That really sucks...
October 24th (Thursday) -- Right when I think that the most trying and stressful parts of this process are behind me, something happens that just really sucks.
As a lot of the recent photos have shown, with progress, comes a lot of debris. On Wednesday, I came back home to pick up my mail and found that a major cleaning had taken place. I knew that this would happen at some point, but I didn't know when, so it was a wonderful surprise, until it wasn't.
I have become used to having lots of people in the house, and we've had an "unspoken understanding," that anything that has a tarp or plastic over it is my stuff and it isn't to be disturbed (and it hasn't). The one room I've been living in has a closed door, with plastic over it to try to keep the construction dust out and no one has gone into that space, unless: a) they have asked my permission first; b) in the case of the window replacement crew, I knew in advance and removed s lot of my stuff; or c) the electricians who needed to do new phone/DSL jacks, outlets, wiring issues, carbon dioxide/smoke detectors, which I didn't have advanced warning about, but knew at some point it would happen. Before this project started I had asked the contractor if I needed to put a lock on the door of my living space, and he said no. He was right, until he wasn't.
So, while I was reveling in the glow of the site clean up, I started looking around and noticed that things that were off limits had been "messed with." I didn't think too much of about it because they were just minor things (e.g., I have two large flats of bottled water and some bottles were missing -- no big deal; some one had been in the refrigerator, but as far as I could tell, no beer or anything else was missing). Remember, I haven't been living here because of the wiring in my living space and the bathroom plumbing had to be reworked. Then I noticed that things that were under the tarp, but either displaced (e.g., and broom and dustpan on the upper level was now on the main level) or I could not find (e.g., an upright vacuum cleaner that had been under a tarp that I was using to keep my living space as clean as possible). OK, the vacuum cleaner was a big mystery. And, other, cleaning-related things were missing -- a mop; a broom and dustpan; a basin that I was using in my temporary kitchen to catch water from my 4-gallon water jug; a 50-foot extension cord, and the upright vacuum cleaner. The contractor said that maybe the cleaning crew just took these items by mistake -- reasonable enough explanation, until it wasn't.
After speaking with the guy who owns the cleaning company, he said he would speak to his crew. Interestingly enough, he said that when leaving they notice that a mop and broom weren't theirs and left them in the front yard as the house was closed up. The next day the owner of the cleaning company met me at the house and we went through it to see if my vacuum cleaner was moved. By the way, they realized the extension cord was taken by mistake and he brought it back, so some of the items that were missing were returned, but not all of them.
Still the vacuum cleaner was missing and the cleaning crew members said they hadn't seen it and didn't take it by accident. The owner of the cleaning company assured me that his crew was bonded and insured, which my contractor requires, and that he understand that because most of his cleaners are immigrants, uneducated, and unskilled, that if anything was missing, he knew the finger would be pointed at his crew. Nevertheless, the cleaning crew members were the only ones who had never been in the house before, the missing items were cleaning-related, and even though I was assured that they were trained not to "mess with" things under tarps, it was clear that someone had messed with things that they shouldn't have and the vacuum was missing.
So, it really sucks that my vacuum cleaner is missing, especially when I still need to do another layer of cleaning to move back into the house and it has been a GREAT vacuum cleaner. Right before the start of construction, I even bought new filters for it because I knew it would get a workout. The cleaning company owner, while defending his crew and not wanting to damage his relationship with my contractor, accepted responsibility and said he would replace the vacuum. I thought that was appropriate and reasonable and I went on the hunt to find a reasonable replacement, and the company owner would reimburse me. I had invested in new filters, so I wanted to find the same model, but I did think that mine was used and whether it was appropriate to receive a new model, so maybe the owner should give me enough to cover its value. I dunno...I was mulling it over to try to determine what was fair for everyone.
So, far everyone was being reasonable and it seemed like this was just a little bump in the road, until it wasn't.
I do not take lightly the fact that the only logical conclusion is that someone on the cleaning crew messed with my stuff. I had a sleepless night worrying about the consequences of this situation. Would an unskilled laborer on the cleaning crew be fired over this? What other possible explanation could there be for the missing item? The only evidence was a logical conclusion and that all the other subcontractors said that hadn't messed wtih stuff or seen the vacuum (which we did have evidence of because they have been in and out of here for months). My missing vacuum will be replaced by the cleaning company owner, but still that "unspoken understanding" had been violated. The owner assured me that he had a spoken understanding with his cleaning crew members and staunchly defended them, but also assumed responsibility
After spending several hours in the house cleaning, and this was more time than I had spent here in the last week because I had been staying at friends' house, I noticed a few other things were missing. One of them was an expensive electronics device, and there was other evidence that my stuff was messed with (e.g., a container of batteries kept in the refrigerator was now on another floor of the house in a corner).
This has become really disturbing, and although the missing items will be replaced, this situation has soured the joy of a cleaned up job site. This is a real downer, not to mention that not having my vacuum cleaner right now, just really sucks.
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