My house hates me. Since we moved in last April things have been systematically breaking.
- The guys who installed our washer and dryer hooked them up wrong. Didn’t help that I didn’t properly install the drain hose on the first try. That was messy.
- The overflow drain in our jacuzzi tub failed, sending a ton of water seeping through the ceiling and dripping into the living room. We got it fixed easily enough, but we still have some stains on the ceiling that we don’t care enough about to fix.
- While removing wallpaper in the bathroom we had the window open and the hot water running, and were soon smelling gas. We thought it might have been something dangerous with our instant hot water heater, but turns out it’s normal. I suspect the exhaust may have been located too close to the window.
- Our doorbell stopped working.
- The toilet in our basement started leaking and soon we realized it was the main drain backing up to the toilet, the tub and the floor drain in the basement. It got to the point where nothing was draining at all. One Roto Rooter visit later we were back in business.
- When it got cold and we turned on our gas fireplace only to discover it wouldn’t stay lit. Definitely not a necessity, so we opted to ignore it for a while.
- Of course then the furnace went out. Those were a cold couple of days.
- Then our wood burning fireplace (yes, we have two fireplaces) decided to clog up. I can only assume the chimney is in desperate need of a cleaning (I suggested we call that friendly chap from Mary Poppins). Another expense we decided to forgo for a while.
- And now the toilet in the basement is leaking again and this morning I determined that it is in fact the main drain clogged up again. The Roto Rooter man said the guy who came out six months ago didn’t have a big enough machine to fully clear out the roots. But he supposedly got it. We’ll see in six months (when his guarantee expires).
So basically we’ve had a problem with every major appliance in our house, except the dishwasher. And if the dishwasher goes, well, then I give up. Have I mentioned that sometimes I hate being a homeowner? Yeah, I guess I have.
Kevin,
You should just bite the bullet and buy one of the large sewer auger machines. As I recall they’re about $250, which is 1-2 visits from the plumber in Winona.
Be glad your cast iron pipe hasn’t rusted through yet.
See also:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17988818@N00/2314472077/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/17988818@N00/2315283774/
Ok, I’m wrong on the price. For $500, you’ll never have to call roto-rooter again…
http://www.toolbarn.com/product/ridgid/26998/
Ah, what a nice entry to read two days after we signed papers to buy our first house. Maybe someday we can huddle together and weep about our impending home repairs.
Someone else suggested I rent one of those machines. Might have to look into it, though if the first Roto Rooter man couldn’t do the job, I’d be worried about my ability to do it.
Yes, Steph, I look forward to weeping together over our housing woes. ;-)
Depending on how paranoid you want to be, it might be dangerous blogging about problems with your house that could be semi-permanent issues with how it’s all structured. I mean, if you’re trying to sell it, an enterprising buyer might look this up, see the list, and look elsewhere.
Then again, it’s all very realistic stuff that would happen to anybody. But buyers probably don’t want realism. ;-) I just bought a house that smelled of apple cinnamon and had deer quietly grazing in the back yard and a beautiful cat peacefully lounging in a sunbeam on the staged couch.
That’s worth considering Josh, thanks. But I think I’m OK. Every problem we’ve had is something that could be fixed and definitely would be fixed before we sold. We’re just cheap.