I Called In Sick Today

[ShakeZuma 585]

when we got the house inspected when we bought it, they said the thing wasn't code because of its placement and that it needed to be moved. i'm 90% sure the guy said it was standard to put it outside. It's a townhouse, so there aren't many "non-living areas". right now it's in the secondary bedroom closet (ie. my closet). what you said is exactly what i thought when he told me that. I didn't question it because the seller gave us a decent allowance for it when we were buying. I'd love to not have to give that same allowance to someone else when selling.

how can somebody, for lack of a better word, pay you off to buy a house that isn't up to code? I thought it was a black or white thing, either it doesn't make code and can't be sold or it does and it can? I don't know anything about this stuff but it seems quite odd to me.

[beans-n-icewater 18]

when we got the house inspected when we bought it, they said the thing wasn't code because of its placement and that it needed to be moved. i'm 90% sure the guy said it was standard to put it outside. It's a townhouse, so there aren't many "non-living areas". right now it's in the secondary bedroom closet (ie. my closet). what you said is exactly what i thought when he told me that. I didn't question it because the seller gave us a decent allowance for it when we were buying. I'd love to not have to give that same allowance to someone else when selling.

Almost every jurisdiction has a "pre existing" work clause...Because of so many upgrades of local building codes, it would be impossible for older homes to be up to the same standards as new construction without many expensive remodels. They are many thousands of home across the country that dont measure up to the updated codesIf you live inside the city, at one point the structure had to pass an inspection before the certificate of occupancy was issued...Items that can pose a hazard can be flagged for repair by the local building safety inspectors, like gas leaks and faulty electrical panels, but if the mechanicals are working properly as designed and installed when the structure was new they usually cant do anything about itId do a little research before spending the cash for something thats working properlyStart with the National Building Code or whatever is the governing code in your areaIt will explain the pre existing stuff in iteditIf your referring to "home inspectors" hired by the buyers (lowest form of life other than info guys) they have no jurisdiction at all in the matter. They just deal misery. The local city building safety division is who you need to visit with

[Naked_Cowboy 0]

it's not uninhabitable and it's not like it's a commercial building. it just was built when the code allowed whatever the problem is. hundreds of millions would be homeless if you couldn't live in a home that didn't adhere to the newest building codes. think about how many homes have a non-GFCI outlet within 6 feet of a water source, etc. we're going through and making updates like that on our own, this one just isn't practical when there's a perfectly good box in right now.edit: as usual, beans beat me to it.yeah, this was a "home inspector" since that's pretty much required to sell/buy a house. it's by no means out of code according to someone with authority, we're just clearing as many things that will show up on a buyers inspection as possible.

[beans-n-icewater 18]

yeah, this was a "home inspector" since that's pretty much required to sell/buy a house. it's by no means out of code according to someone with authority, we're just clearing as many things that will show up on a buyers inspection as possible.

Those guys sit thru a week long class and go out and nitpick the workmanship of master electricians, plumbers, etc that have been doing the trades for years...When our neighbors (the Nutts... just for Chris) sold their house a few weeks ago the idiot wanted then to replace the water heater in the pool house because it had rust on the side of itHe thought the exterior metal casing was what held the water in...I called the fool for them and had to explain the mechanics of it and why the rust was there (chlorine)I still replaced it because the new owners were nervousAnyway, heres their favorite tool to harass you with... buy one and check every plug in the house. Theyre only about ten bucks or so at Lowes

[ShakeZuma 585]

ah ok, that makes sense. I wonder if my house passes any codes? doubt it.why then, would you need to provide a allowance for something that doesn't meet code currently bud did and can be sold as is? stupid housing stuff. nobody really has to answer this question. I've already lost interest.

[Naked_Cowboy 0]

ah ok, that makes sense. I wonder if my house passes any codes? doubt it.why then, would you need to provide a allowance for something that doesn't meet code currently bud did and can be sold as is? stupid housing stuff. nobody really has to answer this question. I've already lost interest.

good.beans, how expensive / difficult is it to replace a toilet? one of ours has a very slow leak that no amount of hoping has been able to make go away, but has increased our water bill about $20 / month since it started.

[Ouch-8s 4]

good.beans, how expensive / difficult is it to replace a toilet? one of ours has a very slow leak that no amount of hoping has been able to make go away, but has increased our water bill about $20 / month since it started.

it's easy. the price depends on the toilet you buy. don't forget the wax seal.

[RhinestoneCowboy 2]

ah ok, that makes sense. I wonder if my house passes any codes? doubt it.why then, would you need to provide a allowance for something that doesn't meet code currently bud did and can be sold as is? stupid housing stuff. nobody really has to answer this question. I've already lost interest.

In the case of an allowance, not "meeting code" is the same as not "in good condition". You can get allowances to replace a roof, replace carpet, or anything else if you ask for it. They are good negotiation tools for when you buy from a stranger instead of mommy and daddy don't giving you the money pit.

[RhinestoneCowboy 2]

good.beans, how expensive / difficult is it to replace a toilet? one of ours has a very slow leak that no amount of hoping has been able to make go away, but has increased our water bill about $20 / month since it started.

it's easy. the price depends on the toilet you buy. don't forget the wax seal.

