When the plumber came out initially and gave us an estimate on the repairs that needed done, he asked, if we wanted to schedule it in a couple of weeks. All we could think of was what might happen in those two weeks while we waited, so we asked him to make it happen as soon as possible. He did. He came the very next day. At the time, I had no idea where he came up with suggesting a 2 week waiting period.
Now I know.
He was thinking of me and the recovery I would need from my surgery. I have no idea why I didn't think of that. I'm sure it had to do with the untold troubles we've had with the sewer in the past and how I didn't want to add any more stories to the list. I'm thinking I maybe should have waited. Either that, or maybe Hubster should have taken a week of instead of the 2 days that he did. It's been a bit much for me, and it caught up with me this weekend.
Scooter tested positive for strep when Hubster took her to the doctor on Wednesday. Thursday, Hopper woke up with a fever and a sore throat. Her doctor put her on antibiotics for strep, assuming she has what Scooter has. And although I was not tested, I am certain that I have it as well. I first called my doctor's office Wednesday, after I got the news about Scooter. Unfortunately, I didn't get a call back after I'd spoken to the nurse, because my doctor was in surgery all day and didn't get the message. So Thursday morning, I called in again. I finally got an answer that the doctor was having the nurse call something in.
Except that the nurse called in something I'm highly allergic to. Sigh. I called and explained that I can't handle that antibiotic, and I mentioned that they should have a list of my allergies in the system. I'd actually printed out a list and brought it in with me when I was in for my pre-op the week before. I don't know how it happened, but she said that it wasn't listed, and that she'd call something else in.
So I waited. And waited. And waited. And nothing.
I called the pharmacy to see, if anything had been called in. Yes. It had. Bugster ran up to the pharmacy to pick it up for me, and I almost cried when I opened the bag. The pharmacy, (which has known about this allergy for years now!), didn't have the allergy listed, and filled the antibiotic that was initially called in. I immediately called and explained the situation. Had anything else been called in for me, besides the one I'm allergic to?
No.
Crap.
So I called the doctor that was on call for my doctor's office. I felt horrible calling him, but I also knew that I needed to be on antibiotics. I could tell that the pain I was having had to do with more than just having surgery. He called on in to a 24 hour pharmacy, and Hubster picked it up for me on his way home from work. Then first thing Friday morning, after I'd taken 2 doses of the antibiotic that had been called in by the on-call doc, I got a call from the pharmacy.
Sure enough, there *had* been a script called in for me the day before. It had somehow been saved on the fax machine and hadn't been filled. It isn't the antibiotic the on-call doctor prescribed, though, it was a different one. Great. I wasn't sure what to do. So I just asked them to hold onto it and not fill it. If I need it, I'll at least have access to it later on.
Did I mention that I'm sure that I have strep? After taking the antibiotic for about 36 hours, the pain in my throat was *much* better. It still hurt. I did have my tonsils removed, after all, and I still had strep on top of things, but, it really was better. Still, by the time Saturday rolled around, I was exhausted.
I realized that I'd been on my pre-surgery schedule here at home, even though I really should have been getting extra rest and sleep. I probably would have gotten the extra rest I needed, if the plumbers weren't here, but we needed the stuff to get done. No doubt about it. I also know I can't go on without getting a little extra TLC, so I've spent the majority of the weekend resting. I need to get my strength up for tomorrow and Tuesday when the plumbers return to finish things up.
I just have to remind myself that I only have to make it through 2 more days...
After that, I'll be able to nap while Scooter's at school. I can do this...
Showing posts with label plumbers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plumbers. Show all posts
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Wa to the hooz to the ie!
Today's been a busy day. I've spent more time on the phone today than I have in the last couple of weeks combined, and my throat was able to handle it for the most part. I feel almost human. This is best I've ever felt after any surgery I've had, and I couldn't be happier or more relieved about it. I was able to be productive in spite of my circumstances, and I'll take it!
Hubster took yesterday and today off, so he could help me out and watch the kids, since I'm restricted in what I do for a few days. He ended up taking both girls into their doctors. Turns out Scooter has strep throat. So now we're waiting for a call from my doctor to let me know, if I need to start on antibiotics, too. Considering I had an infection in my throat when he did the surgery, I'm thinking the chances are fairly good it was strep, since Scooter tested positive. We'll see what happens.
They're going to start digging up the yard tomorrow, as far as we know. The yard work is actually a little less than what we anticipated, which is good. If all goes as planned, they'll put in the clean outs and replace the sewer pipe all the way to the road. Once they're done, we should never have a problem with the sewer getting clogged again.
