Unscrupulous Contractors? but what about Unscrupulous customers?!

The fact that there are unscrupulous contractors is a sad reality.

Doesn't look nice on the kitchen ceiling!

What brings this to mind is today I was at one of my local home improvement centers, and while I was walking through the store, a woman stopped me to ask if I do plumbing. I explained to her that I was a general contractor and I also installed the Pelican™ whole house water systems, so I knew plumbing well. She explained to me that she hired a plumber to fix a leak, and he claimed that he did, but two days after the pipe from the upstairs bathroom had not only leaked again, but this time it overflowed into the kitchen ceiling. The guy came back, charged her again, and took the damaged sheetrock down, and left the hole. He told her to purchase a plastic access door to put in the ceiling. I have an appointment to meet with her on Monday.
As I continued on to the "pro desk" to check out, there was a woman there who was complaining about her current contractor, and what a crook he was. Yes.....I was eavesdropping, and I stealth-fully took out my wallet and handed her my business card. She gave me a funny look and started telling me about the nightmare she was currently living through. Seems she hired a contractor to put an addition on her house, and she angrily proceeded to tell me how shoddy the work was, and how this guy would not show up for days on end, yet she had no shingles on her roof. She told me that he hasn't passed one inspection yet, and all the things that went wrong with this contractor, so much so, that she asked him to leave, but he refused, and she ended up having the police escort him off of her property. She said to me.....

"What makes you any different from these other stupid dishonest contractors? I've lost all of my faith that any contractor will be honest and do good work!"

I explained to her that I pride myself in my work and my work ethics, and she hesitantly took my card, and said she "may" call me.

Through the years in business I've heard many horror stories about bad contractors, 

and that infuriates me because it pretty much gives all contractors a bad rap. It makes it almost impossible to convince someone who's been burnt to trust another contractor. Luckily for me, I believe when I start a job, my customer might be a little shaky with their trust, but after a few days, I'm sure that they believe that they had made the right choice, and that's very important to me!
But the funny thing is.....people will be people. And just like anything else there are all kinds. I have personally run into unscrupulous customers a few times. There is one about "Ralphy", but I'm saving that one for Christmas.....it's that good! There was a guy that tried to squeeze me into siding his whole Garage, because he claimed that the new siding was a slightly different shade to his fifteen year old vinyl siding, even though I mentioned in his proposal that the new siding would be slightly different. Then there was a guy who wanted me to start his job without a down payment, again a deposit was stated on his proposal. He expected me to bring over eight thousand dollars of material to his house with out giving me a penny....I told him to find someone else to do his work.

This brings to mind a time I did a job for someone, and he decided that he was just not going to pay me.

I was hired by these seemingly very nice people to build them a fireplace....where there was none. There was, of course a payment plan that was agreed upon between myself and the couple. I got my deposit the day I had the material delivered, and we went ahead and started this job. A fireplace is not a small job, and it takes tons of material.....literally, and it's extremely labor intensive, not to mention that you have to have the knowledge of the workings of a fireplace.
We excavated six feet below grade for the base, and poured the concrete footing. Next we built up the base, which is solid masonry. We had to cut an opening in the exterior wall to open up the room for the firebox. This was time for my second payment, which took about a week to get, but I did get it and all was fine. I continually got compliments of how beautiful the work was from the woman, who was home most of the time, and she was the ideal customer.

I finished the fireplace, cleaned up the property, and removed all of my equipment. The last payment was now due. This last payment was mostly what I was going to make on the job. Oddly the day we cleaned up, no one was home. I went back the next day.....again, no one answered the door. I phoned them, left messages, but I never got a call back. I started to think that this was going to be a problem, as it was the holiday season and that job was going to be my Christmas shopping money.
Another week passed, and still no answers or call backs. By the forth week I started to panic and now my messages were more angry, and I asked "Just call me if there's a problem"  Still I received no response from this couple. It was now a week before Christmas and I figured that I had nothing to lose, so I left them a message that I would be by their house the following Monday, and I expected a check for the full amount or we were going to have issues. I hoped that I would finally get a call over the weekend, but I got no such call.
Monday morning my men arrived at my shop. I instructed them to load up my scaffold in my truck, and to make sure that there was at least two sledge hammers. I explained to them what I was planning, and as much as they stood behind me faithfully, they thought that I had gone off the deep end. Really though I just wanted to scare the homeowners into maybe paying me. I pulled up to the house with my truck bursting over the sides with equipment, and instructed my men to set up the scaffold......they did. I went to the door and rang the doorbell.......no answer. Two of my men where at the steady with the sledgehammers....just waiting for me to give them the go ahead. I told them secretly to hold off.......not just yet. I looked into the garage window and noticed that both the cars were parked in there! Both of these people were home!!

Get off that scaffold, or I'm gonna shoot!

Just as I was going to give the go ahead to start knocking down my work of art, three police cars screeched up to the property. Five policemen came running across the lawn with their guns drawn, screaming to my men to "put down those hammers!" Two of the policemen rushed over to me, and at first I thought I was either gonna get shot or arrested. I explained my situation to these two policemen, and they became a little more empathetic of my dilemma. Just then like a miracle, the front door opens up and both the husband and wife come out!!! The husband is screaming to the police to have me arrested for trespassing!! I MUST be dreaming!! The police calm him down and explain to the man that he should pay me, and if not, then why. The guy unbelievably claimed that he didn't have the money to pay me and he was afraid to tell me because he thought that I was going to hurt him! One of the policemen came over to me, and told me to "just take this a## hole to court, and he promised to testify about what the guy said. Then he tells me that I HAVE to take my equipment off of the guys property, and absolutely do not touch the fireplace, because once the material is on the owners property it is no longer yours. I complied but wasn't happy, as this guy stood out there the whole time and watched us remove the equipment. I did take him to court, ....won and  FINALLY got my money.....almost a year later. 

TIP OF THE DAY: 

Scaffold......

Again, hoping spring finally arrives we want to spruce up our houses for the summer, so that we can lay back and enjoy our hard work.  But there are a few projects that require us to either use a ladder or another type of elevating device. Such things may include....painting or repairing the ceiling on our porch, or fixing a section of gutter, or painting the fascia boards. Sure you can use a ladder, but ladders can be dangerous. In the United States more than 500,000 people a year are treated for ladder-related injuries, and that number does not include people who suffered injuries but did not go to a medical care provider for treatment. About 300 people in this country die from ladder-related injuries annually. 

The solution is to rent a section of scaffold! These can be rented at almost any rental establishment that carries construction equipment. They even rent scaffold at the major home improvement stores. The reason that I prefer scaffolding is mostly it has four legs, and you can span a few planks across the top, and have a movable platform, and if properly placed you will feel more confident while working, and even get the job done much quicker. 

Just make sure that you don't set up your scaffold on next to that guys fireplace!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Let's go shopping......WAIT!...That's my credit card!

When I was a young man, one of my Uncles told me how important it was to have good credit.

The EXACT car that I had!

