Comments on: Adventures at the Intersection of Homeownership And Sewage http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/ Everything About Money You Were Too Polite To Ask Fri, 24 May 2013 03:23:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: jedgeco@twitter http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38951 jedgeco@twitter Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:08:37 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38951 We had to have our tarpaper sewage line dug out and replaced 10 months after we moved in to our house. Luckily the sellers had purchased a 1-year home warranty as an enticement to buyers, so all but about $500 of this $10K plus job was under warranty. But since then, we've replaced just about every inch of plumbing in our house on top of that. I don't pay my plumber in cash anymore, I just have him send his kids' tuition bills straight to my house.... <i>"I was deeply impressed and found myself wishing I’d learned a manual skill, even while feeling shame because that admiration / aspiration is so fraught and gross, that intellectual-class fetishization of manual labor"</i> A professor of mine had a sign on his door that said "The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water." We had to have our tarpaper sewage line dug out and replaced 10 months after we moved in to our house. Luckily the sellers had purchased a 1-year home warranty as an enticement to buyers, so all but about $500 of this $10K plus job was under warranty.

But since then, we’ve replaced just about every inch of plumbing in our house on top of that. I don’t pay my plumber in cash anymore, I just have him send his kids’ tuition bills straight to my house….

“I was deeply impressed and found myself wishing I’d learned a manual skill, even while feeling shame because that admiration / aspiration is so fraught and gross, that intellectual-class fetishization of manual labor”

A professor of mine had a sign on his door that said “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”

]]> By: David Gibson@facebook http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38515 David Gibson@facebook Sat, 09 Mar 2013 01:13:05 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38515 it's almost Spring and the trees in Minneapolis are waking up which means a day of Red Hot brand acid,i know it's bad for the pipes,and so much work with the snake that i bought my own power router at a yard sale. the drain is of course right by the work bench which means a corner of the basement has to be moved and then cleaned up. the signal for the work to start is when i go down to the basement in the AM,coffee in hand,to get a can of cat food and find the floor in said corner flooded with the drain water from last nights hot tub soak.even screwed down tight water still seeps up even with a few taps with a hammer on the X shaped plug top, plus it backs up to the floor drain by the wash tubs but that's a easy mop up. it's a old house,well built with real 2x4's but the drain is my pain. it’s almost Spring and the trees in Minneapolis are waking up which means a day of Red Hot brand acid,i know it’s bad for the pipes,and so much work with the snake that i bought my own power router at a yard sale.
the drain is of course right by the work bench which means a corner of the basement has to be moved and then cleaned up.
the signal for the work to start is when i go down to the basement in the AM,coffee in hand,to get a can of cat food and find the floor in said corner flooded with the drain water from last nights hot tub soak.even screwed down tight water still seeps up even with a few taps with a hammer on the X shaped plug top, plus it backs up to the floor drain by the wash tubs but that’s a easy mop up.
it’s a old house,well built with real 2×4′s but the drain is my pain.

]]> By: kitten_witawip http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38492 kitten_witawip Fri, 08 Mar 2013 23:10:53 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38492 @JakeMohan I thought the same thing when I read this. I think maybe Noro lives in LA like me. It is against the law to sell or buy a house with unpermitted work here. You have to tear it out. Or call a contractor and get it permitted. Crappy unpermitted work is rampant in LA. So I think the bank makes you check for permits before you buy. I figured they don't do that where you live. However those repairs would have cost much more here. So maybe it is not as much of an issue where you are. @JakeMohan I thought the same thing when I read this. I think maybe Noro lives in LA like me. It is against the law to sell or buy a house with unpermitted work here. You have to tear it out. Or call a contractor and get it permitted. Crappy unpermitted work is rampant in LA. So I think the bank makes you check for permits before you buy. I figured they don’t do that where you live. However those repairs would have cost much more here. So maybe it is not as much of an issue where you are.

