The Window Obsession

I finally got a call from Progressive Solutions, Fleetwood Window dealer in San Antonio.  I will be talking to them this coming week.

My casement window, like most casement windows, isn't huge.  The 29x47 area, less 3" frame, gives glass area of 23x41.  Still, that's larger than the typical 2x2' or 2x3' shed windows.  And given that the entire window opens up, and channels wind from west, it provides more actual ventilation than a 36x48 single hung window, which would be the single hung alternative.  That's really the point of this window...ventilation, and some light.

The major source of light may be the 72x80 french doors facing east (but toward the house.  They also provide lots of additional ventilation when desired, and there is a quasi cross-flow between east and north sides.  I don't want windows on south and west sides, because that is where the majority of solar heating will be, and because basically those walls will be dedicated to storage.

Funny it seems that there is plenty of light in my house during the daytime even with blinds on all windows, including some actual blackout blinds in master bedroom.  So if there is plenty of light through blinds, the pool house windows are huge by comparison.

My school of thought about windows is that they are usually way overdone in McMansions and other architecturally designed houses.  One moderately sized window per room, as I mostly have in my house, is fine, in fact I think that's the direction of the future. Walls of windows are not a sustainable energy feature.  Windows are the #1 energy waster in a typical 2000's house with lots of windows. And that's true even with Energy Star Low-E windows.  Energy star requirements result in a window with far less R factor than normally insulated walls, something like R3 IIRC, while insulated walls can be R19 or higher.  You can get windows up to R11 (fixed series 11 Serious Windows) but they are incredibly rare and expensive.  You probably have never seen such windows in a home.

My mother was the person who opened up all the window coverings in the daytime and then closed them all at night for privacy.  But it seemed like other people I knew in High School just kept their windows closed all the day.  And that's pretty much the habit I have also, especially for the front and bedroom windows.  Going up and down most residential streets these days, it's rare to see a window not covered somehow.

I now often open the kitchen sliding glass door vertial blinds a couple of feet.  That door faces the back patio, which now has privacy screening.  I've often attempted to open just the upper blinds in the living room windows, but that quickly becomes a chore when you later have to close them.  I've often thought about having automated blinds, and even bought a automated blind motor, but it's complicated to set up and like many projects of mine has remained deep in the queue.

AFAIK, if you like to wander about the house without sufficient clothes on, you can be convicted of indecent exposure if others can see you, even backyard neighbors.  And  most security experts say you do not want people seeing your possessions inside.

I think it would be lovely to have great views from your windows, or have windows facing courtyard in villa or garden home, or live on a huge lot where there are no privacy issues.  But those are not luxuries I have, nor most people for the forseeable future.  I have little privacy even in my backyard now.  The 6 foot privacy fence gives hardly any privacy at all because of the slope of the land, and that is more the rule than the exception in homes I have looked at.  One possibility is extensive privacy landscaping.  I hope to have that someday, but it will require a lot of work.  Actually, the pool house will give the master bedroom window a little more privacy, but far from total.

Wait, come to think of it I do often open the master bedroom window during the daytime on weekends.  I've added a special privacy strip to the bottom of the window so that one can only be seen from the head up by backyard neighbors even at night.

Alternative stocked window

Home Depot seems to stock an acceptable window.  It's aluminum, white, no "lites", but fully insulated Low-E glass, 36x48.

Lowes did not stock a Low-E aluminum window without lites.

Surprise calls from Ronnie

Ronnie called on Friday at 6:50am.  First asks whether 4000psi is OK, or if 4500psi was minimum.  I said 4000 or 4500.  He knows I preferred 4500 (I had said "if possible").  He said it would cost more.  How much more, I asked.  A little bit more.  He said concrete couldn't be delivered today until 1pm, and that was too late.  He would call back.

He called back 2 minutes later saying concrete was scheduled for Tuesday at 7am.  I asked about wire mesh.  He said that was no problem, he already had it on truck.

Nope, no wire mesh installed this evening as promised

Wire mesh was, for the second time, promised to be installed tonight, as precursor to concrete pour.  I couldn't be sure from bedroom window, so I went out to check.  Still couldn't see any.

So I've been stood up.  It couldn't be any more clear this time.  And this is the second time.  I received no phone calls, and no messages on door either.

Tomorrow, if I don't see concrete (very unlikely now),   I'll first call Angies List and see if they can make suggestion as to what to do next.  Then perhaps my attorney brother-in-law.

At some point, I might call Ronnie again, offer him another chance with ultimatum.  Or maybe not.  I need to get some advice as to how to handle this to preserve all possible legal options.