On top of that, they'll also be putting in a back flow regulator thingy in the floor in the basement. There will be a flap inside the sewer drain that will keep the sewer from coming into our house, if the city has an issue and it starts backing up again. When we went to my nephew's wedding almost 2 years ago, the city sewer backed up into roughly a dozen homes at the end of the block. We were very concerned we'd be coming home to a mess again. Thankfully, we didn't come home to a mess that time, but it has felt like we've held our collective breath waiting for it to happen ever since we bought the house. It will be so nice to have it done and over with!
We will be getting a little more work done, since they'll be out here working on the yard. They'll be moving one heat vent from the floor in the bathroom to the wall. It's mere inches away from the tub, and if anyone slops any water over the edge of the tub, it goes down into the vent and drips down in the laundry room downstairs. With it being in the wall, we will no longer have to deal with the mess!
They'll also be putting in an exhaust fan in the bathroom downstairs. It has a window in it, but you can't really open the window to help with the humidity in the winter time. It's too cold. So we have a dehumidifier running in there all the time, or the walls are dripping with condensation. It's a mess. Plus the dehumidifiers work so well during the winter that poor Hubster feels like he's a shock absorber. He can't touch anything in the house without shocking himself with static electricity. It's sort of funny, but I can totally understand why he's getting sick of it!
And because we're getting so much work done with the same company, they're going to clean our air vents/ducts out for free!! We've been having to change the allergy filters, (the ones you're supposed to be able to leave in for as long as 3 months!!), on the furnace every 2 to 3 weeks, and they're absolutely gross by the time we change them out! It's no wonder our asthma flares up so badly when we have the furnace on! Almost as nice/important as kicking the asthma on its rear is that we won't be dealing with 'magic dust' anymore. You know...it's the dust that accumulates on furniture just as quickly as it is wiped away.
The payments on the loan aren't going to be the funnest thing in the world, but it will be worth every penny we have to pay to get this stuff done!
Wahoozie! Things are looking up!
Hubster took yesterday and today off, so he could help me out and watch the kids, since I'm restricted in what I do for a few days. He ended up taking both girls into their doctors. Turns out Scooter has strep throat. So now we're waiting for a call from my doctor to let me know, if I need to start on antibiotics, too. Considering I had an infection in my throat when he did the surgery, I'm thinking the chances are fairly good it was strep, since Scooter tested positive. We'll see what happens.
They're going to start digging up the yard tomorrow, as far as we know. The yard work is actually a little less than what we anticipated, which is good. If all goes as planned, they'll put in the clean outs and replace the sewer pipe all the way to the road. Once they're done, we should never have a problem with the sewer getting clogged again.
On top of that, they'll also be putting in a back flow regulator thingy in the floor in the basement. There will be a flap inside the sewer drain that will keep the sewer from coming into our house, if the city has an issue and it starts backing up again. When we went to my nephew's wedding almost 2 years ago, the city sewer backed up into roughly a dozen homes at the end of the block. We were very concerned we'd be coming home to a mess again. Thankfully, we didn't come home to a mess that time, but it has felt like we've held our collective breath waiting for it to happen ever since we bought the house. It will be so nice to have it done and over with!
We will be getting a little more work done, since they'll be out here working on the yard. They'll be moving one heat vent from the floor in the bathroom to the wall. It's mere inches away from the tub, and if anyone slops any water over the edge of the tub, it goes down into the vent and drips down in the laundry room downstairs. With it being in the wall, we will no longer have to deal with the mess!
They'll also be putting in an exhaust fan in the bathroom downstairs. It has a window in it, but you can't really open the window to help with the humidity in the winter time. It's too cold. So we have a dehumidifier running in there all the time, or the walls are dripping with condensation. It's a mess. Plus the dehumidifiers work so well during the winter that poor Hubster feels like he's a shock absorber. He can't touch anything in the house without shocking himself with static electricity. It's sort of funny, but I can totally understand why he's getting sick of it!
And because we're getting so much work done with the same company, they're going to clean our air vents/ducts out for free!! We've been having to change the allergy filters, (the ones you're supposed to be able to leave in for as long as 3 months!!), on the furnace every 2 to 3 weeks, and they're absolutely gross by the time we change them out! It's no wonder our asthma flares up so badly when we have the furnace on! Almost as nice/important as kicking the asthma on its rear is that we won't be dealing with 'magic dust' anymore. You know...it's the dust that accumulates on furniture just as quickly as it is wiped away.
The payments on the loan aren't going to be the funnest thing in the world, but it will be worth every penny we have to pay to get this stuff done!