I valued his words, and I worked hard for many years to attain a good credit rating. The first time I ever applied for credit was in my late teens, I purchased a 1969 Buick Riviera ( I Loved that car!) and got a loan for $400.00 at a credit union. I paid it back in full and on time. That was the start of my journey in obtaining good credit status. Through the years, I had many credit cards, and my goal was to have an American Express because my Uncle told me that to have one of these cards surely meant you were successful.
The funny thing about credit was, you never worried about someone else stealing your identity. You never had to worry about someone stealing your credit card numbers and maxing out your card. But today it's a different story. Credit card fraud is identity theft in its most simple and common form. It can be accomplished either through a unscrupulous waiter or cashier or it can happen when your pre-approved credit card offers fall into the wrong hands. All a person has to do is get these out of your mailbox (or trash can) and mail them in with a change of address request and start spending. Someone can even apply for a credit card in your name if they have the right information. You won't know a thing about it until the credit card company tracks you down and demands payment for the purchases "you" have racked up.

This happened to me today on my Lowe's Business Card....

Welcome to Lowe's....

I received my Lowe's bill in the mail today, and looking over it, I see that the payment due was $268.79....I thought to myself, how can this be, I only have a $695.00 purchase on it? Looking down into the "purchases" area, I had a heart attack....there were two big charges, one for $2,100.00 and another for $2,680.00....These charges were made at a Lowe's in Staten Island....And this person re-supplied his home with new appliances like a 28 cubic foot refrigerator, washer and dryer..WITH the pedestals! etc...
I called the number on the card, and it took about fifteen minutes, and seven puzzles to get to talk to a human being, and really, I use that term very loosely. After talking to five of the most stupid people on the face of the Earth, I insisted to talk to a Supervisor. FINALLY, someone with a brain! Come to find out that this person made other charges after the billing cycle, to the tune of $12,689.00!!!!! All at the same store in Staten Island! They issued me a new card and will be investigating the jerk that somehow got my number....

This subject brings me to my current Construction Story from beyond....

Years ago I had a back operation, and my doctor told me to never carry my wallet in my back pocket. After the operation and recovery I took his advice and kept my wallet in my lunch pail. At the time I had a fairly large crew, and one of my men, Damien (not the Antichrist one) who was working for me at the time was a guy that had worked for me a couple of years before, and had to leave to go to California because his Grandmother was dying. He was a good kid ( I thought) and when he came back to NJ. he asked for his job back. He explained that he was at an all time low and needed help.
I hired him back and took him under my wing. The first couple of weeks I gave him some extra money to help him along. I paid him as an apprentice, and kept him close to me so that he would learn the trade. It was going good for about five months, and I really enjoyed having him around. Then one warm winter's day I was working on a scaffold, and asked him to go into my van and get me my two foot level. I remember thinking that it took him a long time, but I didn't really give it a second thought.
The next day Damien didn't show up for work, and the next day, and the next day. I was kind of hurt, but I thought that something had to be wrong because this kid really respected and looked up to me. I tried to call him, but never got an answer. About a week into this my wife and I went Christmas shopping for a second time. When it came time to pay the bill, I pulled out my wallet to get my credit card, but it was gone! I panicked....I thought that I left it at the last place we shopped about two weeks prior.

I got home, and immediately called the credit card company to report my card lost. 

The representative then asked me about certain charges that were made the days after I had used it last. There were things like: train tickets to New York, and a $350.00 bill from Hooter's, and an awesome stereo from  P.C. Richards, and tons more. There were over $3,800.00 worth of charges. After MY investigation it turns out it was Damien, who stole my credit card, from MY wallet, in my lunch pail, in my van. I pressed charges against him, and I never saw him again. Funny though, I think I would forgive him, and maybe even hire him back.....mostly because I now wear Cargo pants, and always keep my wallet in my side pocket!

TIP OF THE DAY: 

Credit Cards....

Now that Punxsutawney Phil has lied to us all about an early Spring, we should start thinking about some big home improvement projects, so when the weather actually does warm up, you will have a plan in place!

I find that one of the best things about doing projects is using a credit card (Make sure to pay it in full at the end of the month!) with a good rewards program attached to it. It's good because you don't need to carry cash around with you, and every dollar you spend accumulates points for some nice goodies. I recently got a really cool Blu-Ray DVD player with all the bells and whistles. With this I can watch all the Blu-Ray movies that I got as gifts, and my home movies that I put on DVD, my favorite one was the year that Damien got better gifts than my kids got!  

See you next time......from beyond.........

Watch your step....PLEASE!

Through the years I've completed many additions on homes.

Through the years in business I've expanded my knowledge from doing just masonry to additions, home inspections, and now I am an authorized Pelican™ Dealer and Installer. I believe that in this economy diversification is what we need to stay ahead of others.
But I must admit that I love doing additions! They are challenging,.....some very challenging, and in some cases, fairly long term. It's a nice feeling to park my tool trailer for a few months, and become part of my customers lives. But this story in particular is about doing a major addition on my own home. My wife and I  purchased a small 2 bedroom, 1 bath Raised Ranch shortly after we were married. We had just had our second child and even though it was small, I liked to say that it kept us a "close" family. We talked about expanding, but I was just starting in business and we were just getting by.
Ten years passed.......another kid......I was getting itchy to expand our house to fit our ever expanding family. Looking back, I'm not really sure how we fit thirty something of our relatives in that house for certain occasions....but we did. At the time we were seeing a ton of Sears cabinet resurfacing commercials, and I got the bug to do our kitchen. I explained to my wife how I would put all new cabinets, and appliances in and I was going to make her kitchen beautiful. She suggested that we called Sears for our "Free in home estimate" I reluctantly agreed. This slick salesman came to our home with a suitcase and laid a bunch of samples all over our table and what he was proposing to do was to keep our cabinet frames, and just put a laminate over them, install new doors on the cabinets, and a new laminate counter-top.....all for the low price of........$16,000!!! But he had a really nice certificate already made out with my name on it for a 10% off, but only if I committed right then and there.

I told him to pack his bags and hit the road!

I told him that I would completely gut the kitchen, and put in new electric, new sheetrock, new cabinets, new counter-tops, new floor, new appliances and after all that was done, I was going to take my family on vacation with the money that was left over.....and I did. We were thrilled with our new kitchen! I felt so proud to be able to give my wife such a beautiful kitchen after putting up with the old outdated one, which she never once complained about.
Almost one year to the day I surprised my wife with a set of blueprints for our addition. She was in shock, but she was excited to see these plans, and was excited to get started. Within a week, I had the lumber
delivered, and the dumpster arrived in our driveway......we were off!

The actual addition in progress!

The addition was started, and there were workers all over the place. I remember telling anyone who came to work there....."Please be careful, I just re-did our kitchen and I don't want anything to happen to it. Well the roof came off without a hitch. Actually it was amazing that with all the cutting and banging there wasn't even the tiniest crack on the ceiling or walls.

But there was this one guy........We'll call him Tom......to protect his identity.

He was the kind of guy that just about everything he did, something got broken or damaged. I was keeping a close watch on him, because on the first day of the demo work, he "accidentally" dropped a two by ten on the stone bird bath that my Grandfather made and broke it to bits. The second day he put a ladder through one of my screens. The third day he was moving some two by fours, and almost knocked one of the other men off of the roof. He was a walking disaster, and we all had to keep a close watch on him, for our own safety. Each morning I would remind everyone, but especially Tom to be careful when working above my new kitchen. On the sixth day, the day after the electrician crew removed the old wires and installed all new wiring, we were ready to put the 3/4" subflooring in. I happened to be in the kitchen at the time, talking to the plumber, when all of a sudden two feet came smashing through the ceiling! Actually it was his feet and his legs too......dangling right in front of my face! I'm not sure how he didn't fall all the way into the kitchen. I knew immediately who it was.....who else could it be! "Tom......you careless son of a ....."  I screamed. I ran out of the house to see the other guys laughing uncontrollably. I ran up the ladder to see Tom struggling to get himself free from his compromised position. Actually it WAS funny to see only the top half of this guy with the look of shock on his face. But at the time, it really was no laughing matter.

