I bought a 2-pack of 9-Volt batteries on my way to work today; didn't have time to drop them by the house. The contractor emailed about the permit fees, so I took the opportunity to ask them to leave a ladder around so that I could change the battery in the smoke detector. They said they'd leave a ladder.
I arrive around 7:00 p.m. Check out the progress on the bathroom. (The plumber is actually still there, and he proudly shows me what he's done, for my approval. I approve.) He leaves. I walk the house looking for the promised ladder.
No ladder. (I probably should have looked before he left.)
The smoke detector continues to squeak.
It's on the wall above the bathroom door, not the ceiling. I only need another foot or so and I can reach it. I look around the house for something that will get me a foot off the ground.
Five boxes of granite tiles. Yeah, that oughtta do it. And they're granite, so I'm fairly sure they can hold my weight. I bring them into the hallway one box at a time. By the time I've got four of them stacked, I can reach the smoke detector. I flip the lid on it and look for the battery.
It's on the top part, of course.
I get the last box of granite tiles. I pull on the battery and it comes out. (Hooray! It is a 9V!)
I get one of my new batteries. By feel, I figure out which way it fits in the slot in the top of the smoke detector. I jam it in. I close the lid of the smoke detector. It beeps a few times, and then goes blissfully silent.
Yes! I did it! My very first home repair in my new house! Go me! And without a ladder, too! I rock--
Squeak.
Excuse me?
You did not just squeak at me. I gave you a shiny new Energizer and you have no right to--
Squeak.
There must be another smoke detector. I check the bedrooms. There's a smoke detector in the bedroom right off the hall. No more than five feet away from the one I just changed. And it's on the ceiling. I wait for the next squeak attempting to pin down the source. I stand right under it and close the door. I wait.
SQUEAK!
I open the door; go back in the hallway; close the door.
squeak.
That's it then. The one in the bedroom. On the ceiling. That I can't reach without a ladder.
I leave the battery on the kitchen counter, and send a note to the contractor -- feel free to change it yourself or leave me a freakin' ladder.
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Oh well, at least you've silenced one of the pesky buggers. Maybe it's time to start on that list of items you need as a new home owner. I'm guessing that a couple of good step ladders (Oh, say a six footer and an 8 or 10 footer (depending on interior ceiling heights and eave heights you have to climb to. Got a high foyer? Tall eaves? - Gutters don't clean themselves, y'know)) from the same manufacturer, at least a Class II if not the class I in quality and some heavy 8' long planks so you can use them as makeshift work scaffolding for interior and exterior painting, etc. Or, save the $400 and just hire everything done. Oops, that's gonna be expensive! Maybe investing in good ladders isn't such a bad idea, after all...
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