Persistent Calling

I was calling Frank Delorbe everyday to finish the hole in the wall that should have been months ago



and they finally got to it.
Here's what they did yesterday...


some cracking but....


Here's what they did today...

Seems alright...now hopefully we can finally arrange the house after about 12-10 months!

More leak tests

Just called Frank and he plans on personally doing a few more leak tests, tomorrow as a precaution. I believe he is going to use the hole in our wall as a gauge for leaks. It will be a crazy day tomorrow. I just hope it is alright since our ceiling is done now. Thank God that old water damaged ceiling of ours has been replaced. I just hope there will be no more leakage.

Light Cover Problem Fixed

A woker arrived around 9:45 am today. And fixed the light cover while I was busy clearing out the room so they could do work on our wall, I asked the worker how he solved the problem. He said that he brought the base down and that it was easy after that.


Smooth clean ceiling with light and cover.

Well it looks like the bathroom is done, but the worker said that Frank still wants to check for leaks or something. But there are no leaks in our bathroom going down. I am assuming the Frank took care of all the ones above us. That is the impression I got from Didio and I am guessing that Delorbe wouldn't continue the construction on our ceiling if their were more leaks above us.

In the meantime I am waiting for them to do the work on the wall which will hopefully be done by today since I start work tomorrow.

Final Coat but not finished...

Final Coat, they did a good job...


Smooth finish but...


They were not able to complete...


Because the screw was too short for to install this cover...


So I guess that and this will be set for Monday. Hopefully it will all be done by then.

Midday /Circuit Breaker

Painting or plaster? I don't know what they are doing but it is looking better. Mrs. Delorbe came in and took pictures as well. They all went out to lunch now.


Looks like a cleaner more even surface...


Pretty smooth...


What does this machine do?


This must be the machine that used too much power...

Twice the power went out and the circuit breaker had to be switched back on. I guess it switches off if too much electric power is being used.

The lighting main turned itself off...interesting...

Hopefully they will also get to the hole in the wall and then construction can be completed by today. I hope that they will also seal up the hole in the corner.

Also tomorrow

This should be finished as well...tomorrow. Hopefully it will all be wrapped up!

SheetRocked

Not looking too bad...


Here's the worm's eye view shot...


This close up is to give the idea of the kind of material the sheet rock is...



I zoom out for scale...


There are to come back early tomorrow morning I am guessing around 9:30am again to finish up...I just hope they seal up areas like this...


...and like this. I tell them about these areas.


They cleaned up pretty well.

Installing the sheetrock

Here's the beginning...

Early Disaster Area

We are used to Delorbe's guys coming at 1pm or 2pm. Usual time is 10 am. The bell rang at 9:30am. A call would have been nice. But whatever, that's fine. They need to get this done.
Here's our bathroom during construction...




Here is today's construction site.

Cracked

Even though we got a new light switch we also got a new crack in out tiles. Not too happy about that. I asked Delorbe if he could fix that, but he said if they worried about tiles right now this would never get done. Not sure if that means he is going to fix it later or what. But he also commented on our door and offered to help us reaplce that. He said we could get it for pretty cheap. What exactly cheap means? I don't know. I also asked if he could fix one of the outlets that we I accidnetly pulled out too much in the bedroom. He said he could look into it but not any time this week because of everything that is going down here.

Installing the fan and duct for louvered vent

Before...


After...


Duct has light. I voiced my doubts about all this keeping the cold air out but Frank told me that there is a flap on the inner vent and the outter one on the wall. We'll have to see in the winter time. But so far it looks good.

Precautions

Safety precautions were taken and the wires were covered properly by Frank Delorbe himself.

Incident

The guys came back about half an hour. I was working on my computer in the bedroom when some of the electricity went out. I heard a commotion of falling in the bathroom. One of the guys apparently got shocked. Apparently there was an open wire in the ceiling. The guys who were worked on the building previous neglected safety precautions. Thank God the poor guy was alright. A call went out to Delorbe right away and he here trying to figure out what happened. This building is old and in bad shape. Like I said it could have been worse for that guy.

