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.
OK, that's good advice, thank you.
DEFINITELY put constraints on any project... besides cost over runs, time should be your most important consideration.
Open ended is no good.
Pay very close attention to everything. No matter how good the contractor and his subs are they don't care as much about your house as you do. Ask questions. If something doesn't make sense, ask about it. Don't be afraid to mention anything that doesn't look proper or isn't following what the plans state.
Most importantly, find out what kind of beer your workers like and buy them a six pack on Friday or something similar.
materials should be a negotiated cost settled before construction starts
the rest is paying for time and labor
or time off for labor because we also be empathetic humans
I read emphatic... I said yeap
Only to go out to the garage this morning and find the water heater leaking...
anyone have any ideas? it seems to have stopped leaking this afternoon and there is plenty of hot water and pressure in the system.
If I had to guess, I dont think more than a gallon leaked out onto the garage floor, maybe even less.
I dont think it was from the pressure relief valve because that valve exits to outside of the home... the water 'PAN' has water in it, but I can not find any visible leaks.
is my water heate
So I know I'm too late for MSchu on this, as he already replaced it, but to hopefully save the next person this happens to some cash... This happened to me this week, and I discovered that by far the most common cause of this is a leaking gasket where one of the heating elements (usually the bottom one) screws in. Since you have to drain the heater anyway, you might as well replace the elements, which only cost about $40 for a pair.
Apparently that fixes the problem like 80% of the time, and if it doesn't, it's still negligible next to the cost of a new water heater and installation. I've ordered a pair of new elements, and hoping my aces hold up.
Cool...
That for an electric or gas water heater? I've got gas, and have replaced the WH 2x in ~15 years. I'm sure at least once it wasn't the gasket/heater element. WH was figuratively peeing from the top of the unit, and zero hot water coming from the tap in the house.
I got 15 yeas out of my original unit... my new unit is guaranteed for 12 years so I am hoping for 18 years :p
After further research, I probably could have gotten more time out of my old gas unit... but I wanted peace of mind.
That was for electric. Gas heaters don't have elements, but rather burners, afaik.
That said, my aces did not hold up. Or perhaps a better analogy is that one of the As turned out to be a 4 on closer inspection. New elements came in, and I couldn't remove the old ones. Half a can of Blaster lubricant, a special wrench, and a 3/8-inch iron leverage bar couldn't get the job done. I did manage to bend the iron bar, though.
After putting that much work into it, I wanted hot water tonight, so went to Home Depot and bought one and self installed. NBD except getting the old one off and the new one on to the stupid corner shelf in the garage that it's installed on. 8 feet above the floor. Ended up building a ramp contraption from 2x4s, a shorter shelf as a landing, a piece of plywood, and a sawhorse. After it coming partially disconnected when removing the old one and almost dropping it on my head, I made it more solid for the install. Still scary as fook, though.
Spent 10+ hours this week shoveling 3' of snow off my roof and breaking up 75' of 8" thick ice dams off my gutters. Hard to think of many worse jobs. Check your roofs, will be installing heating cables for next winter.
That was for electric. Gas heaters don't have elements, but rather burners, afaik.
That said, my aces did not hold up. Or perhaps a better analogy is that one of the As turned out to be a 4 on closer inspection. New elements came in, and I couldn't remove the old ones. Half a can of Blaster lubricant, a special wrench, and a 3/8-inch iron leverage bar couldn't get the job done. I did manage to bend the iron bar, though.
After putting that much work into it, I wanted hot water tonight, so went
Spent 10+ hours this week shoveling 3' of snow off my roof and breaking up 75' of 8" thick ice dams off my gutters. Hard to think of many worse jobs. Check your roofs, will be installing heating cables for next winter.
C'mon, guys!
You're going to give us lazy bastards a bad name.
around 1pm on saturday the pineapple express arrived at the portland station and is still hanging around.
as of 1pm today the local rain gauge claims 2.8 inches of water have fallen
rough guess is the trusty shop vac has picked up at least 0.8 of that so far, still counting
even in oregon our storm systems can get overwhelmed when big rain events happen
at one point yesterday afternoon after first noticing the laundry room flooding
i went out back to scout for potential causes and there was a rivulet flowing from a crack between the sidewalk and basement wall
turned off the house water because the location was right next to a hose bibb, but it kept pumping
only thought is the below grade horizontal rain drainage conveyance can't handle the quantity of water being provided by the downspouts
sounds like time to pay the pro-state tax and get the pipes cleaned out
Shoot im depressed.
Family friend's hot water tank went out and they asked me to help replace it.
The plumbing company that came out shut off their water and charged almost 200 for an emergency call on Friday night.
So I go over and they bought a discount water heater for 320 plus tax from HD
I installed it and put in a shut off valve on the cold side since it didn't have one.
It leaked from the anode rod because its was dented, hence the discount.
So we take it back and they got a brand new tank for 85 cents more. Yes, a brand new tank covered by the warranty for 85 cents more
It listed for $619.
I installed the new tank, works great, so I ask for 300 since it took two times to install.
They gripe and we settle for 250.
Im nonplussed sitting here in my feelings.
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ugh! What an awkward situation.
It is, I love these folks, they are good people at their core, but like so many boomers, have no clue what things cost nowadays.
He thought they could get a 50 gallon tank for less than 200 dollars, and was upset to get a dented one for +300.
Don't even want to talk about the labor costs.
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I replaced a bathroom fan. Now when it's on if I touch light switches throughout the house I get shocked. This never happened before and there were no other changes. What could cause this?
Its like a strong static shock, but I don't think it is because it never happened before. Also it happens over and over from switch to switch.
Did you somehow mix up ground and neutral?
If he never posts again I'm just going to assume he died in the attempt 🫡
Do you have a multimeter? I would check for current on the fan housing etc.