For illustration purposes only, Not Tom's legs.

It took three of us to pull him out of the hole, and he was so embarrassed, and apologized profusely that I almost felt bad for him. But somehow, I knew it was gonna be him. I told him to go clean up the newly created mess that he had made in the kitchen. While I was discussing Tom's follies with the rest of the crew on the ceiling rafters, the plumber yelled to me through the newly created passageway....."You better come down here and see what your man did now!" I reluctantly climbed down the ladder because I was afraid that if it was another Tom created disaster, I might have to hurt him. I walked in the kitchen to see Tom running out the back door. The plumber told me that Tom put the ladder against our new counter-top to pull down the dangling sheetrock......but the ladder slipped, and put two really deep scratches across the top of the counter. Tom was fired........
The addition got done in record time, and although I've done a few more major projects on our house, our addition holds the best memories for myself and my family!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Sheetrock repair.....

How to Fix a Big Hole in Drywall

1. Cut away any stray, loose paper parts around the hole to be repaired. If any chunks of drywall are hanging, remove them as well.
2. With the framing square, or simply by eyeballing it, draw a square around the hole. The lines should extend about 1/2" past the edges of the hole.
3. With the drywall saw or jigsaw, cut along the lines of your square.
4. Cut your two plywood strips so that they are three inches longer -- on each end of the strip -- than the hole (i.e., your newly created square).
5. Insert the strips behind the hole, within the wall cavity.
6. With the cordless drill, drive the 1 1/4" screws through the wall and into the wood strips. Essentially, you are building a framework of these two strips for the new piece of drywall to rest on.
7. With the jigsaw or hand saw, cut your extra piece of drywall so that it exactly fits into your newly created "square hole."
8. Screw into the wood strips. Four screws are sufficient.
9. Apply drywall mesh tape over the seams.
10. At this point, fill over mesh tape with joint compound. Let dry, then sand. Fill in once again, dry, and sand until smooth. 
11. Keep Tom away from your house!

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

Put out that damn fire!

As I said on my last post, there are plenty of stories from my own business.

I could keep writing for a couple of years just on the fun and exciting things that I have experienced owning my own business. Just to give you a heads up, not all of them are funny, some will be a lesson on morals, and some are just so hard to believe that I have to tell them. Obviously, since I've been in business for 25 years, it wasn't all bad.
With my mason background, I am well versed in just about all that is masonry. I started my business right after I got married, mostly because I had other people in my family that worked the trade, and I figured that I would never have to worry about not having any work. That didn't always work out. But I must admit I stayed very busy.....that is until the housing market crashed, which changed the face of construction.

This story goes back quite a few years.

 I was doing some work for a builder in Hillsborough NJ. He wasn't really the most honest person, but he did build a nice house. This one day in particular I was building a fireplace. Not many people know this but a fireplace is built in "sections" kinda.... First we build the base, this is the part that starts from below grade, and basically comes up to the first floor. Then you stop, get an inspection. Next is the hearth. This has to be formed, partially in the basement, and into the base of the fireplace, then you stop again for another inspection. You then pour concrete to make the base for the hearth, and the floor for your firebox. Now......well, I'm not gonna bore you with the details, but this was the part of the fireplace I was working on when this story begins.

The fireplace being built from inside the house

I was working inside the house building the firebox.....with firebrick. The outside of the fireplace was still low enough that I could see everything on the outside. I had two of my men working on the outside building up the brick, and one of my laborers was out there also. Oh, did I mention that the laborer was "Hank"? The kid who couldn't read a ruler? Well, it was him, he was still working for me (I'm going to heaven....just for this!)
Hank was responsible for making cement in my cement mixer, and making sure that the masons always had plenty of cement. A few words about the mixer we were using first. It was old machine....but with the proper care she was faithful. There were certain rules to follow when operating this machine. The one that applies here is when you were finished mixing a batch of cement you were NOT to close the cover on the motor, because it ran really rich and would backfire (like an M-80) when shut off.
So, I'm working in the house on this beautiful sunny summers day. I would look out every once in a while....just to look. I happened to notice that Hank was looking uncomfortable. He had kind of a confused look on his face. He would look over towards where the cement mixer was, and then look back at me as if to say something.....but he didn't. This went on for a few minutes and it struck up my curiosity so I leaned over to look outside in the direction he was occasionally glancing to. But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He continued to look uneasy, and I finally asked him what was the matter?

"Ummm Dominick......I think the mixer's on fire" he stated in a shaky but low voice....."WHAT??!!! I went over to the nearest window in the house, and sure enough there was smoke bellowing out of the sides of the machine! I yelled to Hank, "Well don't just stand there......go put it out!!"

He was off in a flash, like he was running the 200 meter dash. He flipped open the cover and flames were all over the motor. He looked at me in desperation.....and I yelled from the window..."PUT OUT THAT DAMN FIRE!!" He says to me ....."With what??" "You have fifty gallons of water in that drum! get a bucket of water and throw it on the motor!!" In a mad rush, he grabbed a bucket, haphazardly dunked it into the barrel of water and threw it in the direction of the machine.....HE COMPLETELY MISSED!!!!!

For illustration purposes only, this is not Hank

I was worried that the gas tank might blow, so I was getting desperate. The house was far away enough that  if I ran out it might be too late, so Hank was my only hope (I know, lucky me). I yelled to him "Please Hank do SOMETHING........Throw some sand on it!!" I expected him to grab the nearby shovel, but he proceeds to bend over like.......like a dog that was digging a hole, and started to (I'm not sure how to describe this) well, he just bent over and was throwing sand at the machine through his legs!!!??
Luckily one of my other men heard the commotion, and ran over to the mixer, and put out the fire with a bucket of sand. It turns out that it was probably just in a nick of time, because on inspection of the damage, the fuel line was burned off......Hank was not allowed to use that mixer anymore, I gave him a hoe.

TIP OF THE DAY:

Fireplaces....

Over half of all U.S. homes (55 percent) have at least one fireplace, and they're ranked as the third most desirable feature that people look for when buying a new home, says the National Association of Home Builders.

But there are some things to keep in mind when owning a fireplace:

After a cold winter and heavy use,  you should have your flues checked for a buildup of creosote. If your flue or chimney are blocked by debris or contain cracks or leaks, inadequate venting can occur, and toxic fumes may seep into your home. Further, creosote, a byproduct of burning wood, can build up on the chimney flue and lead to a chimney fire. You can call a professional like D & J Construction to inspect and clean your fireplace. It's a small price to pay for keeping safe.

Another common problem is forgetting to open the damper, or closing it too soon after a fire. The fireplace damper should be opened before lighting the fire, and kept open until all ashes are cool. Closing a damper too soon, even if just the ashes are warm, can allow poisonous gasses like carbon monoxide to build up in your home.

But having a fireplace in your home is a welcoming centerpiece for family and friends and with common sense will bring many long lasting memories!

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

 

Timber!!....Oh wait it's a chimney not a tree!

I swear that I have stories from my 25 years in business!

