Was Supposed To Get A New......

water main pipe installed from the street into my house. my city got a huge federal grant last year mind you, to replace as many lead pipes that are from the sidewalk, into the house.

so LAST year, 3 contractors came over to look and give me an estimate.

i chose the ONE contractor, that SHOWED UP 15 minutes EARLY...the 2 others were like 1 and 2.5 hours LATE.>!!

also, the first guy was "middle priced" in the estimate.

ok, i was told by the water dept, "this takes time, as they are all busy"...

i said ok.

i applied for 0 interest on this water dept loan.....

so here it is, MAY 2019, and i called the contractor..

the estimater (the guy that showed up last year) said to me, "yeah, my boss dediced to not get involved with this"

but here is the rub....i have a SIGNED CONTRACT with them, and the water dept people...

so i went directly over to the water dept, a mere 1/2 mile from my house, and spoke to the lady that set this all up..

she said, "oh no, they cannot do that. they have to HONOR that SIGNED contract, i will call them"

i said ok, but to "spite me now, they may muck up the job", she said "don't worry, we will take care of that, before it even happens."

the lady at the water dept, will call me as soon as she gets what she needs from that contractor.

and if all else, if he still refuses to deny the job, i can only hope she will send someone else over to do the job for the agreed and SIGNED contract price......

i also hope the Providence Water SUpply Board, will blackball that contractor from any and all work in the future.

the water dept by the way, will open up the street, to make the connection from the sidewalk, into the street, where that main pipe is....

i told the lady, the city has already painted lines on my street, as they are going to repave my street, soon it looks like


she said "oh boy, there is a 5 year moritoruim on that"..

i asked what do you mean?

she said, "no street can be opened up for 5 years after a repaving job"....


i hope i get my new water main soon....

also, the contractor said, they had called the water company to tell them they are not going to do this work, she said, no way were we ever called.....

so i was out earlier this morning, and the water company supervisor calls me, left a message.

i called him back, and he say that another contractor that bid on the job will do the job for the same price.

good news for me..

the supervisor knows all too well, that none of this is my fault, so he has worked out all the details.

so he has to write up the new contract, where the other company will do it for the same money.

the water company supervisor is also aware now that the city is going to be repaving my street real soon, so he said "they will hop on this ASAP"...cuz once the street is paved, there is a 5 year moritorium on opening up the new pavement for those first 5 years....

i go there tomorrow morning to sign the new contract

apparently, the first contractor, pulled out cuz he claims he does not have the manpower......

but, did he have the manpower LAST YEAR, when he bid the contract for the water dept..????

i dunno....

i got a fish tank to take care of, and a nap to take (momentarily) , and tv to watch, then supper, then anohter nap, then more tv to watch, and off to bed.....

I wish you the Good Luck that it all turns out the best

Silly Goose said:

I wish you the Good Luck that it all turns out the best

Click to expand...

thanks

i think so..i go this morning to sign the new contract, for the new contractor, all for the same price.

the water dept supervisor/engineer was going to call the city and get a definitive start date for the repaving to be done.

even though i am "retired", that does not mean i am always home or available, as i have doctor appoints or other things to do. in fact, i am busier now, than when i was working...!!!!!!

but if things work out, maybe the new contractor can come over next week......

all this marlarky, cuz the city got federal grants, to remove the old lead pipes from the street, into the houses.

i junped onto that last year when they first announced it, like in May/June..????

was told "it will take some time", so as i said, i thought the first contractor was SUPER busy, and to do one small job, just does not pay....

yet, he took the bid..........

not a man or company or any ethics, or obligations or responsibilities....

i'd NEVER recommend them to so much as clean my toilets.

well, went to the water dept when they opened at 8:30...spoke to the lady that is handling this fiasco.

i signed the new cotract (at the same price) with another contractor.

the other "good news" is that the city will be tearing up and repaving my street in june...no specific date, so all i can hope for now, is a rather quick (and professional) job to be done by the contractor, then a day or 2 later(??) the water dept has to come over and tear up the street, to replace the old lead line out there.....that is free to me, i am only paying from the sidewalk, into my house, plus the sidewalk repairs (new concrete).

i'm stoked...imma gonna be gitting a lead free water main...

now, all of us can breathe a sigh of relief, that the only lead we will be getting, is from the indoor house pipes....

life is good.......

