the joys of home ownership - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

07/30/2007 10:13:19 PM · #1

Sunday laundry results in a geyser of soapy water shooting up out of the floor drain in the laundry room.

$30 for a small wire rodder and a half hour wasted trying to clear clog.

Monday morning and a half day off from work waiting for Roto Rooter to arrive. Roto Rooter shows up two hours late, claims they brought the wrong tools for the problem and schedules a return visit for 7pm.

Roto Rooter returns at 7pm, declares the problem to be what I originally reported after all, and procedes to work at it with the tools the same douchebag brought in the morning.

$399 and 2 hours later, Roto Rooter declares a collapsed main sewer line and leaves. Dirst, shit and god knows what else my responsibility to clean up.

Roto Rooter sister company 'Camera' scheduled to be on site at 8am. $250 to send a small camera down the line to determine where the pipe is broken.

Estimated cost to repair cracked pipe, $2000-$5000.

God I miss renting.

Nald

Nikon D700

07/30/2007 10:19:26 PM · #2

Oh man that sucks.

Kind of like the time my three year old decided to flush a handful of wipes down the toilet.

Nothing like that backing up all over the main floor of your home, you loose all dignity once the plummer shows up.

"Yep that's my poop your standing in man."

Message edited by author 2007-07-30 22:20:08.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

07/30/2007 10:59:58 PM · #3

my property taxes on my two properties went up 300% and 500% this year. :)

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

07/30/2007 11:04:58 PM · #4

Originally posted by muckpond:

my property taxes on my two properties went up 300% and 500% this year. :)

Its okay one day the entire country will be homeless, i mean at least at the rate were going a dump with no roof will cost one million. That 400,000 dollar town house? Forget it the sultan of brunai owns that now.

The Row home my grand parents bought for 10,000 is now about 900,000 after renovation. Mind you thats a long span of time. But my neighborhood in odenton for example. How does a 2 bedroom town house on the same street as a 3 bedroom house fetch 100k more. Same Hood, Same age, Same Builder.

Message edited by author 2007-07-30 23:12:52.

Canon EOS-20D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

07/30/2007 11:10:00 PM · #5

I feel ya, man. Right after I bought my house, the drain in the basement backed up and flooded most of it. Mr. Rooter spent 12 hours drilling 10ft of root out of the pipe...as well as a good portion of the basement floor. About two weeks later, the connection to the faucet outside broke and the basement re-flooded. And then there were big electrical problems, which ended up being a series of coincidental little problems. Using money that could be put towards new lenses for a new driveway or new garage? So not fun. Ah yes, the joys of home ownership.

(But I still love my house.)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

07/30/2007 11:11:34 PM · #6

Yep. I'm so glad all my photography related purchases are already done heh.

Prof_Fate

07/30/2007 11:20:31 PM · #7

Originally posted by muckpond:

my property taxes on my two properties went up 300% and 500% this year. :)

PA takes a lot of knocks for a lot of things, but there is a nice little law on the books - property taxes can't go up more than 5% a year (unless you're remodeling or some such of course, but then you did it yourself)

No new state taxes this year...but they're going to put toll gates on I-80 to raise money...no clue how they're going to get permission for that one!

As to home ownership...been in mine 10 years and the payment is withint $50 of what it was when I moved in. I doubt many renters can say that, and I could easily get $40,000 profit if I sold (it appraised a lot higher than that, but the market is way soft). Can't say when I rented I ever made a profit when I moved out.

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

07/30/2007 11:24:36 PM · #8

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

As to home ownership...been in mine 10 years and the payment is withint $50 of what it was when I moved in. I doubt many renters can say that, and I could easily get $40,000 profit if I sold (it appraised a lot higher than that, but the market is way soft). Can't say when I rented I ever made a profit when I moved out.

Hope to own one day but it looks like its gonna get harder. I think theirs advantages to both. In addition to money it could also fits ones life style id guess. Mortgages around here are about 200 bucks cheaper a month then renting the equivalent. For those unfortunate few that cant sell whats left of their house i bet they wish they had rented.

07/31/2007 12:13:51 AM · #9

Ahhhhhh. The joys of owning a home. especially an older home where past owners may have taken shortcuts on previous repairs.

There's nothing like starting on a small repair, only to wind up saying, "Honey, where's the sledgehammer and the sawz-all? This is gonna be a bit messier than I thought."

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

07/31/2007 08:13:56 AM · #10

i <3 my cordless sawzall.

Apple iPhone 5

07/31/2007 08:17:58 AM · #11

You should change your nick to 'rooterguy666'

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

07/31/2007 08:18:11 AM · #12

Originally posted by muckpond:

i <3 my cordless sawzall.

