Home Ownership Vent...

JwRosenthal

I feel your pain.

Clogged pedestal sink in my all original 1938 bathroom with black & white subway tile. Sink drain goes into the tiled wall and runs across to tie into the cast line at the back of the tub. There is a hatch above the stairs behind the back of the tub that gives you full access to the inside of the wall and a linen closet behind the sink wall.

First choice family owned plumbing business who works with historic houses were booked out 2 weeks to even make a service call so went with big company

Big company plumber:
Tried to snake it and couldn’t get it past the tub connection- j-trap behind the sink disintegrated and broke through, clog is hard stop so needs to be cut out.

Prognosis- they are going to have to rip out all the tile along the wall to access the line, rip out plaster and cut framed in the hallway at the hatch door (which matches all the doors and trim in the rest of the house) to cut out the pipe- no, they don’t do finish work so I would be left with a full disaster- suck to be you. $3.6k

Talked with wife about waiting the two weeks for the good company to give estimate and we agreed to brush our teeth in the bathtub.

Good company comes and says they can cut a small 8x8 hole in the plaster in the linen closet, can pull the pipe through the hatch after cutting the section out that was clogged and have it all done in a day- but they were 3 more weeks out to do the work- $1.4K.

Work was don’t flawlessly, didn’t lose any tile, didn’t cut any plaster or trim work other than the hole in the bottom of the linen closet. Installed clean-out in closet opening (bonus), all work done quickly and they actually only charged me $1.1k as it took less time than they estimated.

fiberguy

plumbers always seem to need to cut huge holes for tiny repairs, or ignore easier ways to access the problem, ask me how I know

SC1

Four different electricians over the past year to solve lights flickering in our two bathrooms, spare bedroom and daughter's bedroom.

Electrician #1... $350 for walking around scratching his ballsack while clacking gum. Replaced two receptacles.

No dice.

Electrician #2... $185 for "checking" voltage and shitting all over electrician #1's work.

No dice.

Electrician #3... $310 for saying "Hmmm" a lot and then proclaiming the cause was a dimmer switch, that he got zapped hard on while dicking around with it, and one bathroom ceiling exhaust fan that he yanked on and broke drywall + sheered off a nice sized layer of ceiling paint while also saying, "I don't do finishing work bud."

No dice.

And finally today...

#4... $485 for checking everything, finding not much except a loose breaker module for the exact circuit that runs the aforementioned rooms lights ~ hopefully that's the fix. When I asked about the bill he casually says, "Oh, didn't my wife tell you over the phone when you set the appointment what my rate is?"
Me: "No... actually she said you'd charge nothing until you assessed what was going on and discussed it with me."
Him: "Ahh. Well I think I found it and fixed it so no real discussion was needed."

If these lights flicker again I am going to lose my mind.

140dave

Has anyone tried changing the lightbulb yet?

SC1

Yes, that I did on my own... to no avail.

gbesq

A home has lots of intangible benefits that make ownership desirable, but a home is a terrible investment. If you want to accumulate wealth, rent a modest residence and put as much money as you can into equities. Over the long term, you’ll come out far ahead.

SC1

Truth except... rent seldom is stabilized.

gbesq

True, but neither are the costs of maintaining a home. Real estate taxes, along with other costs of ownership, increase every year

gbesq

True, but neither are the costs of maintaining a home. Real estate taxes, along with other costs of ownership, increase every year

SC1

No doubt... real estate taxes are something we are also feeling hard this year as the sellers had been here for 26 years and the tax assessor was salivating when he stopped by last Fall to drop the axe on us.