In the name of frugality, sometimes I go overboard. How far will you go?
So the dishwasher saga is over. Here’s what happened:
- The problems all started when the dishwasher stopped draining last week.
- I took it apart and found nothing.
- I tested the motors and they were fine as well.
- Frustrated, I swore loudly.
The penny (barely recognizable) that launched a thousand profanities Mrs. 1500, thinking much more logically than I, checked the discharge hose and found a penny.
- I breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear that the penny was blocking the hose.
- I put the dishwasher back together and installed it.
- On the next run, I noticed that one of the high-pressure connections was leaking
- More profanity.
- I took the dishwasher out again and noticed that a hose clamp was the culprit. I decided to replace it.
- The stupid clamp was impossible to find anywhere. I wasted 3 hours going to every store in the area including one that had an appliance repair department. Nothing.
- Out of desperation, I emailed an appliance repairman a picture of the clamp. He replied that he didn’t have a clue either. I thought about replying with more naughty words, but restrained myself.
- I tried a different clamp. It wasn’t the correct one, but desperate leaks call for desperate clamps.
- I fired the dishwasher up again. This time, after 10 minutes, it just quit and made annoying ticking sounds. Something else was wrong!
- LOADS and LOADS of profanity!!!
- With great, angry enthusiasm, I yelled at the dishwasher: “YOU AND I ARE FINISHED!!!“
- I informed Mrs. 1500 that I was going dishwasher shopping at an appliance store that had some scratch and dent inventory (there was nothing on Craigslist). Before I walked out the door, I jiggled a motor connection that I had previously disconnected and started it up again.
- At the appliance store, I told the salesman that I wanted a quiet washer. (We had a dishwasher in another house that sounded like a 747 taking off.) The salesman informed me that a quiet, decent dishwasher is at least $550.
More profanity! This time, only in my head because I didn’t want the appliance store guy to call the cops.- I decided to go home and research the $550 model.
- When I walked in the kitchen, I heard the old dishwasher still running. I looked at the panel and saw that it was on the last part of the wash cycle! It had run!
- With excitement, I grabbed the flashlight and peered underneath to see how much water was in the bowl that I placed to catch the water. None! It was automagically fixed!
Profanity of joy and elation!!!
Epilogue
So, jiggling the connection caused it to seat properly, fixing the “ticking” problem in 14.
What really amazed me is that the leak fixed itself. It was leaking like Niagara Falls and then boom, not even a drop. Anyone know the Pope’s phone number? He needs to declare this a miracle.
I really don’t know what happened. The only thing I can think of is that the dishwasher heard I was going to the appliance store to buy it’s successor. It didn’t want to be sent to the scrap heap, so decided to shape up and stop giving me grief. Three run cycles later, all is fine.
I glare at the dishwasher with a suspicious, untrusting and disdainful eye every time I walk past. The dishwasher is going to have to earn back my trust and that will take a while. For now though, all is calm.
Was this a silly exercise?
I spent at least 8 hours working on this thing. At this time in my life, time is very valuable. Should I have blown all this time trying to figure it out?
To give you some more information, the dishwasher cost me $50. I bought it from a neighbor who didn’t want it because he thought the inside had a musty smell.
Anyway, it has lasted for almost 3 years. That is totally worth it. If it blew up tomorrow, that $50 would have been very well spent.
Who knows how much longer it will last? Maybe it will fry its control board tomorrow Maybe it will give me 2 more years of dishwashing bliss.
So, tell me Readers, answer one or all:
- Should I have given up on this thing and just spent the money on a new one? Should I have called a repair guy from the start who may have found the troublesome penny right away?
- Have you ever gone down a rabbit hole on a project that you thought would only take an hour, only to have it turn into an odyssey?
- Should my perspective be any different because I can easily afford a replacement or a repair guy?
- Should I swear less?
- Should Dishwashers ‘R’ Us ban me from the store permanently?
- If I would have been arrested at Dishwashers ‘R’ Us, would one of you have sprung me from the clink? I’m not sure Mrs. 1500 would have… (Mrs. 1500 note: Let me confirm that for you…)
One more thing…
I was going to stop there, but I have one more thought. The disposable society that we live in drives me nuts. I can’t stand it when people throw perfectly good things out. In my old ‘hood where I was surrounded by insane people, I’d drive around on trash day and collect stuff to donate to reuse or donate to thrift stores. At the end of summer, the neighbors would throw out their clay pots, plants and all. Just buy new ones next spring. After the holidays, decorations would go in the trash. Just buy new ones next holiday season. Most of our children’s bikes came out of the trash, all in fine working order:
I like to do whatever I can to use the least amount of resources. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep well if I had given up on the dishwasher before I had given it my “all.”
NOW, I’ll shut up.
Hit me with your thoughts.
