Of Boathouses and Docks

So much I could write about right now, but, much of it isn’t good. In fact its scary, frustrating, and makes me mad. So, I’m going to choose to focus on the good. We always have a choice in these matters. (This story will start bad, but end with a Happily Ever After, as all should.)

When we bought our lakehouse, it had a dock and boathouse. Not a good one, by any means, but it had one. Corrugated metal that flapped when the wind got up like it does on the lake. I was terrified a piece would lift off, sail through the air and hit my neighbor’s or my house. Or just land in the lake making a hazard.

So, in 2018, I hired a guy who had done good work fixing a big crack in our retaining wall and adding an extra back up wall. He took down the old boathouse, which I’m grateful for. We went off to Maine that fall and when we returned reddish orange metal things were out there over the old dock. Then the weather turned bad. Then Christmas came, and the message was he’d finish the dock and boathouse in the spring.

No problem. We weren’t spending any time sitting outside during the winter.

But spring returned and my builder did not. No amount of contact got him to respond. We’d paid him a lot of money. (Stupid me. Lesson learned. Never pay it all before the work is done.) I reported the matter to the police, and they’ve investigated, and I believe the DA will charge him. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t take advantage of anyone else besides my neighbor who used him on my recommendation.

We missed all the 2019 fun on the lake because it wasn’t safe to walk out there.

So, last fall after much research into and interviewing people, I hired another boat dock guy to finish the job. Unfortunately, some of the previous work wasn’t done right (All three of the people who looked at it confirmed that.), so it’s not as easy as it might seem. One of them really didn’t want to mess with it. Finally, in 2020, (because boat dock guys apparently are kept really busy), my new guy and his crew began on Monday of this week. New poles are up for the roof. And in a month or so, we will have a brand new boat dock with lots of covered area to stay out of the sun but to get close to the fish and ducks and Pelicans. Expect to see lots of excellent pictures in the future. You see Happily Ever After. 🙂

Charley isn’t real happy about the events because if I’m gone now, I put the doggy door down. I don’t want to chance him getting into trouble or bothering the workers when I can’t rescue them. 😊

Have you ever been taken advantage of by a contractor? It’s such a shame, because it tends to give all contractors a bad name, which of course, isn’t right.

Lastly, please pray for our country and its leaders. We live in such perilous times. Love to hear from you.

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