A New Year = A New Start

I've been feeling guilty about not posting the last few days. Today I actually had something exciting (?) to write about. I've lived in my lovely home (today, it's nickname is "money pit") for just over 5 months and I've already had to replace 3 major appliances.

Already replaced and working wonderfully are the new dryer (that actually dries clothes) and the new dishwasher (that actually washes dishes). I've also installed a new digital thermostat. KCP&L will come out and install it for free if you own your home! It can be programmed to warm up/cool down before you wake up, while you are at work, before you come home and when you go to bed. You can also change the temp on it from your computer elsewhere if the weather changes!

So here are a few pictures of the mess that took place today in the condo.

I noticed that my hot water heater started dripping a few weeks ago. Well, the drip turned into a puddle and the puddle turned into a rusty mess. After a few calls and prayers that it would just stop on it's own, the plumber came today for a full replacement. During the removal, I heard a lot of "Oh no"s and "Well, this is broken"s. Not what you want to hear a plumber say.


After he got the tank drained as much as he could, he started removing the pipes. It became apparent that the flooring below the tank was old and rotted and disgusting. The rust had piled up and made a mess.

It was at this point that I heard him say, "This water tank is so heavy and full of sediment, I'm surprised that it didn't fall through the floor!" To you, that might not be a problem, but I have a neighbor that lives below me, and for all I know ... there is water damage & the tank could have dropped through her ceiling at any point! He could barely get the tank onto my back patio a few feet down the hallway. His dolly would barely carry it. NOT a good sign!

This is the lovely sub-floor after we pulled up the crappy, old linoleum that was on the floor. It was completely soaked and started to bow from all the water damage. I have no clue how long it had been like this, but I have an inkling that the previous owners knew there was some damage, which pisses me off! At this point, I just kept staring in disbelief that my already pricey day was turning into a giant mess! I couldn't get ahold of Mom & Dad and Molly & Erik were home, busy with Miss Ellen. There also wasn't much they could do over the phone.

Thankfully, Mom & Dad called on their way home and I convinced them to come over and help me make some decisions. Even though I wanted everything installed quickly and the ability to shower and do laundry, I knew that if I wanted to feel good about this in the long run, I needed to fully replace the floor. If in a few years, I want to sell my condo, I want to fell good about the way I'm leaving it. Long story short, Erik's handy man is coming over early tomorrow morning to pull up and replace the floor. It won't be anything fancy, it will just be done. Then, I will call the plumber back and he will return with the new shorter tank that will be able to stand on a riser so if there are drainage problems in the future, it can actually drain into the pipe that is there.

There is good news to this situation! Jill was smart enough to figure out that once this hot water heater is replaced, I'll have practically all new appliances! The only things that will be old are the washer and my fridge, which still seem to be in great working condition (knock on wood!). I'll be sure to take more pictures in the next few days, even though they aren't the most exciting pictures!

Everyone needs to be crossing their fingers that all goes as planned the next 2 days! I would like to be back in a fully working condo soon!