awake since six and
feeling much more confident about the house. Had the plumber from the home warranty (AHS)* come over and fix the shower diverter and crawl under the house with me. He noted the one place where galvanized should be, eventually, replaced with copper, but all pipes have been updated except the length going from the water main into the house. The county may actually pay to fix that; must check.
Love my contractor, who was recommended by my real estate agents. I asked if he had a Kudzu profile and he gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look and said "Uh, I don't do all that internet stuff." All of his work is by referral. (If you're in my area and need house repairs, call me for a referral.) I may set up a profile for him so I can leave feedback. Spent an absorbing hour yesterday watching him reduce spaghetti water piping to nice neat elbow connections in the right places, and sawing off wet subfloor. (AB: "Is that from where the sink leaked?" Contractor: "No, it's soaked in rat pee." Us: "EWWWW.")
My house really is built like a tank**; he was pointing out various construction features, like six-inch-thick pine posts in the corners, sills, rim joists, and the area under the window, which had three two-by-fours sandwiched into a vertical support. He showed me where he'll sister in a new sill to stretch over the rotted and removed areas, taking up the load. Whoever updated the kitchen for the seller? Cut structural supports in THREE places. Despite this, there was only one hairline crack in the wall and no visible settling in the utility closet.
*I politely shadowed him, having read online horror reviews of AHS servicing, but he was a nice young guy, didn't try to upsell me on any services, and fixed my diverter with no fuss.
**So I'm determined to master my crawl space. It's pretty inoffensive AS CRAWL SPACES GO. The ground is covered in a moisture barrier of plastic, there are minimal bugs, and rodents are all long gone. I've managed to crawl all under it with a camera - I can almost walk under it in places - testing myself. Occasional spasms of OMG I'm trapped in a cave underground, yes, but the reward is knowledge, right? And a tiny additional strut to your walk? O yes, I'm a home owner now; my sump pump, let me show you. No. Wait.
So then I was thinking I'd like an actual *map* of my subfloor. Kind of like the layout you'd draw of the house itself, but showing the underneath. Then I thought it would be really REALLY COOL to go down there with a Sharpie (TM) and actually number and label my joists - so that I'd know the tub drain came down at joists E16 to F18, say, and could easily tell a future electrician, "Oh, you need to check around M20 for that outlet." And I started explaining this very enthusiastically to the Boyfiend, who told me I was displaying clinical symptoms of OCD and he would not under any circumstances use CAD to draw a map of my subfloor, the bastard, which means I"m going to have to figure out Google Sketchup AND kill him in his sleep.
Quite, quite, quite a lot of Nyquil*** last night, yes.
***But I thought up this plan prior to dosing with the Nyquil, yes.
Love my contractor, who was recommended by my real estate agents. I asked if he had a Kudzu profile and he gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look and said "Uh, I don't do all that internet stuff." All of his work is by referral. (If you're in my area and need house repairs, call me for a referral.) I may set up a profile for him so I can leave feedback. Spent an absorbing hour yesterday watching him reduce spaghetti water piping to nice neat elbow connections in the right places, and sawing off wet subfloor. (AB: "Is that from where the sink leaked?" Contractor: "No, it's soaked in rat pee." Us: "EWWWW.")
My house really is built like a tank**; he was pointing out various construction features, like six-inch-thick pine posts in the corners, sills, rim joists, and the area under the window, which had three two-by-fours sandwiched into a vertical support. He showed me where he'll sister in a new sill to stretch over the rotted and removed areas, taking up the load. Whoever updated the kitchen for the seller? Cut structural supports in THREE places. Despite this, there was only one hairline crack in the wall and no visible settling in the utility closet.
*I politely shadowed him, having read online horror reviews of AHS servicing, but he was a nice young guy, didn't try to upsell me on any services, and fixed my diverter with no fuss.
**So I'm determined to master my crawl space. It's pretty inoffensive AS CRAWL SPACES GO. The ground is covered in a moisture barrier of plastic, there are minimal bugs, and rodents are all long gone. I've managed to crawl all under it with a camera - I can almost walk under it in places - testing myself. Occasional spasms of OMG I'm trapped in a cave underground, yes, but the reward is knowledge, right? And a tiny additional strut to your walk? O yes, I'm a home owner now; my sump pump, let me show you. No. Wait.
So then I was thinking I'd like an actual *map* of my subfloor. Kind of like the layout you'd draw of the house itself, but showing the underneath. Then I thought it would be really REALLY COOL to go down there with a Sharpie (TM) and actually number and label my joists - so that I'd know the tub drain came down at joists E16 to F18, say, and could easily tell a future electrician, "Oh, you need to check around M20 for that outlet." And I started explaining this very enthusiastically to the Boyfiend, who told me I was displaying clinical symptoms of OCD and he would not under any circumstances use CAD to draw a map of my subfloor, the bastard, which means I"m going to have to figure out Google Sketchup AND kill him in his sleep.
Quite, quite, quite a lot of Nyquil*** last night, yes.
***But I thought up this plan prior to dosing with the Nyquil, yes.