On friend suggests simply telling him I won't be needing his services anymore.

If I never get concrete...

It's possible that I will get concrete slab poured by Ronnie.  Tomorrow is only the second time he has promised to do the concrete pour.  He has invested significant work in this project already (40 hours or more).  And considering the way he works, a few days of delay would not be unusual.

But for various reasons, including the way he blew past the first promised date of July 6 without letting me know beforehand, the halting way construction has gone since the beginning of construction on June 1 (2-3 days per week max,  3 hrs max per day), the way he hit me up for more money twice after the original deposits (and I paid, including on last Friday), the fact I've already paid more than the slab should cost, and the way he disappeared unreachable by phone for 3 days last month, all give me great concern over whether this will work out.  We are now at the point where he faces significant material costs, which I have already paid for several times, but still, if he spent the money elsewhere quickly after being paid, he may not have the money to pay significant material costs.  Or may not want to, figuring best to quit while he's this far ahead.*  And that indeed seemed to be the case that he had spent the money, since he needed more "draw" in order to get the job done quickly, he said last week.  That was not a good sign, but I only paid contingent on his providing significant documentation and inspection completion.

(* Come on, a guy who could make thousands a week on independent contracting, would he do that, stiff me for a measly $1xxx in concrete, considering the potential cost to his reputation?  Well maybe if contracting business has gotten slow anyway, and maybe he has "real job" somewhere, or unreal job doing something illegal.  Last week, when arguing for more cash, he said he was not a crook.  One friend suggested that was exactly what a crook would say, and when somebody says that you should not believe them.  Maybe he simply gets his jollies more from ripping people off than actually doing work, and I looked like easy mark.  Or maybe it's not a thought-out plan, he simply has substance abuse problem, attempting to feed it in any way possible until his whole career collapses.  That's one of several explanations to the effect that he's simply not concerned about reputation anymore.  Or perhaps he doesn't think I could hurt his reputation much, which might well be true.)

So what would I do next?  Well I'm going to keep after him for awhile.  But here are some alternatives:

1) Talk to Angies List people
2) File report on Angies list
3) Report to state attorney general
4) Report to BBB
5) Consult attorney
6) Go to small claims court
7) File police report
8) Hire private investigator to see what he actually does (perhaps find other employer and report to them)
9) Investigate using internet searches

On Angie's List, Ronnie claimed to be licensed.  However, his name does not show up in search of Texas licensed contractors:

http://www.tdlr.state.tx.us/LicenseSearch/LicenseSearch.asp

They say to call if license doesn't show up.  I will be doing that next week if I don't see concrete on Friday.  (1) is another first step.

One problem is that keeping the pressure on Ronnie to get the job done or get restitution will mean delaying hiring someone else to finish the work.  I am worried about how long leaving hole in the ground with rebar in it is OK.  After awhile, the hole collapses, rebar rusts, etc.  I should probably start talking with other contractors about it after 2 weeks.

As far as #6, this article suggests you should always consider whether contractor can pay up as one of 3 issues (do you have good case, can you compromise, can contractor pay up).  Well there probably isn't much money I could collect in compromise settlement anyway.  He'd probably try to claim all I've paid just goes for costs and materials, and a compromise might put it at half or less.  I think you can't get your court costs paid in small claims.  Arbitration might be better, but if he's not actual licensed contractor he might not need to submit to binding arbitration, or even otherwise.

July 5-6

July 5 and 6 were the two days Ronnie promised to have the wire mesh installed, and then get the slab poured.  On Friday he said he had talked to the concrete company, and Wednesday was the earliest day.

Actually he first said he could "probably" have the wire mesh installed on Saturday July 3.  I got him to agree that Tuesday would be the latest day, it would definitely be done by then.

Ronnie didn't show up on Saturday, or Tuesday July 5, or Wednesday July 6.

On the afternoon of July 5th, I noticed some weeds growing into the sides of the slab.  I got out a weed cutting pair of scissors and carefully cut back the worst ones, cutting with one hand and then removing the weed with the other hand.  I was careful not to "tug" on the weeds at all.  One of the weeds fell to the bottom because I wasn't gripping hard enough.  I was incredibly lucky not to cut my hands on protruding thin wire wrapped around the rebar.

Then I noticed two spots of crumbling on opposite sides.  On each side, roughly in the middle, there was now a gap of about 6 inches under the wood forms where soil had crumbled.  You could see the crumbled soil at the bottom of the beam trenches, but fortunately none of it was even close to touching the rebar, which is supported on 2.5 inch chunks of concrete.  Still, I might feel better vacuuming out the crumbled soil.

