Well, we have had no kitchen vent for a week now (nor microwave). We’ve had to live off of warmed up food and restaurants. To do some electrical work to fix the microwave that had to be removed to prove it to Adams Hoe Exteriors that the kitchen duct that they swore was “riveted into the house” was not connected at all from inside the house, I had to open two of the new windows for ventilation. On both of them, the screens are pulled out of the channel and on one, the screen has several slices in it. This is just about the two-dozenth problem with Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores and/or Adams Home Exteriors.
So kudos to Adams Home Exteriors (or whoever may have exerted pressure) to help them deploy more than one person on the siding project. In one day, more work had been done than the previous week. Of course the project is still 2-1/2 weeks behind, but it seems like one can see the end.
However, there are some issues with the new quick siding (see video below).
So the siding has a half inch of play in it, forward and backward. I thought that the middle was not nailed in, but the installer pulled a piece out to show my wife, and it was. The problem is that it has much more play in it than the front of the house. Now, I am wondering which side is done better and which one is worse.
Also in the video, is the fact that the top course of siding does not seem to have house wrap under it or at least there is no overlap and nailing surface for the next row of wrap that would go above it. After questioning Shawn Adams, he responded that the installer does not leave wrap overnight without something to protect it. Unfortunately, I can’t believe that response for two reasons:
The siding was nailed in all the way on 16″ centers. If an installer knew he would need to rip out some nails, he would leave enough of the nail stem to pry it out. Further, why would he nail them every 16″ for just tacking them in overnight?
How could he say that the installer doesn’t leave unprotected wrap when there is a 5′ x 8′ section that is unprotected and even has a few feet of wrap flapping in the wind?
The top course from the video was opened up so my wife could see that they used the wrap. Unfortunately, it doesn’t how that it overlapped with the row below it, and more worrisome, it looks like it bulges out a lot. In fact, I am worried that it may not have been put in the course below it but had instead been nailed with the wrap hanging downward and had then been folded up. Hopefully, it is bulging because it wasn’t nailed in very flatly and is puckering in the middle.
On Friday, I found the following note on my Ryobi drill that was in the garage. Evidently, Adams Home Exterior’s installer, Lafe, had a helper that thought the drill was Lafe’s. I appreciate it being returned, but now, it’s missing a battery. I know it had it’s battery attached because I used it briefly the week before, and I kept it in the garage along with the rip saw that I used to cut a sample of siding to get color matching for the garage door paint. So someone on behalf of Adams Home Exteriors and, therefore, Lowe’s Home Improvement Stores, took my property from inside my house — the drill was returned but not the battery. So should Lowe’s or Adams be responsible or am I simply out a battery?
Here is the state of the siding on Friday morning. Since both short walls are mostly done (equivalent to one long side), the front is half done and the back has not yet begun, I would say the house is almost half done — at least a little more than one-third done. The exceptions are the upper short wall on the west side, the porch ceiling, the vents that need redoing, and electrical. Thursday night included a conversation with the project coordinator’s department since I found out that there was one. I understand that there will be more people coming to work on the project soon.
Please note two things in the pictures below:
these pictures were taken more than two weeks from when the “7-10 day project” began.
we have had to endure the driveway and yard looking like it has for several weeks now (remember, the window project began mid-November). It has been difficult to get into the driveway and into the house safely most of this time.