And if you see a screaming man on your next visit to Dishwashers ‘R’ Us, please know that I’ve been through a lot. Tell the cops to have pity.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.
*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Haha. Honestly, if the dishwasher was over 7 or 8 years old, I would probably have put it out by the curb for the scrappers. Glad it turned out ok for you, but I have ZERO luck with repairing appliances. Oh…..and my wife would tell you that every project I start takes at least 5 times longer…..and 2 more trips to the store…..than it should. (Sigh)… does it make me nuts if I enjoy the process 🙂
-Bryan
Income Surfer recently posted…ETF Conversion Series
“5 times longer” is accurate for me too. However, 2 trips to the store is very conservative, especially with plumbing. I think 5 trips to Home Depot in a day is my record.
We had a clog in our AC drip connection that was diverting it to the overflow hose. I you-tubed it, tried everything to clear it to no avail. We called a plumber, he “fixed it” and $300 later it was fine. Plus side, while he was monkeying with things he found and fixed an improper drain connection that could’ve been really costly had the pipe come apart. After 3 whole days the drip started again. Cursing from my end. So I took a hacksaw to the only section he couldn’t get to, and drug about 5′ of pipe outside, blasted it with the hose, and blew out about 4 cups worth of metal bits, which had rusted together mostly, and sludge and God knows what else. I took it upstairs, put it back together and it’s been fine ever since.
I wasn’t confident enough to do that the first try because plumbing and myself don’t get along spectacularly – sort of like your dishwasher story, that’s every plumbing story for me. This time it worked, if only we’d not spent $300 on the plumber. Like he said, “well, this ain’t rocket science…” 🙂
Mr. SSC recently posted…Guest Post – FI for Noobs!
Dah! Why do plumbers always seem to cost $300? Is that some magic plumber number or something? I hear it all the time!
Congratulations on fixing it!
And plumbing isn’t all that bad these days. PEX and PVC make everything easy. Except for the endless trips to Home Depot because you need one more part…
That article clipping cracked me up! Haha
Your attempts to fix the dishwater could have a lot of analogies drawn about. Most of all, you didn’t give up and you saw it through for an end result. Mission accomplished and a job well done.
I had a similar experience when I first started ironing my clothes this year. It was extremely frustrating and I had my fair share of cussing. It took much longer than expected, my ironing board was not as sturdy as advertised, my iron itself was having issues, etc. Long story short, I’ve come through the other side with a new skill, more money in my pocket, and feeling good to accomplish something with my hands each week.
You could swear less, but then again, profanity is a part of our language for a reason.
As the old saying goes, one person’s trash is another person’s holiday decorations.
Distilled Dollar recently posted…Personal Finance is Sexy
Yeah, thankfully that news clipping isn’t true. If the dishwasher breaks again in the next 3 months, it could very well be reality.
Ironing! I haven’t done that in years (working from home has its benefits), but kudos to you for taking it over!
“As the old saying goes, one person’s trash is another person’s holiday decorations.”
Oh man. my garage is filled with trash finds. You’d be amazed at what silly people toss out…
I used to always be my dad’s helper as he would do the exact same things you did with the dishwasher. Whether it was the washing machine or the dryer, or the dishwasher. What fun is going out and just buying a new dish washer? NONE!
Fervent Finance recently posted…Lifestyle Inflation Talks
Exactly! I actually enjoy fixing it. The issue is that I just lack the time…
Haha – good story – though frustrating, I’m sure.
I think I would have done things in almost exactly the same manner as you did, including getting ticked to the point of just going to get a new one and then getting ticked off at the price.
It’s tough being frugal!!
— Jim
PS You should always swear more, not less.
Route To Retire recently posted…To Reveal or Not to Reveal My Numbers…
“PS You should always swear more, not less.”
#*&^ yeah!
I think it was worth the time. However, I can say I think we made the right decision in buying a new dishwasher because we discovered electrical work done near the pipes of the dishwasher (apparently a no, no). We had to have it fixed and that cost extra b/c I am not an electrician and am not going to mess with it. We also were told that we basically need a new electrical panel because the one we have has too much power running to it. While this hole little fiasco ran us about $4000 ($2500 for a new panel) I would rather have that knowledge than the house burn down and get it right.
Jason recently posted…A Financial Thought Experiment
Ha ha, peace of mind (and not burning up in an electrical fire) are pretty important!
I bet if you had found something on Craiglist, you never would have repaired the dishwasher, and you still would have been happy about all the use you got for $50.
Your efforts were in the service of saving $550 (even though it turns out you didn’t need to save either amount). Given what you thought your situation was, I would have spent 10 hours on it too.
Of course, I put DranO down my pipes and don’t even care, so what do I know 🙂
“I bet if you had found something on Craiglist, you never would have repaired the dishwasher, and you still would have been happy about all the use you got for $50.”