I called Ronnie about 5pm on Tuesday and told him about the crumbling soil.  He said it was no problem, he could fix that before the concrete was poured.  However, he didn't have any time to talk then, he would call back.  He didn't call back.

I called Ronnie again on July 6 around 5pm.  He said he had talked to the concrete company again and the earliest they could schedule was Friday July 8 at 7am.  So he would be out on Thursday July 7th in the evening and install the wire mesh, then back in the morning for the concrete pour.  I said "Great!" several times, not knowing what else to say.

*****

Since I faxed the Fleedwood window over a week before, June 27, I haven't heard anything from Holly Banks at Fleetwood Windows.  I sent an email on July 5 saying I needed to get the order going soon, this week at the latest.

July 1: Inspection "Passed with Flying Colors"

Ronnie came out to work on Friday morning and finished suspending the slab rebar above the moisture barrier with small pieces of concrete and wire bolsters.  Around 10:20 am, he awoke me with cell phone call asking for "the design" so I put on my bathrobe, got one of the 3 copies of the engineering design and put it under a weight on the patio table.

Sometime around 12:40 the inspector arrived for 1pm appointment.  I heard Ronnie and the inspector talking and opened up bedroom window shade to watch.  For the 3 minutes or so I was watching the inspector was mainly looking at slab preparation, then down at his notepad.  The inspector had a trimmed beard and looked a bit older than Ronnie.  Not long after 1pm, the inspector left and Ronnie knocked on front door.  "The Inspection Passed With Flying Colors!" he explained.  Though actually the inspection report, written by Wayne A. H* (illegible last name which Ronnie didn't know either, could be Hanuh) is a yellow carbon copy with dark grey writing.

He gave asked me to make copies of the inspection report (mainly a set of checked boxes) and the receipt for the $200 inspection fee.  He took the copies and I retained the originals.  The inspection report noted the 27" beam depths per engineering, but then had some abbreviation neither I nor Ronnie understood "16 UNDIST."  It noted that there was no wire mesh.  Ronnie said he would install the optional mesh on Saturday if possible.  He agreed that it would be installed no later than Tuesday, and the pour would be scheduled with local concrete company such as Ingram or Bexar Wednesday or as soon as it could be scheduled.

I asked if it was OK that he was adding wire mesh after inspection and he said it was, and I asked if being that the design was for brick and we were using much lighter fiber cement if that would mean it was even less likely to have trouble from ground shifting and he agreed it was "above and beyond" the requirements and should be fine.

I brought out my check carbon for the special payment I made on June 1 to cover engineering costs.  We agreed that I had covered the soil test, engineering, design copies, and the inspection fee ($200) in that payment for $535.81.  He suggested he had not collected $35 for digging the soil sample, so I included that $35 with the $670 advance I promised after the inspection, for $705 total.  He agreed to see about getting 4000 or 4500 PSI concrete as I asked him, and agreed he could handle it, and I said I would immediately reimburse him for the extra cost.  The minimum specification required by engineering is 3000 PSI.

He was also planning to use extra concrete to pour a concrete ramp.  He explained he would use "dowels" to attach the ramp to the slab, that would keep them from shifting apart like my patio and front entry sidewalk.  We agreed that it would go 1 inch beyond the 6 foot wide french doors on either side.

I later remembered talking to him about ramp before.  I did not (and still do not) like the idea of tying ramp to foundation, it worries me very much that this will put undue stress on the foundation.  I would prefer either free floating concrete ramp, and ignore the shifting, or a wood ramp.  I think given that choice before he recommended the wood ramp.  I'm planning to call him Saturday morning to make this change.  A wood ramp means that when patio is ultimately poured, the ramp can be replaced with decking, and moved to the side of the decking.  I think the wood is better because it allows easier changes, and can't damage the concrete slab, and probably won't shift as much either because it weighs less.  Of course the wood ramp wouldn't be as permanent, but given the unknown configurations of future patio that could be a plus.

I did some reading online and see that in some cases they use smoothed and greased dowels into the slab, with holes drilled after slab is poured, to allow some horizontal but not vertical movement for ramp.  The in other cases, the dowels are fixed into the foundation but the ramp has groves which fit over them, accomplishing the same thing.  Then in still other cases, they use felt in between ramp and slab, with dowels going through the felt.  I wonder if Ronnie had any of these more sophisticated ideas in mind.  Anyway, I still don't like the idea of connecting slab with ramp.  I'm spending a lot to make a slab as robust as possible amidst very expansive clay soil and I don't want to compromise that merely for a ramp.