Floored

It’s been an interesting couple of days filled with adventure with the company installing the new garage floor. It all started with a fire. Relax. A fire of my own starting, in my style challenged, backyard fireplace. When I cleared out the garage in preparation for the new floor, I came across a bunch of random pieces of wood including an old end table that had been consigned to eventual conflagration. I was genuinely interested if it would burn (my pyromaniacal side emerges) since it was constructed of some sort of fake wood. In short order I had a major conflagration going and started worrying about my busy body neighbor down the hill would call the fire department on me (again). It all worked out and I was left with a great bed of coals that the overnight rain storm handled with aplomb.

FBR Helping with Christmas Cookie Prep

The installers showed up on time Friday morning and I wasn’t immediately filled with confidence. They were herd workers but it seemed like a bit of a fly by night set up. The company apparently sub-contracts the installation, a fact not shared with me ahead of time. They had some cool machines though, including one that shaved the top layer of the existing concrete floor. I’m a sucker for heavy duty machines that accomplish exotic tasks. That stage went quickly and they then filled in the small holes and cracks with a filler. The next step was the bottom layer of the new acrylic floor and I noticed at this point they weren’t paying a lot of attention to the side walls.

The Ex-Table

When I signed the contract for the work, I specifically chose to have the side walls done as well. I brought this up and they said that wasn’t put on the work order and recommended I call the company to sort it out. I did that and they blessedly answered the phone on this first call (last time that happened all day). You can probably read into that comment that I didn’t get a lot of satisfaction. They said they had to check with the production manager and would get back to me. Needless to say, the getting back to me part never happened. I called and left four separate, increasingly pointed, messages for the rest of the day. Meanwhile back in the garage, the installers had started spreading the flakes that provide the texture to the floor.

The Cool Concrete Shaving Machine

Shaved Floor with Holes Filled

They didn’t finish the last foot of the garage floor near the opening since it was still raining steadily and said that would compromise the seal. They packed up and left at this point, promising to return today to finish it up. I wasn’t filled with an abundance of confidence based on my interaction with their company throughout the day. I knew it wasn’t their fault but I let them know that I had left all these messages and please try and talk to the production manager about the side walls. It was at this point my Favorite Panamanian decided to get involved and lecture me about my failure to get the side walls done. She was mollified when I told her I hadn’t paid yet, other than a deposit, and wouldn’t until they fulfilled the contract. I (and she) was fortunate the First Friday Family Facetime call rolled around at this time to put me in a much better mood.

Spreading the Flakes

End of Friday Work

I was still pissed this morning when I received a call from the installer informing me the production manager had directed him to pick up additional material so he could do the side walls when he came. My calls apparently had some effect but it would have been better (and basic customer service) for someone to call me back on Friday to confirm that. They showed up and got back to work on that last foot of the floor and all the side walls. In fact, I had contracted only for about five inches of the walls but they covered the entire side wall, up to the height of the wall sill. I didn’t complain, figuring this was recompense for my frustrating Friday.

Final Result

The final step was a top layer of acrylic to seal the whole thing up and it looks great. It will take two days (because of the winter temperatures) before we can walk on it and four days for the cars but I’ll take it. As the guys were packing up to leave, I thanked them for putting up with my angst and gave them a healthy tip. So, the floor is done, I’m happy with how it looks, and less happy with the customer service folks at the company but, hey, it’s Christmas, so forgiveness is in the air. The final “benefit” of the new floor is the overwhelming smell of the acrylic in the house now. So we’ve got that going for us. I might have heard about that from a certain Panamanian a couple dozen times.

Four movies fell in my A-Z effort, all keepers, Creed (the franchise that just won’t die – new life with Michael B. Jordan), Creed 2 (interesting linkage back to original trilogy), Criminal (love this movie with Costner playing against type), and Crimson Pirate (1950s silliness but this was my favorite movie as a kid so it stays, hasn’t aged well)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -

RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course