What exactly is leaking that you need to replace the entire toilet? and where is $20/month in water going?

[SBriand 4]

I have about 15 minutes to spare and will write up an intriguing story about how Liz and I got our house. We had a nice apartment in Birmingham (the rich end of town) but I guess the trailer park held a contest and the winner got to move their entire family into a nice large apartment in Birmingham. And lucky for us it was upstairs from us. It didn't take long till we decided that it was time to stop wasting money on rent and put it towards a nice new home. So the hunt began. First house was this quaint little bungalow in downtown B'ham. It had an unfinished upstairs but it had great potential and after 3 yrs we could easily make a huge profit if we fixed it up and got out. (The housing market in MI was great at this time, little did we know it would tank 18 months later). Sadly though we were to late on our bid and someone else made the purchase. We hired a Realtor and told him what we wanted and such and what we were already pre-approved for and he went to work showing us nothing at all close to what we asked for. So we dumped him and started looking again on our own. We decided to head towards Royal Oak/ Ferndale. These were the new areas that were turning into the new B'ham. Little cheaper but the expected property values were going to go through the roof in 3-5 yrs due to a ton of new construction and $1M lofts being built in downtown and such. So one day we were cruising around checking out open houses and saw this really cool house on Mohawk. We immediately fell in love when we walked in. It was being sold by the father of the owners. He was a real estate agent himself and was helping them out. Through a couple of walkthroughs with us and our parents we decided to start considering it and set up a home inspection. Needless to say it didn't go well. The garage was falling down, and the biggest issue was that it had an old octopus furnace wrapped in asbestos and a completely jerry-rigged pilot switch that the inspectors pulled me aside and told me the potential danger of this house blowing to smithereens because of what they did to it. The real estate dude got pretty heated and tried to start a fight with the Home Inspectors for trying to scare us away from the purchase. We spent a week discussing it and decided that we wanted to make some deal about the furnace. So we first asked for him to replace the furnace and we will buy the house. He said no. It would be a pretty penny to do it with the asbestos removal and all. So we asked him to take about $5K off the house and we will use that money to do it ourselves, even though we got a quote for about 8K. No deal. A couple weeks later I called him and said that this was the final offer, we would agree to go in halves on replacing the furnace and then purchase the house. He said no and I said, then we are done, bye and hung up. That started the harassment. He would call daily or his kids would call leaving threatening messages on our machine saying that we wasted their time thinking we were buying the house and they were going to sue us and such. We just ignored them and moved on. We decided to try another realtor and he was a good one. We would see about 10 houses a week and all had great potential and all within our parameters we set up. We ended up liking this house 2 blocks over from the last house. Had the bid in and the approval to have the home inspection. Oops, the entire back porch and kitchen were sinking and it would be about $12K to hoist it back up and put a new foundation in. This really annoyed us. This process so far has been about 7 months and it was getting old fast. We came back to show our parents with the idea of just giving in and paying the 12K to fix it and call it a day until we left and headed the other way down the street and saw a new house that was up for sale. We liked what we say, looked to have brand new siding, nice huge bay window, etc so we called our guy the next morning and were in the house that afternoon. Perfect. Everything was new, the upstairs had a huge walkin, fireplace, recessed lighting, new carpet, floors, appliances, etc and in our price range. We put our bid in that day, passed on the home inspection and now have lived there for 4 yrs. The value of the house has gone up about 40K and all we have done is upgrade the electrical but sadly we would lose about 50K if we tried to sell it since the market is toast at the moment so just sit and wait. But so far nothing tragic has happened. I get the feeling though that if we got a home inspection it would have found something horrible and we would have just looked for another house.I forgot my point.

[beans-n-icewater 18]

why then, would you need to provide a allowance for something that doesn't meet code currently bud did and can be sold as is? stupid housing stuff.

No, not unless the item poses a serious safety hazardThree years ago you could dump a house on the market no matter what the problems without much fuss. Now, since the market is in the shitter it will be harder to do because so many new homes are sitting vacant with prices dropping dailyIn the good ole days, if a home inspector fool wrote down a giant punch list you just told the buyers to take it or leave itNow I suppose more ass kissing would be involved to unload the property

[ShakeZuma 585]

No, not unless the item poses a serious safety hazardThree years ago you could dump a house on the market no matter what the problems without much fuss. Now, since the market is in the shitter it will be harder to do because so many new homes are sitting vacant with prices dropping dailyIn the good ole days, if a home inspector fool wrote down a giant punch list you just told the buyers to take it or leave itNow I suppose more ass kissing would be involved to unload the property

yeah thats pretty much what I assumed as soon as I submitted that post. gotta sell it.and fu rc.

[Ouch-8s 4]

What exactly is leaking that you need to replace the entire toilet? and where is $20/month in water going?

through the flapper and down the drain obv. probably best to remodel the bathroom.

[Naked_Cowboy 0]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...03+90016+502239$100 seems frighteningly cheap. does this not include the guts of the toilet or something?

