Stickin' it to The Man
It started with a notice on our door: Next week The Handy Dandy Plumbing Company is replacing all the existing plumbing with new copper pipes and for "approximately" 10 days will be requiring unsupervised access to your home from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at which time they will turn off your water, tromp through all your stuff, bang and clang new pipes into place, bash gaping, dusty holes in lots of walls and generally make a lot of mess"....or something to that effect. I threw the thing down in disgust and had myself worked up into quite a lather by the time my husband got home. The three page addendum on the dangers of lead poisoning from painted surfaces in old buildings (like ours) wasn't making me feel any better.
But what can we do? my husband asked, quite reasonably. The plumbing in our quaint Los Feliz building was old and although we hadn't had any major problems our neighbors had put up with lousy water pressure, showers that would scald them if anyone in the building used a tap, and toilets that dribbled 24/7. Our landlords, an ancient couple as wrinkled as apple dolls and 85 if they were a day, had hoarded untold millions from their various real-estate holdings but were infamous for spending ten cents if a dollar were needed. They once replaced the back door of one of our apartments with one that they had stored in a nearby garage since the Nixon era. It was as warped as a potato chip but somehow they managed to screw it into place. Total outlay for this job: $$0.00
So investing this kind of serious dough into the building seemed quite out of character for them, but not the short notice. We were used to ill-timed, invasive visits for repairs that always seemed to take longer than promised and involve workers of dubious qualifications hired from the local Pennysaver.
Only a few months ago I asked the landlord to look at the ceiling in our toddler's room which had sprouted a couple of long cracks that looked like they were about to circle around and shake hands. After a few pokes he told us it was fine. But when the painter came in to patch it up he discovered that the screws he was planning to put in to reattach the plaster to the ceiling frame were about a foot too short. Shaking his head the man told me that the ceiling was literally hanging by a thread and any shaking (uh, earthquakes, anyone?) would send it crashing to the floor (and the top of my daughter's head).
And so we endured the dusty mess that resulted when said painter took a swipe at it with a chisel and the entire ceiling did come down as promised.....sending a mushroom cloud of toxic dust scurrying into every nook and cranny of our home. We still haven't gotten the paint splatters out of the places they forgot to cover.
So this notice from the Handy Dandy Plumbing Company didn't go over too well. They said they'd be in and out in 10 days, my husband (whom I trust because he is an expert in such matters) said that it would probably take twice that amount of time. I scurried over to the neighbors for a meeting and we both decided that the massive inconvenience plus the ominous attachment about the dangers of lead poisoning from disturbed paint surfaces was reason enough to investigate our rights.
Cut to the morning of the planned work. So far I'd done a lot of grumbling and my husband had hung a lot of plastic. I'd called the plumbing company a day earlier, which netted two irate secretaries and one owner who called me "honey" and said that my daughter would have more exposure to toxins driving down the freeway than from the repairs, but could not provide a satisfactory answer to my pointed questions about their procedures or training in working with lead-based paint surfaces.
All the time I was talking with our closest neighbor (there are six families living in the building) and because she is newly pregnant we shared the same concerns about the dust contamination. On the morning of the day work was to begin I was running around the house still finding places to put things out of harms way and hanging the last of the plastic covers when I got news from across the hall that an online search had unearthed a L.A. City ordinance passed in 2005 specifically adressing tenant rights when it came to major renovations. I downloaded the material and discovered that our landlords could not undertake a job like this without first submitting a Tenant Habitability Plan to the City, getting approval, and then giving us 60 days notice, and....here's the kicker....if necessary providing alternate housing (or reimbursement for hotel costs) plus proper protection and cleaning of our home and contents.
City Ordinance #176544 was our lifesaver. Waving the paperwork in front of us we confronted our landlords and after a passionate exchange (just shy of a shouting match) they scurried away and took the plumbers with them.
Plastic came down, dishes unpacked, dogs retrieved from temporary quarters, children hugged, and life went back to normal.
We heard later that they'd abandoned the entire plan because of "uncoperative tenants". Showers will still scald from time to time (sorry, Merrilee) but our kids are safe for now and we won't have to endure displaced lives, bad plaster jobs, mismatched paint, and the uncertainty of toxic contamination in our walls, carpets, furniture, and stuffed baby toys.