But since I started this blog, I have had the opportunity to go back in my mind and remember all of the funny things (well at least I thought they were funny) that happened while I worked with my Dad. There are so many stories to be told like how my Dad almost burned down a brand new home, just days away from closing, and the time that my cousin told me to put the pulley rope around my waist as he would pull me down from the 35 foot scaffold that I was on, and the one where my cousin and I (about the same age) were filling water drums up and he pulled the emergency brake and the truck rolled into the woods (I got the blame for this one)......

But then there was Uncle Paul. I could write a whole chapter just on him! Again, I was just a kid, and again it was summer.....fade......

 

My Dad got a job to replace a very old and dangerously cracked chimney. This job was for the old lady of Johnson & Johnson fame. The farm she lived on was enormous and I instantly fell in love with the sights of this farm. There were horses, and fields of fruit trees, and the house itself was surrounded by the most beautiful flowers, most of which I have never seen.


My Dad drove alone and I with Uncle Paul.The old Woman came out to talk to him about her concerns. She took an instant liking to me, and asked me if I wanted to take a tour of the property with her. My Dad said it was fine, and the woman started up her golf cart, told me to jump on, and we took off to see the farm.
We were gone about fifteen minutes and when we got back the woman scrunched her face, and yelled to my Dad, who was on the roof....

"Please be careful taking that chimney down, I don't want anything happening to my greenhouse because that's where I keep all of my award winning exotic plants!"

You see, the greenhouse was just a couple of feet away from where the chimney was, as a matter of fact it was attached to the house. My Dad gave her a smile and replied "Don't worry Hon, we will be very careful not to hurt anything" She thanked him and walked into the house, after giving me a few peaches that she picked during our trip.

Uncle Paul was on the ground and my Dad came down to talk to him. " I have to leave for a while.....you shouldn't need me here. Paul, just take the chimney down brick by brick.....I don't care how long it takes, just BE CAREFUL" Uncle Paul agreed and gave him a look like "Are you kidding me?". My dad got in his truck and disappeared down the long stone driveway.


Uncle Paul climbed up on the roof, and started hitting the chimney with his hammer , and tearing it down brick by brick. As he would knock a brick loose, he would carefully grab it, as not to have it tumble into the greenhouse, and he would toss it down to me, and I would toss it onto the back of the truck.   

This went on for about two hours.

 

He really wasn't getting that far with the demo, even though it looked like a strong wind would topple that chimney over. He called to me to give him the small sledge hammer.....I complied, but I warned,

" Isn't that dangerous Uncle Paul? What if the chimney falls over?"

He scoffed " This chimney ISN'T going to fall over my young nephew, I can't even break it apart!"


The sledge hammer was not working either. I was really not aware of this because I was taking in the beautiful surroundings. I was startled by a hand on my shoulder.....It was the old woman. She offered us something to drink, and we accepted her generous offer. She explained to me that she was going to town to get some fertilizer for her plants, but she would be back soon. She again pleaded to be careful while working on the roof, I of course said "why of course!". Uncle Paul worked his way down to the ground, and we sat on the tailgate of the truck drinking iced tea. It was the most delicious iced tea ever, and I thought how wonderful it would be to live there and eat peaches and drink iced tea, while riding one of those beautiful horses. 

Just then Uncle Paul gets into the cab of the truck, turns it around, and backs up to the house. 

 

I had no idea what he was up to......maybe eliminating my job? He reached into the tool box and pulled out a heavy rope. I still was kinda lost with this. He climbed onto the roof, tied the rope around the chimney several times, and threw the slack onto the ground. I was in shock....


"Are you kidding me Uncle Paul? I don't think that's a good idea" He pretty much told me he didn't care about my concerns and proceeded to tie the rope to the tow hitch on the truck. I swear I thought he was just messing around, like he usually does.


He told me to stand back as he started up the truck. He started the truck, and with a jerk the truck lunged forward, but in a stone driveway it didn't get too far. Stone was flying from the rear tires, and the truck was not going anywhere. The chimney didn't budge an inch......yet.

He backed up into the tracks he made from spinning out the tires, put the truck into first gear and gunned it again. When he reached the end of the rope, the rear end of the truck jumped into the air about a foot.....and the chimney came loose!!


Sadly for Uncle Paul it did not come down the way he thought it would......It kind of spun a little, tipped to the side, and SMASHED into the greenhouse roof!! the sound of glass breaking seemed last forever. He got out of the truck and grabbed me and made me swear that the chimney just fell on it's own.....He was almost in tears, so I told him that I wouldn't say a word.....Unbeknownst to the both of us, across the field was a man shoeing horses, who saw the whole thing....Needless to say, we were kicked off the job, and my Dad had to pay for the damage. I know this because he never let Uncle Paul live that one down!  

TIP OF THE DAY:

Chimneys.....

Like with any masonry, a chimney takes a lot of abuse being out in the weather all year round.If your chimney is falling apart, then just call a professional. The average four foot chimney costs around $1,600.00 to replace from the roof up. But if you have minor cracks, you can fix this yourself! You can purchase a masonry caulk or even a good silicone caulk will work too. The most important thing is to stop the masonry from taking in any water. Make sure that you get all of the cracks, especially up against the house. If you are not good with heights, again call a professional, it's just better that way! And especially NEVER use a rope!

 

 

See you next time......from beyond.........

 

 

 

Who's got the frogs??!!!

I'm starting to believe that most of my funny memories was when I worked with my Dad.

Not that I don't have funny stories, I do....believe me, I have plenty, but since I started thinking and writing about the times working with my Dad.....well there are just too many stories to tell. Now that I'm sitting here and going over in my mind the things that happened during my childhood with him, I want to tell everything that went on. It's hard to believe some of these stories, but I can assure you they are all real!

I was 14 years old, and it was a beautiful summer day....

Kinda looks like Cousin Richie!

We were at the Diner in the morning getting our instructions of where we were going that day. There was a crew going to a job in Mendham, and there were a few guys going to a job in New Brunswick, and then my Dad tells our crew that we were going to a job in Pennsylvania. Two things to note here. First the crew.....The crew was comprised of myself, my cousin Richie (second cousin by marriage) and Bill. Again Bill was one of my Dad's main men, a well built black man who was really like family. I thought of him as an Uncle. Then there was cousin Richie....Richie was a tall skinny, very funny man who fashioned a "Rockabilly" or "pompadour" hair style......He was cool!  I loved him!
Second thing to note was the job we were being sent to. It was a foundation (basement) that my Dad had started almost a year before and stopped because the guy wasn't paying him. Apparently after a year they came to some sort of agreement, and we were being sent to finish this job.
We drove, from what I remember, for about two hours......back roads.....big hills that had the truck screaming trying to get to the top, but we finally pulled into the makeshift dirt driveway. The second the door to the truck was opened, I heard this weird "screaming" It was a high pitched, short lived scream, then another, then another. We couldn't see the jobsite from where the truck was parked as we, from what I remember, were in the middle of the woods. As we walked over the small hill, there was the foundation.....it was now a pond. It was three quarters filled with water and there were plants growing out of it, and all around it. Then another "scream".... This time, I noticed something large jump from the bank and into the makeshift pond...."SPLASH"! Then as I got closer, I almost stepped onto this giant frog!...It screamed, and so did I....Richie was laughing his a*# off, and Bill was flipping out.

"How the Hell does he expect us to do anything here!" Exclaimed Bill "We ain't doin' nothin' here! I can't believe your father would send us here and expect us to do anything!" 

