When I got home from the weekend with fam on Sunday, I noticed that I was not getting much hot water for my shower. I went to the crawlspace when I got home from work yesterday to find it flooded. I couldn't get to the hot water heater to turn off the water to it (based on where the lake that was my crawlspace was moving, the leak was definitely coming from the heater) so I had to wade through the water to turn off the pipe to the pressure tank. I was then able to siphon the Great Crawlspace Lake. It took a few hours to get to the point where the water wasn't going past my boots so I could shut off the water to the heater and turn the well back on so I could at least flush my toilet again. The water was coming from a rusted hole at the back and bottom of the tank. I need a new one.
Also, turning off my well drained the pressure tank and overwhelmed my septic system. The sudden alarm was rather shocking.
The bright side is that the septic alarm seems to have resolved itself in the night, the seller bought me a home warranty policy when I bought the place so replacing the rusted hot water heater should only cost me $75, and it's a crawlspace, not a basement, so the lake-that-was didn't do as much damage as it could have. I put in a claim last night, but the contractor said they won't be able to get out here until tomorrow.
My dad and Jack came over last night. Their presence helped me get my head on straight so I could deal with the problem (like siphoning out the lake, finding the shut-off valves for the two tanks, and locating the paper that my Realtor sent me in June about the home warranty so I could get started on getting it fixed). I boiled some water this morning so I could wash my hair, but I rinsed with the cold tap. Let me tell you, the water from my aquifer is C.O.L.D. and now I have a headache.
I know it could be worse, but it makes me feel like I never should have bought the house. If something goes really wrong, I can't afford to fix it. I don't know if I'll be able to renew my home warranty, and now that I see the value of it, I really think I should. I'll start saving now.
Oh no! - 31 Amigurumi in October Continued
5 years ago
1 comment :
This kind of thing plagues all homeowners. After replacing our roof ($10,000), we still had a leak, and finally some contractor figured out that the chimney flashing was all wrong, and we got it fixed ($300).
We also had to put in a city water line (the well and spring were so full of iron that our water was red)--$7500. We had to change to propane heating, as oil was very expensive, not to mention dirty--$5000. Then, of course, there was the radon mitigation system for the basement--$1500.
Oh, the joys! We paid off in installments, but you can get loans if you need to. The homeowner's warranty is definitely something you should renew until you have been living there for a while and know the house really well. On our last house, the warranty paid for itself and more when a $1000 gas pipe replacement job cost us just $50 with the warranty! Remember, too, if you make environmentally-friendly changes, you can get a tax break. Just make sure you keep your receipts, so when/if you go to sell the house, you can list all the improvements you have made, and bump up the price. Laurel
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