Last May I wrote about deadbeat tradesmen.
One year ago I hired a chimney sweep to properly maintain my fireplace and chimney. Since we burn a lot of wood, cleaning it once every other year is about right. These guys are good. They sweep it from the inside but one guy climbed my unusually steep roof for an inspection up on the chimney top. Upon his return he showed me photos of my eighteen-year old rusting galvanized steel chimney crown. He suggested replacing it with stainless steel within a year or it could rust through causing a damaging leak. Not good.
The two most important parts of any home are the foundation and the roof. It’s easy to inspect a foundation but not so with a 40’ tall chimney. Unseen water damage can cause very expensive repairs if ignored. Many home owners fail to pay attention.
In my story last May I told of a walk-up tuckpointer with a very low price to fix my chimney crown. I fell for it, losing a $200 deposit and a rusting crown still on top.
He did not actually hustle me. He ended up in jail for violating a restraining order against his ex-wife before he began the repair, I was told. Later it was revealed he had beat his ex-wife severely and was being sent to prison for a long time.
He left his scaffolding behind.
Twice, one of his friends came over to claim that two of the scaffold sections belonged to him. I told the guy that if he had $200 he could take away the whole scaffold mess. I immediately chained and locked the scaffold sections together. Twice, he failed to show up with $200 so I placed ads on Craigslist to see if I could sell the scaffold, enough to reach 50’. My asking price was $800 or best offer.
No bites on the Craigslist ads all summer. Construction is in such a slump it seems nobody is buying even bargain priced tools and equipment. So the bro came over to help me take down the scaffold and I stacked the sections up against the woodpile, chained and locked. It sat there all summer, rusting away.
The sweeps quoted me a price to install the crown at $1200. The wife-beater wanted $400. The sweeps were to install stainless steel. The wife-beater was going to use limestone.
It turned out to be a blessing for me that the deadbeat tuckpointer from Chicago severely beat up his old lady and went to prison. Not so much for his battered ex-wife.
What I later found out was that a limestone crown would need regular inspection and possible maintenance (caulking) if the limestone crown was installed with a steel pipe poking through it. Leakage could occur within four years. With stainless steel pipe poking through a stainless steel crown and the proper flashing is installed, this will not be necessary.
I also discovered that most galvanized sheet metal is imported from China where there are no standards. One batch can be fine and another can be pure crap. The rust-out factor can be anywhere from three to ten years. Stainless is still made in the USA and will last long after I assume room temperature. I was guaranteed genuine USA made stainless steel.
Yesterday my chimney crown was finally replaced. The guys who climbed up there and replaced it were the same chimney sweeps who initially brought the rusting crown to my attention.
I struck a deal with them. If they would discount their price $300 I would give them the scaffold.
It’s a done deal. They did a good job that took four hours and hauled away the unsightly scaffold mess.
All things considered, we came out $100 ahead for our patience.
Lessons learned:
• If you discover a tradesman is from Chicago shut the door immediately and call the police, he’s probably wanted for fraud or spousal abuse, or both
• Avoid anyone dropping off a flyer or knocking to offer a free estimate
• Hire local, non-union tradesmen with experience and check out their reputation with references
• Pay a fair price and avoid bargains, but avoid being ripped-off
I knew all of these things from past experience so why did I fail to notice the warning signs? Why did I fall for this hustle again?
Just dumb. Again.
3 comments:
Paying a fair price. This is a lesson I have also learned the hard way many times. On two purchases we just made for repairs we went with a higher priced guy because he seemed more dependable.
I have learned very similar lessons about rust and trying to fight it. She always wins!
Glad to see that you got rid of that old scaffolding. Sad about that guy beating up his ex wife
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