Since moving into our home in October of 2024 we’ve had to replace nearly every major mechanical thing in the house. The first thing to go was the furnace. Then the hot-water heater failed. That first winter we also had a plumbing leak in the shower that leaked through the lower level ceiling. When spring rolled around our rusted chimney crown cracked at the welded seams causing a waterfall down our chimney.. There’s more, the list goes on-and-on.
These repairs and replacements are on top of all of the aesthetic renovations we elected to do ourselves.
Before we bought our home it had only one previous owner and that person obviously moved into the new house in 1996 with a solid, pre-meditated plan. Build a house, do the absolute bare minimum in terms of maintenance until said house is paid off, then retire to Florida. It worked. The house looked immaculate when we moved in and many of the defects were so skillfully hidden behind fresh coats of paint and in other ways that made our home inspector miss them.
At 55 years of age I thought my days of diving into DIY home projects were behind me but this house has temporarily pulled me out of my DIY-retirement. Since buying my first home in 1998 I’ve done everything from complete bathroom remodels to extensive landscaping and just about everything in between.
We never had much money growing up and my dad did all of his own work on the house, he rarely hired contractors for anything. I don't think paying someone else to do a job he was capable of doing even crossed his mind. He taught my brother and I to be pretty self-sufficient in this regard and, most importantly, not to be afraid to tackle tough jobs and things we’ve never tried before.
The most recent issue with our house reared its head after we got our new prairie fire crab apple trees planted in the backyard in June. There was a hose spigot (bibb) on the back of the house that we had never used. Since I needed to water those newly planted trees I thought, How convenient! I’ll turn on the water supply to that spigot. I found the value to turn on the water to the spigot in our utility room and suddenly heard something that sounded like a firehose gushing water. The plumbing inside the wall had exploded from the pressure and was filling up the inside of the wall with water.
I immediately dashed back to the utility room and turned off the water supply line then stared, dumbfounded at the sheer volume of water leaking out of the bottom of our walls into our freshly updated lower level. After lots of towels, a solid 72hrs of box fans on high, and a dehumidifier the mess was properly dried up.
Yesterday, I opened the wall to mitigate the mold, and pull out the insulation so we can get to the plumbing. Today I sprayed the entire wall cavity with Concrobium to kill any lingering mold. This week our son is going to work his magic—repairing the pipes and installing a new spigot (he’s a licensed plumber-lucky us!) After this, we’ll put it all back together.
I’m a firm believer in karma and one of my favorite sayings is karma isn’t always swift but it’s sure. I would hate to have that previous owner’s karma. Thankfully we’ve been able to navigate these past couple of years of challenges without the unexpected expenses completely wrecking us but it’s taken creativity and a proper mindset.
All I can say is whoever ends up with this house next will be lucky to enjoy many peaceful years of their own DIY-retirement.
As I was relaxing on the couch last night I realized something—all those years of renting and living in condos had changed me. Being able to easily differ work to others in some ways made me less confident. This house, as troublesome as it's proven to be, has given me something I didn’t expect at this stage of life. A renewed reminder of what my dad taught us all those years ago.
A home isn’t just a shelter from the storm it's something that needs to be cared for. Through the act of properly taking care of it it rewards you with confidence of knowing you can face more than you think, fix it with your own hands (or with the help of the next generation), and leave it better than you found it.
All for now. Make this a wonderful day.
(Gif sourced from Giphy.com)
Whenever I am able to fix things myself, I feel a good sense of confidence.
It's definitely an investment that you don't always see the return on right away. I've gotten to the point where I know what I can handle and what I should probably leave for the professionals.
Same here. I took on jobs I probably shouldn’t have when I was young. I would’ve hired a plumber if our son couldn’t have handled that part.
Anything more than a faucet or a garbage disposal I leave to the professionals! :)
Yeah 1996 is 30 years ago... You have to replace most things after 10-20 years, thought water pipe issues are not that normal in my experience. That is one reason we like buying brand new homes, those are without any issues and any defects get taken care under warranty.
The three homes we sold I spent upwards of 100K each and I am sure I didn't fix all the structural issues, but at least most of the stuff that my inspector could find. Homes are something that needs regular maintenance and major updates at a certain interval...
This is a good story that reminds us that we should endeavor to learn some skills so that some minor problems can be fixed instantly