Pro i can relate to what your going thru, and I don't want to hijack your thread so I'll try to keep it short. I lived on a corner lot and city came by and said i needed to replace some of my sidewalks due to being cracked etc and they had to replace parts of them from the tree's lifting them up, ok why don't we just replace them all the way around and I'll have new walks so city paid some and I paid some but had all new walks, the next year they repaved the street and replaced all the curbs even talked them into replaceing the approach to my garage which they did for FREE (shocking ) right? 2 years later gas company says replaceing all the mains and lines into the house and moving meters outside the house so section so new walks replaced again. AND the topper about 6 months later city needs to install handicapped approaches at the corners slopped down and wider for wheelchair use SO now we cut out the curbs and new walks as needed to install the new style ones. Go figure does the left hand know what the right hand is doing I think not

00mustang said:

Pro i can relate to what your going thru, and I don't want to hijack your thread so I'll try to keep it short. I lived on a corner lot and city came by and said i needed to replace some of my sidewalks due to being cracked etc and they had to replace parts of them from the tree's lifting them up, ok why don't we just replace them all the way around and I'll have new walks so city paid some and I paid some but had all new walks, the next year they repaved the street and replaced all the curbs even talked them into replaceing the approach to my garage which they did for FREE (shocking ) right? 2 years later gas company says replaceing all the mains and lines into the house and moving meters outside the house so section so new walks replaced again. AND the topper about 6 months later city needs to install handicapped approaches at the corners slopped down and wider for wheelchair use SO now we cut out the curbs and new walks as needed to install the new style ones. Go figure does the left hand know what the right hand is doing I think not

Click to expand...

lol...lol...

when the heck does one hand know what the other is doing...???.....lol

thankkfully, the gas company came by, oh about 2-3 years ago, and replaced the main trunk down my street, then they hooked up all the houses with new hard plastic lines.

the city and contractor, have already marked out the handicapped areas.

now regarding our sidewalks, the city pays for those, as far as i know. except in this case, the contractor doing my new water main, has to indeed break open my sidewalk. there is a charge on the estimate for that, for $455.00

had this been say a sidewalk replacement in the hood, then no charge to me.

do you live in a city/town that has the right to take away a portion of your frontage sidewalk, (up to and including beyound your picket fence) if they need to wiiden the street..???

some cities/towns here, have that right, to take what they want/need for such road expansions. but of course, they handle the movement of the fencings, and landscaping here. home owner has to just suck it up, losing frontage and maybe some land.

The left hand right hand deal is about playing the piano. In my burg we have take care of the sidewalks unless the damage is done by the trees on city side of sidewalk (sidewalk to the curb) causing the sidewalk to heave and become a trip hazard. The city isn't too bad to get along with we can get our own contractor but usually the city has a bunch of sidewalk work going on in the area so I just went with the ones the city was using and paid it thru my taxes. Don't know if they can take away my frontage or not, it is and old neighbor hood most house built in 1900's my was 1901. so don't think they are going to wide the streets, Don't have to worry about those problems any more since I sold it 4 years ago and bought my "retirement home out in the stick's"

00mustang said:

The left hand right hand deal is about playing the piano. In my burg we have take care of the sidewalks unless the damage is done by the trees on city side of sidewalk (sidewalk to the curb) causing the sidewalk to heave and become a trip hazard. The city isn't too bad to get along with we can get our own contractor but usually the city has a bunch of sidewalk work going on in the area so I just went with the ones the city was using and paid it thru my taxes. Don't know if they can take away my frontage or not, it is and old neighbor hood most house built in 1900's my was 1901. so don't think they are going to wide the streets, Don't have to worry about those problems any more since I sold it 4 years ago and bought my "retirement home out in the stick's"

Click to expand...

well, IF i get a settlement out of this workman's comp, and IF it is a sizeable one, i too may buy a single family home for MYSELF...

i want NOT to be a landlord no more...even though my sis and her dumbass husband are my ONLY tenants, i am ruing the day i had them move in...

dumbass HAS TO BE TOLD, to help shovel snow, sweep the yard, etc,etc..his only desire in his life is to go to work, come home and watch tv...

when ever he is outside....helping me....he's constanlty checking his phone for stupid crap...he has NO friends.....

i learnt my lesson, the FIRST TIME, i said to him, "when you're done with this area, you are done" (i still had MORE to do, but I FAILED to continue that wording)

he made sure he RAN into the house to grab a snack and watch tv...

now i say..."when you are DONE with THIS AREA, come see me"......

i tire of my house, built in 1860, it's a never ending chore to keep up with it.

ALL of you are VERY AWARE of my situatuion with now 3 major back operations, + one i had back in 2001.....

if i have to do all this work BY MYSELF, or put up with his BS, then dammit, I WANT TO LIVE BY MYSELF....

could i care where sis and dumbass go to live when i dump this house..??

ARE YOU KIDDING ME...???????

that's what my (now) former plumber used to ask, and i said....

I COULD GIVE A....................

Yo Pro1,

Did YOU or Your Family PAY to have the sidewalks installed when y'all originally moved into that House??
Was the street even paved back then or was it still a Cattle Trail?
Were y'all upgraded to a lighted outhouse or still using a pit behind a rock (the seat) in the woods??
- - -
City codes are apparently stranger than fiction in your part of this country as I've always lived in Cities and Cities are responsible for Sidewalk construction, not Residents.
(We do not have a sidewalk on our side of the 1 block long street)
Driveway to Front-Side-Back Porches/Entries are the responsibility of the Resident(s) at the Residence(s).

