14 September 2016
Story #827
R. Linda:
Buying a home usually is not always an easy process. Forget the mortgage company puts you through hoops to have all the necessary paperwork for them to approve your arse for a mortgage, but every time you think you gave them everything but your firstborn, they ask for something else. It's like, what? You need what now? Having been through the mortgage process, it is much easier than the radon test and its aftermath.
When we bought the house, we had a radon test, which is essential in New Hampshire because it is one giant granite rock; we aren't called the granite state for nothing. Granite exudes a toxic gas, and when a house is built on granite, a gas filter is needed. The radon gas can be in the water as well as the air. We noticed we had a radon filtering system for the water and have had it checked out, and it is working as it should. We thought we had a radon mitigating system for the gas because, on the property disclosure, it said we had one. Imagine our surprise when the radon test returned with a 7.9 pCi/L. We went into the basement looking for that particular system and found it. A pipe filters the gas from the ground and runs through the roof to the outside. Some systems have a fan to help extract the gas, but we did not have that system. When we went outside, we did not see the exhaust pipe. We thought we couldn't see it because of the many roof angles.
Well, you guessed it, there is no exhaust pipe. At the closing, when asking about the gas filtration, the former owner assured us it was there, but it was not a system with a fan that sucks the gas up, and probably for a minimal fee of a few hundred dollars, I could have one installed. He said he lived in the house for 11 years and never had a problem. Plus, he had 10 kiddos, and they were all healthy (for now, maybe).
I wasn't taking any chances with me own three kiddos, so I called a radon installation firm, thinking the fan was all we needed. Out came a very nice guy who, looking at the outside of the house, informed me there was no exhaust pipe. Maybe, he said, it was hooked up to the water exhaust? Yet, he didn't think so, but he said he's seen some strange radon systems in his career and wouldn't put it passed the builder to have done something like that.
No, the gas filtration was not hooked up to the water filtration. As a matter of fact, one was on one side of the house, the other at the other end. He went over to the pipe that came out of the ground to find it was not even hooked up to anything. Just a pipe in the ground that was cut to look like it had gone into the ceiling. What the heck? Upon further inspection of the attic, no exhaust pipe from floor to roof was to be had. Except for a dead squirrel on sticky paper that the former owner never removed.
After removing the squirrel, I realised I had to have a whole system put in. So that's what I am doing as I write this. Am I happy? No, but I am doing the right thing because if I have to ever sell, at least the radon test will pass. Hopefully, that won't happen, but at least I will have a healthier environment for my family, and they come first.
I thought something was up with the former owner. My wife even said he seemed sketchy to her, and we have, since moving in almost 2 years ago, found this to be true. Everything the building inspection found wanting, at the closing, the former owner said he had fixed. Come to see, he fixed nothing, and what he did were minimally inexpensive temporary fixes. I had already replaced three chimney flues when the chimney sweep informed me I had the wrong liner for a wood stove in the fireplace. Then he told me I had the wrong liner for the furnace, and neither was up to code. I had this replaced and the wood stove removed. We could have burnt the house down if I hadn't replaced the one in the fireplace. The flues were never cleaned in the eleven years the FO (former owner) lived here.
You know about the flying squirrel problem (which he assured me was non-existent)? It took a professional wildlife company to come in and rid us of the varmints. Sticky paper was not the solution, and what a miserable way to die. At least we killed none; we just blocked them from their entry portals.
The house was constructed from steel beams, not wood, as the builder owned a steel mill. The FO told us the house was really sturdy as a result. We used to live in a colonial cape built with post and beam construction in 1779, and we talked about its durability. That house may have had wavy, creaky floors (which we fixed), but you couldn't hear anyone in another room, and when you walked, the house didn't shake. Not so with this 1996 gem; you do a load of laundry on the first floor, and the entire house shakes when the washer reaches the spin cycle. We joke that we are about to blast off into space, but in truth, it isn't reassuring that eventually, the whole pile of sticks won't fall down on top of us. We replaced the washer with a quieter, non-agitator model, and you can still feel a slight rumble under your feet when it gets to spin mode. At least I don't hear Mam shouting, "Get ready fur Scotty ta beam us all oop!"
So, owning this house has been a money pit trip and then some. The grounds are lovely, but not as woodsy as the old house, which was surrounded by woods. This one has fields and such and a pond one can see from the house instead of walking into the woods to find it. The pond is filled with koi and absolutely serene to look out on while sipping a cup of joe. It is quieter, more remote, and more rural than where we were. That town has grown and become more pedestrian, and we wanted 'small town, USA' and are happy for the most part, though most people thought the town we came from was just as rural. I just wish this house didn't have so many things I have to have installed or fixed. Yes, I'll be complaining a thousand + dollars later, but it works!
