When the Sh**trock hits the fan
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| Chapter 4 When the Sh**trock hits the fan |
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| Table of Contents | |||||||||||
| Day 110 - Monday, September 8, 2003.- I speak to Gary, the managing agent for the Co-op. He tells me the measurements in the plan that I gave him for the AC condenser placement are wrong (Nice to have a contractor who can't take measurements, either that or he can't draw). The Board meets tomorrow. I tell Gary just to tell me where and how I can put the condensers. I speak to John and beg him to get the plumbers in before the plumbing inspector. He says, they are coming either this Wednesday or Thursday (we'll see). I meet Robert after work to look at a couch. I don't go up to the apartment, but I hear that, Sheetrocking continues... | |||||||||||
| Days 108 & 109 - It's the weekend. It's beautiful. No, really. | |||||||||||
| Day 107 - Fri. - I go up to the apartment in the late afternoon. I mention that it was Friday, late afternoon, because I meet with John(!) (yes, on a Friday!), Robert and Sherwood. The guys have got a lot of sheetrock up on the walls. We go over things like soffits and cove moulding (this is a new one), radiators (again) and plumbing. In the Master Bathroom, the pipes for the sink are not centered on the wall, and they have to be moved. We've only noticed this since the walls were framed. I ask John to try to get the plumber (and please, let it be Eric) in before the plumbing inspector comes. I think they have time before September 17th. Otherwise, the plumbing inspector will come, the guys will be able to sheetrock the walls, but will have to wait on the last one until the plumber comes. Aaaaaaaaaaah. Sheetrocking continues... | |||||||||||
| Day 106 - Thurs. - I go to the apartment in the morning. All of the ceilings are sheetrocked, except the Master Bathroom. Chris, Leonardo, Gennaro (somebody new!) and Ruben are there and start sheetrocking the walls, starting in the Den/Media Room. I ask Ruben if he had used "resilient channels" when they put up the sheetrock (this is something I heard about that's used to hang sheetrock for dropped ceilings to further cut down on sound transmission-- Do I seem maniacal about his, yet? I feel like Joseph Pulitzer). Anyway, I had asked John to used them, but never said anything to Ruben or Sherwood. Long story short(er), they call them "Chicago Channels" and yes, they used them. Whew. Jefferson dropped off the key to the 2A mailbox and a disconnect notice from Con Ed. (Again, notice how I just blurt this out). Apparently, at least some of the electricity that was being used was from 2A and no one was paying for it. Anyway, I called, I'm paying for it, let there be light. Sheetrocking contiues... | |||||||||||
| Day 105 - The police came today. Notice how I just blurt these things out now? It seems that the AC guys came (I don't know why) and were ringing the downstairs buzzer, but either it doesn't work or no one heard it, so they climbed up the fire escape and in through the window. Why they didn't call Jefferson, I don't know. Anyway, someone saw them, called 911 and the police rushed right over-- 15 minutes later. For those of you who don't know, I live almost directly across the street from the police station and I always thought that the inability to park on most of my block (POLICE VEHICLES ONLY) would be more than made up for by the speedy response to a 911 call. Apparently not. Anyway, Officer Krupke came and left after a plausible explanation from Ruben. I'm not sure that's a good thing. No offense Ruben. Shouldn't they have checked with Jefferson? Sheetrocking continues... | |||||||||||
| Day 104 - Tuesday, September 2, 2003 - John stops by where I work, to drop off some moulding samples. (September 1 was a payday) (ahem). He tells me the plumbing inspector is scheduled! Oh, happy day! For September 17th! Gaagh. This was the first date they could get (now that the computers are back up). Maybe the plumbing inspector could have come sooner, had they called when I first thought they should, over five weeks ago. Well, at least he's scheduled. So, after the plumbing inspector comes on the 17th, Sherwood's guys can close up the bathrooms and kitchen and then, the week of September 22nd, John will be able to hang the kitchen cabinets (which have to be out of the warehouse by September 18th) and tile both bathrooms, too. Ha, ha, ha! I find out that the leak in the Master Bathroom was caused by (ready?) a window air conditioner on the fifth floor dripping onto a window air conditioner on the third floor and into the building. Jefferson (my Super, have I mention him? He's a very nice guy), has taken the air conditioners out of the windows and promises that he will install them himself (and correctly) next year. What about the year after that, and the year after that, etc.? Sheetrocking continues... | |||||||||||
| Days 101-103 - Labor Day Weekend. It rained on Monday. | |||||||||||
| Day 100 - Sherwood's crew begins to sheetrock the ceiling! By the end of the day, most of it is done. While they're up there, they notice that there is STILL a leak in the Master Bathroom. I call the managing agent and suggest they start looking at plumbing above the third floor. We will not close up the bathroom ceiling until we're sure the leak is fixed. Will we ever close it up? | |||||||||||
