I don't know whether to cry or say "thank you" to my late daddy.
I woke up from a rare and much-needed nap this afternoon to have my son tell me that I need a new hot water tank. He ran downstairs to do a load of laundry and discovered that it was spurting water out of 2 holes in the side. Mad scramble to shut off the power and then spend 10 minutes to find the water valves in this very old house. Of course, they're nowhere near the tank and are located in the darkest corner of the cobwebby cellar. It could have been doing this for several weeks, so I have no idea what my water bill's going to look like.
Replacing it will be easy enough, but my handyman uncle is out of state for another week. I can heat water for dishes on the stove, but oh, I really need a shower! I also wasn't planning to spend $600-$1000 on house repairs this summer, but that's where my father comes in. He left me a surprise life insurance payout last year, and it's been banked for just such occasions as this. While I was running around the cellar, I had the overwhelming urge to check the oil in my car.
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NorasMom
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Oh my! Leave the garden hose in the sun, stand behind some bushes and you can get that warm shower because it's been hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, or take a hot shower in the back yard. And how does that oil dip stick look? I hope this is the end of the unexpected events in your episode of This Old House.
Thank you for this, Goatgal! I was in such a panic yesterday that I wasn't thinking clearly, focused too much on finding a replacement. Of course, I'm not going to do it, but now that you've mentioned it my garage annex would be perfect for the necessary privacy, and I could also make use of the dog's wading pool. A moonlit bath could be a lot of fun, but I don't think I have a sunny spot that's not open to the neighbors'.
And children are just so silly. My son asked how I was going to wash dishes, and he looked at me like I'd grown 2 heads when I said I'd just heat water on the stove. Now, really. I raised them on the knowledge that I walked uphill both ways through the snow to school, and they know that my first apartment involved a sleeping bag on the floor, wood heat, and no hot water pipes.
You have my sympathy. We just had the vent fan motor fail in the HVAC system. 10 years of reliable service, and then it demanded a $1000 dollar bribe on the hottest day of the year so far. It works now, but $1K for a motor is simply absurd. It even came with a smiling and pointing emoji sticker!
We know what you are going through! We inherited hubby's mom's house over his sister's objections. Came down to court and a state decision. It helped that I had been his mom's primary caregiver over 12 years with out taking a penny, but keeping accurate records of every penny spent and was legally made her legal "Conservator." We thought his sister would roll over. I'm fortunate that hubby is a great money saver. Now it's one thing after another, but we're gradually keeping up with it.
I wish I'd had a chance to know the previous owner, because he left so much of himself on this place, but while he was a great carpenter, he totally sucked as a plumber! When my uncle's here for the hot water, I'm going to see if he can change out half of the pipes. The few shutoff valves all leak, and the shower drain goes uphill the full length of the cellar.
And always, always CYA! Especially when dealing with relatives! We didn't have quite that situation when my grandparents died, but they left their house in equal parts to the 5 children. They found a buyer who wanted a rent-to-own setup for the first year or two, so they could save more money for a down payment, and my dad suggested that they write a check to a different sibling each month, just going in order. Nope. My aunt and uncles wanted their money every month. The buyers would mail my dad a check, who then had to write out separate ones for himself and his siblings every month until the final sale went through. It was a major PIA all around. It wasn't a valuable property, either. By today's standards they would've gotten less than $50,000 for the house and land, and that's a high estimate considering that the house was tiny and covered in insul-brick.
While my uncle was here, he also changed the leaky valves, and on another trip he's going to fix my non-draining shower drain. I hadn't mentioned it, so he didn't bring the right pipes this time. He's also coming back on Tuesday to weedwhack my yard.
Gotta love retired uncles! Who else can buy and install a 55-gallon hot water tank and then do miscellaneous plumbing repairs for only $695?! Of course, it also came with various lectures about what else needs to be done and cleared out, but I just kept telling him I'm having temporary hearing loss. Made my aunt laugh, at least.
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