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A Case of the Flue
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2016/07 - July
Getting a home built or repaired in this neck of the woods can be challenging.
A typical response from a contractor is, “I’m all cuvvered up.”
Translation: “It’s hunting season and I’ll get around to ya maybe after the spring thaw…or thereabouts.”
So unless your project requires a shotgun and a skinning knife, you might as well chill.
It’s frustrating for homeowners, but builders have their share of aggravation, too. They often get stiffed for work completed. A client will refuse to pay, finding fault in the slightest imperfection. But many locals have learned how to deal with difficult customers. Frank Houston, a local mason, had been subcontracted to build a stone fireplace for a homeowner in Blue Valley. Granted he and his crew worked slowly, but they were doing a good job. The owner had no patience and fired them all with no pay. Houston stayed on to finish the job. As anticipated, he still was not paid at its completion.
When the house was completed the following year, the owner built a rip-roaring fire in his new fireplace. The house filled with choking smoke. He called Houston demanding he fix the problem. Houston reminded the owner he’d never been paid for his original work. The fee, of course, had risen considerably in the interim. In no position to negotiate, the owner coughed up the cash prior to repair.
Houston leaned a ladder against the chimney, picked up a large rock, climbed to the chimney top, and dropped the rock through the hole. There was a loud crash as the rock burst through a glass pane neatly cemented halfway up the flue. Had the owner looked up before lighting the fire he would have seen daylight and not realized there was an obstruction. Houston returned home, amply paid for his trouble, smiling all the way to the bank.
Learn more about your town’s tales in Randolph Shaffner’s Heart of the Blue Ridge, Or visit the Highlands Historical Society’s Museum on weekends, or highlandshistory.com or email [email protected].
