Fixer Upper House Problems TV Doesn’t Tell You About
When my husband and I bought our first fixer upper home, it was a rude awakening. My parents rented during my whole childhood, so I had no experience with homeownership. My dad also worked in new home construction, so neither did I soak up valuable old house wisdom at his knee. Still, I am drawn to houses in need of serious TLC, and have learned a lot over the years about what it takes to own one—stuff that I didn’t learn on TV. Here are six things I wish I’d known before we bought our first (and second and third) old house.
Things you don’t—and can’t!–plan for go wrong
I knew that things like HVAC systems and appliances could go out, and that roofs have to be replaced from time to time. But who would know that one day there will be a massive rainfall and water will burst out of a toilet in the basement, flooding the floor with three feet of water and ruining everything? That’s also when I learned our homeowner’s insurance didn’t cover flooding. That was the first major, surprise! mishap, but far from the last. In the years since, among other things, we’ve had water pouring out of pipes inside walls, a brand new HVAC system fail, and a leak in the water line to the house.
You’re responsible for stuff outside the house, too
We had a wildly high water bill one month and, after some investigation, found there was a leak in the line running to the house. That would be the responsibility of the utility providing the water, right? Wrong. They’re only responsible to a certain point, generally from the street to the meter or the cut-off valve. Our leak was between that point and our house, about 50 feet of pipe that had to be trenched and replaced. I literally cried when the plumber came and told me it would be thousands of dollars to repair (we found a new plumber).
Things will happen at the worst possible time
There’s never a good time for things to go wrong. But filed under “when it rains it pours,” bad things truly seem to happen at the absolute worst times. I was at home hours after a dental surgery, woozy and in pain, when the utility company showed up about a needed gas line repair. After dropping a big chunk of change on the dental work that morning, I had to turn around and pay for an expensive repair out of the blue.
Don’t trust the seller’s disclosure
Yes, home sellers are required by law to tell you things that are wrong with the house. That’s all well and good, but sometimes people do dishonest things (shocker, I know). We have discovered any number of nasty secrets not disclosed by previous owners. I learned one lesson from the buyer of our last house: after her inspector came and wrote up a list of things he thought were wrong, she required that we make some repairs. So take the disclosure with a grain of salt, and read over the inspection report with a fine-tooth comb.
Murphy’s law is a real thing
You’ve heard the saying: If anything can go wrong, it will. There’s a reason that’s a saying. We had just completed the hardwood floor refinishing and new drywall in our home’s third floor renovation when a bad storm hit… and we found there were roof leaks. Yep, on the new walls and floor.
Good sub-contractors are worth their weight in gold
I knew this one going in, but it’s proven true many times over. I was a little naive, having grown up in a construction family where people were honest and reliable in their work. So when I found that there are people who don’t show up for work on time (or at all), don’t do a good job or actually make things worse, don’t finish the work, overcharge, and sometimes all of the above, it was painful. After too many experiences with shady and/or incompetent sub-contractors, I’ve learned never to trust anyone until they’ve proven themselves… and to do whatever it takes to keep the good ones coming back—whether it’s having pizza parties or sending tons of referrals their way.
It’s worth it
Yes, my 130-year-old house sometimes keeps me up at night. Repairs are endless and expensive and there are days I’m sick at my stomach over one problem or another. Right now I’m worried about some tuckpointing; if we don’t get some brick mortar repair done, moisture that’s been coming in (for decades probably) will continue and the bricks we just exposed in our latest renovation will tumble down. But I haven’t gotten the quote yet because I just can’t face it.
That said, I wouldn’t swap this old pile of bricks for anything. We’ll never get to all the projects in this lifetime (sorry pocket doors, I’d love to restore you) but what on earth would we do if we didn’t have this fixer upper to keep things interesting?