Home ownership
Maybe I missed a thread similar to this, but that's ok. I have been in my home for 10 years now, and there are some things I wasn't prepared for or aware of as a homeowner. I am not scared to admit them if it helps someone else, and please share any stories you have about things you didn't know when owning a home for the first time, whether they be small or large, costly or not.
I will start with not knowing about changing the furnace filter until the a/c stopped working and I had to spend $300 on a new blower motor. Also, I knew nothing of cleaning my gutters, until one became clogged, held water, froze, and had the weight pull it down. Replacing the gutters was another $1000. I'm sure I'll think of other things but those are the 2 that stand out the most at the moment.
ITT we talk about home ownership, and things that aren't always obvious but need to be done to save on maintenance and repairs.
Man, I got a homeowner who is a family acquaintance wanting me to help me with her fence and I think I am going to have to figure out how to bow out gracefully.
Calls me up because her grandson and his friend have put up half of a 60 ft wood panel fence but can't finish due to work requirements, they are doing it as a favor for her.
It looks fine, just needs four more panels and possibly three posts.
Well I told her that it needed to be marked for underground utilities, she couldn't understand why since it had a fence on it previously, I said its better to be safe than sorry and its actually required.
Didn't cost her a thing, and I told her not to mess with it till it was done, there was a tree that grew close to the fence over the years and needed to be cut out since it probably contributed to the old fences demise being in line of that fence.
She has her nephew cut out that tree the next day.
She calls and tells me its done and I try to explain that was not a smart thing to do because of the possible utilities in the back corner of that fence where that tree was located.
You are supposed to wait till all utilities are marked, approximately 3 days.Or will be held financially responsible.
Well she calls two days later telling me they are all marked and I had to tell her that the electric had not, I get notified by email when utilities are marked and when its done with locates.
Well I go over Friday to check it out and make up a material list and its got every possible utility running down the back and down the side the new fence will go.
Big ones, including electric and fiber-optic cables that serve the entire addition.
How they dug new posts and dug out the tree without hitting any utilities whatsoever is a major miracle IMO.
All that with no locate.
Now she's bugging me to put up the fence and its been 6 days since she asked me to help.
I've told her it will be a few days, I have other projects I'm on.
She ain't happy, wants it done yesterday.
And once I described how fortunate they were not to have problems, she dismissed them completely.
I'm actually starting to wonder if her grandson actually had other obligations.....
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
Surprised they dug new holes. Limited experience, but I've had better fortune smashing the concrete out and reusing the existing holes.
Good luck though. You've given her an expectation of a few days. If she can't deal with that, there's plenty of other people.
test
Pulling that permit is nothing, super easy. Not pulling one is risky af imo. Probably depends on the building inspector type.
Pulling that permit is nothing, super easy. Not pulling one is risky af imo. Probably depends on the building inspector type.
No, this was for utilities locates, no permit was needed since it counts as replacing existing fence only as a repair
The risky part is removing a stump from the utilities and possibly needing to relocate a post or two, and avoiding a major powerline running in line with this fence and a huge fiber-optics cable.
Just knowing where to avoid digging is a bit deal.
what do you have to gain, what do you have to lose, and the probability of each
I went to an underground hit once. Lady had rented a backhoe and was digging holes to plant trees along the property line. Hit the high voltage cable. Bill was $80k because she didn't think or know she needed to get the utilities located, for free. In our state the operator can also be fined for not getting the utilities located, biggest fine I know of was $13k because it was his second offence.
I went to an underground hit once. Lady had rented a backhoe and was digging holes to plant trees along the property line. Hit the high voltage cable. Bill was $80k because she didn't think or know she needed to get the utilities located, for free. In our state the operator can also be fined for not getting the utilities located, biggest fine I know of was $13k because it was his second offence.
Yeah, I tried explaining how a contractor i used to work around got in a hurry and didn't wait the required time for locates, hit a fiber optic cable and the cost of repair basically put him out of business.
Didn't phase her a bit.Thats what gave me pause.
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
The biggest one I've heard of in our state was a horizontal boring machine that hit the fiber optic running right through the middle of town, it also happened to be the one that fed one of the biggest shopping malls. With the loss of revenue added because the stores couldn't process credit cards the bill was $3.5 million. yikes.
The biggest one I've heard of in our state was a horizontal boring machine that hit the fiber optic running right through the middle of town, it also happened to be the one that fed one of the biggest shopping malls. With the loss of revenue added because the stores couldn't process credit cards the bill was $3.5 million. yikes.
Slightly amusing story that wasn't at the time.
My sisters husband was out of work and so we had him help us as manual labor for a few weeks in the summer and so I told him to dig a small footing for a brick post and it was close to the easement.I tell him to be careful in the area.
I check on him and hes chopping at a root, a good sized one, I tell him to stop and its actually a phone cable line.
Luckily he didn't skin the line, so I told him to move over and avoid the line and to be careful.
He promptly brings the spade down on the line again!
And skins it really good.
I just look at him, he has no clue what he has done.
I call it in for repair, its the phone line, this was before fiber-optics were common, so its the old wire lines.
A crew for southwestern bell was working in the area and they showed up to repair it.
As they were working, I gave them water and cokes and apologized profusely.
For some reason they didn't file a damage ticket, they just fixed it and were grateful for the drinks on a hot day and the break from the other more involved project down the street.
After they left I fired my BIL and told him he was lucky they didn't charge us.Otherwise it would have come out of his final check.
