This old house

At my best friend Jennifer's request, I'm online to blog tonight. I've let too much time go by since I've shared the goings on of my crazy crazy world.

Let me just say that buying a house is....pretty ridiculous. Especially when it's from an individual and arranged by a lawyer. We purchased our house as is, so the the responsibility of cleaning and repairing any damage became ours.

Hubs and I moved into our new home at the end of May. The two weeks prior to our move-in date were a whirlwind trash removal, scrubbing, sanitizing, spackling, sanding, painting and other small repairs. We moved our belongings truckload by truckload; before work, after work and on the weekends. By the time we filled the last truckload, Hubs and I were ready to choke each other, but the amount of money we saved not using a rental truck outweighed the stress.
 

About two weeks after we moved in, our tub stopped draining. So, Hubs and his Dad tried various methods of clearning whatever was blocking the pipe. Nothing worked, so we called a plumber. He put industrial chemicals down the drain, the water still woudn't go down. In his infinite wisdom, the plumber proclaimed that a pipe under the tub was collapsed and that everything would have to be ripped out in order to replace the pipe and a new tub would have to be put in. All of this would cost $2500, and the plumber would not be replacing the drywall that he was going to have to remove to get the tub out. Oi vey.

When demo day finally arrived, and the tub and tile had been broken up and hauled away the plumber found that our pipes hadn't been put together right. There was an extra bend in the pipe, aside from the standard U-shape that keeps sewer gas from entering the house,  that had become a catch all for anything and everything that found its way down the drain. Aside from that a trap had not been installed to stop foreign objects from going down the drain.  Our genious plumber pulled out his electric snake and in a matter of minutes had located the piece of debris that was blocking water from draining . It was a hand towel! Excuse my language but...some DIPSHIT must have used a hand towel to stop up the tub, it was missing its plug, and over time it went down the drain. I was initially relieved to learn that all of the pipes were in working order and nothing was collapsed and that nothing major needed to be replaced. But then as my mind started working everything out I found it hard to believe that the plumber couldn't have used the electric snake BEFORE HE RIPPED OUR TUB OUT! BEFORE HE CHARGED US $2500 FOR A NEW TUB!

At my protests he insited  he wouldn't have been able to maneuver the snake around the extra bend in the pipe and that since the pipes weren't put together right, we would have ended up snaking it many times over the years to keep it clear. It makes some sense but I'm not sure I believe what he said whole heartedly. I think he saw a young couple off of whom he could make some easy money. I can't imagine how much extra he would have charged us if there had truly been a collapsed pipe under our tub.  

On one hand, I'm glad that we have a gorgeous new tub. It's huge and luxurious and taking a bath in it is like a small vacation at the end of the day. But on the other hand, I feel duped. Next time something breaks around this place of ours, I'm heading to the library for a do it yourself book and I won't be calling a plumber or any other type of contractor.

I now understand why a owning home is like beginning a never ending project. There will always be something that needs to be fixed, changed or improved. But I cannot describe how intensely satisfying it is to be putting energy into something that belongs only to Hubs and I.