As long as we've been here this is the first time we ever seen the whole ceiling in the bathroom torn down. Perhaps the previous workers who had done work never thought the ceiling would be taken down, but that is no excuse. The previous workers who left such a live wire open like that should not be permitted to work.

Here's the wire in question. Sorry it is a blurry shot. You can see from the shadow that the live wiare was dangling. This is a fire hazzard.


Here's the same shot but farther away.


Delorbe was able to find the circuit breaker and fix things. He also took a look at the fan that he got from home depot and noticed that a piece was missing. So he has to get another one. They should be here tomorrow.

Arrived 12:45

2 guys came around 12:35pm and inspected the ceiling. He showed me the fan. they left about 12:45pm. Hopefully it will all work out!

Waiting

I texted Frank at 11:00am. No response. It is now 12:00 noon. They were suppose to come in at 10:00am. I called Frank and he said that his guys were suppose to be here. So he said he would call them again. I believe they are suppose to install the louvered vent with the switch. But no one is here. I am going to call like every hour if I have to. We have to take baths and we miss our showers. It has taken a long time to get to this. To wait more in the middle of construction is quite frustrating.

Gutted

They came today and worked on taking apart the ceiling. They arrived after 10:30am. Frank's son came and an associate. Frank's son left and the associate did all the demolition. It's all gone now. It looks a little scary and it was left like this overnight. Was worried about rats and roached and other creatures, and called Delorbe to see if this is ok, he said it should be fine. It seemed fine, but we did get huge housefly all of sudden which I led out the door of the apartment. I hope they get it done soon! I asked Delorbe if they were coming tomorrow and he siad yes.

Called both Frank Didio and Delorbe and suppose to work Monday

Frank Didio called me back after I had left two voicemail messages. He told me that Frank Delorbe had been checking up on apartments further up above mine for leaks and apparently found some, and that he still was ahaving trouble getting to all of them.
Didio asked if I had found any moisture on my ceiling. I said that I couldn't tell because of the thick cardboard that Frank Delorbe's men had installed, which prevented me from seeing anything. Didio the asked me to ask Cesar, but then said if I can get a hold of Frank Delorbe to ask him. Since Delorbe's men installed this piece of thick cardboard, I proceeded to call Frank Delorbe next.

Delorbe answered at once and said that he talked to the engineer, looked at the piping (or something like that) and got the permit to replace the ceiling and install the vent.
He said they would be starting next week. I asked if I should be expecting him Monday and he said that they would be there Monday by 10am. So I will be there waiting.

Talked to Frank Delorbe today, to work early wed

Frank Delorbe stopped me on the way back to my apartment and said that he could work on the ceiling this Wednesday and also work out the vent so the who would be working on the outside could attach it from there. I told him I will be setting up something but will be available. I then proceeded to call Frank with a courtesy call to let him know what Frank Delorbe told me. I also phoned Marta and updated her.

Brown Dripping Trails

I came home to this. Brown dripping trails on my ceiling.

I called Frank Didio that something needs to be done now. He said they were waiting for approval on all the vents on the outside of the building. He sent a letter to the board last week and was waiting for their approval so they could get a one shot deal and save money. He said we could have our ceiling open for a week or wait for approval and have everything done at once. He said that would take about 2 days. I said I would wait until Monday and if there was no response, then just get to work on it because the leak problem is just taking way too long.

Construction is happening out side but not inside

Got a call from Marta. They haven't touched her place or done any plumbing. I have had these holes here since the beginning of May. The one on our ceiling and in the wall. More than 2 months. I left a message for Frank Didio to ask for an update. He said before that once they start doing reconstruction on the building they would start to get to work on this apartment. No calls. Nothing.

Friday and no show the whole week...

They said they would be here this week. I guess not. I'm going to have to do another round of calling again...

They didn't need to come into my apartment

I called Delorbe and apparently they didn't need to get into my apartment. They were able to look at things from the outside. So something is going to happen next week. They are going to tear down the ceiling, fix the vent and fixe the plumbing all in one shot. I wish they would have called to let me know.

The thing is I prepared to let them in so I took everything out of th bathroom. And actually one of the stands broke. I will see If I can fix it so we can use it for the rest of the week.