The goofball didn't comprehend how serious it could have been. This guy had worked on aircraft wiring in the service, so he should be smart enough to avoid cutting the wrong wires.
He ended up cheating on my sister with my uncles illegitimate daughter and getting divorced a year or so later.
So he really didn't think things through.
Sent from my LM-V600 using Tapatalk
People are dumb. When I have tried to explain the dangers, and potential extreme costs, of digging up gas/electric/communications/water/sewer lines they look at me like I'm speaking Chinese.
We did hit a water line once that was tapped to a 12" main. It wasn't located because it didn't show up on the water company's maps and they marked the area clear to dig.
Turned out a rancher had illegally tapped the water line and had been stealing water for years and years with a 2" line! They probably never would have caught him if we hadn't hit the pirate pipe.
SIL dealing with a funny/not funny homeowner situation.
House across the street (Zillow 575k 3/4 acre lot so not exactly the bucket) old woman dies and apparently the house sits empty for a several months then 'the son' moves in. For reasons unknown he still doesn't have utilities 2 months later so he runs an industrial generator 24/7 for power, its loud even 150yds away. Eventually somebody complains and the police get involved and its determined the only thing he was doing wrong is noise violations for running it after 10pm or before 8am so at least now the house is quiet at night.
Bizarre - triple digit temps on the east coast and sleeping with no AC cannot be fun
most people in rural maine have gennies because the power can be out for a week at a time once or twice a year
the minute the power goes out you know because that's all you can hear even though the neighbors aren't even remotely close to your house
I have a vacant house behind me under similar circumstances but no squatters. I was just imagining somebody running a generator there, but then I remembered that I wouldn't be able to hear it at night because cicadas.
House across the street, old woman dies and apparently the house sits empty for a several months then 'the son' moves in... he still doesn't have utilities 2 months later so he runs an industrial generator 24/7 for power, its loud even 150yds away.
that sounds like the most expensive form of energy... unless he using natural gas.
Had a mini split (aka ductless) 1-ton unit installed on my master bedroom wall last Friday. Best upgrade I've done to the old house (built in 1956) since we bought it 12 years ago.
Master bedroom was always the hottest room in the house. Turn the AC down to 76? Kitchen (on east end) goes to 72. Master bedroom (west end), still sitting around 80 degrees. Attic insulation and ductwork seem intact, cold air blowing from the vent - 55 degrees according to the ac guy, very good for 18yo 5-ton main unit. He did throw out the old "only 2% make it 20 years" to try to make a $20k sale. That's not happening while cold air is blowing, that's for sure.
Unfortunately, (??) master suite is like ~240+ sq feet with only the single register, so I would lie awake at night sweating, listening to the ac running, and not feeling it at all. Should have pulled the trigger years ago, and probably saved thousands of dollars.
New unit allows me to keep the master suite at a cool 72, while the rest of the house is set at a wallet friendly 80. I barely hear the new compressor running. Glorious.
Paid too much for the install/unit, but then again, I can sleep soundly thru the night, and that's worth gold.
most people in rural maine have gennies because the power can be out for a week at a time once or twice a year
the minute the power goes out you know because that's all you can hear even though the neighbors aren't even remotely close to your house
shopping generators right now, a double wound (1800rpm, relatively quiet) runs about $10k. It's 110 degrees here today in the desert SW and I do not want to be without my beloved A/C!
shopping generators right now, a double wound (1800rpm, relatively quiet) runs about $10k. It's 110 degrees here today in the desert SW and I do not want to be without my beloved A/C!
they are loud, fire hazards obv, and produce carbon monoxide emissions
so definitely consider where and how it will be stored/located before you buy - many people opt for small detached sheds to keep them out of the house but protected from the weather
Questions about pressure vacuum breakers. There is a shutoff valve before the pvb and a shutoff valve after the pvb.
When I turn off the water main, after some time I get water coming out of the pvb, which I'm assuming is back siphonage from the irrigation system due to the low pressure from the main water being off?
If I shutoff off the valve after the pvb, would this prevent back siphonage when the water main is turned off and thus not have water pushing out of the bonnet?
that should cure it but there should never be water leaking because if there is it could be a problem, need a plumber to check things out.
I get water to gush out of it using either valve. You can play with slowly opening the valve but I mostly don't worry about some water on the ground.
that should cure it but there should never be water leaking because if there is it could be a problem, need a plumber to check things out.
Thanks for the response.
It functions fine if the water isn't shut off to the house. Once the water is shut off, a back siphonage (I'm guessing) occurs due to the pressure change and water starts coming out of the pvb bonnet.
It's a rental that I'm remodeling and need to shut the water off for a few days to replace faucet/toilet valves, sinks, etc.
I get water to gush out of it using either valve. You can play with slowly opening the valve but I mostly don't worry about some water on the ground.
Thanks for the response.
Just to make sure we're on the same page, I'm talking about the ball valves (both are on) and not the small test valves. When the water main is shut off to the house, water starts coming out of the bonnet of the pvb.
I turned off the main water supply to replace the water heater but wasn't able to get back to the unit for a few days and water was coming out of the pvb apparently the whole time. Not worried about water on the ground but potentially damaging the pvb and having to replace it.
]Just to make sure we're on the same page, I'm talking about the ball valves (both are on) and not the small test valves. When the water main is shut off to the house, water starts coming out of the bonnet of the pvb.
yeah. I've a valve on each side of it with both usually on. It's on the water line to my sprinkler system. I turn the valve off on the sprinkler side -> No water gushes. I turn it back on and about a gallon pours out of the bonnet and then stops.
