My roofer texted me Friday making sure there was power on at the house we were scheduled to start work on today. I didn’t think too much of it. I’d set electricity up via DTE’s online portal months ago. I’d been in the home since then and mentioned to Kaitlin that the power wasn’t on.
We didn’t think too much of it though considering this happened at Algonac and they were able to switch it on with a simple phone call. Shouldn’t be an issue.
We tried calling Saturday at 2:15pm but their office apparently closes at 2:00pm. OK, Monday (yesterday) it’d have to be.
Well, turns out it wasn’t going to be a simple fix. While on the phone with DTE yesterday morning, we learned that the power line that leads to the main had been cut. I’ve discovered, through the McCarty House, that when occupants don’t pay their bill, DTE shuts them off. Then they tend to steal power and DTE comes and cuts the line.
Unfortunately this results in a major PITA for me. Usually DTE can’t get out for a couple days and they give you a four hour window for when they’ll show up. You have to be there to let them into the house to show it’s properly grounded.
Well, the earliest DTE could get out would be the 23rd of this month. Not OK.
The shingles and roofing material had already been delivered, sitting at the house. So I take off around noon, hoping to knock on a neighbor’s door and see if they’d let us borrow some electricity for today.
Knowing that it’s rare that Detroit homes have exterior outlets, I phoned my electrician on the way in and explained to him the situation. He asked for some photos when I got there to see if he’d be able to help.
Nope. The lines were too far from the main. We were definitely going to need DTE out to resolve it. But he said he’d stop by and take a look anyway and see if there’s anything he could do.
He called me an hour later, “Do you know the people next door in the grey house?”
“No. Never met them.”
“I don’t think anyone is there,” he said. “The power is on. I could tap into their…”
“Do it!”, I said.
“OK. I’ll do it tomorrow before they start.”
“Sounds good. And we can just disconnect it when we’re done. They’ll never know.”
“Yep.”
And so we did. He got it hooked up this morning just before the roofers got to work. They knocked the roof out today, and we’ll be disconnecting it tomorrow.
It cost me $275. But it’s cheaper than eating the dumpster that we already had schedule, and potentially losing our roofing materials to rain and/or theft. So that’s a win.
This is just one of the many reasons why out of state investors get eaten alive in Detroit. First, how could you possibly react to this situation from afar?
You couldn’t. You’d be left trying to cancel the dumpster, likely losing some or all of your roofing materials. Having to re-purchase everything, and waiting multiple weeks to get the roof done.
Ouch.
Maybe you could rent a generator? I have no idea, honestly. Maybe that’s the easiest solution, but it may not be. And renting anything right now in the midst of a statewide lock down can’t be too incredibly easy.
The other side of the coin… how many out of state folks have an electrician that’s bad ass enough to do something like this for them? I’m guessing not many.
And how many have the balls to do it?
Even less.
Detroit is such a unique beast. I love it.