Hasta La Vista Baby!!
- - - -
Single Portable Family Home-----K-Whopper Super Condo, 15 speed, 3.36 rears, one fuel tank removed for Shower Water Tank......addons extra. Lifetime access to local Campground with Electric and Water "access".
(Resale value High meaning buyer need be High).

Cerberus_Kelpie said:

Yo Pro1,

Did YOU or Your Family PAY to have the sidewalks installed when y'all originally moved into that House??
Was the street even paved back then or was it still a Cattle Trail?
Were y'all upgraded to a lighted outhouse or still using a pit behind a rock (the seat) in the woods??

Click to expand...

the street was originally dirty, then cobbelstone, the entire area was once all farmland.

when the house was bought 70+ years ago, there was paving, and sidewalks. the house originally had gas lights/lamps, and pull flush toilets. and for good measure, dad told me that in the cellar where the laundry room is, the original owners had a still, into the floor. they cut open a hole in the wooden floor, and to this day, i can see burn marks on the surrounding wood.

as far as i know, my grandparents did not have to pay for the sidewalk, it was a part of that WPA(??) that FDR initiated.
- - -

City codes are apparently stranger than fiction in your part of this country as I've always lived in Cities and Cities are responsible for Sidewalk construction, not Residents.
(We do not have a sidewalk on our side of the 1 block long street)
Driveway to Front-Side-Back Porches/Entries are the responsibility of the Resident(s) at the Residence(s).

Hasta La Vista Baby!!

Click to expand...

there were no real (if any) building codes. when the plumbing was installed, those hacks known as plumbers back then, butcherd the support beams, HUGE chunks of wood cut out, to run the pipings...
- - - -

Single Portable Family Home-----K-Whopper Super Condo, 15 speed, 3.36 rears, one fuel tank removed for Shower Water Tank AND any color you want (provided you want White with Gold Trim)......add-ons extra. Resale value High (meaning buyer need be High).

Click to expand...

no thanks, i do not want a rolling home......but i'd be willing to get high nowadays, since no DOT pre or random or post screenings are in my future....

00mustang said:

Pro i can relate to what your going thru, and I don't want to hijack your thread so I'll try to keep it short. I lived on a corner lot and city came by and said i needed to replace some of my sidewalks due to being cracked etc and they had to replace parts of them from the tree's lifting them up, ok why don't we just replace them all the way around and I'll have new walks so city paid some and I paid some but had all new walks, the next year they repaved the street and replaced all the curbs even talked them into replaceing the approach to my garage which they did for FREE (shocking ) right? 2 years later gas company says replaceing all the mains and lines into the house and moving meters outside the house so section so new walks replaced again. AND the topper about 6 months later city needs to install handicapped approaches at the corners slopped down and wider for wheelchair use SO now we cut out the curbs and new walks as needed to install the new style ones. Go figure does the left hand know what the right hand is doing I think not

Click to expand...

Whats a sidewalk?
Never lived in a house with a sidewalk, have stepped in a cow patty or two.
They're good about digging down here, underground electrical, next year, more digging for sewer, now fiber optic lines.

00mustang said:

The left hand right hand deal is about playing the piano. In my burg we have take care of the sidewalks unless the damage is done by the trees on city side of sidewalk (sidewalk to the curb) causing the sidewalk to heave and become a trip hazard. The city isn't too bad to get along with we can get our own contractor but usually the city has a bunch of sidewalk work going on in the area so I just went with the ones the city was using and paid it thru my taxes. Don't know if they can take away my frontage or not, it is and old neighbor hood most house built in 1900's my was 1901. so don't think they are going to wide the streets, Don't have to worry about those problems any more since I sold it 4 years ago and bought my "retirement home out in the stick's"

Click to expand...

You sold too soon, I hear Coop Dispatch is looking at that property for a retirement home for his old employees.
You could have made big bucks, but I'm sure Dave is looking for the 15% discount.

seabreeze said:

Whats a sidewalk?

Click to expand...

You know, them thar edges of county roads (where the tar-seal stops).

Ima city kid, we had sidewalks all over even middle of streets and dead-end streets (cul-de-sacs).

pro1driver said:

the street was originally dirty, then cobbelstone, the entire area was once all farmland.

Click to expand...

Yeah, cobble stone gets dirty and quite easily from local farmland.

......i'd be willing to get high nowadays, since no DOT pre or random or post screenings are in my future....

Click to expand...

You should give it a go as it could be helpful with PAIN management.
Bet your imbecilic brother-in-law could help as long as there's a nearby t.v.