| Day 99 - Thursday, August 28, 2003 - I meet Robert at the apartment. Eric the (good) plumber is there moving the pipe that runs directly in front of the Master Bathroom window. Eric tells me he has fixed the (bad) plumbing work in the shower. I take a look, and even to the naked eye, I can see that it is still uneven. I finally get this idea across to him, using a measuring tape and level and he agrees to re-fix it. I see my bamboo floors all piled up in boxes in the back bedroom. Chris, Leonardo, et al. are hauling cement board and sheetrock up to the apartment. It's too tall for the elevators and too hard to get through the front windows. They carry each board up the stairs. Robert and I go look at furniture. In the evening, I go to Sears and buy my washer and dryer (Thanks, Mom & Dad!) for delivery September 25th. If John is right about timing, this should work out perfectly. If not,... | |||||||||||
| Day 98 - Wed. - Chris and Leonardo continue working. They were supposed to bring sheetrock today, but it doesn't come. Nor does the plumber. I am meeting Robert tomorrow to go over things in the apartment and to start looking for furniture. I am skeptical that I will ever have the need for furniture. I'm told the kitchen cabinets have to be out of the warehouse by September 18th. John thinks this will work out fine. I wonder if there will be enough room in the apartment to have all this stuff on the floor, waiting to be installed. | |||||||||||
| Day 97 - My bamboo floors are finally delivered! I haven't mentioned it since the first day they tried to deliver (Day 75) and no one was home, but Robert has scheduled deliveries five times and they never show up. When he calls they tell him he had nothing scheduled. Robert was beginning to doubt his sanity. Chris and Leonardo come and fix the studs that the A/C people cut and bent installing the ductwork. They're not very happy about this. I'm told that the plumbing inspector is coming next week. No date certain, because the "computers are down." I wonder how long the computers have been down (I've been asking about the plumbing inspector for three weeks), and whether John is just telling me what he thinks I want to hear. | |||||||||||
| Day 96 - Monday, August 25, 2003 - Apparently, my apartment has been a beehive of activity, yet again. John, Warren the electrician, the A/C guys, Chris, Leonardo, Ruben the foreman (remember him from Day 16?) and two other men. Chris, Leonardo, etc. put down subflooring in my kitchen, except for a small strip from the island (non-existent, right now) to the (non-existent) sink, so the Plumbing Inspector can see the pipes. I ask myself (as maybe you do too), "why now?" If they're doing it today, why didn't they do it eight weeks ago when the put down the rest of the subflooring? I get no real answer to this. I find out that a pipe in the guest bathroom has to be redone because the way Vinny (let's just say, the plumber I won't allow back in my apartment) ran the piping would cause one shutoff valve to stick out three inches further from the wall than the other shutoff valve. I'm told Eric (the one who did the plumbing for the bath) is coming on Wednesday to fix Vinny's handiwork. | |||||||||||
| Days 94 & 95 - It's the weekend. Unbelievably, it was a beautiful, sunny weekend. There was a feeling of the end of summer in the air that I tried to ignore. I made gazpacho and paella, took a siesta in the sun and had a little weekend vacation in Spain, in my parents' backyard in Queens. BTW, John faxed me the plan for the condensers. I had to e-mail him asking for additional dimensions that he didn't put in (e.g., how big are the condensers?). | |||||||||||
| Day 93 - Have I mentioned that Fridays are holidays? Maybe they are all orthodox jews and they're afraid with traffic they won't make it home in time for Shabbos. Needless to say, no work gets done today. | |||||||||||
| Day 92- Thursday, August 21, 2003 - I meet Robert in the afternoon. John has dropped off a piece of wood in the cabinet color I've chosen (Toffee, remember-- there will be a quiz at the end). We look at it in the kitchen with a piece of granite for the counter that I've chosen and we finally decide on which colors for the cork floor (border in cleopatra coffee, trim in barriga armagnac and the inner field in edipo natural -- got that? Remember the quiz!). The HVAC guys are there and they've run the condensate lines down the side of the building. Unfortunately, I still don't have permission to put the condensers there. And guess what? John still hasn't given me the plan for the proposed site! What a surprise. As I mentioned, until I give that to the Board we can't put the condensers anywhere. I look at the plumbing work that's been done. Both bathrooms are finished (supposedly). The plumbing for the bath looks like it was done by a Tiffany artisan, the plumbing for the shower looks like it was done by a blind monkey. The dimensions are off and the work looks shoddy. I tell Robert I want the plumbing redone in the shower. He agrees. | |||||||||||