and countless memory cells (Which are already in decline)....The latest in a series of items on her list was that our expenses were too tight and so I was going to have to delete a few items from the house (Namely a cement floor in the basement and garage). She lost the nights sleep wondering how the car would stop from sinking in the garage without a floor and she simply just couldn't picture herself walking on a gravel floor in the basement to get to her "Freezer". To make a long story short she went to the hairdresser, to relieve some stress and get a permanent to further beautify herself. After over an hours delay, I went to visit her at the hairdressers, to see her almost in tears as the hairdresser was incredibly apologetic. (I know what you are thinking her hair was burnt to a crisp eh ?) Well, not really, apparently, if ones metabolism is out of whack, due to stress or an over/under active Thyroid the application of a permanent may or may not take.
Needless to say, Mom has her cement floor back in the garage and basement.....(Instead I have now deleted the fireplace, brick and siding from the house. I told her not to worry about these until winter time when it gets cold and wet...She didn't sleep again last night... Poor woman)
Good Excrement disturber
Well I never thought I would be caught dead talking about how much shit could a toilet move if a toilet could move shit. Yup believe it or not one of my acquaintances now works for the government testing laboratories (Standards Specialist, Standards Department ,Underwriters' Laboratories of Canada) and he heard I was looking for a good toilet. (I guess I am paranoid about broken toilets now that I have had a flood that cost us $80,000 in damages). So this guy sends me a link to Maximum Performance Testing of Popular Toilet Models
I actually read the god damned article and have even included Figure #3 (Page 8) as one of my minimum performance specifications for a toilet. Must be able to move at least 500 grams in a flush.... !
Comments:
Post a Comment
