I need two dangerous side steps replaced. They are concrete; go way back before I bought the house. One is 9" high; the other is the usual 6". That first step is awkward, even for a normal-sized person, and I am very short. People have taken a dive on those steps.
I have back back and had shoulder surgery. Can't risk a fall.
The City has given me a grant for approx. $4k+ but I can't find a contractor to do the job; called quite a few in the phone book.
Is job that small that nobody is interested? Or? Somebody said they don't like jobs where a City pays, but I tried to tell them that the paperwork totally protects them; I've seen it.
If any contractor in the area is interested, please post and tell me where to contact you.
I take it the 9" step is the bottom step? of course it is............................ remove and rebuild them. it's not worth the time to cut and grind.
| | I have back back and had shoulder surgery. Can't risk a fall. | | The City has given me a grant for approx. $4k+ but I can't find a | contractor to do the job; called quite a few in the phone book. | | Is job that small that nobody is interested? Or? Somebody said they | don't like jobs where a City pays, but I tried to tell them that the | paperwork totally protects them; I've seen it. | | If any contractor in the area is interested, please post and tell me | where to contact you. | | Tx | | Aspasia | | |
No, my message was totally upfront. Maybe the area where I live is too "affluent" for a small job? Wish I shared in the "affluence"!
I don't know where else to research contractors, other than the yellow pages.
**********Any suggestions VERY welcome.****************
No. There has always been a 3" difference between top step and bottom step in the decades I have owned the house. It just didn't become an issue until my accident/surgery/do not fall problems arose.
Who knows how/when/why these concrete steps were so stupidly made?
Right. No landing at door; dimensions inconsistent.
aspasia wrote in news:qsWdnfWAesG6FZzbnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com:
Look for a handyman. We tackle smaller jobs like this all the time. Contractors don't like to mess with jobs under $10K because theres so much cost in the setup.
Ask for references and check them out before you hire someone.
This isn't a repair, so he'll have to pull a permit with the city. This is a good thing, since they'll make sure he meets code.
If I were doing it in the Fort Worth area, I'd guess the cost would be around $1000. This includes hauling away the old concrete and building a stoop with two steps and a railing. Your code might not require the railing, but I'd want it anyway. (I didn't do an actual calculation here. Make your guy give you a written estimate up front.)
Well, you did give me an idea. Maybe the City doesn't require him (or her) to be a licensed contractor. I was thinking they had to be, because it would be paid for by a City grant (senior stuff).
The City allocated $4000 for the job, but the ONLY bid I was able to get was from a female head of a minority construction company not in this area, and it ran $625 over.
Nothing developed for over a year, and then I got an inquiry from whoever drew up the bid papers -- they're somehow connected with the City (don't ask; I don't even understand it!) So now I am trying to find out if the bid is still alive, and if not, go back on the hunt for a contractor/handyman/whatever.
Sigh!
I originally asked the group if they knew of a way to locate a person to do the job, other than the Yellow Pages.
Still asking...any thoughts on where to look? I really don't want to lose the City funds, and I sure as hell need to fix those steps, but I can't afford it out of pocket.
Even upfront messages often leave things out. In fact, hardly anyone gives all the relevant fact the first time they post, and it's pretty frustrating sometimes.
Maybe. I live in the suburbs and it's not even a rich suburb by any means. Yet when I wanted my car's catalytic converter repaired instead of replaced, no one wanted to do it. (well I only asked two).**
So I drove 5 miles away, closer to downtown, and the first shop I tried was happy to do it. **** They did complete exhaust systems too, but they didn't shirk from repair work. They took me right away too, and did a good job.
Anyhow, repairmen have trucks and will travel. Maybe go to a hardware store in your or a less ritzy n'hood and look on the bulletin board.
But look at the other things he has done. My ex-girlfriend has a series of guys who work for her, cleaning out and/or painting the units at the ministorage she runs, repairing the roof, even repairing the walls when a car hits it (although maybe she hires a pro for that.) So I needed my roof repaired and she gave me a name, I bought a full 4x8 sheet of plywood but he just cut out a piece a third that size that eventually I found was a bit smaller than the hole. I bought tar paper and plenty of shingles, too. Instead of starting the shingles from the edge of the roof and working in, he must have started from the last good shingle and worked out, so there were 2 inches of shingle hanging over the edge of the roof***, and it leaked just as bad after he was done as before. He chose the price, and he could have chosen a higher price if time was the issue, but I guess he just didn't know how to do better. I didn't know it was still leaking when I paid him, and because it was a roof, I didn't watch as he did it. In fact if it weren't a roof, I would have done it myself.
At my request he went up and trimmed the extra shingle off but still left a ragged inch or half inch. Would have been so easy to start from the edge and work in. I"m not disappointed in her, and I should have gone to see other things he did. But I was in a bad mood, or I would have had my whole roof done by a pro at that time.
