American Foursquare Remodel 5 - Dining Room Ceiling, Part 2

A day or two later, Joe the Handyman (that was how Gem Plumbing & Heating referred to him) filled my house with his voice and presence. He reminded me of my father, or maybe my grandfather (although I can't recall my grandfather speaking English). This older man with a shock of thick white hair had a thick and familiar Azorean accent. I was comfortable with his choppy English and I understood exactly everything he said. He spoke with great authority, what he would do and how it should be done. He even offered tips about other projects I planned. We chit-chatted about the house in Portuguese. It all worked to make me feel confident in his expertise.

But it was now around November 16. Time was becoming a factor: I had to leave my apartment by November 30, the closing was scheduled for Monday, November 23, and the movers were coming on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving. The kitchen floor was a tar paper mess and there were giant construction trash bags and displaced appliances increasing the chaos, waiting for the end of the messy plaster job in the adjoining dining room to finish that job. There was little wiggle room wherein the house would still be empty.

Originally, Joe said he would demolish the old ceilings and apply the strapping in one day, and the plasterer would come in the day after and work his magic; plastering might stretch to 2 days.

OK, three days. Not bad, I guess. I now awaited the cost estimate.

Guy, the salesman project manager from Gem Plumbing & Heating, said Joe could come in on Friday, November 20, and the plasterer would come on Monday and Tuesday. I made it clear that if there were any other delays, work could not be continued until Friday after Thanksgiving at the earliest. Fine with Guy. Then he delivered the news: $4,200 for everything, from the stack pipe work (already finished) to the brand new ceiling.

After I picked up my jaw off the floor, I signed the contract on the night of November 18, and authorized a $2,000 deposit from my bank account.

During online banking on the evening of November 19, I discovered that Gem Plumbing & Heating had withdrawn the entire $4,200 from my checking account. Instantly! Can you say "overdrawn"? I was furious and called Gem Plumbing & Heating immediately, even though I knew it was well after business hours, just to log the mistake.

The next morning, Joe and his assistant arrived at the house bright and early to demolish what looked to me like a perfectly good ceiling - with a huge hole in it. Oh, and Joe let me know that the plasterer would arrive the Monday after Thanksgiving... one week later than expected and after I had moved in. Did Guy know this? We had specifically discussed the timetable. Did he lie to me, knowing he was quitting the company anyway? This was not going well.

I called Gem about the money snafu and the woman said it would be faster for them to write me a check than issue a credit. She would even deliver the check to me at work for the inconvenience, to stem a snowballing bank fee fiasco.

No one ever met me at work that day as promised. This was really not going well with this company.

After work, I went to the house to see what Joe had done. The refund check was sitting on the counter, too late to deposit.

Wait - what the hell was that mess under the bathtub? OMG, the joist had been all but severed by some previous plumber!

 

  

And look at the huge amount of flooring that had been cut out. Was this bathtub even safe? (And why wasn't my ceiling fan removed before the strapping was applied?)

 

Old knob and tube wiring... ran under the bathtub. Copper piping curved elaborately under and around. A two-by-four allegedly reinforced the severed floor joist. Actually, the severed joist edges were almost one inch off level! WHO DID THIS?

Back to the present: the issue of the strapping itself. Not one shim. Not one. The strapping looked wavy even to my naked eye. A test with a large level up on a ladder confirmed the strapping was off in several places.  How was sheet rock supposed to be installed on these roller coaster tracks? 

And there was more. Perfect woodwork around the windows was gouged. Horsehair plaster walls were crumbled at the top, with the missing plaster now causing holes which needed repair under the ceiling line.

Call Gem to get their asses in for another inspection before the plasterer even considered arriving.

Guy told me he was quitting Gem Plumbing & Heating the night I signed the contract. He assured me the new salesman project manager would take good care of me. Jim. Nice guy.

He bore my wrath rather well.