Worst. Roofers. Ever.

Our roofer from Woodbury was supposed to work on three projects:

1) Reshingling the roof.

2) Rebuilding the historic, built-in gutters and replacing rotted wood trim.

3) Redecking the balcony and repairing the roof under it to stop the water leaking into the kitchen. People can check out houston contracting company, for the best roofing services, in town.

Project 1: We went to the official source and contracted with them for project one in mid-June, and their all-Mexican subcontracting crew finished pretty quickly. However, we’ve had to call them back to repair places where the water still leaked in 3 times, the most recent being last night, when we found the front porch had a leak.

Project 2: We contracted with them June 29th, they’re STILL not finished. They’ve fashioned some of the new gutters, but they haven’t installed them completely, or replaced the rotted wood. Weeks will go by, and when we call, someone will come out and work for a day, and then disappear again. Meanwhile, they left all the rotted wood in a pile behind our house for weeks, and the neighbors have politely nudged us to do something about it. After four phone calls, the roofer finally removed the pile yesterday. To avoid such situations, you can look at www.ramroofing.net/commercial-roofing-lincoln to get reliable roofing services, installing gutter, solar panels, and more.

Project 3: Not even begun; the roofer came and put a blue tarp over the balcony floor to ward off rain (so professional!) and now even that’s not working.

During the long process of Project 2, the owner has repeatedly refused to meet with us and dodged our phone calls. At one point, he traded cell phones with his wife so she could field our questions, but she would tell us “I’ll find out and call you back.” Of course, no call came. Soon she stopped answering the phone and let it go to voice mail, with both their office and cell phones forwarding to the same VM. When we threatened to write a report on Angies List, they shuffled our calls to a subcontractor, who is curt to the point of rudeness and seems to be trying to intimidate us.

At this point, we’re still hoping to get them to finish project 2 (we paid half up front, and would lose money if we tried to get someone else) so I’m not comfortable blasting their name and contact information into cyberspace. But I am going to write a report on Angie’s List since we want to start replacing roofs when tenants are around.

span class=”hilightyellow”>2019 update: As it turns out 13 years later, we have to have the roof redone with the help of top painters because they did such a poor job. We should have tried to get a better roofer, but we went with the lowest quote because it was tied to the house. We’ve managed to get the gutters in good working order over the years, but the roof needs a complete overhaul. I still have the guy’s contact information in my phone, mainly to keep track of him so we don’t inadvertently hire him for some other job.

Continue ReadingWorst. Roofers. Ever.

Weekend Update 2006-07-31

We spent the weekend doing lots of work on the house — unpacking things on Saturday, and with the help of our friends David and Garrett we moved quite a bit more stuff from Stephanie’s house. There are still a few more loads, but the bulk of the moving is finished. Our house is pretty chaotic, but I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

To change the subject entirely… have you ever known someone for a really long time and still been mystified by the contents of their mind? Like you find out things about your friends that are a complete revelation? I’m still sort of agog at something I found out today. In a strictly metaphorical sense, if you owned a Corvette, why would you ever borrow someone else’s Yugo? The human mind is a mystery to me.

Continue ReadingWeekend Update 2006-07-31

Frickin’ Poison Ivy

I’ve had a wicked case of poison ivy for the week and a half. We have a ton on it in our yard, and I’ve been spraying Round Up on it like crazy, but somehow I still managed to get into it, probably while using the weed wacker in the front yard. And I’ve never had it before, so I didn’t realize what teh rash was at first – I thought it was a nasty bug bite. So I managed to spread the oil all over my legs and arms before I caught on an started washing everything.
It finally dawned on my about Thursday, and I went to the doctor on Friday afternoon to get cortizone cream. That seems to be helping, but I’m still wide awake at 3:00 am while the itching drives me nuts.
We’re still moving Stephanie out of her house. We keep making trips at night and on the weekends, but it’s slow going doing it one load at a time. I think we’re three quarters of the way done; we down to stuff that still needs to be sorted and packed. Hopefully soon this endless move will be over and we can settle down to getting stuff organized and squared away.