Just as he said this, the Owner of the property pulled in and told us not to worry because he had a pump, and we would be able to start within the hour. Now keep in mind that this "pond" was established, and there were hundreds of these giant frogs all over the place.
The pump did actually get most of the water out before it ran out of gas. We had to build kind of a walkway out of pallets and planks to get to the scaffold, but we eventually got started. Richie started the cement mixer, and began to mix a batch of cement.....but one of the ingredients which really isn't supposed to be an ingredient was.....FROGS! I was yelling for him to stop, but he laughed even harder and shoveled another into the mixer. Bill, who started laying the block would pull up a piece of frog on his trowel every once in a while. He wasn't amused and was yelling at Richie to stop.....that just made Richie laugh even harder.

I was gonna save these poor creatures....I was determined to save them all!

Throughout the day I was catching these frogs, and putting them in the large tool box on the back of the truck to keep them away from Richie. I guess I had around twenty......maybe thirty.  Neither Bill nor Richie knew of my deed. The end of the long day came, we cleaned up, and headed back to the Diner.

They weren't this big.....but close!

When we got there, my Dad was waiting for us to hear how much work was done that day. We all started talking at the same time about the conditions and my Dad started laughing.....mostly because we had actually finished and didn't have to go back the next day. While My dad and Bill were discussing things about the day, I hopped onto the back of the truck, got a five gallon bucket, opened the tool box, and started putting the giant frogs into the bucket. I was praying that my Dad would let me take them home. When I showed him, he was amazed at the size of them, and pulled one out to get a closer look at it. All the while I was begging him..."Please Dad, can I keep them, after all I saved their lives!?" He smiled at me and said "ARE YOU CRAZY? What are you gonna do with all those frogs?? Plus your mother will kill you if you bring them into the house......Just dump them in the woods"
I thought about it for a few minutes, then I came up with a plan that might actually work. While Dad, Bill and Richie were talking, I snuck away with the bucket of frogs. I walked up to the back door of the diner, opened it, and dumped the bucket of Giant frogs. I walked away in a real hurry, threw the bucket into the back of the truck, and just as my Dad was saying..."Okay, Lets go" There came a loud scream, then the back door flew open, and about seven men came running out of the diner.....two were almost in tears! One of these men was the Owner of the diner, and yelled in a heavy Greek accent....."Who's got the froogs!!!????" I got "ratted" out by Cousin Richie who was laughing so hard that I thought we was gonna bust a vein. Luckily for me, everyone else started laughing, except for one guy who was still crying.... I believe Frog legs were that nights special!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Another Spring tip....

Now that winter is SLOWLY moving to another part of the world, signs that she was here are visible now that we are spending more time outdoors. One thing that takes a beating during the winter is our decks. 

What you can do to give your deck a much longer life is to clean it good. Try not to use a power washer because I've seen "professionals" ruin a deck with these. The wood splinters, and you will never be able to walk barefoot on it again. The right way is to use a good cleaner, a long handled brush, and a strong hose. Deck cleaners help remove dirt, nail stains, algae and mildew. If your deck isn't brand-new, always use a cleaner before applying finish. Once the deck is dry, You should consider putting on either a GOOD water sealer, or a stain. Make sure to choose a specially formulated deck stain or sealer to repel water, resist mildew and prevent fading in high traffic areas. Sealers and stains are either water-based or oil-based. Oil-based finishes require less upkeep and less frequent recoating than water-based finishes. When choosing a stain, remember that the finished color varies based on the wood itself. If you're applying a new stain over an old one, choose a color that's similar to or darker than the original

This will add many years to your deck.

See you next time......from beyond.........

Drivin big trucks on a job site.....But I'm only 14!

On a housing development, almost anything goes.....

I'm gonna go back to working with my Dad again. I do this because I had so many memorable moments, and they really have to be shared. Let's go back to the summer of 1972, with the air filled with wonderful music from artist like Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Stealer's Wheel, etc. It was such a great time to grow up in this country.
I always worked with my Dad during the summer months, mostly because it was dangerous staying home with my Mother, and he insisted that I should learn the trade......Thanks Dad! I really did love it, because I got to do things that the average 14 year old could never do. One of these most awesome things was driving my Dad's trucks around the job site. I would somehow always get into trouble, by getting the trucks stuck in mud (about 100 times), or once I drove through a garage door on one of the model houses.

But this story is about how my Dad got to pay for a new paint job on a vintage Cadillac.

My Dad, was a mason, and usually had a large crew. He wouldn't spare one of his "paid" men to go get material or fill the 50 gallon drums with the much needed water, that was my job, and I was happy to do it. I actually learned to drive a truck at the age of 9. I was taught by one of his men, believe it or not his name was Spoon, or at least that's what we called him. I loved that guy! So this one beautiful summer day, my Dad tells me to get Big Red and go fill up the four 50 gallon drums with water. He didn't have to tell me twice.

Same truck, but not red, hence the name Big Red!

I'm not a big person (tall), and when I was 14 I was pretty small, so picture a kid who was barely big enough to reach the pedals, and had to stretch my neck to see over the dashboard, while pressing in the clutch and shifting gears. So I swiftly jump into Big Red, start up that big engine, and off I went to the fire hydrant that was three blocks away. As I came up to the fire hydrant, I noticed a car was parked pretty close to it. So I was going to be extra careful as not to do any damage to this nice car. Me and Big Red were at the top of this really big hill and I was going to back up to the hydrant. I stopped the truck, put her in reverse, stretched my neck to look out the rear view side mirror. As I was backing up I thought I heard a whistle.....the construction kind. I stopped, stretched my neck to look over the dash board, but didn't notice anything. So I continued to back up. I heard this whistle again, but this time louder, if that could be possible. As I looked over the dash board, I noticed the job superintendent, waving his arms frantically. I think he was looking at me? But as any 14 year old would do, I continued to back up to the hydrant to make my Dad proud of me that I was useful. I heard the whistle a third time, but this time the super was not only waving his hands but he was running towards me. Okay, now I knew he was trying to get my attention.....but why? I stopped Big Red, put on the emergency brake, and lifted myself out of the window a bit to see what was going on. Well, I believe that I soiled my pants, because all that I saw was the back end of the Cadillac under the truck!

Oh My GOD......Dad is gonna kill me for sure this time! 

  I frantically put the truck into first gear, drove up about twenty feet, turned her off, jumped out and ran into the woods! I was out there about twenty minutes, wondering if I knew the way home because I was NOT going back! Just then the job super found me and told me to go with him. "Don't worry, these things happen.....oh wait, no they don't but don't be afraid, I'll talk to your Dad" I  come out of the woods to see my Dad talking to the Owner of the car, and when he caught sight of me, I believe I soiled my pants again!
I was really surprised that he didn't kill me, he didn't even hit me. But he embarrassed the crap out of me (not that I had any left). He tells this guy...." I keep telling him to stay out of the trucks, but you know kids....they don't listen!" He turned to me and scolded "If I EVER see you in my trucks again, I'm gonna break your neck!" That, by the way was his favorite saying..... Luckily the only damage to the car was that the license plate scraped a strip of paint off of the trunk. But as I was told, the rear tire was mere inches from the bumper.
The following day I was still shook up from yesterdays incident, and as much as I absolutely loved to drive the trucks, I just wanted to stay away from driving for a while......Then Dad yells over to me....Dominick, get Big Red, go to lot 7 and get 30 block!....... I soiled my pants AGAIN!!