***The shingles coming over the edgelooked just like the roofs on homemade sheds and old run down houses. Is this a tradition?
****The pipe was cracking, an inch or two from the converter iirc.
So I drove 5 miles away and the first shop I tried was happy to do it. One bead sealed it but he put on two beads all the way around, and charged 75 dollars for a half hours work (still making plenty of money) and I tipped him 10 dollars. Better than paying 400+. It lasted 2 or 3 years until I junked the car.
BTW, is it legal to repair the converter? When it is only the pipe that is broken?
| >>I take it | >>the 9" step is the bottom step? | >>of course it is............................ | >
| >No! 9" is the TOP step! Very awkward/dangerous to navigate. | >
| >>remove and rebuild them. | >>it's not worth the time to cut and grind. | >
| >That's what I want -- to remove and rebuild, pref. with wood. | >I was never suggesting "cut and grind". | >
| >My problem is locating a contractor. | >
| You don't need a contractor. YOu need a 1.5" thick | slab of wood on top of the bottom step. That | will get you two 1.5" steps, which is about normal.
don't you mean two 7.5" risers why not just add concrete (sand mixture) to the bottom step?
I thought the bottom riser was higher. the top riser too tall is too easy to fix without removing anything.
I thought there was talk about removing the stairs or is that step. $4600 for 1 step...........yah right.
1 step (2 risers) would cost about $300 where I come from.
| | Actually, you've only mentioned two risers, which | implies only one actual stair? Probably it was | installed midway, and just sank. | |
| >| >>I take it | >| >>the 9" step is the bottom step? | >| >>of course it is............................ | >| >
| >| >No! 9" is the TOP step! Very awkward/dangerous to navigate. | >| >
| >| >>remove and rebuild them. | >| >>it's not worth the time to cut and grind. | >| >
| >| >That's what I want -- to remove and rebuild, pref. with wood. | >| >I was never suggesting "cut and grind". | >| >
| >| >My problem is locating a contractor. | >| >
| >| You don't need a contractor. YOu need a 1.5" thick | >| slab of wood on top of the bottom step. That | >| will get you two 1.5" steps, which is about normal. | | Very good. 25 points. | >
| >don't you mean two 7.5" risers | | I"m sure he does. | | >why not just add concrete (sand mixture) to the bottom step? | | More work. Might not stay attached. Might crumble and be dangerous.
more work than removing and replacing I doubt it. it will stay attached if installed correctly with pins and wire.
| >
| >I thought the bottom riser was higher. | | Above it says 9 inches. Raise the step below it 1.5" and that will | leave 7.5". | | >the top riser too tall is too easy to fix without removing anything. | >
| >I thought there was talk about removing the stairs or is that step. | >$4600 for 1 step...........yah right. | >1 step (2 risers) would cost about $300 where I come from. | | | >| Actually, you've only mentioned two risers, which | >| implies only one actual stair? Probably it was | >| installed midway, and just sank. | | Sounds right. | >| | >
Good. It was only the pipe, and the two pieces were welded back together. No clamp. Not only was the guy careful both times around (I watched) but the sound then and as long as the car ran indicated that there was no exhaust leak.
Guys, the best way to show the steps is to show them.
I have a couple of step pictures that would make everything clear, but when I tried to find a binary picture site where to post, I have to admit I was a little shocked at what was out there.
Anybody suggest a site where I can post the pictures, then post a message here directing you to site?
Repair broken pipe [was: Replace dangerous side steps]
That way people interested in the new subject can go right to it, and people interested in the old subject can bypass it. -- all without breaking the thread.
I used to do that. And when I change the subject line, I still do that.
When I read mailing lists, people are always changing the subject line and it is sometimes a big problem for me because Eudora doesn't sort by recent thread, only by mailbox. So I almost never change subject lines in email lists, or even personal correspondence, and that has carried over to news, even though Agent does sort by thread.
Maybe, maybe not. I use Agent, which is about as versatile as could be, more versatile than any other new program I know, and even if on occasion it's not, using it points out the issues.
Reading with Agent (which many people use) there are two choices,
1)Start a new thread when subject line changes, and
2)Don't start one when subject changes.
If you choose 2, there is no way to go right to it, because it appears with all the others and they only have one entry, at the top, that lists the subject. The entries below it don't give the subject.
If you choose 1, then the new thread starts at the very bottom of the list, regardless of how far away from the original thread that was.
There were too many times when too many people changed the subject line, often without even quoting the original subject, and I wanted to go back to an earlier post in the thread, and couldn't find one.
So I chose 2 and that has solved 1's enormous problem, but it has the problems I listed.
I've used Netscape a little for news, but not enough to see how it works on this issue. I guess other news readers could keep a multi-subject thread in one place, while listing the subject in the table of contents every time it changed. Does any program do that?
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