The Foolish Man Built His House Upon The Sand

Do you remember that old Sunday school song?

The foolish man built his house upon the sand.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand.
The foolish man built his house upon the sand,
And the rains came tumbling down.

The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up.
The rains came down and the floods came up,
And the house on the sand went splat.

Something like that. And then there is a verse about the wise man building on the rock and doing so much better, but hey, that doesn't apply to us and our house.

After our offer was accepted, we went into inspection overdrive. We started with the physical inspection, which uncovered some concerns. So, we had a pest company, three electricians, a plumber, and four foundation experts come out over a two-week perios. We'd had the pest report done before when this process stalled out six months ago, so we knew what to expect there. The electrical review looked pretty much like we expected. However, the plumber found that our water heater under the house is incorrectly vented, so we are at risk for carbon monoxide in the living areas. I haven't keeled over dead yet, but I'm all for blaming any slow down in my productivity on low-level CO poisoning. :) Meanwhile, the foundation review was the most disheartening of them all. We knew that some retrofitting of the foundation had been done, but it was less that what was necessary, so we now need a full perimeter redo and some drainage correction (there was a lot of moisture under the house and rotting boards in the existing foundation). I guess this is common out here, but there's something about a repair that is half the cost of your last house that is downright depressing. But, we really like this house. So we put together our request for repair, and sent it to the owner who, shockingly, approved it.

At this point, we're targeting a closing for two weeks from now. With all the scare about mortgages, the lender won't give us a loan without a whole lot more paperwork, including the pest work being done. While we were in Oregon, they did the tenting and fumigation of the house for the flying termites that appear to get every house out here about every 10 years. This house had had them for a while, and there was also dry rot, so now we've got carpenters at the house every day working on replacing the rotted or eaten porch boards and siding areas and whatnot. They are expecting to be done next week some time, so the painter can get in and do his thing, so the pest company can say the house is pest free so the lender will give us the biggest debt we'd never imagined. The hoops, I tell you!!

In order for the fumigation process to be done, the gas company had to turn out the gas. When they came out today to turn it back on, they said they couldn't legally turn on the water heater because of the venting problem. They left us with no hot water. Ugh. We turned the water heater on anyway, but it's clear we're going to have to take care of that issue pretty quickly. With all the work we need done, all kinds of folks will be in and out of here with permits, etc., and it just won't do if they all complain about the heater.

Who knew that in addition to an unstable wreck, we were also getting ourselves into a death trap? We've been living here a year, and paying rent, and that just makes me grumpy. Soon enough we'll be able to take care of these issues and get the house back to where it belongs.