It is difficult to drive around Kirkland and not come across some kind of road maintenance or building project. Most people don’t even think twice when they see construction equipment.

So when an odd incident involving a sewer line construction project turned Kirkland resident Jackie Friedley’s car into a concrete mess on April 17 she was “stunned.”

“When they said it was going to be $9,000 to repair my car I nearly fell through the phone,” said Friedley.

Friedley was stopped on Kirkland Avenue in downtown Kirkland in the construction zone. She was taking her 2-year-old grandson Mikey to the library. While sitting in her car, with her grandson in the backseat, she looked in her rearview mirror to see a construction worker with his head inside the car behind her and having a laugh with a woman. Four other workers continued to perform the concrete pour as Friedley drove away in her Toyota Scion.

But when she got home her son pointed out that the entire passenger side of her car had been sprayed with concrete.

“I am still in shock,” said Friedley, who saw five construction workers at the scene and no one told her what happened. “I am not sure how, with so many on the job, that no one could have seen it happen. If someone would have told me they could have just washed it off.”

Puget Sound Utilities (PSU) owner Darren Grider, whose Lakewood-based company performed the sewer-line work, said he spoke to the foreman on the job that day. The foreman said that he did not see the accident occur.

To make things worse, some of the concrete even came through a rear window that was cracked open.

“I take my grandson to the library and this is what happens?” asked Friedley. “Some of it got inside the car and I am just lucky it didn’t get on my grandson. I am saddened because this isn’t Kirkland. It could have really hurt my grandson.”

Friedley consulted with her son – a concrete worker in Illinois – who said concretes have an alkaline nature and can cause a rash or even burn the skin. He was also perplexed as to how this could have happened.

“No one in our company knew this happened until Thursday (April 19),” said Grider. “We know we are at fault and we have to make this right. She has a right to be upset.”

Friedley contacted PSU on April 19, after getting the company’s information from the city, to tell them about the incident. She wanted to take the car to Toyota of Kirkland to get it fixed, but Grider insisted that an auto detailer be sent to Freidly’s home on Saturday.

“I was not notified of the incident until Friday,” said Grider. “We probably dropped the ball a little. When I was notified I called her. I wanted to hire a mobile detailer for Saturday so she didn’t have to spend any more time dealing with it.”

Freidley agreed and waited around all day Saturday for Diamond’s Detail to show up at her home.

“We waited all day and no one showed up. Shouldn’t they (PSU) have followed up?” said Freidley. “They were also supposed to send me a business card and the name of a manager. I think the way this was handled is sad.”

Grider said that he got word no one showed up on Saturday night and nothing could be done until Monday.

“We were going ‘oh my gosh!’” said Grider. “I thought I was going through proper procedures. I called them (Diamond Detail) on Monday morning and they said ‘we got busy.’”

When Freidley’s husband insisted that the car be taken to Toyota of Kirkland, Grider agreed.

She also said that the incident has cost her three days of work trying to get the car fixed. On Sunday, she had no choice but to drive the car to a wedding.

“My car looks like I never wash it,” said Freidley, noting she insisted that her husband park it in the back of the building. “I had to tell the story over and over again.”

Freidley said her car, with just 41,000 miles, is completely paid off. She and her husband were planning to trade it in for a larger vehicle.

“My mom had a stroke and I have to take care of her,” said Freidley, who is also in the process of adopting her grandson.

Grider said that he has since received the $9,611 bill from Toyota and has submitted it to his insurance. He said this is the first time anything like this has happened to his company.

“We poured a lot of concrete for that project, encasing all that pipe,” said Grider. “We did so much traffic control and this happened on the last day. I am trying my best to make this right, but it got to the point where I felt like there was nothing I could do to make it right.”

He said that he has addressed the issue internally.

“We hold our employees accountable,” said Grider, who added that his worker should not have had his head in the car behind Friedley. “We are getting perceived, because of this one incident that we are unprofessional, and we can’t have that.”

As for Freidley, she still plans to trade in her Scion for a van – once everything is taken care of.