Dear PoPville

Photo by PoPville flickr user Claire Uziel

“Dear PoPville,

I’d love to pick the community’s brain about the best way to go about resolving a water issue in my home. I live in a rowhome, and on the basement wall that my neighbor and I share, water leaks through the bricks during very heavy rains.

A waterproofing company visited this morning, and said that it’s coming from the neighbor’s downspout (the downspout goes into a buried tube that runs along our property lines), and that the resolution would be to dig out the buried tube, re-backfill, and re-grade the area, as well as get a new downspout. His guess, based on the current grading (not away from the house) is that the water is pooling, and that the buried tube is clogged.

Do you think this is my neighbor’s entire responsibility? (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

Not too long ago I made an out-of-state move at the end of my third trimester. I made all the arrangements months ahead of time, anticipating the need for just as much help with the move as possible. I’d searched for reader recommendations and wound up hiring Maybaum Movers to pack our condo and load the truck for our move. Not wanting to leave anything to chance, I booked more than two months in advance.

When I initially called Maybaum to inquire about availability, the staffer was very kind, promising “white glove service.” She said that she would tell the packers not to let me lift a finger. She asked me to email the owner to confirm, which I did. Two days before the move I hadn’t heard anything from Maybaum. When I emailed to confirm, the owner seemed taken by surprise but grateful that I reminded him. He asked me if I would need boxes and packing materials and I said I had some, but not enough for the whole move.

The two men who showed up the next day to move did not bring a single box, roll of tape, or sheet of packing material. One spent the first fifteen minutes in the bathroom, while the other swept my kitchen into boxes. (more…)

“Dear PoPville,

Does anyone know of a place in the area that could make a duplicate/replica of an unusual key for antique furniture? The key pictured opens an antique (circa 1920) wardrobe in my home, and while the mechanism seems simple, I don’t want to be trying to pick it if the one key I have for it is lost or broken. I’m sure many fabricators could make a copy or two (they don’t need to be so pretty, just work to get the doors open), but I don’t know where to find one. If anyone has a suggestion, I’m all ears!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

I’ve always wondered how many people actually have Fridays off/work from home consistently in DC?? Judging by the lack of posts on most news/blogs sites [Ed. Note: The number of Friday posts on PoPville are the same as Monday-Thursday though comments do seem to decline a bit on Fridays.] and the significant decrease in traffic during rush hour on Fridays, it seems like half of the region doesn’t work on Fridays. Am I really one of the few suckers that drags themselves out of bed and works every Friday?! I thought it would be interesting to take a poll to see how many people go into the office, work remotely, or have it off entirely.”