[Naked_Cowboy 0]

through the flapper and down the drain obv. probably best to remodel the bathroom.

i already spent the better part of a week after work resurfacing all of the cabinets in one of the 3 bathrooms and have to do the other two soon. i dont' know what's actually causing the leak, something inside the tank i'm guessing. you can clearly hear water leaking though.

[Ouch-8s 4]

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores...03+90016+502239$100 seems frighteningly cheap. does this not include the guts of the toilet or something?

theres no guts to a toilet, besides the (say it with me) ballcock.

[Ouch-8s 4]

i already spent the better part of a week after work resurfacing all of the cabinets in one of the 3 bathrooms and have to do the other two soon. i dont' know what's actually causing the leak, something inside the tank i'm guessing. you can clearly hear water leaking though.

yeah that's the flapper. $2.99

[Naked_Cowboy 0]

yeah that's the flapper. $2.99

i'm instantly convinced i need to set up a webcam in my bathroom and have beans walk me through this.

[Ouch-8s 4]

meh, could be the overflow too - where's that pic that beans posted of the ballcock?either way, if the water isn't leaking out of the toilet itself, no need to replace it, unless you don't like the way it looks or feels or the seat is too close to the waterline for the naked cowboy

[beans-n-icewater 18]

good.beans, how expensive / difficult is it to replace a toilet? one of ours has a very slow leak that no amount of hoping has been able to make go away, but has increased our water bill about $20 / month since it started.

A good elongated Mansfield with seat will run about $150....Johnnie bolts, bowl wax, and supply will be another ten or so. Labor probably a hundred twenty five to fifty

What exactly is leaking that you need to replace the entire toilet? and where is $20/month in water going?

The only place for it to go is the flapper or overflow tube inside the tankYou can test the flapper and flushvalve assy by adding Koolaid or food coloring to the tank water. If the bowl water turns the same color, the flapper is leaking.If the water stays clear in the bowl, the water is either going over the top of the overflow tube (adjust float) or thru the fill tube (small hose that runs from the BALLCOCK into the overflow tube. Replacing the entire BALLCOCK with a Fluidmaster 400A will solve that problemSometimes the area where the flapper seals on the flushvalve will be cracked or have a small blemish that allows water to escape under the flapper. Raise the flapper and run your finger around the edge and feel for a rough area. It should be a smooth edge all the way around.If its damaged, replace it by removing the two bolts holding the tank onto the bowl, remove the tank and unscrew the assembly from the bottom. It will have a large rubber or foam donut covering it that seals it to the bowl.Toilets never wear out, but require "rebuilds" from time to time

[Ouch-8s 4]

i'm instantly convinced i need to set up a webcam in my bathroom and have beans walk me through this.

hahahaha - you could sell subscriptions online...

[SBriand 4]

ballcock

[Naked_Cowboy 0]

A good elongated Mansfield with seat will run about $150....Johnnie bolts, bowl wax, and supply will be another ten or so. Labor probably a hundred twenty five to fiftyThe only place for it to go is the flapper or overflow tube inside the tankYou can test the flapper and flushvalve assy by adding Koolaid or food coloring to the tank water. If the bowl water turns the same color, the flapper is leaking.If the water stays clear in the bowl, the water is either going over the top of the overflow tube (adjust float) or thru the fill tube (small hose that runs from the BALLCOCK into the overflow tube. Replacing the entire BALLCOCK with a Fluidmaster 400A will solve that problemSometimes the area where the flapper seals on the flushvalve will be cracked or have a small blemish that allows water to escape under the flapper. Raise the flapper and run your finger around the edge and feel for a rough area. It should be a smooth edge all the way around.If its damaged, replace it by removing the two bolts holding the tank onto the bowl, remove the tank and unscrew the assembly from the bottom. It will have a large rubber or foam donut covering it that seals it to the bowl.Toilets never wear out, but require "rebuilds" from time to time

awesome.this sounds like great fun. maybe my wife will finally admit that i'm "handy" if i can pull this off. so far building my own poker table, removing a tree, adding drainage and sodding the back yard, replacing innumerable light fixtures, switches and outlets, and resurfacing the cabinets hasn't been enough. and ouch, srsly can you lower the water level? that would be awesome.

[beans-n-icewater 18]

meh, could be the overflow too - where's that pic that beans posted of the ballcock?

I made a new one...

this sounds like great fun. maybe my wife will finally admit that i'm "handy" if i can pull this off. so far building my own poker table, removing a tree, adding drainage and sodding the back yard, replacing innumerable light fixtures, switches and outlets, and resurfacing the cabinets hasn't been enough. and ouch, srsly can you lower the water level? that would be awesome.

It will never be enough... trust meThe water level can be adjusted by the screw on top of the ballcock. To lower the level, tighten one turn and flush until its one inch below the overflowIf the screw wont turn easily, resort to the old method of bending the float rod downward

[RhinestoneCowboy 2]

If the screw wont turn easily, resort to the old method of bending the float rod downward

And end up with a crooked BALLCOCK?