We finally closed on our house!! We signed our paperwork on Thursday, August 8th and got the keys on Friday, August 9th. NOT that it was a smooth process by ANY means...The title company showed up to the signing with our last name incorrectly spelled on the title paperwork. Our last name is RIDDELL people, NOT RIDDLE. Our realtor had the joy of re-typing the correct spelling in about 1,000 different spots. Ok, I'm only being a little dramatic...at least 20.
Since getting the keys to our house, we have had SEVERAL surprises! And not the good kind, either!
Unexpected surprise #1: Our ADT security installation man found a yellow jacket beehive in the insulation in the basement, near the fuse box. HOW IN THE WORLD DID THE PEST INSPECTION EMPLOYEE MISS THIS?!!!!!!
Unexpected surprise #2: After several hours of work over two days with every imaginable tool and at least 10 combined trips to Home Depot and Lowe's (done by Jordan and Bill), Jordan called a plumber to fix the kitchen sink. Turns out he had to replace the drain line.
Unexpected surprise #3: The plumbing from the kitchen sink down to the basement is three-quarters full of GREASE. Like, the previous owners poured 10 years of bacon grease down their kitchen sink. Seriously, who pours grease down the sink? Don't they know grease solidifies?! We had the joy of finding the solidified, disgusting, and SMELLY present. If Jordan didn't call a plumber to fix the drain line, who knows when this would have been found. As Sara said, the pipe would have probably burst after we finished the basement so it is a (expensive) blessing in disguise. It's 10:04pm right now and Jordan is still at the house waiting for the plumber to finish fixing the plumbing piping.
Unexpected surprise #4: Our sprinkler system has a broken valve.
How the inspector missed #3 and #4 is beyond me.
On a positive note, we chose colors for the dining room (dark purple) and master bedroom (marine green). In those rooms:
-the baseboards have been cleaned and taped
-the holes in the walls have been patched
-the walls have been dusted
and they are ready for painting, except the master where we need to paint the ceiling.
Seriously, every room needs painting. It is such a time consuming ordeal...we are thinking of hiring someone to help us finish it faster.
Other things that have been done:
-changed lightbulbs both inside and outside
-changed (some) doorknobs
-Bill fixed our spare toilet
-got a new shower head
-got a new kitchen sink
-bought a lawnmower (and Jordan mowed today!)
-removed the refrigerator for cleaning...it's full of mold. joy.
-had the family room measured and quoted for carpet
-scheduled the radon mitigation system installation. twice. they were supposed to come today but the guy broke his rib over the weekend. this will now happen Friday
-had the bee hive terminated by pest control & had the house sprayed for pests
So, despite the set-backs, we have been very productive, especially with the Scott's and my mom's help. We are eternally grateful!!
In other news, I had my first day of work today!!! I have Orientation today, tomorrow, and Wednesday then starting Thursday I will be at my school site, which is the high school. So far, Orientation has been a nice way to ease back into the work and the new school year...but I still wish I had another week to work on the house! My SP girls & Jared would be proud of me: I correctly guessed the percentage of students in my district who received special education services (14%) and won a t-shirt! YEAH! :) :) The fun back-to-school goodies I get to look forward to are a school i.d. badge (my picture will be taken Thursday) and a laptop!! I am excited to see my office and meet my staff too.
That's it for now. We miss you all and hope you are doing well <3
More updates to come soon.
Xo,
T & J
You're such an adult now!! Congrats on the house and I hope you love your job!
ReplyDeleteUnexpected surprise #3 Should have been caught by the home inspector, its a mandatory part of a home inspection to call out functional drainage at all drains.
ReplyDeleteUnexpected surprise #4 is typically never inspected at a home inspection, it is considered beyond the scope of a normal inspection, Although if he said he checked the system & missed the valve, shame on him !
I never check lawn or yard irrigation systems unless requested by the home owner & then i just do it as a courtesy.
Congrats on the new home & welcome to home ownership ! Its a great investment in time & energy, glad too see your not making someone else's payment anymore !
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