Tuesday, March 13, 2007

What a mess

This must be the underbelly of the construction industry. There is no doubt about it...our land is a complete mess. I had (naive) thoughts that we would be the couple that kept their building site tidy, but those wishes have been tossed from the second floor like a piece of plywood. We've got nails, roof studs, concrete forms, plywood, framing materials, Subway wrappers, Redstripe bottle caps, and pretty much anything else that you can name on our site. Our builders had committed to a clean site, but to be honest, these guys are busting their b*tts so it doesn't feel quite right to request more from them.

It's just that we aren't usually the neighborhood slackers (until now anyway). We are the new kids on the street, and so far, our first impression can be rated no higher than a C-. With friends, kids, and dogs coming through the house, it's getting a bit unsafe...let alone unsightly. Honestly, a 5 ft square area (in the clear part of the land) could have as many as 50 rusty nails on the ground. Ugh, I can just feel the lawsuit coming.

I've lately been considering a self-imposed clean-up to get all of the stray nails off the ground. It won't be a fun task, but it will feel much better when it's done. The ironic part is thinking of just how many times we will have the same sentiment over the upcoming years.

There we go, I've said it for the first time, this house is a mess...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenny -

Do you have a construction dumpster on site? That can make all the difference. Our framers left the jobsite clean at the end of each day because it was easy to just chuck the trash in the dumpster. Nails are another issue. When they're working fast, it's just hard to keep the nails from flying and peppering the ground. When they're done (and before grading) have them clean up the nails with a rolling magnet.

Jenny said...

Ah, you are completely right! Thanks for the simple suggestion. I'm not sure when the right time is to ask this of our builder, but I'm sure something will come up.

I completely agree with the nails. Something tells me that they don't have rolling magnets in Cayman, but perhaps I'm incorrect. I'll definitely give an update.

Cheers!