I spent three hours today, on my knees with a set of pliers and a hammer, pulling tiny little metal spikes out of our three season porch floor. When it wasn't possible to pull them out, I had to hammer them into the floor. I really don't have any idea why there are metal spikes next to every nail that is in our floor, but I do know that my foot catches on the ones which seem to be sticking out of the floor, rather than into it. It makes it difficult to go barefoot out there, or for me to feel safe having my dogs out there. Little puncture wounds come to mind...and foot.
The little spikes did not make it on our punch list, so Joe Savarese, our builder, does not even know they exist. It is likely that neighbors of ours, who have also bought houses from Joe and his partner, Jake Gibbs, have also had the same problem with their decks. We all seem to share a common set of concerns/issues/woes, when it comes to Joe and Jake. Perhaps " remove tiny little metal spikes in decking" has made it onto one of their punch lists?
This issue is one of the many things which my husband and I have chosen to simply address ourselves, rather than add it onto our 180 day overdue punch list. We would prefer Joe address some of our other open issues, like replacing our damaged threshold on the front door, or replacing 4 of the dead plants which did not make it through winter. Perhaps he could complete the landscaping of our 2+ acre lot, or repair our damaged closet where hardware pulled from the wall and left a hole in the skim coat.
A year anniversary of us moving into our house is coming up very soon. We have not heard a word from Joe in over two months about our punch list. Emails, calls, and notes in his mailbox don't seem to incent him to communicate and let us know when these things will be done.
In the meanwhile, however, another one of Joe's houses sold in the neighborhood last week. It seems Joe has had enough time in the last couple months to complete a house, such that he could sell it to a new buyer. Little do they know what is coming their way. Too bad this blog was not yet available for them to educate themselves.