TIP OF THE DAY:

We  want to build a nice wall out of landscape block:

Now that Spring is here, lets spruce up the yard. One of the nicest things to do is to build a small round wall around a couple of trees. You go to the local home improvement store, and you figured that you'll need about fifty or more of these blocks. You pay for them, go into the parking lot to your car and realize that you like your car too much to put these heavy block in the trunk....not that it will fit either.

One of the coolest things is that you can rent a truck there too! And the best thing is that it's only about $19.00 for the first 75 minutes. I actually do this at times when I need to carry a heavy load, it saves MY truck! HAPPY SPRING!!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Are building inspectors.....Godlike?

I personally am a NJ. licensed building inspector/code official.

 I don't work for the state, although that might have been my original plan. Knowing the codes keeps me ahead of the game on my jobs. I spent many hours in the classroom at the local county college and many hours at night to study for this prestigious title.  But wait...is it really that prestigious? I'm gonna have to go with...it depends on the person. Just like anything, and any title, it's the person holding that position that will make it a good or a bad thing.
I remember while I was taking the class for my Code Official license most of the people that were there where already inspectors working for some town in New Jersey. Our instructor was a pleasant person, and he worked for the DCA (Department of Community Affairs) which is the headquarters for all building inspectors.....and other things. There was this one guy, an arrogant small built man with a very large mouth. During break, he was usually alone and would listen in on other conversations that were going on, and occasionally break in with his opinion.
One night in class our instructor happened to ask someone how their town was perceived by the public. While answering the instructor, this arrogant little man blurts out....

"I don't care what the contractors think in my town, they have to wait for me, and do whatever I say.....I'm like God"  

Well holy crap! That was pretty much the end of the class! The instructor went off on this guy for almost an hour. He said things like: "it's people like you that give inspectors a bad name", and "that's why people take a chance and not apply for permits because their afraid that they might run into someone like you", and most importantly, "without these people and especially contractors you wouldn't have a job, and as a matter of fact if you worked in my township, I would have you fired for saying something as stupid as that!"  The class applauded! He didn't say another word for the rest of the course, and luckily for me I haven't run into him on any of my job sites.

But that brings to mind of an inspector with the Godlike persona...

I am the NEW building Inspector....Obey!

I was working on a housing development about 12 years ago. We were putting in a footing for a new house. The conditions were really bad on this one lot, and the trackhoe had a really hard time digging out for this foundation because he hit a monster block of hard shale. He worked on it for two days, and just barely got it to a point that we could work in it. It wasn't easy, but we got the forms in, and leveled and had called in the inspection. Inspections always put me on edge, for me it's like taking a test......am I gonna pass?
The state car pulled up, and a unfamiliar face comes walking down the ramp into the hole. He introduces himself..."I'm the NEW inspector in town, and I don't take any crap from anyone, and I expect that your work is better than acceptable" OH SH*#.....here we go....

He grabs the blueprint, and looks around. 

Then he takes out his tape measure and starts measuring the forms. "Um...., I'm gonna have to fail you on this" he said. Now to know me a little better, I pride myself in my work and I absolutely hate to fail an inspection. I look him straight in the eyes and said, "Oh really?...why?" He gets this arrogant look on his face, and smartly exclaims, "What does the print say about the width of the footings?" I knew the answer, and answered, "24 inches" "Well I guess you fail" he said. " You only have 23 inches on that wall" I looked at him in disbelief......"Are you kidding me? look at the forms, their right up against that solid wall of shale?!" As he take out a red sticker he says "Is it 24 inches?" Sparks were shooting from my eyes, and I told him NOT to write up that red sticker. I (kinda angrily) yelled to one of my guys to throw me the shale bar (a long steel bar with a point), and one was in my hand within nanoseconds. I started swinging this shale bar at the braces knocking them off with ease, grabbed the board that made up the form, and I pulled with all of my strength. I yelled for one of my men to nail a new brace while I was holding it, which he did. I grabbed my tape measure and took a reading on the width of the footing, and it read 28 inches....."IS THAT GOOD FOR YOU???!!!" Smugly he says "the minimum is 24 inches, so I guess that's okay, but I'm gonna have to fail you anyway" I was stunned....."For what now?" The boxes for the lolly columns are not gonna be strong enough, you made them out of plywood and the form is gonna blow" I was now nose to nose with this guy, and I told him I could make the forms out of balsa wood if I wanted, as long as the end product was square! I then told him to stop acting like an ass, and hand me my passing sticker because I called the concrete company already and the truck would be there momentarily. He did hand me a passing sticker, and I only had one small run in with him at another site, but he was much better this time. I think he learned that it's better not to look down on someone else and not to think of yourself as so High and Mighty!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Levels.......
Levels come in many shapes and sizes, and each one has its own uses. A eight inch torpedo level is a handy item to have around the house and a magnetic one is perfect for certain things, but it is not a good idea to try leveling a large surface with one when a four or six foot level would give much more accurate results.
A line level is necessary when a string line needs to be level, and no other level is going to take its place in a pinch. They hook right onto the string, they are small, and they are cheap.
A graduated level is used for plumbing work and have marks to set the fall or drop of the pipe without having to constantly measure it, water after all does not flow uphill unless under pressure.
Laser levels are handy once again in certain places and can save you a great deal of time in many applications.
Home improvement is an ever present reality for most home owners, and knowing these tricks and special tools can make a world of difference when you really need one as any do-it- yourself home owner knows!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Respect your elders...please!

I was taught at a young age to respect my elders.

As a matter of fact my mother instilled (sometimes with a wooden Dr. Scholl's shoe) many of my manners that have stayed with me until today. She was Sicilian and really acted like one! When she walked by us, we would duck......just a natural instinct. We were taught things like: "children should be seen and not heard" and "say please and thank you" and we were taught to eat everything on our plate, and not complain while doing it, or we would forgo our cheerios in the morning and get our cold dinner from the night before for breakfast.

I realize that she was just a bit extreme, but  there was value in the things she would beat into us.

So this post goes back to the job in Lambertville, NJ. My youngest brother (by 12 years) was working for me at the time. He had a way to make our day interesting....to say the least. We had just started the job, and as a matter of fact we really didn't do anything yet. This was going to be the first real day of the demo part of the job.
Because of the access to the back yard (where the addition was going to be) and the fact that the back yard was barely big enough for a small machine to fit there, I had to pay the town for parking spaces in front of the house so we could put the dumpster in the street. I had "no parking" signs made up and they were posted the day before to give the neighbors a heads up as to what was going to happen. I had a talk with my men the night before about what to do when the dumpster arrived because I had a meeting with the county the next morning and I was going to be a little late. I told them that if the dumpster got there before I did and someone was parked in our paid-for space to go to the door, and kindly ask them to move their car.

This is the actual dumpster!

I arrived at the job around 9 am to see all of my men sitting on the front porch, and no dumpster.  

I got out of my truck, and my brother exclaims:

"Man, you shoulda been here! Oh my God, there's a crazy old lady up the street, she's like 80 years old and she IS nasty!! I went over to her house and told her to move her car, and she went ballistic on me, so I told her that we paid for her spot and she better move it or I was gonna call the police. She got really nasty then, and we were both yelling at each other.....so I told her to shut her mouth and I called the cops right in front of her!, and guess what....they gave her a ticket! that stupid Bi*#%!"

