When we first arrived to our new home, we noticed a leak in one of our upstairs closets. The paint was peeling in the back of the closet at first and then, after the first big rain storm, we could tell the water was now leaking down into the corner of our dining room. At some point, we told maintenance about the issue but we really didn't feel much urgency about it since we didn't use that closest regularly for anything but storage and everything we stored there was in waterproof bins (side note: can I just tell you how happy I am the movers in OH let me keep everything that was already in a bin packed in the same bin to transport here? These kinds of big rubbermaid containers are unavailable here, or at least I haven't found them yet, and, just like in the states, I use them for EVERYTHING! So glad I was able to bring so many!). I think we somehow communicated our lack of urgency too effectively because although we reported the leak, we saw no one for weeks, months, until, one day, a painter arrived to "fix" it. This was before we left for summer vacation.
I explained to the supervisor (the painter spoke no English) that painting was really the least of our problems and the paint was likely to get ruined again during the next rain because there was a leak, you see, so cosmetic fixes really were beside the point. He nodded energetically, fired off something in some Indian dialect to the painter, and then told me again they were going to paint to fix the problem. Sigh. Okay, fine, do what you want. It turned out the paint they chose was this incredibly toxic stuff so I opened all the windows and doors to the hot outside air and then declared we were going out for the day to give the place a chance to dry without killing our brain cells in the process. When we got back that night, the paint was dry...and it was a different color than the rest of the room, which would have been fine, if they had just painted the whole wall affected, but instead they left a nice little line about two feet from the corner of the wall where the new paint color ended and the old began. Sigh again. But really, I wasn't worried because chances are it was going to rain again and ruin this paint, too, and they would have to do it all over again, as I had tried to explain to them.
Fast forward until this month, November: I get an agitated call from the maintenance supervisor telling me urgently "Madame, you have a leak on your roof and we must fix it at once!" Oh, really? At once, you say? Well certainly, if you must, you must! He then explains that the process will be a long one, taking 7-10 days. The first step involves drilling on the roof for 2-3 days, then something else happens, he wasn't clear about that, then the weatherproofing occurs for another 2-3 days, then something else he also didn't explain too clearly, and then perhaps they were done, but they couldn't be sure until it rains, at which point they might have to start all over again. Did I give them permission to do all this? Of course, why not? Let's get it fixed!
And so it began. Every day this week, from 7am until 2pm, someone has been drilling or scraping or clanking or, and this really is the worst part, banging about on my roof constantly. I cannot imagine how the leak could be serious enough to warrant all this time, work, and most annoyingly of all, infernal NOISE, but now they seem to feel that it's a huge problem that must be solved. There is a huge skylight on the second level of my house and through it I can watch the workers, at least 8 of them at any given time, all day long if I want. I can also hear all their muffled conversations, in between the bangs. It's a veritable construction symphony! Today, I saw them unloading rolls and rolls of weatherproofing material, feet and feet of it, but the area in question really can't be that large...unless they never weatherproofed in the first place....which is entirely possible! I did tell them that I didn't want any work to be done in the late afternoon, after the kids get here, because they are even less tolerant of repetitive noises than I am, truth be told, but glory, glory be, I had NO IDEA of the production that was about to unfold! Triple sigh....
Unfortunately, this is how construction projects usually roll around here: slowly, very very slowly, not on any timeline you might expect, and with very little rhyme or reason. Super dooper fun!
I explained to the supervisor (the painter spoke no English) that painting was really the least of our problems and the paint was likely to get ruined again during the next rain because there was a leak, you see, so cosmetic fixes really were beside the point. He nodded energetically, fired off something in some Indian dialect to the painter, and then told me again they were going to paint to fix the problem. Sigh. Okay, fine, do what you want. It turned out the paint they chose was this incredibly toxic stuff so I opened all the windows and doors to the hot outside air and then declared we were going out for the day to give the place a chance to dry without killing our brain cells in the process. When we got back that night, the paint was dry...and it was a different color than the rest of the room, which would have been fine, if they had just painted the whole wall affected, but instead they left a nice little line about two feet from the corner of the wall where the new paint color ended and the old began. Sigh again. But really, I wasn't worried because chances are it was going to rain again and ruin this paint, too, and they would have to do it all over again, as I had tried to explain to them.
Fast forward until this month, November: I get an agitated call from the maintenance supervisor telling me urgently "Madame, you have a leak on your roof and we must fix it at once!" Oh, really? At once, you say? Well certainly, if you must, you must! He then explains that the process will be a long one, taking 7-10 days. The first step involves drilling on the roof for 2-3 days, then something else happens, he wasn't clear about that, then the weatherproofing occurs for another 2-3 days, then something else he also didn't explain too clearly, and then perhaps they were done, but they couldn't be sure until it rains, at which point they might have to start all over again. Did I give them permission to do all this? Of course, why not? Let's get it fixed!
And so it began. Every day this week, from 7am until 2pm, someone has been drilling or scraping or clanking or, and this really is the worst part, banging about on my roof constantly. I cannot imagine how the leak could be serious enough to warrant all this time, work, and most annoyingly of all, infernal NOISE, but now they seem to feel that it's a huge problem that must be solved. There is a huge skylight on the second level of my house and through it I can watch the workers, at least 8 of them at any given time, all day long if I want. I can also hear all their muffled conversations, in between the bangs. It's a veritable construction symphony! Today, I saw them unloading rolls and rolls of weatherproofing material, feet and feet of it, but the area in question really can't be that large...unless they never weatherproofed in the first place....which is entirely possible! I did tell them that I didn't want any work to be done in the late afternoon, after the kids get here, because they are even less tolerant of repetitive noises than I am, truth be told, but glory, glory be, I had NO IDEA of the production that was about to unfold! Triple sigh....
Unfortunately, this is how construction projects usually roll around here: slowly, very very slowly, not on any timeline you might expect, and with very little rhyme or reason. Super dooper fun!
Come on down for some peace!
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