Friday, August 31, 2007

28 foot ladders

One of the jobs I did today was a sweet house in East Hampton (Connecticut). It was really tucked out of the way, but yet still close to main roads. My old map book didn't even have the roads to lead to it!

Anyway, their laundry room was up on the bedroom floor (which I wish mine was). But as a cleaner, what a pain in the a$$! That means the vent outlet to outside is also up on the second floor. My Little Giant 16 footer wasn't big enough. Fortunately, the homeowner had a HUGE 28 footer (ladder, that is) that she let me use. She even helped me carry it! What a nice person. Of course, they were blithely drinking Miller Chill while I slaved away, but that's a different story.

In the end, it was a tough job. I had to go up on a big laddder. I had to not use the shop vac (the 10-month old baby was just asleep (as a parent of very young children, I would NEVER intentionally disrupt the sleep of an infant). I also had to pull out the dryer and replace the transition vent (that's jargon for the pipe that goes from the dryer to the wall). Oh yeah, plus the f***ing wind changed direction while I was up on the ladder cleaning the ventilation system from the outside, which proceeded to cover me all over with dryer vent junk - arms, face, etc. YUCK!

But by the end, I was feeling pretty good about my laddering skills (if you've never done a big ladder, you are scratching your head, but if you have, then you are nodding), and I set them up with a nice safe, well done dryer ventilation system (plus I got p-a-i-d) so I overall was feeling good about the good deed I had done.

The Real World

So I have been out of those condos in South Windsor for a few weeks. And life is different in the real world! The jobs are a lot more...um...involved...and different every time. In a way it is awesome, but in a way, I miss the old simple world.

For example, earlier this week, I was in a mansion, like 10K square feet at least with lots of little three and four steps up and downs in the house, and probably a half dozen unused rooms (just the ones that I could see) and appliances of a brand I didn't know. Fancy ones. They had two laundry rooms. But their cars were just fairly normal - a big Lexus SUV (LX450 or something like that) and a medium sized GMC SUV (didn't notice the model). Anyway - the dryers. Well it was hard - attic, blower, tape, screen, roof, high up...just a bunch of tricks. Plus I spilled the drinking water they gave me all over their fancy real wood floor in their guest suite which was larger than my entire house (not quite, but it was BIG, with its own climate control, bathroom, TV, and two beds and high ceilings - did I mention this house was beautiful?)

So I will once again reiterate that the best part about this business is seeing everyone's great homes and meeting a lot of cool people. Oh yeah, did I mention the money. Money is good. But so are the people.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Great neighbors

I am doing a set of condos in South Windsor the past few and next few weeks, with Dr. Dryer Vent. He is the premier dryer vent service professional in Hartford County, and maybe in all of Connecticut. He also has taught me everything that I know about dryer vent cleaning. With ten years in business, he has seen just about everything a dryer vent service person could run into. Plus he's a really great guy that's great to work for and with.

Anyway. The main thing that has struck me about these condos is the sense of community. They are separated into sixteen buildings, each with twelve units, six on each side of the building: three upstairs and three down. A wonderful part of this has been talking with all the different people that live in these condos. Almost every building has had one or more people who seemed to know all the other residents. Today was no exception.

One woman let me into her own place plus two others. She even called some of the other residents to let them know that I was around, and that I'd be over there later in the day. Without her, I might have been stuck doing only two or three dryers today, but thanks to her, I was able to complete eight dryers! It is just amazing to me the closeness that so many of these residents share.

Clean your dryer vents!

Have you been noticing that it takes a lot longer these days to dry a load of laundry? Is your clothes dryer getting really hot when it runs? Does lint and hot air get all over your laundry room when you do laundry? Did the appliance guy say he wouldn't install your dryer on that unsafe plastic vent? Did the applicance guy say that the dryer's working fine, and your vent is probably clogged?

If any of these is you, then there's one thing you need. It is a dryer ventilation system servicing. If you are in Southeastern Connecticut or Southwestern Rhode Island, I can come and perform a complete service call for you on your clothes dryer ventilation system. I will clean the inside of your dryer: lint screen, beneath or behind the lint screen, and the inside of the dryer (near all the wires). I will also inspect your ventilation system and recommend appropriate action. I can clean the existing vent, repair holes, re-attach loose vents, or even replace the existing system completely.

Appointments start booking in a few weeks, so call me today! 860.324.5213
Or email me dryer.ventilator@gmail.com

In the mean time, I'll be posting adventures that I have cleaning other people's dryers. Maybe if you're lucky, you can end up here, too!