The plumber was here today, and I asked him to show me where to turn off the water to the house in case of emergency.
I knew it had to be done out at the street, where the meter is. Long story short--if I were here alone, I could never do it myself. We'd have to buy this long-handled "key" tool and even if DH were here, the job would involve one of us crawling on the ground looking into a scary, gaping hole and the other one holding a flashlight.
So I asked him to look in the basement to see where a shut-off could be added. This is where the Yikes! comes in.
Our pipes are ancient iron ones, and very corroded. In fact there are old shut-off valves there, but they are so corroded they would break if you tried to move them. Basically, all the piping from the street to the house should be replaced. Much of the work would have to be done by hand instead of machine because of the convoluted way the pipes go into the house. The way it was done was "weird." (Why am I not surprised?) They are also all behind the hot-air furnace ductwork, which was added later.
I asked him for a ballpark figure. $1000? $5000? $10,000? He figured $5000 would be closest.
Boy, I can think of far more interesting ways to spend $5000. But I guess it will have to be done someday. In the meantime, the plumber suggested keeping a trash can over the man-hole thingy out front in the wintertime. That way, we wouldn't be searching around for it under the snow.
I'm starting a new blog category for House.
Something to save up for--Yikes!
September 21st, 2006 at 03:53 pm
September 21st, 2006 at 04:19 pm 1158855541
September 21st, 2006 at 06:09 pm 1158862164
I've called the firm listed on the well & pump here to see if they would come out and give me a little refresher on all things well related......as well as do a preventative service call here. No go. They don't do old systems, they just put in new ones. Batting zero on this area. Will keep plugging away trying to find someone prior to an emergency here.
Good luck ever saving up enough to tackle all the projects associated with a home. I've never got that one accomplished, there is always something else needing attention.
September 21st, 2006 at 06:41 pm 1158864108
My bf had same time.. found out that his septic tank was filling up with earth and it was pulling away from the house causing the house to shift. I hear you there with the tune of 30,000.00.