| 10/4/2004 |
Following the 4 hurricanes that hit Florida we
were somewhat surprised to find that the roof leaks at the chimneys.
Upon closer examination we found that much of the cement between the
bricks had aged and fallen away so we took a couple of days to point it
out. In essence, pointing out cement means replacing it.
The flashing at the bases was okay but the tar
was pretty much shot so all of it had to be reworked, too. |
| 10/5/2004 |
The clean out plate at the base of our chimney
rusted away and was laying in the grass. When we went to have our
furnaces serviced the technician couldn't do the pressure tests on it so
we ordered a new plate, which happened to be 3" larger than the
original because they just don't make them that small anymore. Chuck
sp0ent the better part of this morning buying a masonry blade for his
framing saw to cut and chisel out a new opening and now the new plate is
in place. |
| 11/12/2004 |
I spent
all day hanging fiberglass insulation in the cellar ceiling. I
also had to sweep up a century of dirt which got so thick at times it
made the air resemble London during the Industrial Revolution. I
found only one rat nest in the old insulation but it was obviously
multigenerational and the last of the line was in it in a mummified
form.
The
moron who hung the previous insulation hung it upside down which
actually worsened the problem and made our ground floor drafty and
colder than goose sh*t. (Guess he wanted that purty pink stuff
under his feet and not the cold metallic lookin' side.) What this
did was create a vapor barrier that trapped the cold between the floor
and the metallic liner not unlike a refrigerator. The insulation
then acted like the walls of a beverage cooler and helped maintain the
floor at cellar temperature. Also, he used the wrong kind of
insulation but that was 100% expected. I spent exactly one thousand
years tearing out all of the old stuff and then cleaning out the
channels so that I could hang up the new stuff. We can already
feel the difference in the veranda and kitchen, which are the two rooms
above that area of the cellar.
And
last but certainly not least will come the ice cold shower to rinse off
the itchiness. Warm showers embed fiberglass in the skin so I get
to also take a cold one, something I detest above most other things in
life.
|
| 1/23/2005 |
Seeing as this was once a duplex it should come as
no surprise that we have two furnaces and two ductwork systems. The
unit on the left is a real performer while the right unit has been no end of
trouble for us. I have named the left unit Elvis, and the one on the
right, Elvis's dead twin.
Both are over 50 years old.
It's been about -5° here for the past few nights and
Elvis has been doing double-duty as his dead twin has refused to fire
up. We had a tech out here on the 22nd who showed me how to resurrect
the dead twin by simply pressing a button but naturally he died again as
soon as the tech left.
No problem. I began hitting that damned
button over and over and the dead twin would groan and then refuse to
start. I called the service over and over and finally got them to call
me back. I explained that the Magic Resurrection Button wasn't
working.
"How many times have you tried it", the
dispatcher asked?
"About thirty or forty times", I
answered.
"You need to stop pressing that button.
You're filling up the unit with oil and if it sparks it could blow up the
house", replied the dispatcher.
"Oh", I replied. "The tech
didn't mention that it's also an Instant Armageddon Button, too."
So, at ten o'clock a different tech shows up who
figures out that the transformer that ignites the flame is dead and that I'm
fortunate that it was. He replaced it and I gave him ten bucks for all
the work he did. Also, because our hill is a sheet of ice and he had
to park a block away and walk back and forth to get the new transformer.
And Elvis is now very happy because he isn't doing
two shows a night.
|
| 6/15/2005 |
I should just rename this section as HVAC. It
seems like everything I write here has to do with it but that's only because
the only time I write anything here is when it doesn't fit another category
and I had to spend a minimum of one day on whatever the entry pertains
to. Yesterday was no exception.
I found the basement floor completely wet due to a
broken PVC pipe that was used to exit the condensation from out AC system
and dump it into a drain pipe. The winter cold must have been too much
for it and it was shattered. No big deal. Replacing PVC piping
is something a smart five year old can do.
What took a bit longer was finding all of the holes
in the ductwork that were making our basement a frozen wonderland.
Lately, it's been about 100º outside. When it's that hot you kind of
expect your house to be a little warmer than usual but it's been ridiculous
so I figured the problem had to be in the cellar. Sure enough, there
were at least 50 breaches in the ducts. I walked around with a lighter
and some were so strong they could blow it out.
|
| 9/7/2005 |
Tomorrow will be a fun day. We're being re-inspected by our insurance
company. We could literally lose the house if it doesn't go
well. I have a miserable cold and Beth just caught it so she's at the
'death warmed over' stage and was useless for preparing. If there are
any entries past this date it means we passed.
|
| 9/10/2005 |
Okay, so we're still here. Our loan officer
went ahead and processed our application before the insurance inspection
went through so now we're closing on Wednesday. Again.