Wahoozie! Things are looking up!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Blessings big and small. At least we didn't wake up dead.
Lots has been going on here in The Closet, but I haven't taken the time to post about it. I've been busy. I will be back daily soon. In the meantime...
Remember that our water heater went out last summer?
Well, here's the rest of the story...
When the plumber came in to install the water heater the next day he told us that he "shouldn't actually install it, because it wouldn't be up to code" but that he would, and we'd have water by the time he was done. He also told us that he could not solicit extra work at the time, because he was installing the water heater for the Big Box Store, and that he was on their dime at the time, so to give him a call in the next few days.
Well, I was having some complications from the surgery I had at the time, so we weren't able to keep the appointment we did make. So The Hubster tried repeatedly over the next several weeks to get a hold of them. He called and left messages, asked for them to return his calls, etc., but nobody returned his calls. Not once. He even let them know that the plumber had left his wrench at our house, but it still wasn't enough to get a call.
In September, we got a call from the regional code enforcement officer about the fact that we had an open permit on the water heater. He asked, if the vent work had been done yet, and we told him that it hadn't. That we couldn't seem to get a response from the company that installed it. We didn't hear from code enforcement again, either.
The last several months, this has all been hanging over our heads. So when I had my latest surgery, The Hubster really started thinking about it and how to get a response from the installers. We just knew that there was a permit pulled on our house, and that we would be responsible for getting it all up to code, but we weren't sure what it all would entail. And we had no idea where to start, since the installers didn't seem to know how to work a telephone.
With my recovery from surgery being in the forefront followed by holidays, it took awhile for him to get in touch with anyone. He called the Big Box Store right before Christmas and asked what to do, since we couldn't get any sort of response. Amazingly, the installers suddenly knew what the numbers on their phone was for and made an appointment to come and look at the water heater.
So the Monday after Christmas, the kid who installed it came out to say that he would call the regional code inspector to take a look at it, and that "Who knows? Maybe they'll be lenient and pass it, so it won't cost you any extra money."
Uh. Huh. :::insert eye roll here:::
The Big Box Store called to let us know that they called the inspector, and that they made an appointment for Friday. But Friday was New Year's Eve, so they called us back to let us know that the inspector would be out on Thursday instead. We just knew it wasn't going to be good news.
We were right.
The inspector was on the verge of panic. He said it was a very dangerous situation. He showed us how there was hot air coming back through the vent above the water heater when the furnace and water heater happened to be on at the same time. In fact, the heat had melted the red and blue plastic washers that showed which was the hot water pipe and which was the cold water intake pipe. He said that every single time that happened that carbon monoxide was coming into our basement.
That it could kill us all.
He told us to open the laundry room window and leave it open to let fresh air in until the vent could be replaced and to get someone out there as soon as possible to get the vent work done. He did feel much better knowing we did have a working carbon monoxide detector in the basement, but he was definitely concerned for our safety. We both really appreciate that.
We called as soon as he left the house, but the plumbers we wanted to fix the situation (we went with a company we've had work on other things in our house over the years...we were not going to go with the original ones who could have killed us!) weren't able to make an appointment for us until this week. They came out Tuesday and gave us some more bad news. It would cost almost $1200 to fix everything and bring it up to code.
Great.
The Hubster and I ran out to try to get a home equity line of credit, so we could pay for the venting, but we decided against it. It would cost several hundred dollars just to find out, if we'd qualify for the loan, and we didn't have several hundred dollars. So we opened a new credit card to cover the expenses.
:::sigh:::
We went with plumbers we've used in the past. They did a fantastic job, and they were worth the money we had to pay. It was an awful lot of money, but at least we knew our family would be safe, and there's no amount of money in the world that was worth risking their health. The inspector came back yesterday and let us know everything was up to code. The inspector even seem relieved to know it was done, and we'd be safe.
After the inspector left yesterday, I called the Big Box Store and gave them an update on all that happened. He asked, if everything had been solved to our satisfaction. I told him that it had indeed, but that none of it was to the credit of the original company that had been sub-subcontracted by the Big Box Store. That we had to hire someone else, etc. He asked me to please call BBS's Customer Care Line and lodge a formal complaint there. I was more than willing.
Once I'd told the representative at the Care Line what had happened, he thanked me for the information. He then asked how they could make it right. I had absolutely no idea. More than anything, I just didn't want this to happen to another family, and for someone to end up hospitalized or to wake up dead from carbon monoxide due to the incompetence of the installers. He said he would be forwarding my complaint to the store manager, the district manager and the regional manager and again thanked me for my call.