Gabe
Copyright © 2016 All rights reserved
Story #827
R. Linda:
Buying a home usually is not always an easy process. Forget the mortgage company puts you through hoops to have all the necessary paperwork for them to approve your arse for a mortgage, but every time you think you gave them everything but your firstborn, they ask for something else. It's like, what? You need what now? Having been through the mortgage process, it is much easier than the radon test and its aftermath.
When we bought the house, we had a radon test, which is essential in New Hampshire because it is one giant granite rock; we aren't called the granite state for nothing. Granite exudes a toxic gas, and when a house is built on granite, a gas filter is needed. The radon gas can be in the water as well as the air. We noticed we had a radon filtering system for the water and have had it checked out, and it is working as it should. We thought we had a radon mitigating system for the gas because, on the property disclosure, it said we had one. Imagine our surprise when the radon test returned with a 7.9 pCi/L. We went into the basement looking for that particular system and found it. A pipe filters the gas from the ground and runs through the roof to the outside. Some systems have a fan to help extract the gas, but we did not have that system. When we went outside, we did not see the exhaust pipe. We thought we couldn't see it because of the many roof angles.
Well, you guessed it, there is no exhaust pipe. At the closing, when asking about the gas filtration, the former owner assured us it was there, but it was not a system with a fan that sucks the gas up, and probably for a minimal fee of a few hundred dollars, I could have one installed. He said he lived in the house for 11 years and never had a problem. Plus, he had 10 kiddos, and they were all healthy (for now, maybe).
I wasn't taking any chances with me own three kiddos, so I called a radon installation firm, thinking the fan was all we needed. Out came a very nice guy who, looking at the outside of the house, informed me there was no exhaust pipe. Maybe, he said, it was hooked up to the water exhaust? Yet, he didn't think so, but he said he's seen some strange radon systems in his career and wouldn't put it passed the builder to have done something like that.
No, the gas filtration was not hooked up to the water filtration. As a matter of fact, one was on one side of the house, the other at the other end. He went over to the pipe that came out of the ground to find it was not even hooked up to anything. Just a pipe in the ground that was cut to look like it had gone into the ceiling. What the heck? Upon further inspection of the attic, no exhaust pipe from floor to roof was to be had. Except for a dead squirrel on sticky paper that the former owner never removed.
 |
| Fake pipe - notice the top is attached to nothing |
After removing the squirrel, I realised I had to have a whole system put in. So that's what I am doing as I write this. Am I happy? No, but I am doing the right thing because if I have to ever sell, at least the radon test will pass. Hopefully, that won't happen, but at least I will have a healthier environment for my family, and they come first.
I thought something was up with the former owner. My wife even said he seemed sketchy to her, and we have, since moving in almost 2 years ago, found this to be true. Everything the building inspection found wanting, at the closing, the former owner said he had fixed. Come to see, he fixed nothing, and what he did were minimally inexpensive temporary fixes. I had already replaced three chimney flues when the chimney sweep informed me I had the wrong liner for a wood stove in the fireplace. Then he told me I had the wrong liner for the furnace, and neither was up to code. I had this replaced and the wood stove removed. We could have burnt the house down if I hadn't replaced the one in the fireplace. The flues were never cleaned in the eleven years the FO (former owner) lived here.
You know about the flying squirrel problem (which he assured me was non-existent)? It took a professional wildlife company to come in and rid us of the varmints. Sticky paper was not the solution, and what a miserable way to die. At least we killed none; we just blocked them from their entry portals.
The house was constructed from steel beams, not wood, as the builder owned a steel mill. The FO told us the house was really sturdy as a result. We used to live in a colonial cape built with post and beam construction in 1779, and we talked about its durability. That house may have had wavy, creaky floors (which we fixed), but you couldn't hear anyone in another room, and when you walked, the house didn't shake. Not so with this 1996 gem; you do a load of laundry on the first floor, and the entire house shakes when the washer reaches the spin cycle. We joke that we are about to blast off into space, but in truth, it isn't reassuring that eventually, the whole pile of sticks won't fall down on top of us. We replaced the washer with a quieter, non-agitator model, and you can still feel a slight rumble under your feet when it gets to spin mode. At least I don't hear Mam shouting, "Get ready fur Scotty ta beam us all oop!"
So, owning this house has been a money pit trip and then some. The grounds are lovely, but not as woodsy as the old house, which was surrounded by woods. This one has fields and such and a pond one can see from the house instead of walking into the woods to find it. The pond is filled with koi and absolutely serene to look out on while sipping a cup of joe. It is quieter, more remote, and more rural than where we were. That town has grown and become more pedestrian, and we wanted 'small town, USA' and are happy for the most part, though most people thought the town we came from was just as rural. I just wish this house didn't have so many things I have to have installed or fixed. Yes, I'll be complaining a thousand + dollars later, but it works!
 |
| The real thing |
Copyright © 2016 All rights reserved
