So the new house has been painted and otherwise worked on over the past month... and the latest upgrade has been tile (about twice as much as I originally intended) and new carpet (also much more than originally expected... but it's all for the best).
With my trip to San Diego getting in the way a bit, scheduling has been a bit tricky. The tile guys came out Friday, and were expected to be done by Sunday -- I made it clear that I was going to be out of town so they needed to finish in time. Then the carpet guys would arrive on Wednesday to finish the flooring. No problem, right?
Well, Sunday came and went, with no word from the tile guys (different installers than the carpet) that they were done -- or that they were ready to return my key to the place. So I dropped by the house Sunday afternoon to check in, since they told me Saturday that they'd be done Sunday morning. Nobody was around, but the tile was all installed as expected. I did notice that the hose from the wall valve to the toilet in the upstairs guest bathroom was broken off (sitting on the tub in that room, actually) and the valve was wrapped up. So I naturally assumed that they were intending to fix that issue before they returned my key. No problem, if they can wait for payment on the job, I can wait for them to finish.
I got a call from the tile install manager on Monday while I was in San Diego, asking if the tile was done to my satisfaction and could we arrange payment. I explained, since he apparently didn't get the word somehow that I would be unavailable until Wednesday, that I was out of town. But I pointed out what I'd seen on Sunday when I checked, and he didn't know anything about it. He said he'd check up on it and get back to me, and we could then meet on Wednesday to finalize everything.
Tuesday night when I returned from San Diego, I stopped by the house to see if they'd fixed the toilet yet. Imagine my delight to find that not only was the toilet not fixed, but the valve had been leaking the whole time (they tile guys apparently put a little clear plastic cup under the leak on Sunday, which I hadn't noticed before). But after 3 days of inattention, that little cup had overflowed -- and there was about 1/4" of standing water on the new tile floor. After unleashing a string of profanity, I grabbed the paper towels to begin sopping up the water... and when the first roll ran out, I had to head downstairs for another. That's when I noticed the lovely hanging pouch of water bulging from the ceiling in the dining room, easily sagging a good 3 inches down. Fortunately (I guess) that pouch hadn't leaked, but it was obviously trouble and certainly ruined the new paint job in that part of the house (never mind the potential for mold after sitting for 3 days...)
So I popped on the phone to the tile manager right away, and explained that not only was the toilet not fixed, but he had some significant water damage to take care of ASAP. He was nice enough about it and assured me that he'd be over first thing in the morning, and they'd take care of whatever needed to be done to fix the problem. Doesn't excuse the problem in the first place, but at least he had the right attitude about taking responsibility.
Anyhow, this morning I met up with the tile guys, while the carpet guys started their work -- they fixed the toilet right away, and told me that they wanted to wait until the family room ceiling dried out, then they'd just scrape away the paint pouch and "touch up" the ceiling. I suggested in no uncertain terms that after an extended soak, perhaps a "touch up" would be insufficient. So, they agreed to cut out the surrounding drywall and install a new piece, then repaint the resulting patch. We'll see how that goes...
This evening (Wednesday night) I took a quick picture of the gaping hole in my family room ceiling, for your viewing pleasure...
On the bright side, the tile itself looks fantastic... and the carpet ain't half bad, either. I'll be sure to post pictures as soon as I get a chance to take some in the daylight.
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