Pipes, eggs and sheet rock

Labor Day weekend is coming to a close and I don't feel as though we accomplished as much as we should.  We have season tickets for UGA football and sitting in the sun completely drained us (plus we are just getting old, let's face it)! We leave the house by 8:30 am, spend some time with friends pregame once we arrive, then sit in the sun for the duration of the game and afterwards, grab a quick bite before arriving back home by 6:30 p.m.  So Saturday was football and Sunday was recuperation and a bit of work in our home we are trying to sell. 

Today, we did spend some money at Lowe's (shocker) and did some prep work at the dream house which I have also lovingly named the "city house" since it is so close to town.  We ordered and purchased a waste overflow for the claw foot tub.  That should be delivered within 15 days and our plumber said he would come back out and install that at no extra charge.  We chose the one with the chain-plug since it felt more antique-like. Here is a visual aid:

We also picked out the paint for our daughter's room.  She loves pink and purple so we chose a light sugar pink for the main part of the walls and a light lavender for the space above the picture rail.  My husband spackled the walls and patched plaster while I scrubbed down the two bathrooms upstairs (I will spare you the before and after pictures of those rooms. YUCK).  Here are some pictures of her room in the prep stage:

Her room has an awesome old fireplace in it that will be great for decorating purposes.  Unfortunately, a previous owner capped all the chimneys so the fireplaces do not work.  One day we hope to reverse that as you can see the chimney tops in our attic.  That will be years and years from now but it is on the long term to do list.

Last weekend I was on a mission to shoo Miss Charlotte and her webs from the house.  I sprayed more webs outside than I care to admit.  I know spiders are good and they eat bugs and all that wonderful stuff.  However; I do not need a web every 12 inches on my porch ceiling complete with an egg sack waiting in the wings.  The spray did its job so this weekend I tried to knock some of the old cob webs down.  In the corner of our porch, an abandoned nest was perched on top one of the pillars.  I was able to knock it down and found these poor little things.  They were abandoned and hollow.  Speckled but not blue...maybe they belonged to a wren?  So sad...

While my husband was prepping the walls for the upcoming tape and paint job, he also decided to vacuum the vents which needed attention desperately.  The great thing about this old home is the original wood is as hard as a rock.  Petrified is a complete understatement.  The bad thing about this original wood is once something is nailed or screwed into it, getting said nail or screw out of it is quite a challenge as you can see here:

After much tugging, pulling, twisting, cussing and finally the location of the right tool, the grate came down.  We will not be cleaning this one. A new one is on the way. 

I can't end this post without showing off our new pipes one more time.  Here is the finished product.  The dry wall was supposed to go up on Friday but the contractor was told it would be a small job and well, it isn't.  The Friday before a holiday means yet again we are waiting for a project to be done but this one I will gladly wait on.  I will take exposed pipes over broken pipes any day.

Ink well dry?

I should be blogging and I haven't been.  It isn't that I haven't had anything to write about that is for certain.  The comedy of errors called our journey with a warranty company could hit the drama best seller list I am sure if I just put my mind to it.  At times it has been overwhelming, depressing and down right disappointing.  After 31 days of submitting information, waiting, having second and third estimates done, then waiting again, we were given a final answer from our company.  They will not cover the job but out of pity (perhaps?) they are going to give us $500 towards the job out of the supervisor's discretionary account.  I am trying to be positive about this.  Some is better than none, even if the job is much more than that.  My husband has now taken on the task of dealing with these oh-so-wonderful people.  I wish him the best.  I personally cannot play with them any longer.  They have briefly sucked the enthusiasm out of me and I really don't appreciate it at all. His chapter with them begins tomorrow. 