First thing this morning, the phone rang. It was the installer (the sub-subcontractor). We let the machine get it. The machine no sooner finished recording the message when the phone rang again.
It was the Big Box Store's subcontractor asking us to give them a call to talk about the complaint. We decided to wait until later to call either back, and let the machine get that call, too.
Thirty minutes later, the owner of the plumbing shop showed up at our door. He was very rude to my mom and just as ugly with my husband. Mom said he tried brushing her aside to come in the house right when my husband showed up behind her. It was definitely to try to intimidate them.
He was gone by the time I got upstairs, but I was so irritated. I decided to make the phone call to the subcontractor right then and there. I didn't want my family to be harassed any further. I mean, really. What sort of business that has a complaint lodged against them shows up at the person's home, if the phone call is ignored? That just blows me away.
Anyway, I called the subcontractor. She asked for me to tell her everything that happened since August. She only knew that there had been a complaint lodged, but she hadn't been given the details. I was more than happy to let her know what happened, but I started out by telling her that we did not want the plumber showing up at our door again. Period. She assured me he would not come by again.
I told her everything that had happened. How we were very concerned over the fact that we could have all died due to the negligence of the plumber. That we were appalled that the plumber installed the water heater knowing it wouldn't pass inspection, and that they needed to only deal with plumbing companies that have the guts to refuse to install anything that won't pass inspection.
After taking all the information in the complaint down, she asked, if she could call me back within the hour. I said I'd be home. She needed to talk to the managers of the company, (It's a national company that subcontracts plumbing installations for the Big Box Store), but that the managers were in a meeting.
The phone rang 10 minutes later.
She asked how much the vent work had cost us. I told her it was almost $1200. She asked, if I had a receipt. I said yes. She asked, if I had access to a fax machine, or if I could scan the and email it to her immediately. They wanted to make things right, and the national subcontractor company was going to pay for the cost of the vent repairs. They are apparently also going to be sending us a $50 gift certificate to use at the Big Box Store.
Before we hung up, she asked me, if there was anything else they could do to make things right with us. I told her that the only thing I could think of was to make sure that the plumbers who installed the water heater would never hurt or kill any family by repeating the situation.
I pray there's no other family out there who had these plumbers and have carbon monoxide filling up their home due to their negligence, and I praise God that He protected us through this whole ordeal. Praising Him also that He took care of the burden of a $1200 bill that we didn't have the money to pay.
We are indeed blessed.
Remember that our water heater went out last summer?
Well, here's the rest of the story...
When the plumber came in to install the water heater the next day he told us that he "shouldn't actually install it, because it wouldn't be up to code" but that he would, and we'd have water by the time he was done. He also told us that he could not solicit extra work at the time, because he was installing the water heater for the Big Box Store, and that he was on their dime at the time, so to give him a call in the next few days.
Well, I was having some complications from the surgery I had at the time, so we weren't able to keep the appointment we did make. So The Hubster tried repeatedly over the next several weeks to get a hold of them. He called and left messages, asked for them to return his calls, etc., but nobody returned his calls. Not once. He even let them know that the plumber had left his wrench at our house, but it still wasn't enough to get a call.
In September, we got a call from the regional code enforcement officer about the fact that we had an open permit on the water heater. He asked, if the vent work had been done yet, and we told him that it hadn't. That we couldn't seem to get a response from the company that installed it. We didn't hear from code enforcement again, either.
The last several months, this has all been hanging over our heads. So when I had my latest surgery, The Hubster really started thinking about it and how to get a response from the installers. We just knew that there was a permit pulled on our house, and that we would be responsible for getting it all up to code, but we weren't sure what it all would entail. And we had no idea where to start, since the installers didn't seem to know how to work a telephone.
With my recovery from surgery being in the forefront followed by holidays, it took awhile for him to get in touch with anyone. He called the Big Box Store right before Christmas and asked what to do, since we couldn't get any sort of response. Amazingly, the installers suddenly knew what the numbers on their phone was for and made an appointment to come and look at the water heater.
So the Monday after Christmas, the kid who installed it came out to say that he would call the regional code inspector to take a look at it, and that "Who knows? Maybe they'll be lenient and pass it, so it won't cost you any extra money."
Uh. Huh. :::insert eye roll here:::
The Big Box Store called to let us know that they called the inspector, and that they made an appointment for Friday. But Friday was New Year's Eve, so they called us back to let us know that the inspector would be out on Thursday instead. We just knew it wasn't going to be good news.
We were right.
