Hick has been working on Pony House every weekday. He is limited only by other people not showing up as promised to do their part. His buddy has been recovering from a sickness for a couple weeks now, so that can't be helped. He's there when he feels okay, and Hick says he's a good worker who needs little supervision.
Hick trimmed out the kitchen window on Thursday, while working alone.
Hick is a good trimmer, but he had to wait until he and his buddy got that drywall up on the kitchen wall. The living room is looking like a disaster area. Might be time for Hick to make a trip to the landfill in SilverRedO, before he needs his trailer.
I don't remember if I mentioned this at the time, but a couple weeks ago, Tree-Trimmer Guy stopped by the house to work on the remains of the pecan tree. When we last convened on this subject, the tree looked like this:
That was November 5. Hick had paid all but the last $1000 for the job. Tree-Trimmer Guy, there in the background, said he'd be back on the weekend, but didn't show up. I talked to his helper, there in the foreground, who also works at the Liquor Store. He said Tree-Trimmer Guy had him working in St. Louis, where he got some jobs after a storm. Helper didn't really like that, because it cost him a lot to drive his truck and trailer an hour to the city, when he could have been driving 10 minutes over to Pony House.
Anyhoo... Tree-Trimmer Guy showed up a couple weeks ago, worked about 15 minutes on WHAT Hick couldn't tell, and then said to Hick, "I think I might just say 'screw it' and forget the rest of the money." Huh. I guess a contract only works one way. Hick figured he'd let it go, and eventually find someone else to take down the rest.
However... Tree-Trimmer Guy showed up on Thursday, and told Hick he was going to rent a lift to take down those other two limbs, but he didn't have the money for a $500 deposit. So Hick paid him the final $1000. Tree-Trimmer Guy came back with the lift, and took down the big limb over Pony House. Now the pecan tree looks like this:
Of course Tree-Trimmer Guy never showed up on Friday. I told Hick he probably won't see him again, now that he paid all the money. Hick says that's not cool. He called Tree-Trimmer Guy, who said he'd be back to take down the rest of the tree, but didn't say when. He's in for a big surprise on Facebook regarding his "business" if he doesn't come back!
One good thing about Friday... the Furnace Guy came to install the furnace! It's in the furnace room. The ductwork is in the attic. All hooked up. Hick can run the furnace now. Furnace Guy said he'll be back next week to install the air conditioning part of the unit. Hick hasn't paid HIM anything yet!
Hick is excited to have heat, since the temps have been falling overnight to near or below freezing. Now he can put up drywall so the attic isn't open, and Pony House will be warm enough to "mud the drywall." It has to be a certain temperature to work. I think in the 60s or warmer.
The next big project is getting the plumbing done under the house. Hick's buddy will have to crawl under for that. And Hick has a guy coming with a backhoe to dig up the old sewer, so Hick can connect the Master Bathroom plumbing to it. Hick is concerned about drainage from the Bathroom 2 area. He's going to run his "fish tape" through, to see if there's a blockage, since it seems sluggish. I suggested a tree root, but Hick said it might just be a squirrel that got in there and died (like under the house), since the pipe was open for a while.
Hick's eyes light up like a kid in a candy store when he talks about Pony House.
I bow to your Blog title expertise! The house is progressing nicely.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the VALidation of my title. I take great pleasure in twisting a cliche to fit my blogging needs! Not everybody gets it.
DeleteHick is highly motivated to get Pony House finished. He would like to reclaim his big triangle tub in the master bathroom.
The window looks great! The tree...not so great. Tree trimmer guy needs a kickstart, but probably it's better if you leave bad reviews on his website. Let people know you didn't get what you paid for and the job still isn't completed.
ReplyDeleteMore urgently, are you all still okay after that tornado disaster?? Did it come through your way? please all of you, be okay.
Hick did a good job on the window. Once the drywall is painted, and a blind or curtain added, that window will be nice.
DeleteHick can also report Tree-Trimmer Guy to the Better Business Bureau, which will not be good for his business, unless he makes things right and gets his report updated to show it.
We are fine. It seems we were between the damaged areas. I didn't look at the map, but I'm guessing the one in Defiance MO was about 90 miles northeast of us, and the Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville IL about 90 miles northwest of us. Then another down in the bootheel, around Caruthersville MO, about 160 miles south.
Hick said we were under a tornado watch (conditions for a tornado to form), not a warning. Which is more serious, and means one has been sighted in the area, moving our way.
The last tornado, which ripped up part of The Veteran's in-laws' house and both trucks, was about 25 miles south. They were fine in their basement. Glad we have one!
Sounds like Kampground Kathy came upon the aftermath of this disaster on the way to her new property, and had to wait for debris to be cleared on the highway. Glad her and HeWho and the four dogs were okay!