20 November 2008

You weren't trying to sleep, were you?

This is the sight I came home to this afternoon. Nothing says "Welcome Home" like a big pile of old shingles, eh?

We've been trying to get our roof replaced for some time now. Actually, we had the work scheduled to be done on the day we had Mason, but the weather didn't cooperate. So, instead of roofers hammering incessantly on an empty domicile, they hammered today on an occupied one. And they jumped. And they threw stuff. And they shoveled, and yelled, and ate lunch. Hey, at least they picked a nice day to get the work done. Carolina blue skies, mid '50's . . can't beat it.

When I asked the company's representative if we'd need to keep our cars out of the driveway to make room for his dumpster, he said "No, we'll just put it out on the street so you can park in the driveway." Apparently the crew didn't get that memo.


I'll be interested to see the condition of my lawn tomorrow morning. They left after the sun went down this afternoon, so I could not survey their work. Mandi laid down the law though. "If it ain't clean," she said, "they don't get their check." Preach on sister! I'm not so much concerned about the big stuff, such as those adorning these bushes. I'm more worried about the six thousand old nails I'm sure to find in the yard getting accidentally lodged into the sole of some non-shoe-wearing 8-year-old I know. Perhaps a quick glance at the status of her tetanus booster is in order . .

The guys on the crew seemed pretty good, although what would I know. They didn't accost Mandi before I got home, they didn't park 18 low-riders in front of the house while they did their work, and they did not utter any Spanish profanities when I came outside to take pictures. Yeah, I know them all . . I did work in restaurants, remember? All they said, as I took this last shot, was "Otro, otro!" Apparently they wanted me to take more pictures. I figured one was enough.

3 comments:

Mary said...

Corey,

Been there. While they work so hard, there are always some miscommunications...

We hired "All American Landscaping" to do a job for us a few years ago. The crew arrived with one English-speaking leader who left the job an hour after arriving. I spent the late afternoon hand-gesturing with the guys as they didn't know a lick about landscaping. The job was horrible but we learned a lesson.

I think your job will be a good one. Hang in there and make sure they clean up!

Mary

Anonymous said...

Oh wow, that's a lotta mess right there. Have Lily talk to them in Spanish, me thinks she could hold her own!!

Anonymous said...

The joys of home ownership! Mandi's got it right...withold the cash!