Random rant of the day

[Marcus]

fudge, I hope the old guy can help you out! Sounds like it could be really cozy there! : (

[Gorth]

Sounds like it's more of a lack of understanding, than malicious intent. It still sucks though. I hope you survive the summer up there and maybe look for alternatives when winter is coming again?

[Joseph]

Well, it was funny in a sad way. We gave him the letter, with pictures, and he said "but they guy said he insulated it" to which we replied he didn't... but he said he did... well, he didn't... but he said he did... well, he didn't and here are the pictures proving it.

It's a three-part issue with him:

He's literally clueless when it comes to basic construction, maintenance, etc.

He's a raging alcoholic with memory problems that may or may not be tied to the alcoholism.

He is cheap and dishonest when it suits his purpose.

But he doesn't have a choice. He legally has to insulate the place. If not, he's looking at fines from the city and they will do the work for him and their bill will be much more than an independent contractor.

[Marcus]

I hope the old bugger help you out! Without it turning nasty!

[Joseph]

Yeah, well, he was up here Sunday with a contractor he hired to finally fix the rotted subfloor in the bathroom. And when we showed him the black mold he said it was the first time he'd heard of it. He's either stupid or a liar but my wife finally stopped feeling sorry for him and started getting mad. I've only be patient this long because she felt sorry for him.

And if he wants to play hardball regarding the insulation he looses. The law is the law. And unlike big bad evil property management companies he can financially afford the consequences.

Sad thing, he's got a decent piece of property and the house could really be something... but again, he's clueless. And completely destroying his own foundation at the back of the house too... idiots, bad landscaping, flowers, water and concrete... it's either funny or sad depending on how you look at it.

[Joseph]

Kind of a funny update - So, he was puttering around last night in the yard when we came home, and, as my wife said after, incredibly lucid, and he'll get the material, I'll do the work.

Between his pension and his wife's job he doesn't qualify for the utility company's free energy efficient upgrades so we agreed he's get the material for me. I'm not going up in the attic. It was done twice, poorly, by two different people and not my problem but our walls are and that's what I'll be doing. It'll be basically a "patch job" but an improvement none-the-less.

[Gorth]

Nothing 5 centimeters of asbestos can't fix!

[Marcus]

ASBESTOS! YAY!

[Joseph]

Well, eight hours yesterday, another five today and... our bathroom floor is... mostly done.

The room isn't even 6'x6' but it was two subfloors on top of... yep, old asbestos backed floor tiles. The guy, who does good work, said it's the worst floor he's ever done. And the fricking walls aren't straight either so he had to make angled cuts to compensate.

He has to come back to finish the baseboards. Poor guy. Poor us too with the inconvenience of almost our entire weekend gone.

Lesson here is for the landlord. When you own property for 40 years do periodic maintenance and upgrades. Pfft.

[Marcus]

Holy shit, that floor soudns horrible.

And yes, better do it now and then than do it all 40 years later!

[Gorth]

I'm surprised you were allowed to go anywhere even near asbestos and not required to alert local authorities that there is asbestos on the premises.

Australian rules (Canadian rules are probably different and no idea if 6'x6' is 10 square metres or not):

Removing asbestos

Unless you’re removing less than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos, you must be licensed to remove asbestos. If you are removing less than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos it is still recommended that you engage a licensed removalist and undertake asbestos awareness training.

Under the model WHS Regulations, two licences have been established: Class A and Class B.

Businesses with a Class A licence are permitted to remove all types of asbestos, including both friable and non-friable forms.
Businesses with a Class B licence can only remove non-friable asbestos.

--
Edit: Non-friable means not in "free" form, but rather mixed up in cement, plaster or other bonding material.

[Joseph]

Well, the contractor and I weren't 100%. We were guessing based on the age. But the floor in the bathroom is maybe 5'x5'. Either way... laws here are only enforced when someone reports the property owner.

[Marcus]

This is quite a mess. I hope it can be fixed without to much fuss and irritated people.

[Gorth]

Going to a job interview on Monday... a bit of an odd situation.

Bit of background, I know this woman, Nikki, from Brisbane. Late 50's early 60's, thereabouts. She used to manage billion dollar projects, like the big tunnel projects in Queensland etc. and is used to boss CEO's and managers around. I just so happen to be on her good side, so she sent me a message, Michael, here is a link, apply (and then the link). If you know her as well as I do, you know resistance is futile, might as well apply and put in a best effort.

She is married to a (now retired) SAS officer, because he was the only one who was able to stand up to her

[Marcus]

Haah! Sounds pretty awesome! Such ladies (and old men) are good to know!