furnace finally got fixed
Dec. 10th, 2004 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaeclecticToo bad that couldn't have happened before the cold snap. Considering I requested it on Nov 4.
I really did delude myself that I would not have trouble getting things done in this apartment. I mean, I'm paying pretty high rent relative to the norm for this area, and the guy at the property management company seems to be a complete anal-retentive about most things. So you would think that would add up to a well-maintained building.
(Not so) brief outline of events:
- Late March, I move into an apartment with a style of heat I've never seen before. Instead of a furnance, there is a boiler that pipes hot water through baseboard units.
- Late October, it gets cold enough that I turn on the heat. I notice right away that the boiler is a little noisy when it cycles on and off, but I figure I'll get used to it.
- November 4, at 5 AM, the boiler wakes me up by making a loud buzzing humming noise. I get out of bed and stare at it, trying to figure out if there is some way to get it to shut up. I notice that there is water dripping out of a couple of pipes, but have no idea if that is normal or not.
- A couple of hours later, I use the web form on the PPD web site to submit a maintenance request. I am a little hesitant in my phrasing, because I don't really know if either the noise or the dripping are unexpected, but it seems reasonable to get the furnace checked at the beginning of the winter anyway.
- The next day, I get a cheery email from the nice person at PPD saying that I should hear from their onsite handyman within a day.
- A day after that, I get a call from said handyman, who is apparently very busy but says he'll stop down the next day, which happens to be a Sunday. I explain that I'll be home until late afternoon, and that he can let himself in if I'm not there.
- He doesn't show up. I wonder if he's been there while I was out, and just left no sign?
- The work week starts and I get very busy. Time passes. The furnace gets louder and louder.
- The Bay Area has a week or so of record cold. During this week, the temperature in my apartment never gets above 63 degrees.
- The furnace keeps getting louder, and making a wider variety of noises: humming, banging, gurgles of astonishing loudness. Its cycle of loudness seems to regularly peak at 3:45 AM.
- After being woken up at 3:45 twice, I check the date of my original request, and realize that three weeks have gone by. I email the handyman and very politely inquire if he has forgotten about this?
- About 3 more days elapse.
- I get a call from the handyman's wife, who is extremely apologetic and explains that their email was down for a week, and besides this isn't something the handyman does, it is something the plumber does. I am not exceptionally impressed with this explanation, since why couldn't they have figured that out 3 (now almost 4) weeks ago? But anyway, she says they'll let the plumber know right away.
- Another week goes by.
- I send a nastygram (well, frigidly polite) email to PPD, pointing out that: I've been waiting more than a month, I've already reminded them once, I don't think I should have to nag them to get things done, and if I have to live all winter with being woken up in the middle of the night by the boiler, they may assume that I'm not going to want to renew my lease.
- That was the day before yesterday. Yesterday, I had a voice message and an email from PPM. Half an hour ago the plumber showed up.
And here's the kicker: He takes one look and says, "yeah the pressure's low". He fiddles for 5 minutes and says, "for some reason, the intake valve was closed". He fiddles for another 5 minutes and is done, and says "they really oughta just have these checked every year, kinda like changing the filter on a furnace". Which is pretty much what I asked for on November 4.
Grrr.
Am I just cursed? or is there no such thing as a decent landlord?
I really did delude myself that I would not have trouble getting things done in this apartment. I mean, I'm paying pretty high rent relative to the norm for this area, and the guy at the property management company seems to be a complete anal-retentive about most things. So you would think that would add up to a well-maintained building.
(Not so) brief outline of events:
- Late March, I move into an apartment with a style of heat I've never seen before. Instead of a furnance, there is a boiler that pipes hot water through baseboard units.
- Late October, it gets cold enough that I turn on the heat. I notice right away that the boiler is a little noisy when it cycles on and off, but I figure I'll get used to it.
- November 4, at 5 AM, the boiler wakes me up by making a loud buzzing humming noise. I get out of bed and stare at it, trying to figure out if there is some way to get it to shut up. I notice that there is water dripping out of a couple of pipes, but have no idea if that is normal or not.
- A couple of hours later, I use the web form on the PPD web site to submit a maintenance request. I am a little hesitant in my phrasing, because I don't really know if either the noise or the dripping are unexpected, but it seems reasonable to get the furnace checked at the beginning of the winter anyway.
- The next day, I get a cheery email from the nice person at PPD saying that I should hear from their onsite handyman within a day.
- A day after that, I get a call from said handyman, who is apparently very busy but says he'll stop down the next day, which happens to be a Sunday. I explain that I'll be home until late afternoon, and that he can let himself in if I'm not there.
- He doesn't show up. I wonder if he's been there while I was out, and just left no sign?
- The work week starts and I get very busy. Time passes. The furnace gets louder and louder.
- The Bay Area has a week or so of record cold. During this week, the temperature in my apartment never gets above 63 degrees.
- The furnace keeps getting louder, and making a wider variety of noises: humming, banging, gurgles of astonishing loudness. Its cycle of loudness seems to regularly peak at 3:45 AM.
- After being woken up at 3:45 twice, I check the date of my original request, and realize that three weeks have gone by. I email the handyman and very politely inquire if he has forgotten about this?
- About 3 more days elapse.
- I get a call from the handyman's wife, who is extremely apologetic and explains that their email was down for a week, and besides this isn't something the handyman does, it is something the plumber does. I am not exceptionally impressed with this explanation, since why couldn't they have figured that out 3 (now almost 4) weeks ago? But anyway, she says they'll let the plumber know right away.
- Another week goes by.
- I send a nastygram (well, frigidly polite) email to PPD, pointing out that: I've been waiting more than a month, I've already reminded them once, I don't think I should have to nag them to get things done, and if I have to live all winter with being woken up in the middle of the night by the boiler, they may assume that I'm not going to want to renew my lease.
- That was the day before yesterday. Yesterday, I had a voice message and an email from PPM. Half an hour ago the plumber showed up.
And here's the kicker: He takes one look and says, "yeah the pressure's low". He fiddles for 5 minutes and says, "for some reason, the intake valve was closed". He fiddles for another 5 minutes and is done, and says "they really oughta just have these checked every year, kinda like changing the filter on a furnace". Which is pretty much what I asked for on November 4.
Grrr.
Am I just cursed? or is there no such thing as a decent landlord?
