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Without a doubt, Water management is the biggest stressor for me.

A plumbing leak will only happen when you are away.

penningtron wrote: Fri Jan 28, 2022 7:11 pm Yes to all of the above and so much more..

How about when you watch a YT video about chandelier installation or whatever and it's like "aww how cute, they just cut a little circle in the drywall and there's a nice new 8B box all ready to go" and then you do it in your place only to uncover a rats nest of cloth wire & tape, all stuffed into a shallow box with 1/2 an inch of clearance clearly made for a different era, and the whole thing was somehow held up by one lone crooked screw. And then you realize every single detail about your house was done to similar standards.

Yeah we're lucky blah blah.. but goddamnit too.

My hundred year old house has horrible ceiling boxes that were designed to be universal for both gas and electric lighting. No modern light fixture will attach to them except the absolute garbage generic Home Depot shit the last owner installed, which have broken.

Also, fuck plaster.

biscuitdough wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:25 pm
Also, fuck plaster.

A Fucking Men

Ahh, home ownership.

Bought a brand new townhome from the builder in 2003 in Sugar Grove, IL.

Sold the townhome and bought a 100+ year old house in 2006 in the historic district of Waukegan, IL.

Bought a brand new house from the builder in 2015 in Volo, IL to get the fuck out of the old house. Was still underwater after the shitstorm financial crisis but was so sick of the old house and neighborhood.

Tried the landlord route with the old house for two years. Finally sold the old house in 2017.

Lessons learned:

- I love purchasing and building a home from scratch.

- New homes aren't without their problems, but unless you're really unlucky, they tend to be minor.

- Old homes are a pain in the ass unless you like dealing with no fewer than 12 things being broken at a time and are handy with that stuff.

- Basements in old homes tend to leak like a sieve.

- Mice. Goddamn mice. Much worse of a problem with the older home.

- Will never be a landlord again. Never. Ever.

When we had an inspection done last year before buying a house built in 1912, inspector said houses of this era are solid AF as long as they're not on a truck route or major street. That's the only thing that'll cause foundation issues or major shifting, he said. Newer homes you never know. We bought from a young family that had put in 10 years of careful, quality upgrades and renos, not intending to sell. Has a sump pump, too, which pretty much eliminates basement flooding which is common here. That reminds me, it's time to change the furnace filter.

the guy is just about finished with our upstairs bathroom. gutted, new shower, new vanity, new tub. new tile around the tub, new tile floor. Tiling is done, looks great. He is doing some paint prep then painting, then the Vanity goes in, the toilet goes in and the finish plumbing fixtures go on . Maybe done by the end of next week.

we have been waiting for this since September. it is a ton of money but he is doing such a good job, I don't care. his standard of workmanship is so much beyond mine, it is worth paying for.

piss on a home inspector.
double piss on them if any remote affiliation with realtors

old houses have settled and really old ones may be made of superior materials but they can settle more. posts and beams in my basement were reclaimed oak when it was built a century ago, it is nearly impossible to drive modern nails into this lumber

major thing is how drafty and poorly insulated old-old (50+ yrs in US) homes are. drafty dries out and is slower to rot

and plaster is a pain but one can only fully appreciate it with that understanding.

in a 100y.o. farmhouse I got paint peeling off in spot revealing polished plaster--what do you do?

polished plaster is beautiful but is a lost art, and if you think paint is messy....

If you find good renovators/workers etc. consider it a blessing, don't regret the cost of quality

Ryan Zepaltas wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:19 pm Without a doubt, Water management is the biggest stressor for me.

A plumbing leak will only happen when you are away.

My house has half century old cast iron as the main drain pipe until it gets outside and meets the clay pipe in the earth. It's beat to shit and has started to clog every 6 months. The corporate drain snakers lick their chops each time they come over because the pipe is buried under a few inches of concrete in our basement foundation so it's an expensive ass project. At some point it could totally fail and then it will become an emergency.

My regular plumber guy has been trying to get creative on how we could reroute it and bypass the old stuff without carving up the floor, but it's complicated.

losthighway wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 10:38 pm

Ryan Zepaltas wrote: Sat Jan 29, 2022 12:19 pm Without a doubt, Water management is the biggest stressor for me.

A plumbing leak will only happen when you are away.

My house has half century old cast iron as the main drain pipe until it gets outside and meets the clay pipe in the earth. It's beat to shit and has started to clog every 6 months. The corporate drain snakers lick their chops each time they come over because the pipe is buried under a few inches of concrete in our basement foundation so it's an expensive ass project. At some point it could totally fail and then it will become an emergency.

My regular plumber guy has been trying to get creative on how we could reroute it and bypass the old stuff without carving up the floor, but it's complicated.

When I moved into my place my main drain line in the basement would clog once or twice a year, I had a plumber come (luckily I have a plumber I love and trust) and jet the line and I'd be fine for a bit. Last December, it fucking would not clear. We put a camera down and these giant oak roots just knocked the pipe totally out. Had to break up the concrete in the laundry room where the drain pipe started, the pipe went under the wall into our pantry, out of there into the furnished room. Had to tear out the carpet, bust up concrete in three rooms. Dig the fucking pipe out and completely replace it from drain to main. About 15 feet of pipe. It was expensive and the whole time I was waiting for them to find something else awful. Now I am super paranoid about any plumbing issue that will ruin me financially.

Just had the main line start to back up into the basement last Wednesday. Went to Home Depot to try to see if there was something that I could try to get things moving just enough that I wouldn't have to sit around sweating it until the plumber can fit me in Monday.

Got a machine that would go seventy-five feet out. Every time I hit the pedal switch to engage it, the lights dimmed like someone was being electrocuted upstairs. It got just enough out that water started moving, but is still coming back if you run enough(which is, maybe two toilet flushes...)

Got it upstairs Friday to take it back in, and tried to figure out how I lifted it out of the back of the truck on Thursday night. Luckily, a friend saved my bacon by coming over to help me get it up into the truck to take it back.

So...

Fingers crossed on everyone's plumbing issues.