Did I mention the small issue of the plumber earlier? Well, turns out it was not too small after all as it ended up costing me quite a bit. And this is only but one of the incidents I had with him!
Early one morning I received a call from my caretaker. He was in a state of delirium, literally. The first thought that crossed my mind? He had burnt down my house! Well not quite. Still, he had brought a part of it down. And he was incoherent. So I snapped at him to calm down and explain the reason for his call at 530AM when I really should be asleep. He went on to explain how he had attempted to fill up the tanks in the roof, just “to see if the system works”. The plumber had only just finished fixing the tanks and the plumbing system connecting the overhead tanks in the ceiling a few days earlier. So caretaker thought it wise to fill up the tanks and see if the taps were working in the house. Well, he switched on the water and waited and waited for the tanks to fill up, but seeing the capacity, he dozed off before they filled up. He was woken up by a loud thud early that morning. As he walked upstairs he was met by a stream of water coming down the stairs, which he traced to the master bedroom. Shock on him when he got there! The newly fixed gypsum ceiling was down in a pile, together with the metal frames that held them together. The newly painted walls had streaks of water all the way down to the floor where the laminate floor was. As a result they all got soaked up and in an attempt to salvage them; he broke the locks that hold them together rendering them useless in the process. I cried when I went to site to assess the damage. I couldn’t even yell at him as I was numb and he was down on his knees begging me to forgive him. A dramatic sight! I called the plumber and explained the damage to him. His reaction was priceless-“Nani alimwambia afungue maji? (Who told him to open the taps?)” He hadn’t completed the work anyway! Never mind that he had declared the work complete and asked me to pay him for the work already done, which as always, I promptly did(refer to The Telephone Builder)! A further inspection by my caretaker revealed that he hadn’t fixed float ball valves in two of the tanks above the master bedroom. Additionally there was no external outlet created in the event an overflow occurred. When I confronted him with this information, he began to stammer. I had trusted him to make all the purchases and I also did not bother to check with him whether the system was working smoothly before paying him his dues. (The Telephone Builder at her best). Needless to say, the damage set me back some handsome amount, this at a time when every penny mattered and when I was already feeling the strain financially. I needed to move into the house at the earliest to ease this burden off me. When I consulted the gypsum contractor, he quickly came to site to assess the damage. To this day, I am sure I saw a smug smile on his face, almost glad that this misfortune had befallen me. After all, hadn’t I stolen his joy when I opted to buy the ceiling material myself instead of letting him do so as he had earlier recommended? The plumber? Well he came and fixed the damage “at his own cost”! The gypsum contractor left never to be seen again, to date.
Lesson #4: always inspect every works done before making the final payments. Seal all loopholes as far as you are able to. For plumbing issues, ensure to test the entire system before you give the contractor a clean bill of health. As much as possible, consult with those who have walked down the construction journey before-their priceless insights will save you a lot. This may sound crazy but as much as possible, trust your gut feel when hiring fundis to work for you. I ignored mine and I paid the handsome price.
NOTE: The main objective of this blog is to share advice and insights based on real life experiences, in order to encourage you and hopefully, make your construction journey easier, more meaningful and help you avoid the pitfalls that I walked into, because I didn’t know better. For more information, reach out to us on mjengochronicles@gmail.com.
Mjengo Chronicles 