Our thanks to the people who fought for this Ordinance. We are really, really grateful.
p.s. According to US Statistics, 1 child out of 11 has unsafe levels of lead in their system. If you live in a building built before 1973 or suspect contaminated soil in your yard, get your kids tested. It's a quick finger stick and since lead poisoning doesn't always present with any symptoms (but can interfere with brain development in children) you won't know unless you test.
But what can we do? my husband asked, quite reasonably. The plumbing in our quaint Los Feliz building was old and although we hadn't had any major problems our neighbors had put up with lousy water pressure, showers that would scald them if anyone in the building used a tap, and toilets that dribbled 24/7. Our landlords, an ancient couple as wrinkled as apple dolls and 85 if they were a day, had hoarded untold millions from their various real-estate holdings but were infamous for spending ten cents if a dollar were needed. They once replaced the back door of one of our apartments with one that they had stored in a nearby garage since the Nixon era. It was as warped as a potato chip but somehow they managed to screw it into place. Total outlay for this job: $$0.00
So investing this kind of serious dough into the building seemed quite out of character for them, but not the short notice. We were used to ill-timed, invasive visits for repairs that always seemed to take longer than promised and involve workers of dubious qualifications hired from the local Pennysaver.
Only a few months ago I asked the landlord to look at the ceiling in our toddler's room which had sprouted a couple of long cracks that looked like they were about to circle around and shake hands. After a few pokes he told us it was fine. But when the painter came in to patch it up he discovered that the screws he was planning to put in to reattach the plaster to the ceiling frame were about a foot too short. Shaking his head the man told me that the ceiling was literally hanging by a thread and any shaking (uh, earthquakes, anyone?) would send it crashing to the floor (and the top of my daughter's head).
And so we endured the dusty mess that resulted when said painter took a swipe at it with a chisel and the entire ceiling did come down as promised.....sending a mushroom cloud of toxic dust scurrying into every nook and cranny of our home. We still haven't gotten the paint splatters out of the places they forgot to cover.
So this notice from the Handy Dandy Plumbing Company didn't go over too well. They said they'd be in and out in 10 days, my husband (whom I trust because he is an expert in such matters) said that it would probably take twice that amount of time. I scurried over to the neighbors for a meeting and we both decided that the massive inconvenience plus the ominous attachment about the dangers of lead poisoning from disturbed paint surfaces was reason enough to investigate our rights.
Cut to the morning of the planned work. So far I'd done a lot of grumbling and my husband had hung a lot of plastic. I'd called the plumbing company a day earlier, which netted two irate secretaries and one owner who called me "honey" and said that my daughter would have more exposure to toxins driving down the freeway than from the repairs, but could not provide a satisfactory answer to my pointed questions about their procedures or training in working with lead-based paint surfaces.
All the time I was talking with our closest neighbor (there are six families living in the building) and because she is newly pregnant we shared the same concerns about the dust contamination. On the morning of the day work was to begin I was running around the house still finding places to put things out of harms way and hanging the last of the plastic covers when I got news from across the hall that an online search had unearthed a L.A. City ordinance passed in 2005 specifically adressing tenant rights when it came to major renovations. I downloaded the material and discovered that our landlords could not undertake a job like this without first submitting a Tenant Habitability Plan to the City, getting approval, and then giving us 60 days notice, and....here's the kicker....if necessary providing alternate housing (or reimbursement for hotel costs) plus proper protection and cleaning of our home and contents.
City Ordinance #176544 was our lifesaver. Waving the paperwork in front of us we confronted our landlords and after a passionate exchange (just shy of a shouting match) they scurried away and took the plumbers with them.
Plastic came down, dishes unpacked, dogs retrieved from temporary quarters, children hugged, and life went back to normal.
We heard later that they'd abandoned the entire plan because of "uncoperative tenants". Showers will still scald from time to time (sorry, Merrilee) but our kids are safe for now and we won't have to endure displaced lives, bad plaster jobs, mismatched paint, and the uncertainty of toxic contamination in our walls, carpets, furniture, and stuffed baby toys.
Our thanks to the people who fought for this Ordinance. We are really, really grateful.
p.s. According to US Statistics, 1 child out of 11 has unsafe levels of lead in their system. If you live in a building built before 1973 or suspect contaminated soil in your yard, get your kids tested. It's a quick finger stick and since lead poisoning doesn't always present with any symptoms (but can interfere with brain development in children) you won't know unless you test.
posted by vallie at 7:25 PM
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