Down Mulberry Lane

Fire Cleaning Day 2

Yesterday was day two of having the cleaners come.  Only 4 came today.  The crew leader and the 3  ladies.  When the crew leader came in, he asked me if we saw anything and I asked about the cleaning of the screens upstairs and he looks at me absurdly and says... we dont do screens.  I mean, I'm not even mechanically minded enough to take apart a window... we just don't do that.  I should have called him on it and said... (one of the ladies did it yesterday in the living room), but I didn't.  He said he really didn't know what to do about it... I mean they never clean screens.  I said, well, I checked my daughter's bedroom because she kept getting soot on her face and I just wiped my hand on the screen and it comes back black.  He replied that if it would make me feel better, he would wipe it with a cloth but that is all he knew how to do.  I am not good at confronting people, but I didn't get angry... I am easily pushed down by others, so I just said OK, that would help so she didn't get black soot on her again.  So he returned to her room and did ONLY her room.  He says... I wonder why your daughter does that, that just isn't normal to put your face so close to a window that you hit the screen... I could tell he wasn't happy about it.

Secondly, then he comes downstairs and asks anything else?  And I showed him the ceiling in the laundry room, he says... yes it is streaked.  I said, well there is still loose soot up there, I took a sponge last night and it comes off... they just used a poor technique... willy nilly swipes (I didn't say that, though... I'd never be so bold to say something like that).  I said the reason I am pointing it out is that you say I should paint over it and he says yes.  And I said that we were told all loose soot has to come off the ceiling before painting.  Streaks will cover if they've been treated, but if it is loose, it will cause problems with the paint job.  He says... I will see what I can do.  You know you see all this stuff at night, that is why we couldn't get it.  I didn't reply to that, but in actuality at night it looked better than during the day with sunlight. 

Since I was asked to be out of the way, I finished the morning dishes and dried and put them away and went upstairs to write my girls a letter since they are away at camp.  Our house has wonderful sound carrying capabilities, which I normally hate because you can't get away from the noise anywhere.  But the cleaners apparently did not figure that out yet.  The crew leader started getting um... testy I would say.  He asked the girls cleaning the living room if they would follow up with polish today and they said sure.  Not unhappy in the least and he says... are you sure that's ok... and they give a questioning yes back to him... and he says... OK, I just didn't want it to be an imposition.  Very snooty almost like he was trying to make a point that they were going to go all out for me today.  The way he talked, I realized he did not follow with polish on any of the wood upstairs... probably the reason it looked very dull to me... even worse than normal... because the cleaner solution sucks the moisture out of the wood. 

Later, he was asked to pick up the tv so one of the gals could wipe under it.  And he just grumbled that there was not enough room... she says laughingly, there is plenty of room.  He disputed a while longer but finally does pick up the tv and she wipes under it.  Lots of dust bunnies under there... as I would expect cuz I NEVER pick up the tv... it is too large and bulky, so I dust around it.  She says thank you and doesn't make a comment... but he looks at it and says... OH my... that was so dirty under there.  I can't believe how dirty it is here.  (the tone inferred the entire house, not just under the tv).   He made a few other comments and the girls never added to his fussing... just tended to ignore him.  The one gal kept coming upstairs to ask me questions... as she was beginning to see she wasn't going to get the answer from her crew leader.  (she was one of the new gals). Another gal she kept asking questions about what is to be done... cuz he has the sheet and he yesterday kept saying... don't do that, don't do that... when they were supposed to do it.  But today he finally snapped at her and says... S****, you just don't give up... you nag on us all... we're not fast enough for you, we're not doing enough... she replied, no that isn't it... I just see another job to be done and since we have two newbies, I thought I'd keep them going if they were done.  And he says... NO, you do this all the time.  She got a little upset, but showed it by being quiet.  Poor gal and she's the one that WASHED our screens... loved her!  The other gals got quiet and they all tended to avoid the guy... I mean they were polite, but kept their distance.  They had 4 rooms to work on, so they had space to put between each other. 