The inspector was on the verge of panic. He said it was a very dangerous situation. He showed us how there was hot air coming back through the vent above the water heater when the furnace and water heater happened to be on at the same time. In fact, the heat had melted the red and blue plastic washers that showed which was the hot water pipe and which was the cold water intake pipe. He said that every single time that happened that carbon monoxide was coming into our basement.
That it could kill us all.
He told us to open the laundry room window and leave it open to let fresh air in until the vent could be replaced and to get someone out there as soon as possible to get the vent work done. He did feel much better knowing we did have a working carbon monoxide detector in the basement, but he was definitely concerned for our safety. We both really appreciate that.
We called as soon as he left the house, but the plumbers we wanted to fix the situation (we went with a company we've had work on other things in our house over the years...we were not going to go with the original ones who could have killed us!) weren't able to make an appointment for us until this week. They came out Tuesday and gave us some more bad news. It would cost almost $1200 to fix everything and bring it up to code.
Great.
The Hubster and I ran out to try to get a home equity line of credit, so we could pay for the venting, but we decided against it. It would cost several hundred dollars just to find out, if we'd qualify for the loan, and we didn't have several hundred dollars. So we opened a new credit card to cover the expenses.
:::sigh:::
We went with plumbers we've used in the past. They did a fantastic job, and they were worth the money we had to pay. It was an awful lot of money, but at least we knew our family would be safe, and there's no amount of money in the world that was worth risking their health. The inspector came back yesterday and let us know everything was up to code. The inspector even seem relieved to know it was done, and we'd be safe.
After the inspector left yesterday, I called the Big Box Store and gave them an update on all that happened. He asked, if everything had been solved to our satisfaction. I told him that it had indeed, but that none of it was to the credit of the original company that had been sub-subcontracted by the Big Box Store. That we had to hire someone else, etc. He asked me to please call BBS's Customer Care Line and lodge a formal complaint there. I was more than willing.
Once I'd told the representative at the Care Line what had happened, he thanked me for the information. He then asked how they could make it right. I had absolutely no idea. More than anything, I just didn't want this to happen to another family, and for someone to end up hospitalized or to wake up dead from carbon monoxide due to the incompetence of the installers. He said he would be forwarding my complaint to the store manager, the district manager and the regional manager and again thanked me for my call.
First thing this morning, the phone rang. It was the installer (the sub-subcontractor). We let the machine get it. The machine no sooner finished recording the message when the phone rang again.
It was the Big Box Store's subcontractor asking us to give them a call to talk about the complaint. We decided to wait until later to call either back, and let the machine get that call, too.
Thirty minutes later, the owner of the plumbing shop showed up at our door. He was very rude to my mom and just as ugly with my husband. Mom said he tried brushing her aside to come in the house right when my husband showed up behind her. It was definitely to try to intimidate them.
He was gone by the time I got upstairs, but I was so irritated. I decided to make the phone call to the subcontractor right then and there. I didn't want my family to be harassed any further. I mean, really. What sort of business that has a complaint lodged against them shows up at the person's home, if the phone call is ignored? That just blows me away.
Anyway, I called the subcontractor. She asked for me to tell her everything that happened since August. She only knew that there had been a complaint lodged, but she hadn't been given the details. I was more than happy to let her know what happened, but I started out by telling her that we did not want the plumber showing up at our door again. Period. She assured me he would not come by again.
I told her everything that had happened. How we were very concerned over the fact that we could have all died due to the negligence of the plumber. That we were appalled that the plumber installed the water heater knowing it wouldn't pass inspection, and that they needed to only deal with plumbing companies that have the guts to refuse to install anything that won't pass inspection.
After taking all the information in the complaint down, she asked, if she could call me back within the hour. I said I'd be home. She needed to talk to the managers of the company, (It's a national company that subcontracts plumbing installations for the Big Box Store), but that the managers were in a meeting.
The phone rang 10 minutes later.
She asked how much the vent work had cost us. I told her it was almost $1200. She asked, if I had a receipt. I said yes. She asked, if I had access to a fax machine, or if I could scan the and email it to her immediately. They wanted to make things right, and the national subcontractor company was going to pay for the cost of the vent repairs. They are apparently also going to be sending us a $50 gift certificate to use at the Big Box Store.
Before we hung up, she asked me, if there was anything else they could do to make things right with us. I told her that the only thing I could think of was to make sure that the plumbers who installed the water heater would never hurt or kill any family by repeating the situation.
I pray there's no other family out there who had these plumbers and have carbon monoxide filling up their home due to their negligence, and I praise God that He protected us through this whole ordeal. Praising Him also that He took care of the burden of a $1200 bill that we didn't have the money to pay.
We are indeed blessed.
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