In an effort to close my eyes and turn my back on the exposed pipes in the office ceiling, I have turned to shopping.  Well, window shopping rather than actually buying.  Until we lose one of our two house payments, it is a necessity to be even more frugal than we typically are on a day-to-day basis. However, I have found some really great bargain stores and potential steals in my midst.  This is a new, fun scavenger hunt.  From the "free" section on Craigslist to the church thrift stores that line the road leaving the Marietta Square, I have found some great places to shop without sinking a small fortune into things such as curtains and the rods that hold them.  Whoever came up with the pricing on curtain rods should be shot.  What a complete rip off! Over $50 for a pole that may or may not be wood.  I need to come up with a scheme such as this to help fund my renovation projects. Of course, you have heard me rant about curtain rods before...sorry!  At an antique store that is downsizing, I discovered some custom window treatments for the kitchen eating area.  The day I scored these beauties I was on a bargain high.  Three treatments for less than $35.  They were marked down from over $140! I knew God was looking after me that day and my sinking spirits when He placed those bad boys in my path.  I saw them, measured, then rushed home to measure the window and french doors in question.  When they were a perfect match, I was elated.  If I can keep finding things like that, the plumbing issue won't seem "as" bad...for now!

Today was a bit bittersweet as my daughter started preschool.  I really wanted to be moved into the new home by the day she started but alas, some things are not meant to be.  I am looking forward to the weekend ahead as my husband and I have decided to start painting the kitchen and dining room as well as my daughter's room if all goes well.  Labor Day is just around the corner and we plan to start moving some things from the old house into 1910 Dream Street.  This lull will pass and our excitement will return.  That warranty company is not going to steal my joy for long!

Don't pop that cork just yet...

I have decided that water/plumbing issues have to be one of the worst things you have to deal with as a home owner.  One of my current neighbors in our soon-to-be former subdivision is dealing with mold and sewer problems.  We too have found a sewer issue.  The new plumbers (who I am still happy with, by the way) did a top to bottom inspection of the home after we called them out for the second opinion.  It seems we are up to four "issues" in the dream home that we have to wrestle with in order to make the problems go away. 

First and foremost are the pipes for the claw foot tub and the master vanity sinks.  The leaks are fixed which is a big plus.  However, now that the holes are gone from the leaks, the venting has proved that it cannot handle the job it has been set up to do.  The plumbers need to completely fix the pipes to better accommodate the venting between those three things: sink, sink and tub.

The second issue is the main sewer line.  It seems one of the previous owners (heaven only knows which one) "fixed" the sewer line with some PVC piping on top of the original cast iron pipe.  It has a slow leak around the seal which will cause a bigger problem down the road once we are in the house and using the toilets.

Then there is the downstairs bathroom.  Personally, I would like to take this one out and start over.  I don't like how close the toilet is to the sink and the shower was never enclosed.  The venting for this bathroom runs along the outside of the house but is not above the roof line.  So if any gases are vented improperly through the current venting system, the gas is going to go right back into the downstairs bedroom.  Not an immediate problem since our bedroom and our daughter's bedroom are upstairs but none the less, the issue has been spotted.

Last but not least, there isn't a trip wire to the hot water heater.  Since it is in the basement, this isn't as much of a big deal either but the plumber said if you are getting a permit from the city to do all this you might as well add it to the ol' to do list.

Hmmmm....well.  Decisions, decisions.  What to do first?  Obviously the master sink/tub issue has to be done so the dry wall can be repaired in the downstairs office.  Our warranty company is taking a look at the second opinion paperwork.  Hopefully they'll entertain covering some of it.  Fingers and toes crossed and on our knees praying about that one. 

If we can get this squared away this upcoming week, we could possibly start considering the actual move! GASP! Do I dare think or say that? It has been a month and a day since we closed.  Hopefully resolution is just around the corner.

Pictures of our lovely ceiling and exposed pipes:

ALWAYS Get a Second Opinion

ESPECIALLY when it comes to things like plumbing and electricity.  This will be our new motto going forward.  It certainly pays off to get a second opinion.  Guess who has fixed pipes? And guess who has pipes that ARE up to code??? If you guessed me, then you are tonight's winner!

My husband reminded me our daughter goes to school with a sweet, little girl whose parents own a plumbing company.  I emailed them Friday and they sent out one of their plumbers Saturday morning.  He stayed with us for several hours.  He showed me every nook and cranny of pipes in the house, especially the tiny leak that was causing the big problem in our ceiling.  Apparently the adhesive that was used to put the renovated plumbing in the master bath was done poorly and after wear and tear, a leak was caused.  Right in the elbow of the pipe was a little spray of water that reminded me of a sprinkler in the yard.  Absolutely amazing.  I waited to tell the plumber all the news that the previous plumber told us because I didn't want to influence his inspection.  When it was over, I spilled the beans and watched him totally hit the roof.  He said sometimes, the businesses that work for warranty companies will say and/or do just about anything.  I thought it was funny when he said he really would like to have the opportunity to have charming chit chat with the guy who almost put me into cardiac arrest. 

