Home Sweet New Home, Part Oops
Yay, I have a TV! Found a spiffy 32" one on Craigslist for $50. Heading out tonight to pick up a TV stand. And the cable tv and internet are up and running, so all is well on the entertainment front. I feel all special and talented because I actually set up the network and troubleshot it when it started acting up. Had a bit of help from Patrick *tips her hat in gratitude* but I still feel pretty good that I had most of it altogether on my own, and would have figured out the rest fairly quickly. Having wonderful friends to help out is awesome - and so is knowing you could do it on your own if you had to. :-D
That said... it only took a few days to realize a few wiring difficulties in the new place. We're paying extra for the version of this apartment with washer/dryer hookups, and leasing a washer and dryer to boot. Unfortunately, the plug for the dryer is on the same circuit as the oven, and the circuit has the unfortunate tendency to flip off when it gets warm. Beyond that, the socket for the washer is hooked to the switch in my bathroom, so the washer will only run if my bathroom lights are on. And the water drain for the washer somehow got hooked into my bathroom sink instead of the drain for the toilet, so when the washer is draining, it backs water up into my sink and tries to flood my bathroom.
In the short-term, none of these are the end of the world. The washer we can just leave the lights on to get going. When it starts draining, we wait until the sink is nearly full, then turn off the washer until the sink is empty (though disgusting-looking), then turn it back on. We only have to turn it off once per washer-drain, and the washer only drains twice each time it runs - once during the wash cycle and once during the rinse cycle - so it's only moderately annoying. We haven't used the oven much yet, and with the moderately annoying washer, we haven't felt as much of a desire to have clothes to dry, so the dryer is even less of an issue.
Of course, none of this is acceptable, in the short-term *or* the long-term, and it *is* a deal-breaker in the long-run. I got in touch with the complex last Wednesday about it. The maintenance guy was in the middle of a big air conditioning project, but she said he'd make it out Thursday. He made it out Friday - also annoying, but sometimes it happens - and fixed all of the little things in the apartment, but said that the drain and circuits were done after-the-fact and they had to call the people who installed the connections to come fix it. I called the complex Monday, and they said that if the people weren't out to fix it by the end of the day, they'd raise a little hell to get someone out. The guys showed up today, and were very nice and appropriately appalled at the crappy installation.
Word from the repair guys is that they're going to have to tear out my bathroom and bits of my ceiling to rerun everything. Apparently it's only a two-day project (with, I assume, a ~ based on potential difficulties that may arise from working on buildings as old as these are), and we've put enough effort and energy into this place that I would rather spend a couple of days sleeping on the couch and using Almeda's bathroom (though naturally, I'll be talking with her before any decisions are made) than try to move everything out and into a new apartment. I will be expecting something back from the complex, either way, but we'll see. The guys just left to go talk to the apartment complex lady about what needs to be done and potential timelines, so I imagine I'll find out more once she talks to the owner and they get back to me. I am going to give her a call in an hour or so if she doesn't get back to me first, though, just to see what the initial word is on that front.
I do still love this apartment, though. It's really nice, except for the wiring difficulties and potential asbestos under the floorboards. :-D
And yes, Avi, there will be pics as soon as we finish the final decoration hangings. Might even have some before-, during-, and after-construction pics! :-D
That said... it only took a few days to realize a few wiring difficulties in the new place. We're paying extra for the version of this apartment with washer/dryer hookups, and leasing a washer and dryer to boot. Unfortunately, the plug for the dryer is on the same circuit as the oven, and the circuit has the unfortunate tendency to flip off when it gets warm. Beyond that, the socket for the washer is hooked to the switch in my bathroom, so the washer will only run if my bathroom lights are on. And the water drain for the washer somehow got hooked into my bathroom sink instead of the drain for the toilet, so when the washer is draining, it backs water up into my sink and tries to flood my bathroom.
In the short-term, none of these are the end of the world. The washer we can just leave the lights on to get going. When it starts draining, we wait until the sink is nearly full, then turn off the washer until the sink is empty (though disgusting-looking), then turn it back on. We only have to turn it off once per washer-drain, and the washer only drains twice each time it runs - once during the wash cycle and once during the rinse cycle - so it's only moderately annoying. We haven't used the oven much yet, and with the moderately annoying washer, we haven't felt as much of a desire to have clothes to dry, so the dryer is even less of an issue.
Of course, none of this is acceptable, in the short-term *or* the long-term, and it *is* a deal-breaker in the long-run. I got in touch with the complex last Wednesday about it. The maintenance guy was in the middle of a big air conditioning project, but she said he'd make it out Thursday. He made it out Friday - also annoying, but sometimes it happens - and fixed all of the little things in the apartment, but said that the drain and circuits were done after-the-fact and they had to call the people who installed the connections to come fix it. I called the complex Monday, and they said that if the people weren't out to fix it by the end of the day, they'd raise a little hell to get someone out. The guys showed up today, and were very nice and appropriately appalled at the crappy installation.
Word from the repair guys is that they're going to have to tear out my bathroom and bits of my ceiling to rerun everything. Apparently it's only a two-day project (with, I assume, a ~ based on potential difficulties that may arise from working on buildings as old as these are), and we've put enough effort and energy into this place that I would rather spend a couple of days sleeping on the couch and using Almeda's bathroom (though naturally, I'll be talking with her before any decisions are made) than try to move everything out and into a new apartment. I will be expecting something back from the complex, either way, but we'll see. The guys just left to go talk to the apartment complex lady about what needs to be done and potential timelines, so I imagine I'll find out more once she talks to the owner and they get back to me. I am going to give her a call in an hour or so if she doesn't get back to me first, though, just to see what the initial word is on that front.
I do still love this apartment, though. It's really nice, except for the wiring difficulties and potential asbestos under the floorboards. :-D
And yes, Avi, there will be pics as soon as we finish the final decoration hangings. Might even have some before-, during-, and after-construction pics! :-D