Friday, November 2, 2018: Chimney Progress

I received the proposal from Gary at Holy Smoke Chimney Services yesterday. He included his recommended replacement cap design. He said it is cast iron. He said he assumed the existing chimney is just open ended and that he could have the new cap prefabricated and get it installed with just one man-lift lift. If the top row of bricks is loose, he would either remove it or re-secure it.

The cost he quoted was very realistic and about the same as that quoted by Mirelli to just reinstall the old cap. Gary said he would use a man-lift for access and that he currently had a three backlog, but the weather might make the schedule change. I told him I might be out of town, but I thought we could coordinate successfully. I asked him for his T&C, insurance and warranty information. He had his insurance company send me a copy of his insurance certificate (general liability expires on November 19). With respect to my other questions, he responded:

Payment is due upon completion.

There is no guarantee because a storm can blow off a chimney cover at any time and the roof. However, we have installed over 2000 caps over 40 year period and have only lost three.

I told him I was expecting another bid this week but would be making a decision by early next week. If we move forward, I will check with Morgan to see if he plans to be in town while the installation is going on to oversee and if necessary, hand Gary the payment upon successful completion. 

Thursday, November 1, 2018: Beech, boxwood; Pond Float

Ten weeks ago (August 17) John (landscaping) came by to look at my dead beech and the boxwoods along the west fence line. He said he could replace the beech and said he had another client that might take the boxwoods that are still alive and we could replace them with yews.

I sent John an email on Tuesday asking for a status. I got a response last night saying he has not found a replacement beech yet...10 weeks he has been looking?!? Anyway, he said he would look again and asked if I wanted to do something about the boxwood. I responded to his email with a reminder that HE had suggested a plan on the boxwood.

Obviously, he is busy and we are not high on his priority list.

I got the replacement float for the Hudson pond water valve today. I was very interested in seeing what changes they had made to prevent the "sticking" or "hanging up" that led to my pond overflowing. I compared the new float to the previous one that came with the new valve.

New float on left, previous float on right

If you cannot see a difference, it is not due to poor eye sight. Leslie, from Hudson, told me that "It was a height issue and it has been resolved". I could not tell any difference between the new float and the previous one except the new one was a slightly darker color. To avoid confusion, I marked the new float on the bottom. Then I got out my Craftsman micrometer and did a series of measurements. The overall height of the new float was 3.412" compared to the height of the previous float of 3.406". A difference of 0.006" (6 mils)! I could find no other measurement differences between the two. Was this change enough to keep the new float from sticking? Stay tuned.

I installed the new float into the body of the old valve and exercised the float. No sticking, hesitancy or hanging-up could be found. I removed the new float and installed the previous float (these floats are MUCH easier to install than the previous design). The previous float readily stuck, hesitated and hung-up. I swapped the floats several times and finally convinced myself that the new float was indeed not prone to the issues surrounding the previous float.

Hurrah for Hudson. I will update my Amazon review to reflect the success.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018: Halloween; new window shade; Holy Smoke chimney inspection

The Marvin guy (Nick) showed up as scheduled to install the new shade on the sunroom french door. This was the shade that failed a month before I left town and Mike (salesman) lied to me about ordering a new one. When on was finally ordered, I was out of the country. So, Nick installed it today. We will see how long it lasts. This is the third shade in this specific location.

Gary (Holy Smoke) showed up to take a look at the chimney. He said he would be sending me an estimate. He looked at the aluminum cap that blew off and recommended not reinstalling it because it was the wrong size. He also said he would use a man lift for access.

No response from John (landscaping).

Tuesday, October 30, 2018: Chimney Update; Note to John

Before I left on my European river cruise, I had talked with a referral I had received from the chimney guy (Mirelli), Doug. Doug told me that he would come by and email me an estimate to replace the chimney cap. He said he would consult with Mirelli and get my contact information from him. I sent a note to Mirelli and was told that they would work with Doug and contact him directly if they did not hear anything from him in a day or so.

Well...six weeks later, upon my return, I still had not received anything. I thought perhaps it was lost in my junk email, but before I called Doug again, I asked Morgan if his friend Charlie was still interested in the job. Morgan had suggested Charlie as an option before I left town, but I had already hired Mirelli (who then bailed out on me).

Morgan said he was sure Charlie was interested. That was last week and he would have Charlie call me. This morning I asked Morgan if Charlie was going to call. He said he has been trying to contact Charlie without success and was at the point of concluding Charlie was not interested and I should move on to someone else.

So, this morning I called Doug again. His estimate had not been lost in my email junk mail. He apologized that my project had "fallen through the crack", but he would try to come out and take a look at the job. I gave him the location information and description of the work. He said he was very busy and that, while he would try to drop by, the work might not be worth his time or effort. Nice!!

I sent an email to Mirelli telling them that Doug was not very encouraging and asked if they had another referral. Mirelli was very apologetic and suggested contacting Owen Bricklaying and Tuckpointing. I called Owen. They said they were very busy and they could not commit to any work until sometime next year. I asked if they had any suggestions. They recommended Mirelli (thanks a lot!) and Massey Tuckpointing. I called Massey and they said they don't do that sort of work but suggested I call Holy Smoke Chimney Service and talk to Gary. I called Gary and he assured me he could do the work and would come by later this week to look at the job. I sent another email to Mirelli with an update. They also suggested I contact Porter Tuckpointing. I called them and they said they would have someone come by either today or later this week.

So, in addition to possibly Doug, I have two more companies coming out to look at the job.

I sent an email to John (Landscaping) today asking about the status of the plans he suggested three months ago. He was going to replace the dead beech and replace the boxwoods along the west fence with more yews. He said he had another client who would take the boxwoods which had not died yet.

Sunday, October 28, 2018: Hudson Valve Update

On October 25, I posted that I was having trouble with the new Hudson valve on the pond and that I determined the problem was with an apparent redesign of the internal float. I sent a note to the manufacturer and today got an email reply. It was from Leslie and simple stated:

"It was a height issue and it has been resolved.  The new float is much easier to place correctly into the body, if you like I can send a can send a corrected 1/2" float if you provide an address."

I thanked her for the response and told her that the new design was indeed easier to assemble. I also gave her my address and asked for a new float. I did not ask why they are still selling these if they are aware of the problem. I bought this through Amazon, so I will put a review on their site warning of the issue.