Joys of Home Ownership

So That’s What That Switch Is For

When we first moved into our home here in Fairview three months ago I went around testing each light switch to see what they controlled. There was one on a side wall of the main bedroom’s closet that was placed pretty high up. The closet light switch was at the right height and right by the door into there, so this second switch was a mystery.

I had the phone number of the previous owner, so I called him up to ask if he knew what that switch was for. He replied, “I have no idea what it does.” I told him, “I was going to get an electrician in for something else and when I did I’d get him to figure it out.” The previous owner’s response was, “Call and tell me, then we’ll both know.” I have never gotten around to the electrician thing. I had a hunch it was for the water heater because in that closet was a bump out that was perfect sized for one and close by to it was a whole house water shut off.

During our winter storm last week when we were close to losing power I got down a heavy blanket we had on the top shelf of the main closet in case we had to huddle under something to stay warm. The very next day when Donna went to shower she shouted, I have no hot water. I tried a different faucet or two and there wasn’t any hot water there either. With all the flickering and near misses at a power failure my first thought was a tripped breaker. The one labeled water heater was fine, but I cycled it anyway. My next thought was to see if there was a separate breaker on the water heater itself. As I was unscrewing the fasteners on that bump out I looked up and that mystery switch was in the down position! Aha!

I must have turned the switch to the down position when I dragged down that blanket, flipped it up and 20 minutes later we had hot water.

42,000 Dust Bunnies*

*This post has been sitting in the drafts folder for a bit over three weeks now for one reason or another. It has been so long long that we are more than half way towards the forty-three thousand mile mark…

In preparation for our big move we have been packing up little used stuff and cleaning every nook and cranny of 4 years of accumulated dirt and dust that we don’t really need to take with us. We are both fairly neat people and we have now pets, so it is amazing how much dust could be found in the house. I’m blaming it on the dry high-desert climate.

While running errands around Klamath Falls, the Mini rolled over the 42,000 mile barrier.

For The Want Of An Aerator

Because we are selling our house, it needed to be inspected by the buyer. The biggest thing on their “Fix This Stuff” list was a new water heater. I get that, it was listed on our inspection when we bought here 4 years ago. The dried up rusty looking drip coming from the front panel makes it look like it’ll go at any time. So we opted to go ahead and give the new owners some peace of mind.

We had our realtor rustle up a plumber for the job, because they can always get someone on short notice to do home repairs. The only day he could do the work was last Wednesday, but we were going to be out of town and not getting back until Thursday night. Our realtor arranged to let him in to do the job.

We heard nothing at all on Wednesday, or Thursday, so what we had was a Schrodinger’s water heater problem. Had it been changed or not, we wouldn’t know until we got home…

I had helpfully pulled out the washer before we left, so he would have easy access to the water heater and when we looked in the laundry area Thursday evening we knew that we had a new water heater. Our nice plumber had even put the washing machine back. Cool. When Donna tried the kitchen and hall bathroom faucets the flow out of them was pitiful. The shower in that bath was restricted some too. Everywhere else worked just fine. When I called the plumber he agreed to come over on Monday (he doesn’t work Fridays.)

Around 5 on Monday with no word from our wayward plumber I texted him and asked if he was coming over, he replied with bad day, can I come tomorrow? He said he’d be there around 11:00. By noon on Tuesday and still no plumber, so I texted, “Coming?” He replied, “Running late, be there in an hour.

When he arrived he explained because of our galvanized, 60-year old, pipes when the water gets turned off and then back on all the flakes in the pipes make a beeline to the first faucets turned on. He set about cleaning the troublesome lines. The kitchen was improved slightly, but the hall bathroom was kicking his butt. He took the whole faucet out and and did get a bunch of junk out. When he put the faucet back on the sink, it still wasn’t flowing great. He tried to get the aerator off and couldn’t get it unscrewed, but in the trying mangled the aerator screen. Now the water was coming out too hard and splashing everywhere.

He headed over to a local plumbing supply store and bought an off the shelf aerator. It wouldn’t screw into the faucet nozzle. By now it was late in the day and he said he’d be back tomorrow, Wednesday, with a different aerator. He was a no show. So around 11:00 on Thursday with no word, I texted, “Will we see you today?” “About an hour,” was his reply. This time the aerator fit and all was right again, so I wrote the check for the job and he left.

Later that evening, with the bathroom faucet dispensing nicely aerated water, Donna heard a dripping sound from under the sink. Sure enough when you turned on the water fully, from either tap, a small stream of water came out underneath, from the center of the faucet assembly! Crap, so I texted him. Below is the text conversation that followed:

Me: Well, nice try and fortunately the bucket under the sink was in the right place to catch the water. That aerator was creating so much back pressure that it over powered the O-rings that lead to the faucet output nozzle causing it to leak and the water comes out underneath.

Me: I broke the aerator out and the faucet works as advertised with no leak underneath, but it now still needs an aerator. Home Depot has one of the exact faucets in stock for $119 or there is a Phister Ladera in brushed nickel for $69 that would be an acceptable substitute. Go buy one and come over tomorrow to put it in.

Me: Option C s to buy the aerator from Delta online. RP101505 for $6.64 + $15.99 for 1 to 2 day shipping.

