It started out to be a good day - the sun was shining, the weather was pleasant and the forecast called for rain. What more could you ask for? Then the phone rang. My stepson, Damion, called to tell me that his wife had asked him to leave the house for a trial seperation. I didn't understand why that would be, because they seemed to get along so well, and he told me that he didn't understand either, but such is life.
Later that day, the rain came. It pattered softly on the roof of the house, which decided it would be a good time to leak all over my bedroom. We were able to save the bed and the comuter by moving them out of the room, but the carpet was gone. We called the landlord, and they told us no one could come out until Saturday, so we decided to force the issue - the carpeting was over 20 years old, after all, and needed to be replaced - so we moved the rest of the furniture out of the room and began to rip out the carpeting the next day.
This was a mistake of massive proportions. The carpet, you see, had been abused by previous tennants who let animals urinate in the room, and the smell of the rainwater seemed to activate the smell of the urine. The stench was almost unbearable. In addition to that, whomever laid the carpet originally had done so over a tile floor. So in addition to ripping out carpet, we were puling up tiles because the padding had been glued to the tiles.
After nine hours on our hands and knees, the carpet was gone, the tiles were up, the ceiling fixed and the furniture ready to come back to the bedroom. The work done, we collapsed in the living room, tired and sweaty, trying to figure out what to do next.
It rained again. This time, we were prepared as we had gone to the roof and placed a plastic tarp over the hole in the roof. We called the landlord again. They told us Saturday. I told them if it wasn't done on Saturday then their rent payment would go into an escrow account until the roof was fixed and the carpeting replaced.
On the first day of all this came a the phone call from my new boss, telling me that because he had missed a couple of days of work that we couldn't start training until Friday afternoon. I told him that was great, because I had a mess in the house to deal with and would see him Friday.
The garbage from the bedroom filled 12 30 gallon trash bags, and now there is an argument about who is repsonible for having the trash removed. We contend it is the landlords responsiblility, since we did all the work, and they say that since we did the work it is our responsibility. A true catch-22 situation.
All in all, not a pleasant experience, but it's over. The room is airing out and we will wait for Saturday when the landlord had better show up with a crew to fix the roof and hopefully carpet my bedroom.
Brian
Later that day, the rain came. It pattered softly on the roof of the house, which decided it would be a good time to leak all over my bedroom. We were able to save the bed and the comuter by moving them out of the room, but the carpet was gone. We called the landlord, and they told us no one could come out until Saturday, so we decided to force the issue - the carpeting was over 20 years old, after all, and needed to be replaced - so we moved the rest of the furniture out of the room and began to rip out the carpeting the next day.
This was a mistake of massive proportions. The carpet, you see, had been abused by previous tennants who let animals urinate in the room, and the smell of the rainwater seemed to activate the smell of the urine. The stench was almost unbearable. In addition to that, whomever laid the carpet originally had done so over a tile floor. So in addition to ripping out carpet, we were puling up tiles because the padding had been glued to the tiles.
After nine hours on our hands and knees, the carpet was gone, the tiles were up, the ceiling fixed and the furniture ready to come back to the bedroom. The work done, we collapsed in the living room, tired and sweaty, trying to figure out what to do next.
It rained again. This time, we were prepared as we had gone to the roof and placed a plastic tarp over the hole in the roof. We called the landlord again. They told us Saturday. I told them if it wasn't done on Saturday then their rent payment would go into an escrow account until the roof was fixed and the carpeting replaced.
On the first day of all this came a the phone call from my new boss, telling me that because he had missed a couple of days of work that we couldn't start training until Friday afternoon. I told him that was great, because I had a mess in the house to deal with and would see him Friday.
The garbage from the bedroom filled 12 30 gallon trash bags, and now there is an argument about who is repsonible for having the trash removed. We contend it is the landlords responsiblility, since we did all the work, and they say that since we did the work it is our responsibility. A true catch-22 situation.
All in all, not a pleasant experience, but it's over. The room is airing out and we will wait for Saturday when the landlord had better show up with a crew to fix the roof and hopefully carpet my bedroom.
Brian
