1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is an old house, and it’s constantly in need of repairs, plumbers and exterminators.
A list of work orders processed by maintenance crews at the White House shows roaches in the staff kitchen, mice in the Situation Room, leaks in the ceilings and a broken toilet seat in the president’s private restroom.
NBC4 in Washington obtained the repair list via a Freedom On Information Act request.
‘WW NM pest control to treat for cockroaches in the dining rooms,’ reads one work order.
That’s a reference to the West Wing’s Navy Mess, a wood-paneled restaurant in the White House basement that seats about 50 people on elegantly appointed tables with fresh flowers and official White House china.
Falling apart: The White House maintenance staff has to deal with rodent infestations, cockroaches in the dining room, ants in the Chief of Staff’s office, and leaky ceilings
The General Services Administration fields requests for fixes at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, including critter problems and plumbing nightmares
The elegant Navy Mess, a private White House restaurant, had roaches running around
Down the hall in the high-stakes Situation Room, exterminators were called to deal with a mouse infestation.
‘RODENT PROBLEM,’ that work order read.
Another work order was closed out by a staffer who reported resolving a problem with ‘ants in the window sill’ of the Chief of Staff’s office.
‘I removed a lot by killing them,’ the worker wrote.
The problems go beyond critters and bugs. Plumbers were called to ‘[i]nvestigate water leaking from ceiling in [the] Press Office’ on the first floor.
And workmen were dispatched to replace a broken toilet seat in the president’s private bathroom near the Oval Office shortly after Donald Trump took office.
‘After hours please,’ the maintenance crew was told.
Senior White House aides working in the Situation Room reported seeing mice
Other work orders dealt with refinishing chair legs in Vice President Mike Pence’s office, and replacing draperies for Melania Trump’s second-floor East Wing office, in order to create an ‘overall effect of the room being taller.’
Another request was filed shortly after Inauguration Day to install a satellite TV system for Pence. And the first lady requested a big-screen TV of her own.
‘It’s an enormous job’ to maintain the presidential mansion, according to former General Services Administration inspector Brian Miller.
‘GSA hires contractors and subcontractors for the work. Then the agency must watch over the contractors.’
The agency has its own office in the Eisenhower Executive Office building adjacent to the White House because there are so many requests for help.
‘They are old buildings,’ Miller said. ‘Any of us who have old houses know old houses need a lot of work.’
Trump reportedly complained to his golfing buddies after moving into the White House that it was ‘a real dump.’