Re: contractors used my vacuum

[Guest guest]

,

There more of a problem than using your vacuum. They left it and

your house in a condition which would fail the verification that the

job is done and properly cleaned.

1. Call the regional office of the francise operation.

2. Ask them is their franchisees are required to use the ANSI-

IICRC S520 Standard and Reference Guide for Professional

Mold Remediation. All national franchises are familiar with this

industry consensus standard because most were involved in it's

development. So I'll bet if you ask them about S520 they'll claim

they follow it.

3. Ask them to send you the documentation for " clearance " or

" Post Remediation Verification " (PRV) that the franchise (or their

subs, it doesn't make any difference) met the criteria for

completion according to S520.

4. That's when you state (perhaps with photos?) that not only is

your vacuum damaged but it is dusty with white dust. This means

they didn't follow S520 for the clean-up of the vacuum or the

house. Which then means they should not have been given a

PRV letter. Visible dust anywhere is grounds for failing PRV. If

visibly clean then testing " may " be needed. (Testing for PRV is

another story for another time).

4. The PRV should not be from the same company (or their subs)

who did the mold remediation. It should be from an independent

company, preferably a consultant rather than a remediator.

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

-----

Hi, I have been an observer and never posted before. I am not sure if this

is the right place to post this or not, but some water damage contractors

used my vacuum in a major water damage/construction cleanup.

I live in an apartment that has flooded three times in three years, major

floods, two of them sprinkler floods, the most recent fire/sprinkler flood

was a few weeks ago and I was kicked out of my unit for two weeks while

contractors were in here replacing the ceiling in my kitchen, and when I

returned, I discovered to my horror that they used MY Sebo vacuum to

clean up the mess, my personal property.

They trashed the vacuum, it was all beat up, the handle/tube piece was

on backwards, caked with white dust from drywall or something, and

there were pieces of brown paper stuck in the brush part of it with more

white dust all over the bottom, the wheels are all beat up with more

white stuff on them, and the bag inside was overflowing with a three inch

tear in it, spilling out it's contents inside the vacuum, the filter was

destroyed. It is obvious they used my vacuum in the cleanup, they

removed water damaged drywall and who knows what else from my

ceiling.

I called the contracters who claim they use subcontractors to do the work

and they can't say who actually used my vacuum or what they will do

about it. They are a franchise for a nationwide company, chosen by the

people that own my building to do restoration.

I have demanded they give me a new vacuum as a replacement, they

were supposed to come by today to look at my beat up vacuum and never

came.

Any suggestions on what to do?

(Again, sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this).

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[Guest guest]

Take pictures Keep them, write a letter send it certified, return reciept.

 

 

Mayleen

________________________________

From: K <crayondeux@...>

Sent: Sat, July 24, 2010 1:00:58 AM

Subject: [] contractors used my vacuum

 

Hi, I have been an observer and never posted before. I am not sure if this is

the right place to post this or not, but some water damage contractors used my

vacuum in a major water damage/construction cleanup.

I live in an apartment that has flooded three times in three years, major

floods, two of them sprinkler floods, the most recent fire/sprinkler flood was a

few weeks ago and I was kicked out of my unit for two weeks while contractors

were in here replacing the ceiling in my kitchen, and when I returned, I

discovered to my horror that they used MY Sebo vacuum to clean up the mess, my

personal property.

They trashed the vacuum, it was all beat up, the handle/tube piece was on

backwards, caked with white dust from drywall or something, and there were

pieces of brown paper stuck in the brush part of it with more white dust all

over the bottom, the wheels are all beat up with more white stuff on them, and

the bag inside was overflowing with a three inch tear in it, spilling out it's

contents inside the vacuum, the filter was destroyed. It is obvious they used my

vacuum in the cleanup, they removed water damaged drywall and who knows what

else from my ceiling.

I called the contracters who claim they use subcontractors to do the work and

they can't say who actually used my vacuum or what they will do about it. They

are a franchise for a nationwide company, chosen by the people that own my

building to do restoration.

I have demanded they give me a new vacuum as a replacement, they were supposed

to come by today to look at my beat up vacuum and never came.

Any suggestions on what to do?

(Again, sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this).

[Guest guest]

Thank you Carl and Mayleen for your advice.

Update...The restoration company is not taking responsibility for the vacuum or

for leaving the apt. covered in white dust.

Last week the manager and two other people from my housing management came in

with one person from the restoration company.

The people from my housing corporation were trying to intimidate me and

dismissed my concerns as usual, saying it was ok for the restoration company to

clean up the plaster mess with my clothing.

The man from the restoration company said he can't say if his company used the

vacuum or not, then walked out.

I can't find anyone to do the post remediation verification. Of the places I

talked to that have Iicrc certification, none of them will help me. And yes, I

offered to pay them.

A vacuum repairperson inspected my vacuum and wrote down for me that there was

plaster dust and nails in my vacuum. ( i made copies )

Sebo tells me they think they can fix it, but I need to ship it back to them -

they will check for nail damage and fix/clean it. No idea how much it will cost,

but at least it's fixable.

Today someone came in with the manager who is an air quality consultant working

for the restoration company. The consultant's website states they are

client-centric, meaning their job is to reduce their client's risk. They are

fairly new to the air quality field, it is not what they usually do. When I

asked who his clients are, he told me they work primarily for large construction

companies or housing organizations.

He took one brief air sample in the kitchen near the front door, and then

started walking around the room accusing me of having construction dust all over

my apt. before the flood. I'm expecting him to say the white dust was there

before the restoration company got there.

I've taken pictures of everything, for what it's worth.

Made a complaint to the better business bureau a week ago about the restoration

company - no response to that.

Does anyone have any other suggestions, or anyone to call?