-Ian

It's 4pm and no one is here

So I've been waiting for more than 2 hours and no one has shown. IT is like 3:50pm and supposedly they were suppose to be here at 1:30pm. I need to do some errands. Going to call Delorbe and tell him that I will be out but be back in half an hour.

Big News!

Both Frank Didio and Frank Delorbe came by yesterday at around 6pm. Both of them saw the fan. Didio offered to either seal it off or make it into a louvered vent. That's cool but I kept asking if it would keep the cold air out. I am not sure I understood if it would or not. I am hoping to talk to Delorbe today. They said it would happen within the next two weeks when reconsruction of the building is happening. Rumor has it that the building is going to be raised. Another fellow, Jay the building engineer came from downstairs and took a look at the vent.

Delorbe said the vent is cut off and is of no use. The only good thing this vent might be doing is airing out the insides of the wall. The only problem is that in the winter is makes the bathroom at least 10 degrees lower than the rest of the apartment. We always have to keep the door closed, and put a towel at the bottom the door because it makes the whole apartment cold. Jay agreed that the vent is not providing ventalation to the halls because currently the duct is disconnected to the hall. Didio agreed to this and said that construction will be done. We can either seal it off or we can option to get a louvered vent. We have to verify that the louvered vent will keep the cold air out. I am assuming it is somthing lie this.
Here's a image of what I am guessing the construction is going to look like:



Supposedly today Delorbe and the Brick man is coming today to inspect as well as to do some aater tests. So around 1:30 today. I am waiting as I type this.
More to come...

Kevin making waves

Kevin replied back and said he would be on top of things and apparently he was. I got a call from Frank Didio saying that they are sending Frank Delorbe upstairs to do some testing to see if the leaks are actually coming from Greg's apartment.
Checking on the plumbing is suppose to happen here at 3:00pm tomorrow. So I'll be here.
Didio also said that he is meeting with his engineer at 6pm tomorrow. He said that the vent is used for ventilation but they are going to see if it may be possible to put some insulation, but he said he would first have to see the vent and the insides to see what possiblities there may be.

Round of Calling

texted Kevin to see if he was able to get a message through to Frank Didio
Called Greg, he has had no contact from Frank, although Cesar rang in this morning to his apartment and asked if it was finished yet. Not even started yet.
I left a message on Frank Didio's cell asking for an update on the plumbing situation upstairs.

Talked with Kevin yesterday

It was hopeful. I explained what the blog was about and he said that it was a good idea. He said it might be a good idea to try a conference call with Lawrence Manning. We tried to conference call with Didio but got his message machine. It was funny though, when Kevin finished leaving a message, perhaps it had to do with something with the conferecne call, but the answerinf machine said that there was no voice and that no message was recorded. I had to swap to get back to Kevin. Kevin said that he would try again and leave a message and call me back. Haven't heard from him since. Perhaps I shall call tomorrow.

Progress

Sent the link of this blog to Kevin. Left a message on Lawrence Mannings cell at 11am today. We'll see what happens. Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

Ok good news. I just got a call back from Rusty from Metro Mobile. Here's what he said pretty close to verbatim:

"Hello this message is for Ian Toledo. This is Rusty Stark from Metromobile Real Estate. We spoke yesterday afternoon regarding your apartment 22A about some bathroom leak repairs that you were charged for. I spoke to Frank Didio this morning about that and originally the plumber reported to us that the leak was coming from your apartment, holes in your floor, and water was coming through there and we charged you for that. But then we later found out, recently, that the plumber was wrong and that it was coming from the apartment above you. So what we are going to do is a billing adjustment on your account and give you credti for that 471.86, so you won't have to pay that in the future. You'll see int hte next bill that that was creditted. If you have any questions just call me back at #."

So it looks like we don't have to pay that charge which is great.

Left a message for our neighbor

Called Kevin at 9:46pm today. Left a message on his cell inquiring about if we could meet with the board to discuss this plumbing situation. Kevin is on the board. So let's see what happens. Maybe he can help with this situation. If no answer I shall leave a message on his email.

Check is ok with that date!

