8 bits are enough for me
Sep. 21st, 2025 06:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_siobhanStill alive. Haven't posted much, because really things haven't changed much in the last month.
The house stuff continues to be a labourious swim upstream against a river of bullshit. FinalBoss contractor finished off the stairs and deck and honestly, he was amazing. Since the stairs were the last part of the work that I figured would be needed to comply with code I contacted the city about closing the work permits.
Turns out Original Contractor did not get the city to look at the foundations before closing up the walls. Which is a MANDATORY step. There also apparently needed to be an inspection of the drain that leads to the sump pump. I do remember the contractor talking about getting the engineer to look at the work, so I reached out to him to see if he could provide a report.
Engineer: You have to talk to [Contractor]
Me: [Contractor] hasn't returned any of messages for months. Did you do the inspection or not?
Engineer: I'll reach out to him.
So will I be able to close the work permits? Nobody knows! I'm hoping that the worst-case scenario is they have to knock a hole in the wall and feed a camera down. I have no fucking idea what I'll do if they have to rip up concrete.
Cry, probably.
Meanwhile, got the bathroom painted and managed to rescue most of the fixtures. Figured out that the wall lights are borked and tried to buy replacements without any luck - they have to be really short because of the tiny space they are squeezed into, but apparently wall lights are now something that you can only order online because none of the hardware stores I visited had anything on site. I was really hoping I could take a tape measure to them before handing over any money.
AND I tried to put wall-plates on all the outlets and switches and failed because out of 12 electrical boxes only 4 are set properly in the wall. So I have to pull the rest apart and re-mount them and fill in the gaps on the ones where they just cut a fuckoff big hole that the plate won't cover. How how HOW do you screw up such a basic fucking job?
I am taking next weekend off and I am going to visit friends. And there is a part of me that thinks I should stay here and deal with the electricals bullshit but - I have dedicated every single weekend to this fucking project for longer than I can calculate. I lost my entire summer to dealing with this. I deserve to take ONE weekend off, right?
The house stuff continues to be a labourious swim upstream against a river of bullshit. Final
Turns out Original Contractor did not get the city to look at the foundations before closing up the walls. Which is a MANDATORY step. There also apparently needed to be an inspection of the drain that leads to the sump pump. I do remember the contractor talking about getting the engineer to look at the work, so I reached out to him to see if he could provide a report.
Engineer: You have to talk to [Contractor]
Me: [Contractor] hasn't returned any of messages for months. Did you do the inspection or not?
Engineer: I'll reach out to him.
So will I be able to close the work permits? Nobody knows! I'm hoping that the worst-case scenario is they have to knock a hole in the wall and feed a camera down. I have no fucking idea what I'll do if they have to rip up concrete.
Cry, probably.
Meanwhile, got the bathroom painted and managed to rescue most of the fixtures. Figured out that the wall lights are borked and tried to buy replacements without any luck - they have to be really short because of the tiny space they are squeezed into, but apparently wall lights are now something that you can only order online because none of the hardware stores I visited had anything on site. I was really hoping I could take a tape measure to them before handing over any money.
AND I tried to put wall-plates on all the outlets and switches and failed because out of 12 electrical boxes only 4 are set properly in the wall. So I have to pull the rest apart and re-mount them and fill in the gaps on the ones where they just cut a fuckoff big hole that the plate won't cover. How how HOW do you screw up such a basic fucking job?
I am taking next weekend off and I am going to visit friends. And there is a part of me that thinks I should stay here and deal with the electricals bullshit but - I have dedicated every single weekend to this fucking project for longer than I can calculate. I lost my entire summer to dealing with this. I deserve to take ONE weekend off, right?
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-22 04:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-22 01:06 pm (UTC)I'm hoping that the worst-case scenario is they have to knock a hole in the wall and feed a camera down. I have no fucking idea what I'll do if they have to rip up concrete.
Do you know a good lawyer?
This is where it's going to go.
The good news is, with the right legal representation, you can keep it in abayence while that issue is solved. And you can potentially drill into the wall for the camera.
The bad news... depends on the council.
The OTHER news, if you can't sweet talk the local inspectors, you COULD contact them, explain the reasons and, potentially, they will suggest an advocate.
I have no fucking idea what I'll do if they have to rip up concrete.
Seems unlikely. Council doesn't want that either,
How how HOW do you screw up such a basic fucking job?
The apprentice did it?
I deserve to take ONE weekend off, right?
The HOUSE HAS YOUR SOUL!
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-22 03:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-22 03:09 pm (UTC)Technically, as the home owner, I'm responsible for the permits. But I'm not the first person to end up in this situation because the contractor lied about getting inspections. I can also prove he didn't follow the blueprints.
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-23 02:23 pm (UTC)True, BUT your contractor should tell you the permits and permissions you need.
I suggest you'll be fine on that,
The rest....
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-24 03:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-25 12:03 pm (UTC)Yes. Yes you do. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2025-09-30 05:47 pm (UTC)