Plumbing and chimney work

New water heater

When we first bought the house there were three items that needed immediate attention. They were the chimney (flue), the electrical outlets, and the plumbing. While I'm probably wrong, I feel more comfortable, and less likely to make a major mistake working on the electrical issues than the plumbing. For that reason, we chose to pay a plumber to work on the house. For starters, the water heater was is such bad shape that no one, not even the inspector, felt safe turning it on. So for the first couple weeks of ownership, we had no hot water, making it  tougher for Cindy to clean. The previous water heater had been incorrectly installed (we're finding a lot of "incorrect" stuff in the house) resulting in additional work for the plumber. First, the venting was inadequate and poorly installed. Also, city code requires copper piping for about two feet above the heater to avoid heat from the vent from damaging the the plastic pipe that was in place.

Half bath leak in wall

 Another major issue was the burst pipes in the half bath. The very cold winter and lack of heat in the addition where the bathroom is located led to burst pipes. Of course, the location of the breaks couldn't be worse and the plumber struggled mightily to get to the breaks. He has succeeded and we are able to use the half bath (after a good scrubbing by cleaner-in-charge Cindy.

Still have more plumbing work to do, which I may tackle on my own. For some reason, the previous owner removed the attachment to the washer next to the utility sink. They also just cut the hoses to the washer (what!?). So, I need to add a T to the pipes to the sink, shut offs, and spigots to get the washer working. Side job will be to remove and clean the dryer vent. God knows what's clogged in there.

Unfortunately, we have low water pressure in the house and the culprit is most likely the galvanized pipe that leads in from the street. The have a tendency to corrode and clog over time leading to low pressure. Replacing that pipe will be a job in the future by a professional.

The chimney was another high priority item. We could not turn the heat on because the flue for the furnace and water has completely collapsed. Also, due to moisture backing up from the clogged flue, the vent pipe to the heater had a hole the size of my fist. I had gotten an estimate from a chimney guy before closing and I called him almost immediately after closing. The delay in closing resulted in him getting completely booked. Oh boy. No heat for a while. After understanding our plight, he stopped by one afternoon and had the the flue cleaned out in about a half an hour, and temporary tape on the vent pipe. He'll be back soon to put a liner in the flue, put a rain cap and varmint protector on the chimney, and unclog the damper over the fireplace. Within an hour of him leaving, I ran to Walmart to buy filters and had the furnace on. It was nice to have heat but the furnace is kind of noisy. Prevailing opinion from the plumber (who repaired the vent pipe) is that the protective paper on the floors covering the cold air return, and the high quality filter I bought is starving the furnace of air and causing a vibration. I hope so. Next time I'll buy cheap filters.

Blog update: Good news is stuff is happening more quickly that I can write. Several tasks have been completed but I have not written about include new lighting, crown molding, and even a major move job. I may complete a second blog before the end of the week to try and catch up.