]]> By: AlliNYC http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38344 AlliNYC Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:28:38 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38344 Man, if I had to play The Price Is Right on this article, I would have guessed that these repairs would cost, like, $10,000. Shows you how ready for home-ownership I am, and how grateful I am that I don't have to worry about home-ownership in the near future. Man, if I had to play The Price Is Right on this article, I would have guessed that these repairs would cost, like, $10,000. Shows you how ready for home-ownership I am, and how grateful I am that I don’t have to worry about home-ownership in the near future.

]]> By: Peschel Report@twitter http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38335 Peschel Report@twitter Fri, 08 Mar 2013 16:54:53 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38335 Great story. I had one of those houses that had a tarpaper waste pipe, which we didn't know until it fell apart. Imagine a thick tube of cardboard, coated in black gunk about the size of a forearm, breaking apart so you can see the layers of paper. Over the years, I've learned to do just about everything except electrical and plumbing work (leave them to the pros). I've learned that houses are amazingly forgiving of anything up to sawing through a joist. That's why we now have a cat-sized hole between the finished and unfinished basements, so we don't have to leave a door open, and a window pane allowing light from the basement window near the washing machine into the half-bath. And we love laughing about the poor new owners who will have to decide if they want the midnight-blue-with-silver-speckled walls in the master bedroom (which feels real soothing at night). Enough humblebrag: this is a great, well-written, funny article. Great story. I had one of those houses that had a tarpaper waste pipe, which we didn’t know until it fell apart. Imagine a thick tube of cardboard, coated in black gunk about the size of a forearm, breaking apart so you can see the layers of paper.

Over the years, I’ve learned to do just about everything except electrical and plumbing work (leave them to the pros). I’ve learned that houses are amazingly forgiving of anything up to sawing through a joist. That’s why we now have a cat-sized hole between the finished and unfinished basements, so we don’t have to leave a door open, and a window pane allowing light from the basement window near the washing machine into the half-bath. And we love laughing about the poor new owners who will have to decide if they want the midnight-blue-with-silver-speckled walls in the master bedroom (which feels real soothing at night).

Enough humblebrag: this is a great, well-written, funny article.

]]> By: annie@twitter http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38272 annie@twitter Fri, 08 Mar 2013 12:26:18 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38272 I read the Billfold daily but had never thought to comment before this. I really enjoyed your story, especially the footnotes, this quote “Well, you might have a second calling, brother.” and I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that I laughed out loud about your entire "triple satisfying moment" revelations. I read the Billfold daily but had never thought to comment before this. I really enjoyed your story, especially the footnotes, this quote “Well, you might have a second calling, brother.” and I’m only slightly ashamed to admit that I laughed out loud about your entire “triple satisfying moment” revelations.

]]> By: JakeMohan http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38266 JakeMohan Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:48:49 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38266 @Noro Fantastic. Thanks for reading! @Noro Fantastic. Thanks for reading!

]]> By: JakeMohan http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38265 JakeMohan Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:45:33 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38265 By: Noro http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38263 Noro Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:04:07 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38263 @JakeMohan That's why you also pull the permits. See, when work,is done with permits, the public entity inspectors inspect the work _before_ the walls are closed up and certify that the work was done appropriately. So that is why you do that. And, I don't think the term "concern troll" means what you think it does. And, as you may be starting to realize, thinking you know about things that you really don't know about, can cause problems. (That last sentence _is_ concern trolling.) @JakeMohan

That’s why you also pull the permits. See, when work,is done with permits, the public entity inspectors inspect the work _before_ the walls are closed up and certify that the work was done appropriately. So that is why you do that.

And, I don’t think the term “concern troll” means what you think it does. And, as you may be starting to realize, thinking you know about things that you really don’t know about, can cause problems. (That last sentence _is_ concern trolling.)

]]> By: JakeMohan http://thebillfold.com/2013/03/adventures-at-the-intersection-of-homeownership-and-sewage/#comment-38250 JakeMohan Fri, 08 Mar 2013 02:33:36 +0000 http://thebillfold.com/?p=24874#comment-38250 @SuperMargie I'm over here in Minneapolis; if you were closer I'd recommend you use our guys. I hope everything works out, and thanks for reading! @SuperMargie I’m over here in Minneapolis; if you were closer I’d recommend you use our guys. I hope everything works out, and thanks for reading!

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