The water heater in my house just started to leak. ☹️
Water was leaking from the top not the bottom. When the liner breaks, it usually leaks from the bottom. So, I'm hoping it's just a leaky hose or valve that has to be fixed. It'll cost about $2.4k if it has to be replaced. 🤷♂️
Have an appt for the plumber to come over early tomorrow morning to either fix or replace it.
@sgt1372 ugh, that happened to my last water heater. It was leaking out of the outlet at the top. I was able to temporarily patch it with epoxy, but that only bought me a little bit of time.
I've been in the same house for 25 years and I'm on my third water heater.
Adventures in #HomeOwnership in #Spain: The neighbor came to inform me about their view that the yard of our home is built against municipal regulations — too high.
I don't think such regulations exist in #LasGabias (I checked).
Anyway, he claims that the trees bring shadow, moisture and spiders to his yard. All three are positive aspects here. Also, they don't. His yard is full of trees bringing all the shadow, moisture and #spiders he wants.
He says the issue has been discussed with the previous owner of the house, and assumes (correctly) that the previous owner did not inform me of this unresolved claim.
Our #trees, except one ancient olive tree, are tiny. None extend even near his property.
Let's see how this develops. I am looking forward to discussing in the court setting the positive nature of trees, moisture, shadow and spiders to the ecosystem and livability of the neighborhood.
‘Property poetry’?
"Real estate is another way to say Australia."
"Kate Holden connects Turnbull’s persistence in illegally clearing vast tracts of koala habitat, and his murder of Turner, to British Enlightenment theories of property. The English philosopher John Locke, she observes, “placed emphasis on labour to morally justify the owning of property. The more work put into the land, the more settled a man was upon it. Holden traces associations between Locke’s ideas, the history of terra nullius and the “strange, morbid fixation in Australian myth of just how hard a person has to work on this land.”
"[b]y the time of Australia’s settling, the ineluctable mark of a British citizen was land ownership. It enfranchised him, gave him rights […] Land – elemental, foundational – was the desperately prized asset in a new colony. Without it, man was only an object."
Our internet / cable / house phone went down at home yesterday afternoon. However, Verizon is coming shortly so I need to run home to meet them so they can get it fixed.
I am thankful they are able to get there today to hopefully get it fixed.
@kwf Nice! I usually try to use either flexible MC or rigid PVC+liquidtight for electrical wiring where conduit is required - easier to work with... That said, I've never done EMT because it does indeed look hard :)
@denix very fair. I asked the electrician who was here this week for some pointers, and he just shrugged and went "you're crazy for doing all of this in EMT. I'd just use liquid tight for all of it"
Something this old and everything else attached of similar era makes plumbers grumpy! Lesson so far on this disaster is to plan on refreshing plumbing more frequently. That was not in the "becoming a homeowner" brochures, LOL. #plumbing#plumbingdisaster#homeownership
@ai6yr The first surprising lesson of homeownership is that water, something you've previously thought of as an essential fuel for life itself, is an asshole.
Martha’s Vineyard Is Being Gutted by Skyrocketing #Housing#Costs. Yes, You Should Care.
The fight for affordable year-round housing in this elite summer destination offers lessons for dealing with a national crisis.
The housing crisis and inequality are intertwined. #Homeownership is the primary way #Americans build wealth, which can be leveraged to pay for education or cover #medical bills. But #RealEstate estate is also a popular #investment
Interesting program to help people buy a home in California -- but must be a "first generation homeowner" whose parents did not own a home. Last time this was available apparently all funds were gobbled up in 11 days.
Intent of the program is to boost people whose families have been unable to become homeowners, also those who have been in foster or institutional care.
@ai6yr (and, for the record - from her experience, I learned apartments are always a better option than mobilehomes/modular homes in parks. You're not paying twice until you pay off the mortgage, you're not still paying rent once you own the damn thing after 25+ years - and it's breaking down and needing repairs, and the park itself can evict you because paying for a plumbing emergency meant the yard grows up a couple months
Climate change is already affecting where people in America are choosing to live, according to a new study. The populations of thousands of U.S. neighborhoods are declining as buyers become more aware of flood risks. And as floods become more frequent and disastrous due to climate change, experts are warning that the toll on infrastructure and the economy will keep rising. Read more from NPR.
I've got five items on my list called: Outdoor Things I Definitely Must Do Before Winter. I'm trying to find optimal timing relative to rain, desk work and fluctuating enthusiasm to tick them all off.
Forced myself to get the first one (deck sand & stain) addressed this afternoon, but it spawned a new task to repair some rotting wood.
I'll now add that to a list called: Things Discovered Doing the Other Things And Which Also Must Be Done Before Winter.
Worked on item 2 on the list of critical pre-winter chores – sealing up eaves gaps in the old dilapidated garage so squirrels can't get in (anymore).
Of course, there's more rot than I'd hoped so it involved replacing some cladding before I could start the intended plywood install. A solid half day of effort done, and at least that needed again tomorrow. Hope the rain holds off another day.
One benefit of procrastination is that the weather is cold and thus the big fat wasps I discovered in the rotting wood were already hibernating and powerless. Would've been nasty on a hot day.
It's been a hell of a month! Since my last post I've dealt with water pooling in our basement, shady plumbers, broken toilet flange (unrelated to the basement water), mice in our attic, and keeping track of the insurance process (way more complicated than I thought). All part and parcel of owning a home.
This is really the first weekend since late August that I feel like I have time to breathe, and I'm grateful for it. Excited to have all that behind us so we can have a relaxing camping trip in the cool rainy fall weather (my favorite). I'm also starting to play around with Godot, getting started on my first real hobby project in years. It's been slow learning with kids and other adult responsibilities, but I took the day off Monday so I can focus on it for a day. Things are looking up!