I just called my bank and they said that putting that date is ok. It should be fine. I had already called and told the bookkeeping fellow that I was going to cancel the check. (He also said he will Frank Didio my number for I inquired about the surprising extra charge to our maintenance bill). So I called again and left a message saying it was ok for that check with that date. Then I actually called later and reiterated that statement to him so He got the message personally. So at least the regualr maintenance is set.

Called greg Today 6.03.09

Crud! I put 7.02.09 on my maintenance check instead of 06.02.09. I wonder who do I call. I wonder if they will respond. I was scrambling to hurry writing for the check because my ride was here.

I called Greg today and he has not heard from anyone or Frank Didio. He bumped into Frank Delorbe and I don't think he has heard anything either. So no one is apparently doing anything. Lawrence Manning has not contacted us despite the 2 letters we sent him more than a week ago. One left at his doorstep the other by snail mail. We called Frank Didio about the extra amount billed to our maintance and no reply.

A Call is Returned!! 05.27.09

I got a call from Frank Didio 5:16 pm. Well a message on my phone. He said that Frank Delorbe is going to do work on our upstairs neighbor shower body because that is where the leak is coming from. He called me again by accident but I did not think to ask him all the questions I wanted to ask especially the extra charge on our maintenance bill. I left another message saying I would like to ask a couple of questions. I updated Cesar by leaving a message on his phone, and I actually got in contact and updated both Greg and Marta.

No mention of when though nor of needing to go into our apartment. There has been no letting Greg know when either. They need to use that bathroom because I believe he said his other one does not work.

Wednesday May 27 2009 No response

Yesterday I resealed the cardboard after Cesar saw the drips. Cesar and I went upstairs to talk to Greg. He told Greg that they would have to go through their shower fixture wall. Finally got to meet Greg face to face. Nice guy. Cesar left and told me that he was going to call Frank Didio. I figured ok, I've done all that I can do. I called Cesar to see how things went. No response. Then I decided to call Frank around noon today. Got his Machine. I left a message asking him if Cesar had called him and that Cesar saw where the dripping was coming from. From our upstairs neighbor. So my bases our covered. I left another message for Cesar. He got back to me at around 2:10pm saying he called Frank and left a message as well and that he has not called him back. He asked me to call him if Frank calls me. I said I would. Here goes the same pattern.

Yesterday we also wrote a letter to the president of the board, Lawrence Manning to expedite this repair. We sent one letter via snail mail and dropped another copy off on his apartment doorstep. It's in writing.

So we are waiting.

Also earlier yesterday I talked with Marta and she said that she got a call from Frank that some guy Davis can fix her walls and ceiling and that the building was going to pay for it. I told her everything about the source coming from our upstairs neighbor, we wrote a ltter to the president of the board, and that we are waiting on Frank to do some work on our place. She appreciated me telling her everything and she said that she too is going to wait until this leak is fixed.

Plumbing 05.24.09 Dripping from above again

After a long walk we came home around 9:50 pm and noticed that the plastic bag around our cardboard was full of water. we also heard a constant dripping on top of the cardboard.

When we replaced the cardboard (which again had become drenched with water that also filled a plastic bag we had placed over the cardboard) on May 24, 2009, we noticed that the dripping is coming from a pipe. We recorded a video of this:

Removal and evidence of dripping.

Cardboard Coverup 05.02.09

Here is a shot of how the plumbers covered the openings they made. The one above is the one in the bedroom wall.

This one is the one on the bathroom ceiling. I called Andrew about this, that it was leaking again. He said he was too busy. I called Frank. No one came as it kept getting wetter and wetter.
Eventually it started to drip. Not great to have drips coming from who knows where while you are trying to take a shower. So I called Andrew. He told me to call Cesar, and then Cesar told me to call him back. Frustrated that nothing was being done about the leak I still had to replace the cardboard to prevent water coming from above into our tub. This time I wrapped some cardboard in a plastic bag to prevent any soaking.

Our upstairs nieghbor stopped taking showers for awhile while we waited for someone to be sent here. No one was sent. The dripping apparently stopped. Later our upstairs neighbors resumed taking showers and no dripping. I finally got hold of Frank and he said that we had to wait to see where the leak is coming from. So we had to wait again.