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Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Money Pit



Has anyone ever seen 'The Money Pit' with Tom Hanks? (1986) Well, we are seeing some similarities with our new home, unfortunately. There have been small things here and there that we can fix... we had a broken toilet, Scott fixed it. There is a broken drawer in the kitchen, grout is coming out of the tiled floors, only 1 electrical outlet works in the master bath, the toilet paper holder is hanging out in the master bath - things like that. (things we can handle) Now for the big problems: Since we have moved in, the microwave has shut off the circuit breaker many times. That is the circuit that runs 1/2 the kitchen. A guy came to clean out the ducts (they were disgustingly dirty!!! He said the previous owners must have purposely swept everything in the ducts!) and he broke a circuit too, having his machine plugged in. Not good!! Well, meanwhile, we were having our basement painted as well as some other finishing touches. I was so excited! The basement was going to be our primary living area. One day, the cord of a saw or some other piece of equipment started smoking and the plus and light switch on that same wall was very hot!! Our contractor suggested that they stop the improvements while we take some time to do some research to see if we need some electrical work or what - to keep our basement safe and prevent an electrical fire. Scott and I were very bummed out that day:( We started feeling better the next day. We have an electtical contractor hopefully coming by this week. We have done some yard work and met more of the neighbors. Regarding neighbors: let me just say, we feel like we live in the town of Stepford (from Stepford Wives - yes, another movie reference) Everyone is SO SUPER nice! Even my nephew Sam said he has never seen people so nice. Our neighbors have all told us things about the previous owners. They did not keep up with the yard work, they were not very friendly, and apparently, they had a family member come in to finish the basement and do other "upgrades" AFTER they moved out - just enough to make it look nice to sell.


Thinking positive: even if the basement did not exist, the rest of the house is still gorgeous and I LOVE it. I think it will be fun to have annual home improvement projects! I love living on this culdesac. The school system seems great. EVENTUALLY, the basement will be finished and SAFE. And I am still loving the yard and trees!! I found out we have a pecan tree in the front! (but I don't see any pecans??? When do they come?)

2 comments:

pooh fan said...

I'm sorry to hear you're having repair issues with your new house. I hope the electrician is able to find out what the issues are and it won't cost you an "arm and a leg" to fix it. I'll think positive thoughts.

Katie said...

Oh NO! I'm saying an extra prayer that the electrical problems will be a quick and inexpensive fix for you. I bet it is so upsetting since it's your new house, but hopefully you'll find someone to make it better! :(