The General Home Ownership Hell Thread

[nbr3bagshotrow]

Originally Posted by TNovak

This last year alone I replaced all of the windows and siding, the central air unit, and the shingles on the roof.

I didn't need to do the siding and windows, but they could use it and this was the last year for me to take advantage of the commie lib tax deduction for upgrading energy efficiency.

Owning a house is an expensive game. Even if it is new. I owned a brand new house from construction to about 5 yrs old once. No repairs but special assessments just kick you in the arse hard

I put in a super high efficiency furnace and A/C back in September and as I compare this years gas/electric bills with last years I'm sure not finding much energy efficiency.

[protector2814]

Nidgit, wish your brother the best from all of us. Here I am complaining about busted pipes and no power and your bro. is worried about loosing his whole darn house. Puts things in perspective. I'll be sending out the positive vibes and pray he dodges it.

[Argonus]

I definitely know I could be a Home Inspector.. when I bought my house in Oregon, ours missed a few.. amusing... features. Couldn't have asked for a more awesome yard, though.

I gotta say, though.. nothing's more fun that increasing its value via Home Depot.

I'll be buying another house soon enough, though.. probably in coastal California (ie my 1,800 sq. ft. house will be reduced to an 800 sq. ft. house).

[Argonus]

Originally Posted by Nidgit

My brother's just about to loose his . . . built his dream house in Cairns (far north Queensland) and they are expecting a massive cyclone in the next 24 hours. They are all safe, but he is expecting major damage (best case) or total destruction.

Wow.. our thoughts are with him and his.

Thank God he and his family are safe, at least.

[TNovak]

Originally Posted by nbr3bagshotrow

I put in a super high efficiency furnace and A/C back in September and as I compare this years gas/electric bills with last years I'm sure not finding much energy efficiency.

Me too. I did new siding with supposed high efficiency under wrap, new windows, new central air and I am paying as much in utilities as before and it hasn't been as cold this year. Go figure.

Originally Posted by protector2814

Nidgit, wish your brother the best from all of us. Here I am complaining about busted pipes and no power and your bro. is worried about loosing his whole darn house. Puts things in perspective. I'll be sending out the positive vibes and pray he dodges it.

+1

Originally Posted by Argonus

I definitely know I could be a Home Inspector.. when I bought my house in Oregon, ours missed a few.. amusing... features. Couldn't have asked for a more awesome yard, though.

I gotta say, though.. nothing's more fun that increasing its value via Home Depot.

I'll be buying another house soon enough, though.. probably in coastal California (ie my 1,800 sq. ft. house will be reduced to an 800 sq. ft. house).

I hope you get a great house Argonus

Glad to see you are keeping your spirits up and a good attitude

[Nidgit]

Originally Posted by risingstar

Holy! Let's hope everything turns out okay!

Originally Posted by protector2814

Nidgit, wish your brother the best from all of us. Here I am complaining about busted pipes and no power and your bro. is worried about loosing his whole darn house. Puts things in perspective. I'll be sending out the positive vibes and pray he dodges it.

Originally Posted by Argonus

Wow.. our thoughts are with him and his.

Thank God he and his family are safe, at least.

Thanks guys. I spoke to him today and their area seems to have been spared the worst so far. Some areas were really hammered though. Feel really bad for the people of Queensland. In the past few weeks, they had record flooding and now Cyclone &$&?ing Yasi !!!

Can sympathize with everyone's home ownership woes. We came home a few weeks ago to find our place flooded. Looks like when our place was built the builders used the floor drain for all sorts of garbage. Came home one night to find a lovely little river running through our place. Still, if that's the worst thing to happen, I don't have much to b!tch about. Doesn't come close to some of the stuff you guys are having to manage

[Makkari1]

Originally Posted by protector2814

So, maybe a year ago, I start smelling sewage in my basement laundry room. I have the plumbers out a few times. They couldn't find anything, yet the smell persists and I just feel in my bones that something is terribly wrong. Long story short - we have our heating and cooling system replaced a month back ($$$) and the tech. smells the smell and traces in to the trap door behind our basement tub. Ten days ago, the plumbers come in with the jack hammers and, after tearing up our laundry room and basement bath floor, that our house has settled on the back side, crushing and snapping the brittle, 50 year old pipes connecting just about everything to the sewer line. Everything we've flushed or washed down a sink for gosh knows how long, has ended up in the ground below our home, further washing away the ground, causing even more settling and damage.

They've replaced pretty much everything, below ground, to the main sewer line. We haven't had hot water for 10 days (the heater had to be pulled) and just got back our kitchen sink yesterday.

$13, 000 is the estimate on top of the $10 we just dropped on the new heating/ac system. I tell you renters, you may just want to stay renting...'cause when home problems crop up, they often can kick you right in the nads. I'm just numb.

I'm sorry to hear about this. You are no the first person to go through this. The company I worked for has a similar problem with old pipes and a nasty smell that won't go away. The plummers suspect leaking old pipes that are very old and need to be replaced.

The good thing about home ownership is that you are not paying endless rent on something that you'll never own. The one consolation that you have is that if or when you sell your house you can include the cost of the new pipes and work in the sales price since it would be considered a upgrade.