So the furnace was broken and we called our trusty heating and cooling guys who, when last time we called, literally moved a wire and the unit was fixed. This time was equally embarrassing as we had already gone through the pains to install a new igniter (I didn’t install it, my handy stepfather did it — neither the husband nor I are capable of such things), and it turns out one of the little tubes that connects a something to a something else was clogged. One blow of the magical repairman’s breath and it was unclogged — and $125 later, we had heat! I guess since it took less than 5 minutes to fix, the repairman (lets call him Bill) felt obligated to critique our old houses heating system. This is actually a good thing I guess, since we are officially on the market as of a few days ago. However, after hearing what Bill had to say, I felt like giving up and taking a short sale right then and there (I get discouraged easily). Anyone in Kansas City want to buy a sweet little 50s bungalow in the Plaza area? Probably not after I mention the problems that were so blatantly overlooked when my husband purchased this nightmare house 4 years ago. Don’t get me wrong; the thing is cute as a button, but DAMN — you almost have to have a degree in construction or whatever to live here. So as a future warning to peeps living in old houses, you might want to check for a few things in your heating and cooling system:
1. Is your flue lined? I think Bill was talking about the chimney flue, however we were in the basement when he was telling me this and I’m not sure which flue exactly he was referring to. But he said that the previous owners had installed a high efficiency furnace (at this point I’m thinking — Yay! A plus for once!) which isn’t supposed to be used with a flue like ours. (Fabulous)
2. Are your duct pipes double lined? If they are exposed and hanging about the basement as ours are, they should be double lined because well, they get really hot! Not only that, but going back to the flue issue, if the flue is not lined, non double lined pipes collect acidic moisture in them and eventually, they will disintegrate which makes it pretty darn hard to heat the house.
3. The crème de la crème was the asbestos tape coming loose. (Asbestos!?!?!! WTF) I had no idea we had asbestos. Cancer treatment centers of America — here I come. I have no idea who the jank-ass inspector was that my husband used when he bought this house 4 yrs ago, but he sure didn’t mention the A-word. I’m gonna be so pissed if I get mesothelioma before this is all said and done.
On a much lighter note, let me introduce myself, I’m Liz and a guest blogger here. Erin and Karly were so kind to let me be a part of their amazing site and I hope I don’t totally ruin its rep. Since the theme is design, I’m going to introduce you to an amazing new firm/furniture design team called Autoban based in Istanbul, Turkey. The team are young architects Seyhan Özdemir & Sefer Çağlar and their crew of designers is barely old enough to have graduated architecture school (Yeah, I’m Jealous). Autoban mixes old and new – (hence the this old house theme… clever EH?). They do residential and commercial and there are some definite patterns running in their work, the main being stark minimalism set against ornate traditionalism in the moldings, paneling and other ornate prettiness, and they soften it by painting it all white (which I love). I guess in Istanbul most of the residential architecture is pretty darn old, and the way Autoban handles it is Autobantastic! Ok I’ll stop now.
Sorry the pics are so small. I love this gold ceiling and the stark minimalism of the carrera marble counters (must have cost a fortune.)
Painted brick is always a good idea.
Neon butterflies = happiness
Introducing my newest obsession — the box sofa (on left) with its super clean lines and tufted leather yumminess- I’m sure it don’t come cheap.
Gorgeous hotel kitchenette — Witt Hotel, Istanbul. I’m sure I won’t be visiting anytime soon, but it’s nice to dream.
For more info on Autoban go here: www.autoban212.com
Hope you enjoyed the post!
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Disclaimer: turns out the Realtor provided the home inspector last time. hope we get him again!
So sorry to hear about your house inspection woes (cancer = lame), but at least they made for an entertaining post, right???
Thanks so much for guesting for us, Liz!
Liz, your husband and mine must have used the same (craptastic) real estate agent, because our old house had about 99 problems, and this bitch wasn’t one of them.
Love the kitchens you posted! Marble, mirrors and metal.. yum!
Liz-
The chimney flue issues isn’t as scary as it sounds. Since high-efficiency furnaces are so efficient the exhaust gases aren’t as hot (’cause you’re using that heat in your house instead) so the installers should have vented it out the side of the foundation using PVC. It shouldn’t cost that much to fix. Since you won’t be venting out the chimney anymore, you don’t need to worry about the flue being double lined. The asbestos, eh, all old houses have it and the tape is a really tame version (unless it’s all crumbling into bits) You should be able to remove it safely yourself before you sell you house. Check the county health department web site, or clean air agency or whoever handles things like that in Jackson county – they should have guidelines for asbestos removal.
I used to live in KCMO in the plaza area but in a mid century apt building on Broadway. There were a lot of things I loved about the neighborhood including how walkable/bike-able it was (I didn’t have a car). Almost everything was close, except there was no place to buy things like underwear except the wallgreens and Saks fifth ave.
Rebecca- actually, I realize that 4 years ago most Realtors used their own inspectors IE: they were probably con men posing as inspectors so as to get the house sold that much faster….and for more money. Nowadays since the housing crash, 3rd party inspectors are the LAW, so things are a lot more harshly judged. Seems unfair but thats just the way it is baby.
Ryan- thanks for that info. I think the heating/cooling guy was just trying to score some more $ out of me probably. He said it wasn’t a job I could do myself- maybe I wont do it but my dad can do just about anything. The plaza is pretty cool. There are a lot of good stores now (not sure how long ago you were here) and some good places to buy underwear too. I admit its a bit commercial, but I do enjoy it nonetheless!
Obviously an entire post dedicated to underwear retailers is in order…
Rebecca, our realtor recommended our inspector so I am very very afraid of what may happen when we go to sell our 45 year old home…