I was not happy at all to hear this. I feel that when I start a job, especially a larger job, that I become part of the neighborhood. I need to get along with everyone, as I'm going to be there for a while, and I think of how I would feel if some contractor didn't respect our property.
So I asked my brother..."where does she live?"..... "Oh she's right up the street....over there" I looked over and saw that she was two houses up,....we didn't pay for that space and somehow my "no parking" sign was in front of her house. Now my blood began to boil...I asked who moved that sign? My brother confessed that he did it because he thought that the truck that was going to deliver the dumpster may need more room. Now I was having a really hard time controlling my temper.
"First of all.....THERE IS NO DUMPSTER HERE YET!, and second of all you had no right to move that sign. And most of all you yelled at this old woman???!!! I can't believe that you would put me in this predicament!! You should be ashamed of yourself....." He got mad at me and walked off to the back of the property.
It wasn't an easy thing to do, but I went over and rang her doorbell. She answered and started going off on me about how disrespectful my men were to her, and that she had every right to park in front of her house...It took about ten minutes to calm her down, and I promised that not only would I pay for the ticket, but that would never happen again. Turned out she (Helen) was the nicest person in that neighborhood, and we became good friends. Sadly, my brother didn't last too long after this incident, and I'm sure some of the neighbors were happy about that.

TIP OF THE DAY:

Dumpsters....

We need to do some spring cleaning.....like the yard, and the Garage, and finally get those never used things out of the basement. But how do we get rid of these things?? 

Actually your township should take most of it. Call them to see what they will take and if they'll pick it up. In most cases, you can rid of the majority of garbage that way. 

Dumpster in a bag!

But if not there is a really cool thing at some major home improvement stores now. It's the "Bagster" the dumpster in a bag! You buy one of these fabric containers at your local home improvement store for about $30.  Then, take it home, fill it with up to 3,300 pounds of unwanted material and call the number that came with it for a scheduled pick up.  There is an additional pick up fee that varies by locale.  The service is available in many, but not, all areas. Happy Dumping!

See you next time......from beyond.........

Incompetence in the workplace?

I unfortunately have witnessed many instances of incompetence in the construction field.

Many stories come to mind on this topic. There are a ton of stories that happened on my crew during the years in business, which I will get to at another time, but I'm gonna tell a story that goes back to the time I worked with my Dad....again.....sorry Dad.  As a matter of fact there are multiple instances of incompetence that truly make me wonder how things can actually get done.
It was the summer of 73 (weird, seems like yesterday), and I was working with my Dad. He had a crew of very interesting people. One person in particular was my Uncle Paul. Uncle Paul married my Mother's sister, and he worked for my Dad for quite a few years.....be forewarned, you will hear more stories about Uncle Paul.

He was the kind of person who got himself into the craziest situations.

This one summer day we were working in New Brunswick NJ. We were working on a housing development, I think it was "Hidden Lake", although we eventually found that lake, which wasn't hidden well.
It was around 9:30 am. and we ALWAYS had our coffee break at 10 am. never fail.
This one particular morning, my Dad told me to tell Uncle Paul to go to the local diner to get coffee for the crew. He handed me a 20 dollar bill and told me to make sure that Uncle Paul give him the change. I did my job, and my dear Uncle was happy to go.

This was the exact car!

The reason he was so happy to be the coffee guy, was first, he was able to get away for a little while, and the other reason was he got to drive my Dad's brand new Fleetwood Cadillac.
The brand new Cadillac was on the job because his pickup truck was in the shop....anyway. Uncle Paul gets into the car, and heads off on his journey. But just as he drove away, I see a concerned look come on my Dad's face. I looked over my shoulder to see the car heading towards a trench that was dug across the road by a Public Service (electric company) backhoe. My Dad looked at me and said "Where's he going?"....I shrugged my shoulders in the fact that I was just as curious as he was. My Dad started to whistle.....you know, the construction whistle....LOUD!

The car was heading right for the trench, and it wasn't slowing down.

 Now keep in mind that on our side of the trench was all of the dirt that was piled along the road from the digging of the trench. There was no way that Uncle Paul didn't see this. My father started to panic....and while yelling and whistling, started to run towards his brand new car. Just then we see the brake lights go on.....the car stopped, then we see the backup lights go on....my father stopped running, and in a relieved voice said "Man, he had me going for a minute."
While the whole crew was watching, the car backed up around 15 feet, stopped......the backup lights were no longer on...and all of a sudden we see the tires smoking!! I believe we all had our mouths wide open in amazement, and disbelief!! Uncle Paul was going to try and JUMP the trench with my Dad's brand new Cadillac! At this point we could do nothing but watch what the outcome was going to be. Seriously, I thought for sure that Uncle was just messing around, and would come to a screeching halt just before the trench.....But that was just wishful thinking.

I was actually surprised at what happened next.....

I swear this is what it looked like!!

The car hit the dirt pile, flew up in the air, and took an immediate nose dive into the trench!!!! What we saw from our vantage point was the back tires....spinning, the muffler, and my Dad running towards the car with a shovel!!

Uncle Paul lived, and remained employed to give us many more stories, but he never got to live that one down. He explained that since he was headed that way, he really thought that the car would jump over the trench, and he would be regarded as "the cool guy that jumped the trench" Oh.....and we didn't get coffee that day!

TIP OF THE DAY:

Since were talking about cars today, lets repair our cracked concrete driveway..

Patch the cracks with caulk. I can highly recommend Quikrete Concrete Repair 8620-10. It’s an acrylic latex product that includes a little sand, which makes it blend in well with concrete. You can even use it to repair the cracks in your stucco or masonry. 

See you next time......from beyond......... 

 

Whose fence is it anyway?

I have done many many jobs through the years....

And I have had so many different experiences on these jobs, mostly good ones. I have the kind of personality that I can get along with just about anyone. But there are the few, (and that's a good record)  that are, well let's say interesting. This story is not about the homeowners that I was doing the job for, it was the neighbor!
About five years ago......(slight fade)...I took a job in Lambertville NJ. (you can see that job here) for an addition on a duplex that was built in the late 1800's. The homeowners were really beautiful people, and they had complete faith in me to perform this huge difficult job.

