And the rains came down

A little late... but this blog is on behalf of November 19, 2009.

Lately we have had quite a few contractors in and out of our South Africa home working on a couple of leaks. A plumber, a builder and the insurance guy to be exact. On this particular day, it was the builder.... or at least his crew of three men. The builder left his guys in the stormy weather to work on our house, which I found quite odd. If you are in charge of a project, shouldn't you be around? I know I am deviating...but I find it necessary to vent a little on this particular topic. This builder doesn't listen to me. I don't believe he thinks my words hold any worth. He arrived to our house early that day much like the storm brewing outside. He went into our downstairs bathroom and proceeded to tell one of his guys to tear out the vanity and chip away the wall. Ummm, no. I explained this wasn't necessary as the leak was not from the vanity and had actually already been fixed by the plumber a couple weeks ago. He ignored me. He then went on to show the other two guys the outdoor project, more chipping away. They moved on in, ladders, rusty tool boxes, etc. And then, without a word, he left his guys. And the rains came down.

I decided to sit back and let them do their thing. I had already emailed and texted the home owner of the situation and they believed the builder knew what he was doing. That's fine, nothing more I could do there I suppose. I glanced outside the window and noticed the magnitude of the downpour. It looked pretty heavy. I quickly recalled the home owner's words: when a heavy rain comes, open the garage and the back door to let the water flow out. I did just that, and boy did that water flow! The rains kept on coming and our driveway kept on flooding. I found it quite interesting.

It seems plain sense to me to simply create a better drainage system than to have to open a garage door every time it rains. But that's the kind of construction that takes place here. The tube in the drainage vent in our driveway is about as big around as a Nalgene bottle. Not nearly large enough to take on this downpour! The guys also found this amusing, stating that there should be a bigger tube. Hmm, you think? I liked the guys. They were nice. I felt bad they were out there working in the rain. One guy slipped and fell on our patio, poor guy! At the end of the day, I gave the guys a ride to the taxi's. I totally didn't mind giving them a ride, in fact I enjoyed it. But I was in shock that their manager just left them like he did.

I should add in here- the plumber and the insurance guy came back to the house last Tuesday. They were surprised at the mess that was made of the situation. The builder showed up and tried to defend himself... I stood by and watched. Thinking...if only you had listened to me... The builder and his guys quickly packed up their supplies and went on their way...leaving behind a rusty mess on our patio, a broken vanity and chipped up walls. *Sigh* I guess the plumber and insurance guy are on it now.