Plumber: I can do that but probably not tomorrow and you do realize it’s not my fault, all I did was replace the water heater. Your water lines are old and deteriorating

Plumber: But I would be happy to buy you another one and install it

Me: Don’t worry about it. I’ll buy the $69 one and put it in myself. Maybe next time you change out a water heater in a home that has galvanized pipes you’ll remember to flush the water lines through a hose into the tub or something, so the poor not so wise home owner won’t turn it on and clog their faucets.

Plumber: Noted. I want to buy it for you guys. I don’t like leaving my jobs on bad terms. I will call you tomorrow.

Me: OK

Plumber: Thanks

 
Today is Friday, his tomorrow, and all we got from our friend the plumber was radio silence. So our tomorrow, Saturday, we are headed over to Home Depot to get that $69 faucet and I’ll put in myself…

Unexpected, But Shouldn’t Have Been

Last Friday when I went downstairs to swap the clothes from the washing machine to the dryer I was surprised to see the Soak light lit. When I opened the lid the clothes were swimming in a round plastic pond. Wow, that’s different from our usual plague of out of balance wet clothes in one half of the tub. But I tried the same fix, i.e.. the Drain and Spin cycle. Knowing that it takes 5-10 minutes, I headed back upstairs.

When I returned downstairs, the clothes were a little wetter than they should have been, but at least the water was gone. But because I didn’t know when in the cycle the washer had quit before so that maybe it never made it to the rinse part, we decide to start over, I added some soap and ran the typical wash cycle.

After the usual hour wait, back downstairs I went. The Soak light was lit and the tub was full of water again. Crap. Ran the Drain & Spin cycle again. Same results as before water gone, but clothes overly wet. So I got a big lawn & leaf plastic bag to line our clothes hamper so that we could run to a local laundromat to do the load there. Later that day I ordered a new washing machine. We really shouldn’t have been surprised.

I came close to calling in a repairman to look at it back in February and then in May I actually order a new one, but cancelled it at the last minute because it started working correctly again. Knowing our new washing machine’s arrival date yesterday I unhooked the old one and when I slid it out from it’s home, underneath, was quite a lot of small bits of plastic that looked a little like chopped up licorice. I dragged the broken washer into the garage and when I looked at the bottom of the machine I couldn’t tell where that black stuff was coming from, whatever, this thing was going to the dump.

The new washing machine arrived today and after 2 full loads it still works just like it should.

Fatal Descaling

We had a fairly new Keurig K-Supreme coffee maker.

The first time the descale light illuminated I tried using white vinegar to do the job. It must have done some good, but it didn’t last as long as expected. So this time when the light came on I ordered the 3-Month Maintenance Kit from Amazon. Yesterday I did the descaling.

(Side note, the directions listed on the box on how to do this say to follow the instructions on the bottle, but there are no instructions on the bottle.)

After following the instructions I found on keurig.com I successfully ran the descaling procedure. Only trouble was that the brewer failed to restart afterwards. A search online said that I might have over heated the thermostat and I should wait a couple of hours and try again. After 3 hours the brewer would still not turn.

I then found a YouTube video on how reset it. After spending twenty minutes opening up my relatively new brewer I found the thermostat and no amount poking with a bent paperclip would reset it. I ohmed it out and it read as infinite, so I had no choice but to go out and spend $150 on a newer brewer.

Rest assured that next time the Descale light illuminates I going back to white vinegar. It may not last as long, but at least it won’t fry the thermostat.

I hope…

Washer Heal Thyself Redux

Back in January our 3-year old washer started acting up by leaving the the clothes super wet after the final spin. After trying a couple of fixes unsuccessfully I made an appointment to have it looked at by a repair person, but a couple days before the appointment the thing mysteriously stopped doing it. So I cancelled.

Fast forward to the middle of April and the washer shook itself half way across the laundry room floor on the final spin. The laundry room is on the lower floor, but you can hear the washer walking and bouncing from upstairs just fine. When I opened the lid all the clothes were solidly packed into one half of the tub. Rearranged the wet clothes evenly and ran the Drain & Spin cycle. The next day it worked fine. But, two days later the same thing happened. Then it did it for the next three days in a row.

An Internet search revealed several things that would cause this and the only one that didn’t involve tearing the machine apart was make sure the washer is level not only sideways but front to back as well. Across the front it was fine, but front was slightly lower than the rear. I found a couple of pieces of 1/8″ thick wood in the garage and slipped some under the front legs.

On the next load on Sunday, boom shake thud bump, the washer danced a foot and a half forward with the 1/8″ spacer wood still in place. With the last incidence of a couple months ago and this one, we decided to break down and get a new washer. I went to the Home Depot website and they could have another of the same unit to us by Friday.

On Monday morning we went down to the only real Appliance store and town to see if we get something quicker. The only ones they had in stock that were comparable were more expensive and even then, they couldn’t be delivered until the following week. When we got home I went to HomeDepot.com and bought the washer. That evening during the washing of a load of clothes, it worked just fine. Not fooled, I left the order open.

Well, the next two days the washer acted all normal, so Wednesday night, with the washer still listed as in process, I called the Home Depot customer service and cancelled the order. It has been working just fine ever since.

Ed Note: Check back in a few days for the rest of the story.

Huh!?!

This is a photo of 1/2 of our stair railing between floors. If you scan along the balusters (or pickets or little vertical stick thingies) from right to left, notice the last one on the left. It is upsidedown! We have lived in this house for a little over three years, meaning we have gone up and down the stairs over 2,000 times each and never noticed this. Until yesterday…