The lot was very small, and the only access to the rear of the house, which was where the addition was to be, was a nine foot wide driveway. As a matter of fact when I first went to look at the job, I felt so overwhelmed, due to the circumstances surrounding the job that I almost didn't take it. But I did.
It's my standard practice to take pictures of the entire house (area) before I start any work. And it seemed that this being one of the hardest jobs I've done in a long time, pictures were a must.
The work got started. Due to the confined area, I decided that my men and I would do the demo by hand which is usually done by machines. I instructed my men to be extremely careful not only for their protection but also for the protection of the attached part of the neighbors house as well. So we started to demo the house board by board. We had to stack the debris in the driveway because the dumpster was in the street, which was the only place I could fit it.
This is where I met the neighbor (on the other side of the driveway). I hear a woman calling...."Excuse me......hello....excuse me..." I looked over and there was a pleasant looking middle aged woman standing at the end of the driveway. I asked her if there was something I could do for her, as I introduced myself. In a somewhat unpleasant tone she said "Dominick, please make sure your men don't lean anything on my fence" I graciously agreed, and immediately and in front of her told my men not to lean anything on the fence. Oh....this was the first day.
The following day, one of my men unconsciously laid a broken piece of gutter against the fence, and within seconds, she was out on her porch pointing out that we were not respecting her wishes. I apologized, and instructed my men....again in front of her...to be more aware of the fence.
Now came time for the excavation of the basement. This in itself was a miracle. We had gotten heavy equipment down the driveway, and while we were digging we had to load  giant dump trucks with dirt as there was no place to store it. This as scary as it was, went very well. I left the job that night around seven pm. and the machine was just finishing up. Around 9pm I get a call,......it was the fence lady, and she was screaming about how the machine hit the fence and ruined it. I was sick over this, but in a calming voice, I told her that if there was any damage that it would be repaired before the job was finished. The next day, I was afraid to turn the corner to see the damaged fence, but to my surprise, it was just slightly and I mean slightly damaged, like only two slats were broken.
Throughout the job, she complained about the fence and the noise, and the dust...but mostly the fence.
As the job was coming to a close, an elderly woman who I had befriended, came by to bring us some homemade brownies.....She was a real sweetheart. She explained to me that this house we were working on was her late sisters, and held so many memories for her. She asked if I could show her the work that we did, and  I told her that I  would be honored to show this off to her, because of how beautiful it came out.
She toured the downstairs like a town inspector, looking, touching, and commenting the whole time. We went upstairs to look at the master bedroom, and she began to tell me how impressed she was with the work we had done. She said these very important words to me..  "I'm so very impressed at what you did here! I watched as you and your men carried all of the material down that skinny driveway, and it's a miracle that you didn't knock down that old fence that my sister had put in"........I was dumbfounded.....but yet oh so happy to hear these words that I asked her to repeat it. "Oh yes, my sister had that fence put in right before she passed away"
When the last scrap was picked up, and I handed the keys to the happy homeowners, the woman from next door comes to the front porch and asked me when I was going to fix her fence, as a matter of fact she wanted me to replace the whole fence because it wasn't going to match! I had the extreme pleasure to tell her "well, your gonna have to ask your new neighbors what they want to do, after all it's their fence, not yours!" This was confirmed by the survey for the lot I was working on, and now she changed her focus....."my chimney looks like it has a lot more cracks in it because of all the trucks and machines.......I showed her the "before" pictures and together we matched up ALL the cracks!

TIP OF THE DAY:

With spring right around the corner, it's that time of year again when spring rains can be heavy and unpredictable, often causing leaky roofs and flash-flooding. If you get caught off-guard and wind up with wet floors and soggy carpets, here's how to handle a "wet emergency". First use a wet/dry vac to pick up as much as possible. Be careful, as water and electricity don't mix. Then peel back the carpet, discard the pad, roll up the carpet and take it outside. Lay it out flat and dry the bottom side first. Then use a fan to dry the floor area. Often carpets can be cleaned and reused, but pads will need to be replaced. For some of us, rainy season is never fun unless we fix those roof leaks and have the grade pitched proerly away from our homes.

 

See you next time......from beyond......... 

Workin with Dad...

I saw my father today while traveling to a job.

My Dad, who is in his late seventies, is an old school contractor. He is and always was the kind of man that when he had work, he was King and no one could tell him anything about the construction field. But when work was a bit scarce, he became more "down to Earth", and much easier to deal with.

I treasure my Dad, he is my inspiration. 

And I fear the day when I may no longer be able to see him. He STILL owns his business, Bravo Masonry. He does mostly masonry work, and I find it totally amazing that he still keeps going! As a matter of fact I saw him today at a garage he is renting to keep his equipment in!
I worked with him as a kid during the summers, and after I got out of the US Navy, he convinced me to work for him. This part of my life is so very filled with stories, and great memories....and here's one!

It was the summer of 1970....(fade.....) I was in my very early teens, and loved going to work with my Dad.
Every morning we would meet at a local Diner just a few miles from our house. My Dad had a pretty big crew at the time, and we would get our cup of coffee, divide up into groups, and head off to our particular job for the day.
This one morning while we were there having our coffee. My Dad commented that Bill hadn't shown up yet, and I could tell he was getting a bit agitated. Bill, you see was one of my Dad's main men, and he drove "Big Red" ( A huge rack truck) which carried most of the tools.
About a half hour went by, and my Dad started to tell the guys where they were going for the day.....but there was a problem....Bill had some of the much needed tools with him on the truck. My Dad was now completely "out of sorts" and when he got like this, it was best to keep your distance, which I did.
Just about when he was ready to totally flip out, one of the guys yelled "Hey, There's Bill!" From across the highway, here came Bill, a slightly overweight gentleman, running down a huge hill towards us.
My Dad seemed relieved, but as Bill approached he seemed to get upset again, because there was no truck under Bills butt.
"Bill, Where the He** is the truck??!!" Out of breath, Bill replied "The damn thing stalled about a mile from here and she won't start up again" My Dad like a four star General says "Lets GO" Bill, my Dad, and myself jumped into his pickup and proceeded to drive over to rescue Big Red. There she was sitting on the shoulder of a busy highway, looking lost. My Dad turned his pick up around on this busy highway.....stopping traffic as he did this. Parking the truck nose to nose to Big Red, so he could hook up the jumping cables and breath life into her again.
My Dad directed me to sit on the hill next to the highway, basically just keeping me out of the way. Both hoods were opened up, and Bill was trying to turn over Big Red's massive engine. But to no avail.....she tried, but the battery was just not strong enough. My Dad, proceeds to connect the jumper cables....
"Okay Bill, try it now....." The engine turned, slowly, but again not enough juice. My Dad then proceeds to get a gas can out of the pick up truck, he takes off the air filter from the carburetor......and gives Big Red a double shot of engine juice. It was at that moment, I realized that I had a few smoke bombs that I had

purchased the day before at a five and dime. I stealth-fully pulled one out of my pocket.......took the book of matches out of my pocket, trying not to make any sudden moves as not to be noticed, lit one of the matches, put the flame to the fuse...........and tossed it under Big Red.
While this was going on, my Dad was in the Pickup and Bill was in Big Red......My Dad yells out to Bill.."Try it now Bill!"  Bill turns the key.......the sound of this monster engine cranking, and trying to start was surreal. Then.....VROOM.....she started!....BUT....just as Bill was gunning the engine, the red smoke from the smoke bomb got sucked in from the bottom of the truck, and was filling the air all around Big Red. My Dad ran out of the pickup and started yelling for Bill to shut off the engine! He ripped off the jumper cables, as if they might have been the culprit. They were both in shock that this mysterious red smoke was coming out of the engine. They looked at each other, and then Bill said "I know what happened! when it first stalled, I put kerosine into the carburetor to start it"....That's the exact moment that I blew it....I started laughing.....They both looked over at me, and my Dad in his "I'm gonna kick your butt" voice say's to me........Well I can't really write that here, but imagine a bull charging at full speed.....He realized what had happened, laughed (Thank God) and got Big Red running and off on her way. He never let's me forget this event, I love him.

TIP OF THE DAY:

Most of us have fences around our yards. The winter months, hurricanes, and rain can cause havoc to these friendly neighbor keepers. I find that a lot of homeowners are a bit intimidated about repairs, but with these few tips, you can reinforce your fence without the big cost of having someone do it for you.
If your posts have become wobbly, what you want to do is to dig around the post, approximately a twelve inch diameter, and around six inches down (the deeper the better). Get a bag of ready mix concrete, mix it up (follow the directions). Pour the concrete into the newly dug pocket, and your post should now be reinforced. Any damaged slats can easily be removed, and a new one screwed back in it's place. You can purchase single slats at any home improvement store.

See you next time......from beyond.........