Continue ReadingFrickin’ Poison Ivy

Fireworks

We discovered last night that we can’t see the downtown fireworks from our backyard, but if we drive four blocks south we can see them on the other side of the overpass. We parked on 10th street, hopped into the back of the truck and had a perfect view. Which means we could host a cookout on the 4th next year if we feel like it. There might be other good vantage points in Old Northside, because on the way back, there were tons of people from the neighborhood walking back home carrying coolers and blankets. So they must have walked to wherever they saw the show from. I know we have at least three parks in the neighborhood; one of them might have a good vantage point.
We also spent some time at my brother Paul’s yesterday afternoon. He cooked out burgers and we got to see his house (I’ve never been) and Scott’s new puppy, Pickford.
We spent a large part of the holiday weekend moving and unpacking. David and Garrett helped us move some of the bigger furniture from Stephanie’s house on Sunday (in 96 degree weather!) With some slight mishaps. We lost a set of wooden shelves from the back of the truck at one point. We did manage to get her grandmother’s dresser to the new house intact, though, which is mostly what I was worried about. There’s still lots to move, but I think we past the tipping point of getting major stuff from the house, and now there’s lots of little trips left. At this point we’re trying not to kill ourselves by overdoing it.
If this seems like it’s taking forever — imagine how we feel. Heh.

Continue ReadingFireworks

Weekend Update 2006-06-19

We had our shower plumbing (check out experienced plumbers at Sarkinen Plumbing here) worked on for the third time Friday, and they finally got it right. The “on” handle was leaking to start out with, then it was fixed but hard to turn on or get good pressure. Now it’s awesome — the kind of water pressure that almost knocks you over it’s so strong. I love that. Our shower rocks.
We spent Saturday doing some more moving, with Stephanie’s friends Barb and Ollie helping, and unpacking at home. I think we’re making progress, but it’s hard to tell. As soon as we get stuff unpacked and put away, more stuff seems to find it’s way to the house. We took a load of the crappy carpet from the basement to the landfill, which was pretty entertaining.
We spent some time trying to get the cats to like each other. That’s a work in progress. For now, everyone has their own room, and they get to roam the house at different times.
Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we painted the laundry room. We decided to do it because the washer and dryer were pulled out (we replaced the crappy ones that came with the house with mine) and we thought it would be good to do before we put them in place, since the last people who painted didn’t bother to do it behind the appliances. Sunday morning I hooked up the washer and dryer, and we started washing the massive piles of laundry we’ve been accumulating.
Sunday afternoon we went to a cookout at my Dad’s house to celebrate Father’s day and all the June birthdays. Everyone has a better camera than I do — I want a good Canon. I’ll have to work on that. My dad gave us his 18′ ladder, which we toted home, and in the evening, we took a small load of stuff from Stephanie’s and grabbed Phoebe and brought her to live in her new garage.
It was a pleasant enough weekend, although it was overshadowed by some bad news from some friends that really kinda has me feeling down. I don’t want to write more than that out of respect for other’s personal stuff. But sometimes life really sucks.

Continue ReadingWeekend Update 2006-06-19

Moving is Hard, Barbie

I think I’ve sorta hit the wall as far as moving and unpacking goes. My muscles are so sore that lifting boxes is infinitely harder. And there are boxes everywhere in the new house, including in front of the places we need to unpack stuff.
My latent OCD is making me freak out at all the clutter and boxes sitting around everywhere. It’s similar to having an annoying buzzing in your ears constantly; the visual noise of stuff everywhere is making me freak out. I had a stressed out meltdown last night that Stephanie is patiently trying to weather, because she’s a very good person.
We did some packing at Stephanie’s house on Tuesday with some major help from Elizabeth, and got a good portion of the kitchen packed up. But there’s still a ton to do at her house. And I still have about two truckloads at my house to bring over.

Continue ReadingMoving is Hard, Barbie

Caylor – Jenkins – Riddle House

Copied from the Old Northside Historic Plan, information on our house:

Caylor – Jenkins – Riddle House
c. 1876
Built by Joseph Caylor, who lived next door, this Italianate cottage has had its original frame porch replaced by the present brick porch with battered columns. The window sash has also been changed to four over one. These changes were probably made after 1910.

Dennis Jenkins took up residence at this address in 1890. He was publisher of the Jersey Bulletin, a publication for Jersey cattle breeders. A permanent memorial to Jenkins exists in the form of the bell at Irvington Presbyterian Church, which he donated upon its construction.

