by With the tub installed it was time to schedule my final plumbing inspection. When I called, my inspector confirmed what Wize Plumbing had told me when they installed the tub, I would need to perform a bowl test. Knowing that would involve climbing up on the roof to plug my stacks I asked Wize if they could do it. He recommended that I run the test prior to scheduling the inspector to ensure it would pass. If it did not I could make the necessary corrections. He stood me up once. When I got his assistant to confirm their coming I asked for a price. He wanted $950 as he assumed it would not pass and he would need to fix the problem. No way. I asked my father to do some research on the process and he found a YouTube video with clear instructions, so I decided to run the test myself.
My first attempt at scaling my roof did not go well. The pitch is steep, much steeper than my old house that I walked whenever I needed to. I barely got up to the top; thank God for years of fitness classes with Julie Hill (best trainer EVER). My feet never took traction, so I used all arm strength to push myself up. I was winded by the time I reached the top. I have three vents that would need to be plugged. The first I could reach while perched on top. The other two would mean lowering myself down the back side of the roof and then back up. All I could see was myself sliding completely down and crashing to the ground. I abandoned this attempt. Not to be deterred I desperately made calls trying to find a person with mountain climbing gear. When that failed I searched tool supply rental stores for body harnesses and life lines. I found both at Schuloff Tool Rental. I could rent the harness, but would need to buy the rope. About a $100 investment for two-day rental. I just needed the weather to cooperate for attempt number two.
Attempt number two never had to happen, thank God! When I came down from the first try I noticed separation in the crown moulding of my box gutters. Restoring the gutters was the first large chunk of change I spent on my house, so needless to say I was not happy to see the gaps. Clearly bad cuts had been made, caulk was used to hide them and the caulk failed. I called Fusion Roofing, who did the work, as I have a 5-year warranty. The crew leader that did the work, Randy, came out a few days later to see the issue in person. He apologized, made no excuses, and said they’d be back to correct the work. It rained the next two days, but they returned yesterday.
Here is the blessing in disguise. I asked them about the proper technique for scaling 
roofs with my pitch, sharing my pending plumbing inspection. Randy said his guy Joey could put the plugs in place for me. AWESOME, at least I could do the test run without fear of breaking my neck. You loose access to your plumbing with the plugs in place, so the plan was to run the test and have Joey remove. Pass or fail I’d need to scale the roof again for the actual inspection.
I ran the test and the water level held. Since they got such an early start I was able to reach the plumbing inspector and get the inspection scheduled for the same day. When I shared that news with Randy and Joey, Joey offered to come back and remove the plugs after the test. It meant my father would have to resort to the “pee pot” again, but a small inconvenience to get this huge milestone complete.
Their repair work went well and the gutters look great, again. Randy said he calls seams that fit that close “sexy”. Sexy indeed. Wize Plumbing I’ll never call again, but Fusion Roofing are super-stars in my book. I’ve said it before, but good customer service can overcome negative situations. I hope they put forth a competitive bid when I’m ready for my garage project. Joey refused compensation, but I made him take what I would have spent on the rental equipment. It was well earned and deserved. Perfect start to the Thanksgiving holiday.
1 Comment