One gal going into the bedroom, he says... do a real good job, because they don't want to repaint the ceiling.  So don't leave any streaking.  (UM... OK.... now if they can do it without leaving any streaking???  WHy not do it right the first time???  )  He said it like we were too lazy to paint the house.  And kept saying my dad should come paint it all... and I'm like... my dad is 64yo and he lives 3 hours away and is too busy... I don't care if you found out he is a professional painter... we're not going to do that to him. He asks me later if the guy outside is my Dad and I finally was able to let him know that my Dad doesn't live near us at all.  He quit the fussing over the painting.  OK, so now I am feeling this guy is a little crooked.  Doesn't do a good job just cuz he figures most people want to repaint their house.  He redid the ceiling in the laundry room and I can only find a couple streaks from when you'd roll cobwebs under the sponge (and that doesn't come out... only solution is to remove cobwebs first then sponge... which he doesn't do... I saw cobwebs in every corner, some still with soot on them.) 

I was very disappointed that the dining room ceiling wasn't saved.  I really like the ceiling tile... love it... very old fashioned with gold fleck in it.  So pretty.  I could handle redoing the kitchen, but wanted to keep the living room.  HUGE cobweb streak in one corner... ruined about 3 tiles... irreplacable!  The rest of the room came clean.  I was really disappointed, because they say to paint, which ruins the softening of the sound... which our house needs all the help it can get!   They missed a few other spots on purpose... to which I grabbed their chemical sponge and it came right off... I suppose once they streaked it... they realized it didn't really matter from that point on.  But if I PAINT it... it will really matter.  But I'm going to push for replacing the tile for sound reasons. 

I decided to leave at around 11 am... the tension was a bit too high for me.  I knew that they didn't know I could hear what was going on... but still, I felt they were unhappy with me there... so I left with Paige and got some shopping done.  We were out of dog food... so it gave me an excuse to leave.  I needed to go to the post office as well. 

I came home and other than the ceilings, it looks really nice in most of the rooms.  The kitchen area... the panelling is ruined.  The paint on the walls is ruined, and some wood boards didn't come exactly clean.  The burn areas still show on the cupboards... so now we will have to wait to see what has to be replaced.  We figure if we redo the ceiling and have to redo the paneling, it might be time for an overhaul.  The countertop is questionable... the cleaner they used left a sticky residue that I haven't been able to remove.  And it discolored the top... so I have two shades of green now.  Dh is going to ask the guy if we can settle up... meaning so much needs to be replaced, if we get quotes, can we just get the money and then redo the kitchen completely... if we saved on labor, we should be able to purchase the wood for Dh to make the cupboards... afterall he made these in the first place.  Not that we wanted to do this... but the kitchen doesn't look nice and trying to fix the pain and the wood, is going to cause alot of mess and it still won't look nice because of how the wood work is around the cupboards and such... and by removing it all (to do a good job), we likely will cause more damage to it yet. 

So that is our update.  I will post more, but I need to get dressed and move some furniture out of the way so they can wash carpets!

Warmly, ~Melissa

Untitled Comment

9:42 AM, July 10, 2008 .. Posted by morningsunshine

with our kitchen fire, the insurance company paid for cleaners to come, the ceilings to be painted, and the furniture cleaned. sounds like our fire was much like yours - oil left on the stove, a lot of smoke damage, no structural damage.
are you paying these guys yourself, or is the insurance company? if you are I would call and talk to the manager of the cleaning company about the shoddy job done. If it is the insurance company, talk to your agent and tell him the problems you are having with the company.
the one nice thing about our kitchen fire was the insurance company paid us cash to replace the wallpaper (expensive ugly stuff it was too) and we took teh money and repainted the house.

good luck wth everything!

Untitled Comment

9:54 AM, July 17, 2008 .. Posted by HandsNHearts

Wow. All I can say is you are far more Christian than I am. My tongue would never have held with that unprofessional attitude. Goodness. I am sorry everything is such a trial with the cleaning.

Deanna