![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Mar. 15th, 2012 06:49 pm( Deutsch )
Well. Fuck.
I was hoping the inspection would clarify some things. and it did! It ruled out a number of potential problems. The electrical is fine, the foundation, the roof is in surprisingly good shape given all the doom and gloom of earlier. The leak in the bathroom is probably rain coming through a couple of loose shingles and is, as I suspected, more time damage than great gallons of water damage. The attic is apparently huge, despite access to it being a hole in the ceiling bordered by wood edging and covered by a piece of plywood, no pull-down ladder. One would have to be installed. But someone was doing electrical work up there recently and left a portable light plugged in, the inspector said. That amused me. The outlets are almost all grounded (and there are a LOT of them) and almost all work, there's a couple on the second floor and a couple on the first that are either not grounded or don't work at all. When they re-did the electric they did it pretty well even if they put the case on backwards. There's some older water damage and other kinds of damage to some of the exterior wood, nothing major, nothing that can't be a five years down the road problem. The paint on the outside is still peeling but that's a cosmetic problem.
The heating is fucked. A new heating system needs to be put in place. The ceilings on the first floor are high enough and the architecture simple enough (essentially boxes on top of boxes) that I don't think it would be a more-than-standard major proposition to put in forced-air, but until now it's been running on hot-water radiators, almost all of which are cracked, and the boiler done died. As far as my admittedly limited research shows, a forced-air system would be 10k for dropping in new duct work and everything.
The other problem is that we couldn't get the water on. The city water was on, we had one exterior tap with a hose hookup that dribbled out some water and the inspector could hear water rushing somewhere, but nothing came out of any of the taps. And we couldn't find any valves that hadn't been turned on. So then we turned the water off again so it didn't gush all over wherever it's hanging out. According to Folks (both relatives and the inspector, from what I remember) it could either be as simple as something that isn't turned all the way on that we haven't found yet or a cracked pipe close to the source/intake from city water that might be easy to fix. Or not. It's Schroedinger's problem.
And those are, by and large, the only two problems so far. I just got in the results of the radon test, that's fine, the inspector didn't make any other noises about things being dire, he took moisture readings everywhere there was water damage (there was another place that had water damage on the ground floor, but it was by a radiator and didn't leak in the rain so I didn't think it was a danger, and it didn't give off an abnormal moisture reading) and the normal walls were about, um. A 10? I don't know what the units of these things are. and then the leak in the bathroom was about a 31-33. I don't know what any of that means in abstract terms, but in relative terms I know that means the leak area isn't wildly out of step with the rest of the house. Pretty sure, anyway.
My plans for tomorrow are to dig in to forced air heating systems and educate myself there, and collect phone numbers and maybe call around for very rough estimates on forced air heating system installation and plumber opinions and whether or not they can come out and poke the pipes and try and find out what the hell is going on in there. Also talking to Realty Lady first to see if they can do that. That really annoys me. Not knowing what the hell is going on annoys me in general, in this situation it bugs the everliving fuck out of me. So. Those are the plans. These plans are, of course, subject to change depending on what the boy and I discuss tonight.
Heh. I am kind of glad and grateful that I have family support, now that they've been reassured that I'm not chasing after this wholeheartedly even with the attendant problems. I almost chewed on people today, 'cause of oi, with the I don't know if you can handle it. Yes, I can fucking well handle it! I can handle it by doing some research, calling around, and getting more information before I make a really big decision, that's how I can handle it. Yes, I'm in love with the house. No, I'm not going to run and buy it if something's terribly fucked. The boy won't let me, first of all, and second of all I'm not that stupid. I'll be sad. But I'm not dumb. Argh. Still not five years old, people.
Really, really tired though, which is no doubt contributing to the cranky. So. Horsies forever, or at least for a little while, and then writing. Because even if I can't do anything just yet about Old Hotness the Alleged House, I can do something about my deadlines.
Well. Fuck.
I was hoping the inspection would clarify some things. and it did! It ruled out a number of potential problems. The electrical is fine, the foundation, the roof is in surprisingly good shape given all the doom and gloom of earlier. The leak in the bathroom is probably rain coming through a couple of loose shingles and is, as I suspected, more time damage than great gallons of water damage. The attic is apparently huge, despite access to it being a hole in the ceiling bordered by wood edging and covered by a piece of plywood, no pull-down ladder. One would have to be installed. But someone was doing electrical work up there recently and left a portable light plugged in, the inspector said. That amused me. The outlets are almost all grounded (and there are a LOT of them) and almost all work, there's a couple on the second floor and a couple on the first that are either not grounded or don't work at all. When they re-did the electric they did it pretty well even if they put the case on backwards. There's some older water damage and other kinds of damage to some of the exterior wood, nothing major, nothing that can't be a five years down the road problem. The paint on the outside is still peeling but that's a cosmetic problem.
The heating is fucked. A new heating system needs to be put in place. The ceilings on the first floor are high enough and the architecture simple enough (essentially boxes on top of boxes) that I don't think it would be a more-than-standard major proposition to put in forced-air, but until now it's been running on hot-water radiators, almost all of which are cracked, and the boiler done died. As far as my admittedly limited research shows, a forced-air system would be 10k for dropping in new duct work and everything.
The other problem is that we couldn't get the water on. The city water was on, we had one exterior tap with a hose hookup that dribbled out some water and the inspector could hear water rushing somewhere, but nothing came out of any of the taps. And we couldn't find any valves that hadn't been turned on. So then we turned the water off again so it didn't gush all over wherever it's hanging out. According to Folks (both relatives and the inspector, from what I remember) it could either be as simple as something that isn't turned all the way on that we haven't found yet or a cracked pipe close to the source/intake from city water that might be easy to fix. Or not. It's Schroedinger's problem.
And those are, by and large, the only two problems so far. I just got in the results of the radon test, that's fine, the inspector didn't make any other noises about things being dire, he took moisture readings everywhere there was water damage (there was another place that had water damage on the ground floor, but it was by a radiator and didn't leak in the rain so I didn't think it was a danger, and it didn't give off an abnormal moisture reading) and the normal walls were about, um. A 10? I don't know what the units of these things are. and then the leak in the bathroom was about a 31-33. I don't know what any of that means in abstract terms, but in relative terms I know that means the leak area isn't wildly out of step with the rest of the house. Pretty sure, anyway.
My plans for tomorrow are to dig in to forced air heating systems and educate myself there, and collect phone numbers and maybe call around for very rough estimates on forced air heating system installation and plumber opinions and whether or not they can come out and poke the pipes and try and find out what the hell is going on in there. Also talking to Realty Lady first to see if they can do that. That really annoys me. Not knowing what the hell is going on annoys me in general, in this situation it bugs the everliving fuck out of me. So. Those are the plans. These plans are, of course, subject to change depending on what the boy and I discuss tonight.
Heh. I am kind of glad and grateful that I have family support, now that they've been reassured that I'm not chasing after this wholeheartedly even with the attendant problems. I almost chewed on people today, 'cause of oi, with the I don't know if you can handle it. Yes, I can fucking well handle it! I can handle it by doing some research, calling around, and getting more information before I make a really big decision, that's how I can handle it. Yes, I'm in love with the house. No, I'm not going to run and buy it if something's terribly fucked. The boy won't let me, first of all, and second of all I'm not that stupid. I'll be sad. But I'm not dumb. Argh. Still not five years old, people.
Really, really tired though, which is no doubt contributing to the cranky. So. Horsies forever, or at least for a little while, and then writing. Because even if I can't do anything just yet about Old Hotness the Alleged House, I can do something about my deadlines.