Monday, August 26, 2013

The Good With The Bad

Although I love being a homeowner, this first month has not been all fun, paint and games.

First up was the toilets, they worked but we noticed they were very slow to flush and it would require more than one flush to get rid of toilet paper. Out with the old and in with 3 new high efficiency replacements.


The other was the dozy - the A/C.  When we had our inspection done our inspector told us that the return differential wasn't as much as it should have been, the downstairs unit was 8 degrees and the upstairs was 6 degrees (both should have been in the 14-22 degree range).  It was listed as a major concern and should be serviced so the HVAC systems would function properly.  We had the sellers service the systems and provide a receipt prior to closing put they said they would not repair (which was a big warning to us, but we still really loved the house so we pressed on hoping that it would hold out for a while). The A/C worked during our first night and for the next couple of weeks but it wasn't getting as cold in the house as it should.  One night I went over to meet with a window replacement guy and headed upstairs to find that it was 94 degrees...ridiculous!
The original systems from '98-'99

Trying to make a long story short, we called upon our service warranty company who did send out a local technician.  That tech saw that the outside units were frozen, unplugged them from the wall and said that someone would come out the next day once the units thawed out.  The tech the next day looked around in the attic and outside for about 45 mins before getting our service company on the phone because he needed permission to continue on.  We sent over our inspection and service receipt from sellers but in the end the warranty company said they could not cover fixing it due to there being no proof that the sellers fixed the issue, just did a tune up.

Looking up the costs of 2 new units left my jaw on the floor.  It's like buying a new car!!  I like to think that after the initial shock at the price, I handled it pretty well.  I called a couple of BBB accredited companies to discuss prices of replacements before deciding on one company to come out and check out our situation. Since our systems were so old, the standard today is much different then back in 98/99 when our systems were put in.  There was corrosion in the coils which resulted in two major leaks in our attic and at least one other leak was found in the outside unit as well.  With the old systems, its harder to find replacement parts as companies are no longer making 10 SEER systems.  Couple that with the fact that freon is no longer allowed to be used in newer systems as of 2010 (making freon replacement expensive as well), we made the decision to replace both units.

So many pieces to the puzzle

The new 16 SEER HVAC systems were costly, (I think it's one of the 3 biggest possible expenses with a house along with a new roof and foundation issues) but it needed to be done and we are very thankful to be able to be in our house without sweat running down our faces.

Our new systems that actually cool the house
  
Did you have any repairs or replacements in your first couple of months of owning a home?

10 comments:

  1. We had some work done as soon as we moved into the house, one of things being our two air conditioning units. We had both of our outside units replaced, but we're still having some issues with the interior units freezing up. When it gets cooler out, it looks as though we will be getting those looked at, but I completely hear you on the 90+ degree temperatures in the house. We've had one of the hottest summer's we've ever had in Rhode Island.

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    1. The high temperatures were that push for us. Good luck with your interior units!

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  2. Wow, big replacement, but totally necessary for where we live. Unfortunately. ;)

    The first thing we did when we moved into our house was put in high efficiency toilets too. Not too expensive and saves $$ on your water bill!

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    1. We still haven't received our first water bill so I won't know the true savings, but from my parents reduction I know it'll be worth it!

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  3. I feel like I'm reading my own story! We moved in our house in March (09) and the ac ended up working ok during the summer that year. But then come winter the heater went out. So we had our home warranty come look at it and low and behold, since there were issues with it during our inspection, even though it was serviced by the sellers, they wouldn't do anything for us. We ended up buying a new unit after we got our tax money that spring and suffered through the winter without a heater (um, which is totally do-able here, but it was still cold!).

    The only other thing we tried to get replaced under the home warranty was our pool pump motor, and they wouldn't replace that either for similar reasoning. Needless to say, we did not pay for a second year for our home warranty!

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    1. Crazy coincidence! We weren't holding out hope for our home warranty company but it would have been nice if they had fixed it!

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  4. What a bummer to have to replace these so soon, but you know they'll be in good shape for years to come! We haven't had to replace anything yet, and I hope it stays that way for a while :)

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    1. I hope you don't have to replace anything for a while!! :) It sucks, but I'm hoping now that we'll be lucky with no more major expenses... until we get that pool removed.

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  5. Homeownership sounds so glamorous and although I love it most of the time, those unexpected things can be so frustrating. Sorry you went through this your first month! In our first month we found out we had to go through a difficult and somewhat expensive process to install a washer/dryer hookup, which we hadn't expected. It wasn't until our one year anniversary in the house that we were hit with our big surprise- which was a pipe leak. That was the real doozey. In those moments I have to remind myself....I love my house I love house.... Just try and focus on the fun parts, like decorating a whole new home! You and Chris are so creative, I'm sure you'll have lots of fun projects to do!

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    1. Haha, that's exactly what I was saying to myself... I love my house, I love my house... to get through the pain to our bank account. I can't wait to actually start decorating once we're done with all of these boxes!

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