Crews Go To Wrong House For Siding Job
NEW ULM, Minn. (WCCO) -- When Marcella Sommers decided she needed to re-side her New Ulm home, she made a call to a Twin Cities area contractor -- Schmidt roofing company.
"Why did I need new siding? Because of a hailstorm that did a lot of damage," she said.
Work was set to begin last week on the quaint bungalow at that sits on 210 N. Franklin St. in New Ulm.
"I was laughing, I thought it was funny," she said, upon learning that workers went to the wrong house.
But fellow New Ulm homeowner Jim Meyer didn't find the humor. Imagine his wife's surprise when she came home from work last week only to discover the crews ripping siding off their home instead.
"I got a phone call from my wife when I was at work, and she said, 'Come home now.' I was like why? 'People are stealing our siding,'" Meyer said.
The Meyer's home is at 210 S. Franklin. It's the same address along the same street, but a mere four blocks away. You guessed right -- the siding crew had stopped at the wrong house. Problem is, they didn't discover the mistake until five hours into the job.
"They were supposed to go to 210 North," Sommers said.
It's easy to see how this mix-up happened. Sommers said she gets the wrong mail all the time. As a matter of fact, strangers often stop by and knock on her front door, expecting to find the Meyer's.
Meyer understands, adding, "it's happened a couple of times to us. Our friends go to her house, and they are quite surprised to find her instead of us."
Now, crews with Schmidt Roofing are putting the finishing touches on their "original" siding job. Sommers is quite pleased with the work they've done.
Down the street, at 210 S. Franklin St., the Meyer's "mistaken" home is prepped for a siding job they never ordered.
In contractor language you might just call it a two-for-one -- a way to make good on a costly mistake.
"Everybody feels bad, it's an honest mistake, I guess," Meyer said.
