AC Survival Story

The tiny ledge holding outdoor AC units.

Long way down.

From the time we moved into our apartment here, the bedroom AC unit hasn't worked properly.  Air doesn't circulate well, so each major room has it's own wall-mounted AC unit, connected to an outdoor unit.  Our outdoor units are on a small ledge (no railing) which you get to by climbing out of the bedroom or bathroom window.

 The AC repair guy came first.  I held my breath when he jumped out the bathroom window to inspect our outdoor unit.  No harness, no safety equipment.  He just grabbed his sneakers and hopped out the window.  I'd like to say that the sneakers were for better grip, but I'm pretty sure he just didn't want to get his socks dirty.  We live on the 32nd floor, but we are on a serious incline... likely about 40 stories from that ledge to the ground.  Gulp.

The dizzying view out the window... where the guy simply hopped out on this wee ledge with no harness.

The prognosis from the AC repair guys was that a repair was out of the question.  The units are so old they simply needed to be replaced.  

Rusted out base of bedroom unit.  Clearly seen better days.

So the process began, first with assessments, then landlord approvals, installation bookings, etc.  To install the new units they first needed to build bamboo scaffolding outside the window.  This time the guy at least wore a harness, although I think he tied the tether off to the rusty frame of the old AC units, it was still a dramatic improvement in appreciation of human life.  The scaffolding was built in stages, shown in the following photos.

Bringing in materials.  Bamboo scaffolding is apparently as strong as steel.

Testing out the small frame - held in with ONE screw.

Leaning out to drill holes for screws.

Fastening bamboo to the frames.

 

Materials passed from the bathroom & bedroom windows.

Having a dart... why not?

Imagine this is all that's between you and the ground? Some bamboo sticks and little ties?

Ties for the bamboo looped through his belt.

Building side walls to the scaffold.

 

Climbing around, building walls.

The finished scaffolding.  The side wall material is to keep debris from falling and hurting those below.

Such a mess... still dusty everywhere.

After the scaffolding was built, it was time to install the new units inside and out.  This involved cutting into the ceiling to replace the hoses and electrical connections too.  What a ridiculous mess.  I now better appreciate the frustration people go through with home renos.  The dust and dirt from cutting into drywall and sanding, not to mention service men who don't take their shoes off or cover things up properly, it has been very dirty.  The added complexity of not really being able to communicate with the installation team has been pretty funny at times.  We're through most of the work now.  We still have holes in the ceiling and copious cleaning ahead... but the entire apartment is currently wonderfully cool with new and efficient AC units.

Gross that shirts are optional.  These weren't the 'freshest' men I'd smelled.  :(

I'm happy that we all survived the AC assessment and installation... (knock on wood, the scaffolding still has to be torn down).  Now Fole and I will survive the hot summer with cool sleeping conditions.