My summer of discontent.....

[j d]

I don't like kitties.

 

[j d]

1. Get a Bradford White those SOB's are the best on the market and not cheap. That's what the builder used and what we replaced it with. You can't go to Home Depot to get one - only through licensed plumbers.
2. Rochester has pretty hard water - we had a cheap water softener when we moved in that lasted a couple years - then we replaced it with a much more robust softener. All water that goes into that water heater is softened first. We have the ion-exchange type with a separate brine tank - it really works well.

Rochester treats but does not filter water before putting it into the water system. We have a whole house water filter as well and the amount of iron and sediment it captures is a bit disturbing. Especially when they clean out the fire hydrants. Filter basically gets completed clogged in a few days. If you didn't have a filter the water would be brown at least some of the time when they are blowing out hydrants.

Licensed plumber put them in. First one rusted out after 4 years 6 months of use. Apparently the warranty starts at purchase, which was 6 months before we moved in (plumber purchased it while we were building the house) and was not covered. Second one has lasted 10 years.

 

[Nebraska99]

Your water heater lasted 15 years??? How is that possible? Mine seem to rust through approx 2-3 months after the 5 year warranty is done.

I got a new water heater just a couple of years ago. The previous one was the original from when I built my house back in '94.

 

[Chris]

I got a new water heater just a couple of years ago. The previous one was the original from when I built my house back in '94.

When we bought our house in 2000, most of the appliances etc were old Kenmore from Sears, all the kitchen appliances, the washer-dryer, water softener etc etc... We just replaced the Kenmore water heater three years ago... still had all the paperwork attached...she bought it in 1971. The Kenmore range and dishwasher from 1965 we replaced in 2005 - have had three ea since. The Carrier gas furnace from 1959 we replaced in 2012. Will probably replace it next year. We have her 1983- GE fridge in our basement. Never been serviced and still runs like a charm.

 

[Uenth]

To be clear, it took ~4 years to accumulate that rainy day fund. So maybe using it wasn't the most ideal thing, but I looked at it as an "investment." I got so fed up with constantly having to pull weeds. In the front of the house, along the sides, in the back yard--it was just a never ending battle that I was always on the losing end of because no matter how much you pull weeds, they always come back.

I bought my house and it was a brand new build. During the design process the gal asked me if I wanted any turf installed as the house was being built or if I wanted to go with desert landscaping? Me, not really understanding that weeds would be a constant problem with desert landscaping, opted for the desert landscape. If I would have gone initially with the turf, it would have only added ~2,000 to my overall final price, which over a 30 year mortgage would equate to ~10 more a month in my mortgage payment. So, as per usual in life, I'm paying more after the fact because I went cheaper at the outset. Lesson learned.

Kinda how I felt about depleting our savings for the kitchen but it just had to be done!

 

[Uenth]

To be clear, it took ~4 years to accumulate that rainy day fund. So maybe using it wasn't the most ideal thing, but I looked at it as an "investment."

I hate like all get out depleting my savings. I took every penny I've made for the last 5 or 6 years doing alterations and put it in savings, just for this kitchen reno. So I'm pretty proud of myself since we don't have to borrow money for our project but it just kills me to watch my balance decrease, rather than increase. Again, must be time to go out and visit my cabinets in the garage. Always puts things in perspective for me. LOL!

 

[Husker99]

Yeah I'll put some pics in this thread of my landscape re-do when it is completed.

 

[Jimbosc]

I should have kept my yapper shut. Got a filling done Monday. Chipped a different tooth on Tuesday. This one will take a crown to fix.......yes I have insurance but already maxed it out for the year with the dentist so likely another BIG hit. My rainy day fund was gone about 2 disaster ago. Guess we gotta go in hock for this one.....ah well!!

 

[Chris]

I should have kept my yapper shut. Got a filling done Monday. Chipped a different tooth on Tuesday. This one will take a crown to fix.......yes I have insurance but already maxed it out for the year with the dentist so likely another BIG hit. My rainy day fund was gone about 2 disaster ago. Guess we gotta go in hock for this one.....ah well!!

Sorry brother - we can always make more money - take care of yourself.

 

[Chris]

I hate like all get out depleting my savings. I took every penny I've made for the last 5 or 6 years doing alterations and put it in savings, just for this kitchen reno. So I'm pretty proud of myself since we don't have to borrow money for our project but it just kills me to watch my balance decrease, rather than increase. Again, must be time to go out and visit my cabinets in the garage. Always puts things in perspective for me. LOL!

Look at it this way, Uenth - you only die once!

 

[Uenth]

Look at it this way, Uenth - you only die once!

I just keep telling myself that this too shall pass. And I'm starting to do quilting for customers which is much more lucrative than hemming pants is. I'll grow our savings back. I just had a nice little nest egg and by the time this is done, it will be little but not nearly as nice. But I'll have a much more functional kitchen so ....