The ball valve has been replaced and we finally have water in the house! The plumber is pretty cool and in talking to him I happened to ask him about the water hookup for the ice maker. He traced the line and found where the connection from the old owners refrigerator is in the line, and it turns out that it is one of the old vampire tap styles. He explained that these are not the best and he would recommend replacing them, because if the seal in there were to fail as they often do, then water would flow unchecked into the basement. Because these are not actual valves but an actual piercing of the pipe they are connected to, they are also no longer used and would technically not be up to code for a new build. It turns out that we actually have two of these on the cold water line, in addition to the one for the refrigerator’s ice maker, there is also one going to the furnace’s humidifier. Unfortunately the plumber does not have time to replace these today due to other appointments, so he will be coming back again tomorrow.
Category Archives: Melissa
Water Woes, Part 3
I really hope this isn’t a sign of things to come now that we own a house, because this is very frustrating! The city came back out this morning to replace the water meter they erroneously removed now that the main shut off valve has been replaced. The installation went fine and the meter is in place, however we still do not have water. Why? Well it turns out that the ball valve after the water meter is also bad. So technically we have water, it is now just turned off at the new main shut off valve so that the ball valve after the meter does not continuously leak. We have the plumber coming back out tomorrow to replace this valve now as well.
Water Woes, Part 2
Plumber came out today and replaced the main shutoff valve for the water. The process was pretty quick, though we learned there is a distinct smell when a pipe is being soldered, a mix between general heat and something burning. Regardless, the valve is replaced and we can schedule with the city to have them come out, put the water meter back, and turn the water back on.
Water Woes, Part 1
It’s incredible how quickly the joys of home ownership start to roll in! The city came out to install the water meter and turn the water on, just like they were supposed to, but we still have no water. It turns out that by them removing the old meter they apparently caused a seal to break in the valve. As such, when they put the meter in and turned on the water it just started leaking. Now we have to have a plumber come out tomorrow and replace the main shut off valve.
We Are Finally Homeowners!
We are officially homeowners! We closed on the house this morning and received the keys and garage code. The closing process wasn’t nearly as bad as everyone made it sound like it was going to be. I mean we had to sign a lot of papers and it got a little tiring, but it really wasn’t that bad. During this process we finally met a few people who previously we had only spoken to on the phone, like the lending agency and title company people; we also met another one of the previous owner’s sons. I think the process took about 90 minutes, but i honestly don’t remember. It all went by pretty quick. Afterwards Melissa and I went to our new house and started cleaning (we had a lot of stuff already in the truck at the closing), I also changed all of the locks on the property and learned how to change the code to the garage keypad. Call me crazy, but I think security should be the first thing done when buying a new home! Later in the afternoon my brother Chris came over and we went out to Lowe’s to purchase the new refrigerator that Melissa and I had already picked out, he was nice enough to let me use his veteran’s discount. Then it was back to do some more cleaning. The only issue we have run into so far, is that the city turned the water off to the house instead of transferring it to us. We think this is because the old owners realtor messed something up in the paperwork. The city will be out tomorrow to reinstall the water meter and turn the water back on.
Clean Inspection
The house inspection was today and it went really well. I used the same inspector that I had last time we made it this far into the process, as I really liked him. Nothing major was discovered, which is a good thing. It appears that some of the windows may be original to the house (1964) but not all of them, so at some point we would look into replacing those. Other than that the only thing that needs attention is the electrical box. It appears that at some point there was water getting into the box so there is some rust and a couple of the fuses breakers should be replaced. Other than that everything appears to be in good shape, looks like we are moving forward!
Counter Offers
The owner came back with their final counter on the house, they are asking for $130K. After a lot of discussions and considerations we are going to accept that and move forward with the process. If anything comes up in the inspection we can always walk away or make concessions on the price to either lower the offer so we can make the repairs or have the owner make them. We are excited, but still not getting our hopes up too much, we’ve been this far once before and it went south. It is progress though, which is good, because I am now really itching to get out of the apartment and into something of our own.
Fingers Crossed for a New Home
After a lot of serious looking for the past few months, we are putting an offer in on a property in Westland. They are asking $140K, but with the market analysis we feel that price is high, so we are going to offer $125K and keep our fingers crossed. It’s a nice two-story 3 bedroom (more like 2.5, one is small and has no closet), 1.5 bath with a 2 car attached garage and a full basement. Everything we were looking for. In addition there is another garage in the back that apparently used to be the owner’s late husband’s work shop. This will come in real handy for storing the motorcycle and lawn stuff so we don’t lose garage space. Now we wait and see…
The Final Straw (for the apartment)
Once again I have found damage on the motorcycle. Came home real early this morning from a night out at a friends place and as we pulled in the lights panned across the bike… on the ground, on it’s side. This makes almost exactly one year to the day since the last time the bike was damaged. This time it looks like someone may have actually sat on the bike and tried to move it, judging by how far forward it was when I picked it up. The police officer who came to take the report also feels that was the case. So we aren’t sure if it was a failed attempt at trying to steal it, or just someone being stupid. Either way, there is a good amount of damage. The throttle grip is cracked all the way through the throttle tube along with some scratches to the mirror and floorboards. This is the final straw for me, it’s time to move, time to get our own place. We’ve been looking for the past few years, but now that we are married I think we really need to get out of here. Well, guess I’ll need to have repairs done.
Mom’s Last Full Day
Seeing as today is the last full day that Mom will be in town, I decided to keep Kylie home from school so she could spend the day with Nana. We went out to Little Daddy’s with Tracey and the girls (Julian couldn’t make it) for lunch and then took the kids to play at Bishop Park. The weather started to get bad so we decided to cut the park and visit short and go to the mall so I could pick Mom up some headphones for her new Kindle Fire, and we get stuck in shelter due to a tornado warning! I had never had that happen before and it was an interesting experience that I don’t really want to repeat. Luckily we weren’t in there too long and were able to go get what we came for. Kylie was a little upset when it was time for her to go back to Tiffany’s house, but seeing as Mom needs to be at the airport early to make sure she gets through all the checkpoints for her flight, I can’t justify keeping Kylie out of school again. Afterwards we went back home to relax and spend the few last hours with Mom before she heads back to NY in the morning.