Well, if it's not one thing, it's another. For some time our waterheater has been slowly leaking, signalling that it's time to replace the unit. Since our house is covered under a home warranty, I reported the problem and the warranty company sent one of their contract firms to look it over.
No surprise, the technician said that it needed to be replaced. So far, so good since the warranty company will cover it. Then the technician launched into writing up all sorts of extra stuff that would also have to be done to "bring it up to code" to the tune of $800. That's when my BS detector went off.
I bought my house in 2001 and had it inspected at the time of sale. The only things that needed to be fixed was to elevate the waterheater (it's located on the outside wall of the house opposite of the kitchen and on the patio), add proper earthquake strapping and re-do some of the venting. These were all taken care of.
Now, some six years later, all sorts of EXTRA stuff now has to be done including re-routing the gas line? How come this stuff wasn't caught during the inspection? Also, I find it hard to believe that the building code would change so drastically in the space of six years.
Well, we complained to the warranty company, they sent out another outfit to look it over and they came back with an estimate of $500. That's a bit easier to swallow but I'm still a tad suspicious. I'd do it myself except I don't want to mess with gas lines. I can understand the need for some repairs, especially since the leaking has messed up the platform.
After discussion with my wife, we agreed to get it done and made the arrangement for this Saturday. In the meantime, I noticed that what had been a trickle, now was now a constant flow.
Well, none too soon- early this morning at about 5:00 AM, I hear the sound of flowing water. At first, I dismissed this as being the sprinklers going on (they make the same sound). However, when I finally woke up at 6:00 AM, I still heard the waterflow sound so decided to take a look outside.
Yep, it had finally blown- water was flowing out of it in a stream and from multiple locations. There also was a distinct reduced flow of hot water (which was more like lukewarm). While I shut down the waterheater, my wife managed to reschedule the installation for this afternoon so we won't have to go without hot water for too long. It's amazing how dependent we are on hot water- I was unable to take a shower so I feel a bit scuzzy today and I'm still trying to wake up!
One more bill to pay next month!! I guess I'll have to defer my 1904-1918 saddle and tack purchases for awhile. Lucky Max!
No surprise, the technician said that it needed to be replaced. So far, so good since the warranty company will cover it. Then the technician launched into writing up all sorts of extra stuff that would also have to be done to "bring it up to code" to the tune of $800. That's when my BS detector went off.
I bought my house in 2001 and had it inspected at the time of sale. The only things that needed to be fixed was to elevate the waterheater (it's located on the outside wall of the house opposite of the kitchen and on the patio), add proper earthquake strapping and re-do some of the venting. These were all taken care of.
Now, some six years later, all sorts of EXTRA stuff now has to be done including re-routing the gas line? How come this stuff wasn't caught during the inspection? Also, I find it hard to believe that the building code would change so drastically in the space of six years.
Well, we complained to the warranty company, they sent out another outfit to look it over and they came back with an estimate of $500. That's a bit easier to swallow but I'm still a tad suspicious. I'd do it myself except I don't want to mess with gas lines. I can understand the need for some repairs, especially since the leaking has messed up the platform.
After discussion with my wife, we agreed to get it done and made the arrangement for this Saturday. In the meantime, I noticed that what had been a trickle, now was now a constant flow.
Well, none too soon- early this morning at about 5:00 AM, I hear the sound of flowing water. At first, I dismissed this as being the sprinklers going on (they make the same sound). However, when I finally woke up at 6:00 AM, I still heard the waterflow sound so decided to take a look outside.
Yep, it had finally blown- water was flowing out of it in a stream and from multiple locations. There also was a distinct reduced flow of hot water (which was more like lukewarm). While I shut down the waterheater, my wife managed to reschedule the installation for this afternoon so we won't have to go without hot water for too long. It's amazing how dependent we are on hot water- I was unable to take a shower so I feel a bit scuzzy today and I'm still trying to wake up!
One more bill to pay next month!! I guess I'll have to defer my 1904-1918 saddle and tack purchases for awhile. Lucky Max!
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