Cold Spaghetti

Those Damn Tiles, indeed.

Paul and I are perfectionists; we know that our expectations can be a bit much.  With that in mind, when my Dad saw the tiles (thinking that possibly we were exaggerating the extent of the problems) he said, “Wow.  This is much worse than I thought.” Our lesson learned: never hire anyone you are not willing to micro-manage.  And, when at all possible, avoid hiring anyone for anything.

In the gallery below, click on images for short descriptions of the problems we found when we returned from Peru.  In short:

— The sides of the shower walls were not shimmed, which was necessary in order for them to straight.  (Paul would like me to add that he bought the shims and had a discussion about installing them.) Straight walls in a shower are important to facilitate the hanging of a shower door, something we eventually would like to install.  Instead of shimming the walls, he tiled straight down and then bent the tiles inward at the base of the walls.  You can see the curve easily as you look into the shower.

— The tiles on the leading edge of the tub deck weren’t mitered and stick out the entire depth of the tile.

— Poor cuts around the soap nook.

— Floor tiles were wrapped around the edge of the shower pan, rather than spaced appropriately and laid to cover the size of the pan.  We had two types of tile that would have fit perfectly, without the need for cuts.

— Walls of the shower end in different places.  One ends at the end of the threshold (which makes sense), the other ends midway through the threshold.

— The bench is bare wood on it’s underside.  It’s not sealed, not redbonded, not anything.  It would rot in a week if we used the shower!  Also, because the tile did not cover the full face of the bench, he simply rubbed grout down the rest of the backboard.  It’s visible looking at the bench even when standing.

We are working to fix the problems.

Click on the thumbnail to the see the full picture and caption.

I’m not quite done with this one, but I thought I’d try out that one. Needs work. Learning curve still rising ahead. But liking the possibilities.

Whaddya think?

One of the unique architectural pieces of New Orleans are street tiles that line city corners. Entergy has been tearing up these corners during maintenance of city services and in many places, is destroying or paving over these tiles. In April, the Vice President of Gas Operations for Entergy wrote to the local paper to say that they were being replaced, but nothing has happened. Please write to Entergy — even those who aren’t in New Orleans! — and ask them to repair or replace the historic street tiles they destroy and/or damage through careless street work. This is my letter, mailed to the corporate headquarters in New Orleans (I’d have sent via email, too, but can’t find contact email addresses.) Please help protect and preserve New Orleans’ heritage!

****

Entergy Corporation
639 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70113

ATTN: Mr. Rusty Burroughs
Vice President
Gas Operations
Entergy New Orleans, Inc.

Dear Mr. Burroughs,

I was so thrilled to read your April 25th, 2008 response to the Times-Picayune editorial written by Chris Rose addressing the destruction of historic tile letters that uniquely mark the streets of New Orleans. In your letter, you specifically addressed the destroyed tiles at the corner of Pine and Birch and wrote that, “those tiles will be replaced, and were in the process of being replaced before the article was written by Mr. Rose.”

As you know, more than a month has passed since that editorial and your published response. To date, there has been no change to this corner. I am writing you to implore you to keep to your word and see that those tiles are restored or if given no other option, replaced. It is a shame that your subcontractors left you with the responsibility of fixing their mistakes, but your letter gave me confidence that you had the leadership and character required to make it right.

Now, more than ever, it is the responsibility of the citizens and businesses of New Orleans to work together to keep the heritage and history of our city alive. This letter is fulfilling my duty as a citizen to see that our unique legacies are protected. I look forward to seeing your obligations to our city and citizens carried out and your word fulfilled.

Respectfully,

H

CC: Rod West, President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans, Inc.
E. Renae Conley – President & CEO, Entergy Louisiana, LLC
J. Wayne Leonard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Entergy Corporation
Mark T. Savoff, Executive Vice President, Operations

Cabinets, cabinets in my room.

Places, finally, for a broom.

My husband is the hottest guy,

’cause he can build ’em up way high.

Ugh.  I didn’t like the pictures when they were big (it seemed too big) and in gallery mode they aren’t even.  *sigh*