Contractors. Bah.

I bought my house almost a year ago. As part of the pre-contract dance, we tested around the 50-year-old underground heating oil tank to see if it was leaking, and sure enough, it was. Got the seller to credit some amount of the purchase price to me so I could get the tank replaced. Around October, I got in touch with someone to talk about having that tank dug up and the contaminated soil removed, and a new, above-ground tank installed, and somewhere around Christmas, I signed a contract with them.

Since then, weather has made it somewhat difficult for them to come out here, between the rain and cold of the winter and the rain and cold of the Seattle-like spring. No point in bringing in a backhoe if it's just going to sink out of sight in the back yard.

So they finally show up today, dismantle the back steps to the deck so they can get to the tank, and start in. After they've dug the hole, drained the oil tank, and dented and holed it enough to completely put it out of commission, they knock at my door. "Um, have you made plans for a new heating system? Are you going to get a new above-ground tank installed sometime?" Well, yes. You're going to do it. "Oh, no. Not us. We've never heard of that." Well, yes. It's part of the deal. "It's not in the contract." Well, yes, it is. Let's look at it. "Oh, hmm. I guess we are. You know, this should have been taken care of six months ago." You don't say. "And, is this how you heated your water? Well, whatever hot water is now in the tank will be it until you get the new tank put in, and it probably won't stay hot too much longer." Well, I guess I'll go take a shower now, and try to remember what it feels like to be clean.

As it now stands, I'll have a new tank installed tomorrow morning, complete with enough oil to compensate me for the oil they weren't able to transfer out of my old tank (because I didn't have a new tank to transfer it to), and a bit more. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's hot water.