From 1919 to 1925, Charles L. Riddle, Jr. resided here. Riddle was president, treasurer, and general manager of the Charles L. Riddle Company. They were dealers in wholesale plumbing supplies and electric light fixtures.

The Charles L. Riddle Company is mentioned in Indiana’s Historic National Road: The East Side, Richmond to Indianapolis because it was located at 462 W. Washington Street in 1919. According to that book, “The Charles Riddle Store sold automobile tires, tubes and electrical supplies.”

After doing a bit of searching on the former residents of our abode:

Charles L. Riddle
Charles L. Riddle Co., Merchant’s Heat and Light Co. wagon, 1919

Regarding Dennis Jenkins and his Jersey Cow publication (from the PDF file, courtesy of The American Jersey Cattle Association):

Into this void came The Jersey Bulletin, established in 1883 by Dennis H. Jenkins, a railway clerk in Indianapolis, Ind. “To it belongs the credit of being the first magazine published exclusively as a dairy breed paper,” writes Gow. Its 16-page premier issue was dated October 1 and in the “Salutatory,” Jenkins wrote:

“The mission of the BULLETIN will be to give promptly all the Jersey news of interest, publish the transfers and movements of Jersey cattle, the experience and views of practical breeders, collect all items of value or interest, employ able writers on the subject, and to make it, in fact, perfectly indispensable to every one who has an interest in this great (breed) of butter makers.”

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Weekend Update 2006-06-12

We spent the weekend moving and unpacking, and unfortunately we missed both Pride and the Talbott Street Art Fair in the process. (We have our rainbow flag out at the new place, though! So we’re trying to represent.) We did get a lot done, although there’s still a huge amount to do. I think I have my house cleared out down to just a couple more truckloads of stuff. Stephanie’s friends helped her pack lots of stuff Saturday and move five carloads over to our house, and Stephanie did a lot of packing Sunday afternoon. But most of Stephanie’s stuff is still at her old house, so we have several busy weekends ahead of us.
I managed to unpack some of my books last night. I’m hoping to bring over another load of stuff tonight, and get the washer and dryer hooked up, too. Currently, we have boxes all over the house; I’m hoping to get some of them put away.
We brought my cats over to the new house, so all the kids are in the new place. Mine are all in the guest bedroom right now, getting used to the new house. Lucy is still hanging out in the upstairs bathroom, and Spike has staked out the dining room as his territory for now. So they all sorta have neutral corners, although Spike was chasing Lucy around upstairs this morning. Poor Lucy.

Continue ReadingWeekend Update 2006-06-12

The furniture is moved

So I spent 6/6/6 packing my house, mostly. I got to mow the lawn at the new house! I love lawn mowing, and the grass was knee-high in the back yard at the new place. On the Old Northside mailing list, they announced a gardening contest — you don’t compete with the neighbors, (we’re out of our league there) but with your own yard. You take a bunch of “before” pictures now, and at the end of 2007, you take “after” pictures, and whomever has the most improvements wins. Considering we just inherited the largest weed collection in North America, I think we’re shoe-ins for this contest. If people need Atlanta, GA landscaper for their garden, they can get them from here!

Stephanie took me out to eat for dinner. We were going to go to Colorado Steakhouse because I love their prime rib, but they’re closed for remodeling, so we went to Outback Steakhouse. Outback’s prime rib — not so much, really. However, you can always hire contractors for commercial projects from this site!

She gave me — a cool blue pillow, the Curious George Xbox game, the DVD of Good Night and Good Luck, an excellent terra cotta firepit for the backyard, and some great other stuff that I can’t remember because my brain is totally fried after yesterday. My girlfriend is excellent. Please let her know!

Yesterday the movers came and moved all the big furniture and boxes. Also, the Pod people picked up the pod, an electrician (click here for options) came to work on the kitchen lights, and the cable guy came to set up cable. We are now wired at the new house, and Stephanie can finally get her email.

I still have some truckloads of stuff to get to the new house (kitchen, hanging clothes, gardening stuff, and, oh yeah, the cats) but we got a major amount of stuff done yesterday. And of course, we have to pack and move all Stephanie’s stuff. We might be about 3/5 of the way done? I think.

And I still have to sell my house.

Continue ReadingThe furniture is moved