Over the past two days, I’ve realized why that silver, extremely sticky tape is called “duct tape.” It’s not “duck” tape. For one, mallards and the like don’t slow down long enough to tape them.

It started over a week ago when we had our house leveled by a company called $999 House Leveling. In short, DO NOT use them. They will not return phone calls, and without going into the gory details, we can not recommend them to anyone in good conscience. If you want to know, email us.

However, we can say that they ruined our air conditioning ducts under the house. Crawled all over them. Smushed flat. We didn’t know for a couple of days, and it finally dawned on us that the house wasn’t cooling like it should. It took us a few days because it happened during those rare days of cool, spring-like weather. (I think the Lord sent it just to calm our frayed nerves.)

Thanks to a new friend, Justin Dreyer, we now have round AC ducts again. He and I crawled what felt like 10 miles under our house the last couple of days, cutting the ducts apart and putting new ones in. I saw things no homeowner needs to see. Like the jawbone of a small animal and what looked like a petrified human ear. (Have they found Jimmy Hoffa yet?)

Justin and I had some great conversation under the house. It usually went something like this:

Can you reach that?
Reach what?
That.
Hold on… no.
Oh. Well, can you see the metal clippers?
Uh, they’re under your butt.

Anyway, we are so thankful for Justin and Amanda. They’ve only been in town for about two months and already, they’ve gone waaaay out of their way to help and serve us.

If you need any home improvement or want to turn your home into an energy-efficient dwelling, call Justin. He’s amazing. I think he has figured out a way to heat and cool your home on sardine juice. I’ll come along to help… and bring the duct tape.

On this day...

Review: Exponential - 2011
Audio: How Important is Church Membership? - 2008

16 Comments

Karl July 28, 2007 at 5:37 pm

I hate to ask the obvious but… Is the house level?

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Lou July 28, 2007 at 7:05 pm

Thank goodness that is over. You looked pretty nasty when you can out from under your house. You must have been working harder than Justin because I think you were the dirtiest.

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Jeff July 28, 2007 at 9:51 pm

Karl… the house is leveler..

Lou… thanks, but I just wallowed in the dirt each time to make it look like I was keeping up with Justin… ;)

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Karl July 28, 2007 at 10:17 pm

Good news, too bad they trashed things like they did. From your shots, they obviously knew they had damaged the ducts. Justin sounds like a friend for life!

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Marylee Noble July 28, 2007 at 11:01 pm

I’m so glad the house didn’t collapse on you and Justin while you were under there. Was the smell as bad as the time you and your dad had to haul the dead baby possums out from under our house in Marlowe Manor? Hope not. See, it could have been worse. : )

Carolyn B. said she was going to tear down all the signs for this lovely company.

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jill July 29, 2007 at 2:11 pm

so now i’m curious – when does your house get so unlevel that you know you need to get it leveled? when stuff starts falling out of cabinets?

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dean July 29, 2007 at 3:21 pm

jill…

when your iPhone keeps sliding too far out of reach for you to tell if you’re getting a call you want to ignore without having to get out of your chair and go retrieve the phone.

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Carolyn July 29, 2007 at 4:48 pm

You DO remember my disclaimer, don’t you? Did you ask if they were bonded? So-o-o-o sorry I told you about that sign. Never again!

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Jeff July 29, 2007 at 11:49 pm

It’s not your fault for us being naive, auntie. No worries here. … Uh, but we are accepting donations. ;)

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Jeff July 29, 2007 at 11:50 pm

Jill, when you place a marble in the hallway and it reaches about 65 mph before being stopped by a wall, it’s time to level your house.

Dean, har-de-har-har. ;)

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Jamie July 30, 2007 at 8:25 pm

Did they do any GOOD at all?

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Jeff July 30, 2007 at 9:13 pm

Like I said, the house is leveler (is that a word?) than it was. However, after seeing their work underneath, that will probably last about six months.

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dean July 30, 2007 at 9:30 pm

levelER?? is that like pregnantER? btw, since the iPhone gave the blender such a run for its money, maybe its tough enough to shim that last pier to make your levelER house just… level

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gina morgan October 2, 2007 at 5:12 pm

gosh dude thats too bad, have you ever heard of “bbb.org” check them out… and 999 house leveling is located in houston. sooooo many complaints, and none …. did he tell you that he was a preacher? thats another scam, oh and for the other scam…..i have a house to sell you…..the foundation does not meet any code for the county, and they left out about half of the studs, when the wind blows the entire house sways back and forth…then foreclosure, because he did not pay…..then you have to drag him to court, please call him again, tell him gina is looking for him and i will not quit. and he is going down……

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gsm November 4, 2009 at 3:45 pm

We recently had our house leveled by 999 House Leveling on 10/14/09 and we also and fell right into their scam. The man told us the same thing that he was a preacher and not that is not out to get people, well little did we know. We also had this company do some floor work for us and they said they would finish leveling the house as they replaced the floors. They did a crappy job on the floor my 5 year old nephew can cut plywood straighter than these people. I called the main guy that we signed the contract with his name is “LENDY” the supposed preacher guy but the bad thing is that he won’t t return our phone calls. Now we have unfinished floors in our house that we can’t even live in but the wourse thing is that he still has our house keys. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOW WE CAN GET OF HOLD OF THEM PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

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Jeff November 6, 2009 at 10:04 pm

@GSM: I’m so sorry to hear that! I have no idea how to contact him. We reported him to the Arkansas AG but never heard back from that office. I suggest you pursue things with them.

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About

Notes from the Trail
The Personal Blog of Jeff Noble
Info: From the misty hills of Virginia, "Notes from the Trail" seeks to encourage you on your journey. Written by a graphic designer-pastor, this blog is a blend of humor, insight, and faith discovery.