Spare batt and its great for junkyards, cut a car down to its core in 30 minutes.

Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital

07/31/2007 08:43:34 AM · #13

Originally posted by muckpond:

i <3 my cordless sawzall.

Me too.

I also <3 my corded sawzall, my 48" crowbar and of course, my 8lb sledgehammer for when I really need to break some stuff.

Bugzeye

07/31/2007 10:45:00 AM · #14

We need a new roof pretty soon, That will be over $8000 So I know that pain.

RayEthier

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM

07/31/2007 12:05:34 PM · #15

Originally posted by Bugzeye:

We need a new roof pretty soon, That will be over $8000 So I know that pain.

How big and complicated is the roof? I just got a quote for mine and I have a total of 4 separate sections that need re-shingling and the pitch on the second storey of the house is quite impressive (namely why I ain't going up there)

I just got an estimate for $6490.00 CDN and I find that a tad high.

Ray

07/31/2007 01:00:50 PM · #16

Got lucky on last year's new roof. We had a hail storm at some point prior and were able to have the insurance pay for an entire new roof. Tear off of 3 layers of the 20 year old, disintegrating roof, new everything including the plywood underneath - $500 out of pocket.

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

07/31/2007 01:08:36 PM · #17

Originally posted by routerguy666:

I keep waiting for a meteorite.

LeeD

Canon EOS-30D

07/31/2007 01:49:39 PM · #18

Originally posted by routerguy666:

That goes both ways... last year, replaced roof ... $10,000 out of pocket.

Two weeks later hail storm comes through and everyone else in the neighborhood gets a new roof.... ~$500 each

Crying myself to sleep for the rest of the summer.... Priceless!

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

07/31/2007 01:51:59 PM · #19

Originally posted by DowseDesigns:

Originally posted by routerguy666:
Got lucky on last year's new roof. We had a hail storm at some point prior and were able to have the insurance pay for an entire new roof. Tear off of 3 layers of the 20 year old, disintegrating roof, new everything including the plywood underneath - $500 out of pocket.

That goes both ways... last year, replaced roof ... $10,000 out of pocket.

Two weeks later hail storm comes through and everyone else in the neighborhood gets a new roof.... ~$500 each

Crying myself to sleep for the rest of the summer.... Priceless!

EXACT same thing happened here.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

07/31/2007 01:59:16 PM · #20

All the reasons I have learned do to it myself. Sprinklers, re-roof, new electrical, repair old drain clean-outs, power snake drains all the way to the street, gutters, new tankless water heater, kitchen & bathroom faucets, new outlets in the garage, texturizing walls/ceilings, new windows (in progress), power ventilator in the attic, insulation, drywall, etc. Whenever building materials go an sale, I'd stock up. Had about 15 rolls of wall insulation, and rolls & rolls of 30# tar paper in the garage for quite some time, but knew what I was going to do, so little by little I'd get stuff when it was dirt cheap.

If I could do my own dental, I would.
Now where are my pliers....

Message edited by author 2007-07-31 14:07:15.

07/31/2007 02:46:54 PM · #21

Well the city just came out and scoped the line for free, found no collapse just a wad of blockage caught on some roots. In the first 30 seconds of being here, they pointed out the main line clean-out which the Roto Rooter guy couldn't find in a half hour of searching. Roto Rooter coming back out on their dime to complete the work, clean up the mess and reinstall the toilet they left sitting in the corner...

Almost makes me think the government can out perform private industry! Must have sniffed too much sewer gas...

07/31/2007 02:54:40 PM · #22

When my sister bought her house, one of the first things that happened was a sewer backup in the basement. She called roto-rooter and they sent out this cute young guy (well, that's how she described him) to do the work for her. After some time, he tells her that the problem's fixed and that he'll be back with the invoice. She asks him if he knows what was clogging the line. He turned a bit pink and nervously told her it was from FHP's. She asked him what an FHP was. He turned red and explained that FHP stood for feminine hygeine products. Then it was her turn to be embarassed.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5- 5.6G ED DX

07/31/2007 06:13:45 PM · #23

Bullet dodged. Roto rooter returned and were able to clean all the way out to the city sewer at the street. Plus he cleaned up the mess and put the toilet back in. Only additional expense was the bottle of vodka I traded him for a no charge cam scope of the line post- rodding. God bless that Ukranian thirst!

Rebecca

Nikon D80

07/31/2007 06:16:33 PM · #24

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

I swear, I got a lecture about that every time my toilet backed up at the apartment. And that was never the cause, either!