Hopefully by the end of tomorrow, the plumbing issues will be resolved and we can move on to something fun...like putting color on the walls and throwing up some new sheet rock in the ceiling!

Drip...drip...drip...

It didn't take too long for us to have our first major hiccup in the dream home.  The HVAC thing was a pain but since that started before we closed, I don't feel like we have ownership of that problem.  The water dripping from the ceiling however is all ours.  A friend came over to see the house the week of July 4th and as we entered the office, a big, fat, drip of water plopped down on our heads.  Lovely.  I called the warranty company to report the problem and to get a plumber out to see what in the world was going on.  While we waited days for that to happen, we've had to turn the water off at the main just to be on the safe side regarding other possible plumbing problems.

Shortly after the original contractor hired by the warranty company cancelled on me two hours before our appointment window opened, my realtor and I had two separate come-to-Jesus phone calls with my account manager at the warranty company.  After much gnashing of teeth, a new contractor was located and they came out later that day.  Upstairs and downstairs, my contractor is a busy bee trying to figure out from where this leak is originating.  He finally figures out it is coming from the master bathroom upstairs but the pipes are coming through the floor up there and the ceiling on the first floor.

It is never a good thing when a contractor comes to you and says, "Ma'am, I've got some bad news," but I dont' think I was prepared for the extent of this one.  According to the plumber, the person who renovated the home did a bit of a short cut job on the plumbing and the pipes are not up to code.  According to plumb-man, the pipes should be 2" and we have 1 1/2" pipes.  Ohhhhkay.  Now what?  He comes up with a solution of taking out the dry wall ceiling in the office since it is water stained all over the place and will need to be repaired then fix the pipes that way. I can agree with that as it does make sense vs. tearing out the vanity and flooring in the upstairs master bathroom. 

While he is writing up the report so he can submit it to the warranty company, my husband stops by the house and gets the rundown of our water woes.  The contractor is from the same company who fixed the HVAC.  Since we have yet to find the location of the filters, dear hubby decides to ask our plumber if he might know where they are located.  Off the two go on a scavenger hunt for the home of the filters.  Alas, he cannot find them either BUT he has discovered that all the pipes in the basement are also not up to code. Huh? To say my blood is boiling at this point would be a complete understatement but I do my best to keep my cool.  In my mind I am trying to figure out how the house passes not one but two inspections and no one had mentioned code-less pipes.

The nice gent writes up his report and states since it is late on Friday, the warranty company will more than likely not review it until Monday.  We are advised to keep the water off at the main and hang tight. 

Late Monday afternoon, I have still not heard from my warranty account representative.  Since I am at work, I shoot her a quick email around 4 pm asking for an update.  This is when I have the joy of receiving her out-of-office notifier letting me know that she is on vacation the entire week.  Boy that sure would have been great to know especially since I spoke to her twice on the Friday before. 

Enter account representative #2 on Tuesday morning.  She is extremely nice and very apologetic and promises to start working on our account.  By lunch time, I am given the bad news that the pipe issue is not covered by the warranty because it was unknown and pre-existing.  I am then told that for a small fee I can be upgraded to a "premium" policy that will cover future code issues.  Of course I jump on that because Lord only knows what we are going to find as the months move along.  Somehow I am also able to get this claim grandfathered in since representative #1 never told me I didn't have a premium account or that it was an option.  Sweet!

Not so fast....

This week has been a roller coaster of "it is covered" or "it is not covered" in regards to the plumbing.  Since the plumbing company now knows of the code issues in the basement and even though that isn't part of the leaky ceiling, they can't fix the leaky ceiling unless the do the entire job or it could jeopardize their license.  That being said since it requires replumbing the entire house, the warranty company will not grandfather it.  AYE! 

Frustrated to no end, we have opted to have another plumber coming to give us a second opinion.  Stay tuned...