Saturday, March 22, 2008

Storm/contractor update

Back in January we had a pretty good storm which resulted in the loss of our chimney cap. High winds + rusted bits = "What's this laying on the ground?"
So chimney guy is called, yes he can do it, 4-8 weeks for the cap and oh by the way you REALLY need to have the chimney repointed. (replace morter for you non chimney owners). I kind of knew that, but had been ignoring it til now. So masons were contacted, chimney was repointed for a slight phenominal fee, and we waited. and waited....and waited. A call is made to chimney guy, whose response could be summed up with "HUH?"

After about a week of lies, it hasn't come in, it's here someplace, what's your phone number again? It was NEVER ORDERED!

I went on line, found the same cap, ordered it, a week later it's here, installed in 30 minutes. It would have been faster but I was being careful and deliberate.

Ah. but NOTHING is THAT simple.

I ordered it with a 1" mesh sparker arrestor screen. I got a call a day or two after I ordered it and was advised that 1/2" was mandatory for California, but that it was the same price. No Problem!

Except that the cap which arrived Friday, that I installed today (sat) has NO arresting mesh. However, I looked around the neighborhood, and there are several of the same style caps around and NONE of them have spark arrestors! Check UPDATE at end

That was Fri-Sat. Today (mon) UPS dropped off the screens (with installation instructions) Also when I got up ,after typing in the original post, my back went into big time spasms. I have been mostly bedridden until this morning. I think the spasms have ceased and I'm just left with muscles that have been working overtime. Thanks, to a regular local reader/friend who may or may not have loaned me some muscle relaxants. (I slept REALLY well)

4 comments:

  1. The ABSOLUTE joys of home ownership....

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  2. Gotta love contractors/plumbers.chimney guys. I swear all of this makes an apartment look really attractive. I had my deck painted in November. It was painted gray. Now, there is no paint left. What did he use - crayola?? Jerk.

    I hope your back is better? Let us know.

    H

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  3. Sorry about your back. Be gentle with yourself lest you relapse.

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