What we haven't mentioned over the past 18 months
and what no one seems to have noticed was that we were living here without
insurance. While I realize that this isn't making us appear to be much
more intelligent than a couple of dead house plants, it's important to
include that information on this website. After all, the entire point
is to demonstrate what this entire experience has been like and not
just the pretty parts.
When we went to close on this property we could
have paid cash but chose to finance half so that we'd have money for
renovations. We almost were forced to pay the whole amount because we
were dropped by the insurance company right after the inspection, but they
issued us a temporary fire policy and that got us under the wire with the
bank. Unfortunately, they dropped us on that one, too.
Now we were basically living in a huge pile of
seasoned firewood with no insurance. Lovely.
You have no idea what it's like to live that way
unless you've done it. Every time you come home you look at the place
where your house is supposed to be and pray. One spark could have
caused us to lose every last think we'd worked for and completely wiped us
out and at our ages that wasn't a very pretty thought to have to live with.
It got worse as time wore on. By last August
we had sunk $25,000 into the house. By Christmas we were up to about
$35,000.. If the old girl had burned all we'd have had left would have
been the yard and with a hill like the one we live on? Well, we'd have
been hard pressed to find a buyer.
The only thing we could do was press on and
keep getting her back in shape so that the insurance company would
reconsider us again. We had to work very hard, long hours that first
year and it took a toll on us, but we made it that far.
It took all the way up until just recently before
we felt the house would pass inspection, and did. It felt like someone
took a massive weight off of our shoulders and so now we can again live like
normal people.
Is there something to be learned from all of
this? Hell, yeah! To all of you people who think it would be a
cute idea to do what we're doing, make sure you can insure the place
before you even consider buying it. It just isn't worth the stress.
Well, it is, actually. The house has shot up
in value like no one will ever believe. But it was stressful. I
can't say that enough.
|
| 9/12/2005 |
It's Monday and we're both still sicker than dogs. With
two days to go until we sign all the paperwork that will get us completely
out of debt, insured and back on track with the house we're still feeling a
little uneasy but not as badly as we did. The best part of all of this
is that our plan has proven to be a good one and we can now refocus our
efforts into a more normal mode. Little things, such as restoring the
older windows can be worked on with pleasure, as opposed to racing the clock
to get critical insurance items completed.
Still, it will be much nicer after Wednesday.
|
| 9/13/2005 |
Beth and I met 6 years ago today so getting the news that
we're definitely closing tomorrow is a nice anniversary present. The
day started off in a bad way, though. I was diagnosed with pneumonia
last night and had to sleep sitting up so I wouldn't choke on my own body
fluids. That left me sore and stiff, but to make matters worse, JIA
lost our binder info and it started to look really bad for our
closing. Beth picked up the reins and pulled everything together so
now we're back on track again. I still won't rest easily until the
check is in our hands.
|
| 9/15/2005 |
Okay, we made it through the closing and now we're
in the normal three-day wait until funds are deposited in our bank
account. I'm okay with that.
One major setback I didn't mention on the 13th was my
health. The doctor I saw basically said that if I had waited any
longer I'd be dead right now. My lungs were producing so much noise
that she couldn't get a normal reading with a stethoscope. She loaded
me up with inhalant steroids, antibiotics (elephant strength) and an inhaler
to expand my bronchial tubes that's so powerful it can only be used twice a
day. Kudos to her. I plan to offer her a free service in my
field of home renovations. She charged me nothing, not a single
dime. It's the very least I can do.
|
| 9/20/2005 |
We're somewhat back on track. The money is in the
bank, our old mortgage is paid off and we're insured. Our health
issues are passing and our lives are starting to feel more stabilized
again. We made it.
|
| 10/27/2005 |
This will be one of the rare entries where you can
learn something. If you happen to be having a new furnace installed
and you want to have your ductwork cleaned, get it cleaned after the
unit is installed. I swear. I was told cleaning didn't matter if it
was done before or after by the salesman, his boss, the service manager, and
some other guy whose title eludes me. All of them were seasoned
professionals and not one of them was correct.
When the actual duct cleaning guys showed up they
announced that they could only do one side because only one unit was
installed. I explained that all the other guys from his company said
it didn't matter and he gave me that look I've seen on other people's faces
when I've apparently made the dumbest statement possible. The look
usually starts with a dead stare and then is followed by a brief wince as
though it was actually painful to swallow the the need to tell me I'm an
idiot. Then comes the eye-roll followed by the delicate wording
of how everyone at the main office is an idiot.
I was instilled with confidence. We had
apparently just handed over $5,700 to a pack of idiots.
Great.
The good news is that even with only one unit
installed the house went supernova last night. The heat was
deliciously unbearable. The second unit is being worked on right now
and we can't wait to see all of our candles melting.
|
