Up In The Air, Part 11

Let's see, where were we? Oh, yes, beginning to have doubts about the ability and integrity of our contractor. It's been a little over two weeks since the last round, and since then, he billed us as if he had completed the work except for porch screening that should wait until wood can dry and we can paint. We have not finished paying, as we believe and can show that he has left some things unfinished and has sadly underperformed on some others.

The plumber (oops! a separate bid, contract and payment) has completed his work. We have all new piping in the basement, new sewage pipes, a new toilet in our back room, a new water heater, two faucets outside (up from one), a basement washroom roughed in so one can be added later, and laundry hookups. We could, if needed, run the washing machine. This all seems to work well and we are satisfied with the plumber.

The same can't be said for the dryer, as neither the heating guy nor the electrician (golly! two more separate bids and contracts!) have come yet. The dryer needs to be vented out the basement wall, probably through the sill, and the 220 receptacle needs to be reset. That may come next week or the week after. The heating guy (yes, it's a guy; we got a bid from our contractor's choice, but then got and accepted a bid from the guy who's taken care of us for about twenty years and who installed our current, and continuing, furnace and air conditioner) will begin his tasks next week; this includes almost all new ductwork as well as resetting the appliances.

We have not heard from the electrician about a quote or a start date, but this is a guy recommended by both our plumber and our heat guy; the contractor apparently hadn't considered the need for electrical work. We need exterior outlets, redone porch lighting front and back, new outlets and lighting in the basement, plus a couple repairs in the house that we might as well get done as long as the guy is here.

What is galling is that the contractor gave us a bid, didn't mention these needs or that additional cost might come up, and then sets us up for well over 30% in added expense.

It is also time to begin re-establishing our yard. We have to re-lay our brick sidewalk, redistribute some of the dirt the contracor brought, pitiful in both quality and quantity, and spread a great deal of additional dirt (even more added expense). Then we get to move back some of our garden plants, and begin growing lawn in about 2/3 of our yard. Most of the hedge and all of our trees survived, or so it seems, but we had a large hydrangea, drying out but still alive, that had been dug up and was waiting to be replanted, possibly split. This got hauled away with construction rubble. Worse, we still have some construction crap that was not hauled away, and that will go on our checkoff list if and when we get to walk the project with the contractor.


We're half hoping at this point that he settles for the short payment and disappears.


Now for today's good news. When we stopped at Trader Joe's in Woodbury, MN, on the way home from New York, I bought a six-pack of Vienna lager from Trader Joe's Brewing Co., San Jose, CA. As it happens, Gordon Biersch, the brewpub operators who make one of my all-time favorite beers, Gordon Biersch Marzen, have their growing bottling operation in San Jose, CA, and I had some hope that Trader Joe's beers were coming out of that plant. I finally cracked a chilled one tonight, and a visual from the cap and the bottle rang a bell. The letters T and J in the logo surround a shock of barley drawn a certain way. Damn, that looked familiar...and sure enough, the G and B surround the same shock of barley. Oh, yeah. Gordon Biersch. I had an email from Gordon Biersch today (mostly restaurant coupons; the closest so far is in suburban Chicago), so confirmation was too easy. Better yet, the Trader Joe's Vienna Lager, an amber beer, offers a malty, slightly caramel taste and enough hops to balance it out. $5.99 the six pack; $1 beer isn't cheap for home, but it's cheaper than most of the super-premiums. I did run into a special on Colorado Kool-Aid (Coor's Original Banquet Beer): a case of 24 16-oz cans for $15.99. This, ice-cold, will be perfect on a weekend of painting and yard work in 90-degree temperatures.