Sun 21 May 2006
It takes a team to renovate a home. Here’s a rundown of who’s who:
Haitham - Tig’s renovations mentor. Haitham is an electrician by training, but he also does general contracting. Right now, he is renovating a 6 unit condo building in Dorchester . Our home is one of several side jobs he has. Haitham looks like a typical contractor. He’s sturdy looking and his voice carries really well. If he wasn’t a contractor, he would be a great town crier…everyone can hear him talking in our house. Haitham has given us lots of information and pointers. He even invited us over to the condo building he is rehab’ing to look at examples of how things should be done.
David - our plumber, David, hails from Ireland (but he’s been in Boston for over 10 years). David has an apprentice (Dennis) who doesn’t speak english. Tig and I are a little mystified as to how Dennis helps, especially when David doesn’t speak spanish. Add to the mix, David has a pretty thick Irish accent. There are times, when David will say something to me. I stare blankly back, and then, trying not to insult him, I’ll say “Yes”. David is a good humored person, who likes to listen and sing to country music while he works. Here’s David smashing our cast iron pipes with a mallet. I was filming him when, during his backswing, he dinged our oil tank. Caught on film! Luckily, it was a light tap, we couldn’t handle a broken oil tank at this stage in our home renovations.
Adrian - our carpenter. I have never met Adrian, but he has been invaluable to Tig, mostly because he doesn’t mind going up on the the roof to mend our roof leaks. Adrian hails from Cork County of Ireland.� When he and David get going in conversation, Tig can only make out a couple of words. Adrian is a whirlwind when he works; he works really fast and Tig can barely catch up.
