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Long time no post

I think this is a record for me, in terms of time without posting. The last one was on June 1st, and here it is July 23rd. Hooray for breaking records I suppose.

In those 50+ days a lot has certainly happened. We've moved into our house, and now we're dealing with all of the problems that nobody noticed before, or just coincidentally popped up shortly after we took the keys. Between those problems and new stuff we've had to buy/install, cash is flowing right out of our bank accounts like beer flowing out of Belgium.

First, the garage floor received an epoxy coating before we went and filled up the garage with stuff. That was the most painless part so far, and I think it turned out ok.

Shortly after that, one of the garage door springs broke (and of course, you have to replace both of them). The one part of the door not covered under the home warranty!

Appliance delivery was next. We needed a fridge, washer, and dryer (and of course, we only overshot our budget by about...100%). Even with a slightly wider-than-standard front door, the fridge couldn't make it in without removing the doors. :-P Yet another reason I prefer double front doors!

Next up, moving day! Fantastic, except three boxes were unaccounted for. We still don't know if they're really missing, or if it was just a number-calling error.

Next, water softener installation. I wouldn't have thought it was almost $300 to have a softener installed when the loop is already there, ouch.

Several days later, the a/c stopped working well. It was running constantly, and still not cooling the house really, so someone came out and recharged it. Home warranty use #1.

While the garage floor looked good, the walls were something else entirely. The previous owner (PO hereafter) decided that when he needed to run a cable somewhere, the best way to do it was by stapling it to the wall or ceiling every few inches. When he removed the cables, he somehow managed to do it while leaving the staples still in the wall or ceiling. Nice. Stuff was hanging on the wall everywhere, and no matter what it was holding, not a single drywall anchor was to be found (nor did he ever manage to find a stud). After yet another trip to Lowes, Dave helped me tape off the floor and fill all the holes, and Teresa helped paint the walls. It looks much better now.

Dishwasher stopped working! Was fine during the inspection of course. Home warranty use #2.

This past week has been extra fun, as we had our first case of water damage. It looks like the drain for the a/c plugged up, and as a result, condensation was going everywhere except out the drain. Like into the walls, and out from underneath the baseboards. A flood company came out and indicated evidence of water in the garage, laundry room, and office. So now we've had a couple big loud fans in the garage and an industrial-sized dehumidifier in the office for several days. We blew out the drain with the shop vac (best purchase we've made so far), and it looks like it is draining correctly now.

Finally, we thought it was time to get the spa up and running. It's a Dimension One spa, and there's just one dealer in Tucson for those (45 minutes away, of course). Fortunately the guy there was very friendly, explained to us how all of the features work, where all the parts are located, how to get it set up right, etc. Due to age and sun exposure, we needed new headrests and a new top...conveniently available for just under $500. :-P We still need a new filter for it, and the LCD screen is barely readable. While filters are relatively cheap, I know the screen won't be. :-\

As far as I can remember, that's everything we've had to deal with. Some problems worse than others, all costing more money than we'd hope. That doesn't count the numerous trip to Lowes/Home Depot for things we just didn't own before, like hoses.

At the very least, I think the house is almost to the point where it is clean enough to accept visitors. :-P

Posted by Ben at July 23, 2007 01:33 PM