The house that Chad and Nicole bought is not ancient but it’s pretty old. It had been renovated and updated and it looks nice but there’s still a lot of “old” stuff in it . . including Granny! 🙂
When I got here, the garage door wasn’t working right and finally stopped working so I called the guy we had used when we lived here . . probably the only garage door guy in town, and it took a couple of trips but he got the garage door fixed, though it isn’t going to last forever. It’s old and had been hit and bent and the bend kept caving in more and more. He straightened it out and put some stabilizer bars (probably not the right word) so it’s usable now. It also didn’t have the eyes that are supposed to stop it from coming down if something is under it so he added those. Anyway . . garage door is mostly fixed.
Their oven wasn’t working right. They have a home warranty so I got that fixed.
The ice maker on their fridge wasn’t working. They bought that new in February so I called Frigidaire and had someone come out and replace the ice maker.
Their microwave . . I should have taken a picture. The door was broken. When I saw it, I said . . I don’t think I’d be using that. When the guy came to work on the oven, I said “Do you think that’s safe to use?” He said “I wouldn’t be using it.” I asked the fridge repair guy what he thought and he said “I wouldn’t stand in front of it!” Since it was probably broken when Chad bought the house, the home warranty wasn’t going to fix it so they bought a new microwave. The guy came to install it today and it’s hard wired into the power but the power is coming off a GFI outlet (or vice versa) and every time the power was turned on to the kitchen, the GFI tripped. The microwave installer said he could put in a new GFI since I was going to have to call an electrician to do it. He left, went and bought a new GFI, came back, put it in . . still didn’t work.
Then Nicole came home for lunch and she said when they bought the house, that was a regular outlet but because of it’s proximity to the sink, they had to switch it to a GFI so that outlet was new in February. The microwave installer said “This is more than I can do . . you need to call an electrician!”
Dang it! I was just seeing me having to spend about $10,000 to totally rewire the house because the new microwave was my idea.
The electrician arrived and said it’s never a good idea to have a microwave on a GFI so . . somehow, he separated the microwave’s lines off the GFI lines and everything is working and the bill was less than $50.
You can bet . . if I see anything else wrong in this house, I’m keeping my mouth shut.
Carolyn says
One thing often leads to another and another. I don’t care what house or how old. Glad you made them safer.
Carolyn says
Any house needs maintenance from time to time. It’s not going to go away. For safety Chad need some to keep things fixed.
Sherrill Pecere says
You probably need to put gas logs in the fireplace (less messy that way), granite in the kitchen and bathrooms, should’ve had the garage floor painted while work was going on out there, maybe some wood floors to replace the carpet….HAHA!! I’ll bet they have you come more often!
dezertsuz says
You’ve really made their house better this trip! I know they appreciate that. I had to buy a new garage door last year. Even with a veteran’s discount at Loew’s it was about $500 for a less expensive one that’s still insulated, and I’d saved $600, so it worked out. It isn’t a double garage. The garage is, but the door isn’t, because of the hill. Anyway, it’s really worth doing, even at that price.
Nelle Coursey says
But you got it done! Most of it was under warranty, so you saved them a lot there. I know they are glad those things are fixed even if they were ok with how it was. No telling how many lives you saved by doing all this for them. And they didn’t have to take a day or three off work to get it done!
Rebecca in SoCal says
I’m glad I don’t have the ice maker hooked up in my fridge. They don’t seem to work consistently (even for someone I know who gets top-of-the-line equipment).
What a relief they didn’t have to re-wire the house! AND you fixed a problem (besides increasing their safety.)
Karen says
You’re a good Mom and a good Granny:)
Twyla says
I know they appreciate all these repairs getting done while you were there. I do remember as a single mother having to try to coordinate with repair people to get things done. And delivery was always a 4 hour window and a lot of time to take off from work just to get a delivery or repair. And doesn’t it give you a good feeling?