Agreed! Although, I’m thrilled that the old guy keeps chugging along. I enjoy seeing how much mileage I can get out of stuff in life. The 2003 Honda has 160,ooo miles and I hope to get 300,000.
Stay away from the Drano!
This sounds like a completely normal DIY project to me. Everything goes that way at our house…
I’m amazed I have any hair left!
Mr. Tako @ Mr. Tako Escapes recently posted…The One About Tools
Ha ha! I haven’t checked the top of my noggin lately. Now I’m scared…
Only you can really say where the breakeven point for time vs. money is. I’ll say that, as my wife and I are both very busy, we lean more towards spending money these days than time. I know that’s a weird statement for financially frugal folks, but to give context, we still spent something like $34k last year (no mortgage spending), so it’s not out of control or anything.
But if spending a few rubles is going to save us a few hours, I’m down to spend the coin and use that time playing board games with friends, catching up on sleep, spending quality time with the wife, etc. Mostly because I feel like I don’t get enough of those things unless I do outsource some stuff.
As for the dishwasher, I don’t know: do you feel more accomplished and good after fixing a problem like that? If so, then it’s like you’re almost fulfilling a hobby when you DIY stuff.
“But if spending a few rubles is going to save us a few hours, I’m down to spend the coin and use that time playing board games with friends, catching up on sleep, spending quality time with the wife, etc. Mostly because I feel like I don’t get enough of those things unless I do outsource some stuff.”
Right on, completely agreed.
“As for the dishwasher, I don’t know: do you feel more accomplished and good after fixing a problem like that? If so, then it’s like you’re almost fulfilling a hobby when you DIY stuff.”
I do enjoy it, but not when I have no time. If the dishwasher pulled these antic in 2 years when I’m not working, it would have been OK.
Ha!, I have been through this craziness. Lisa has pictures somewhere of me with our old dishwasher taken apart in our previous kitchen. Mine was a crab shell in the drain hose. I think I got another year out of her and then had to find another one on Craigslist. I think I go back to how much you value your time? Is 8 hours worth ~$500 (less the frustration/stress) – for me it’s almost less about the money and more about avoiding the frustration. Considering you got 3 years out of her for $50, if it happens again, spend the money and then come mountain biking instead. 😉
Ha ha, yeah I don’t think this dishwasher will get fixed again. It’s an older model and I noticed many of the parts are discontinued.
Mountain biking? Any day!
It’s worth the time if you’re dependent on a dishwasher. My family (of 4) didn’t have one growing up and I still don’t have one today. I thought about adding one when I remodeled my kitchen in 2012 but decided I’d rather have the storage space.
I’m also a “Murphy’s Law” type of person so the fewer appliances I have, the fewer that will break!
Kate recently posted…A Breakdown of My Paycheck
Yes, there are advantages to simplicity!
I don’t mind doing them by hand, but that is time consuming. And I have none!
Every project starts out small and ends up taking hours, that seems to be par for the course! 🙂
I’m glad you got the old one working again, saving it from the scrap heap. Totally with you on our disposable society. The thing is items are now so cheap nowadays people don’t seem to have much incentive to reuse, refuse, fix and recycle.
Prices are in fact artificially cheap because they don’t take into account the damage and wasting of resources that is being done to the ecosystem. Maybe if things were priced consistently with how much waste and pollution they generate people would start to behave more sensibly, as it is only a small minority that actually give a shit about the future of our planet and even our own species.
Saying all that, I’m more than happy to take advantage of the cheap prices while they’re here but try to keep things for as long as possible before junking them and fix em where possible. It’s totally not all about saving pennies though which some people find it hard to see (my parents are a good example of the “why are you doing that for it only costs £30 for a new one?” Brigade)
Cheers!
theFIREstarter recently posted…february 2016 update – and then there were three
“…as it is only a small minority that actually give a shit about the future of our planet and even our own species.”
No kidding. I suspect across the pond is better than here. As you’ve probably read on MMM, there is no shortage of fools driving around here in Colorado in big trucks. My favorite behavior of this clan (sarcasm) is when they take them off road and leave them covered in mud for weeks. Like that’s some kind of badge of honor and I’m supposed to be impressed. Tools!
It’s probably slightly better but I wouldn’t put it down to any kind of better human behaviour as such, just a lack of space and resources compared to what you have over there. I’m almost certain that most people here aspire to live and waste just like the average US middle class consumer.
Did you see MMMs latest post? I applaud his optimism and think we are moving in the right direction but what I see around me doesn’t give me that much hope. He says “If we can all just start giving the slightest shit…” Etc… I think that is a VERY big IF… but hopefully I am wrong and just being a negative Nancy 🙂
Yeah, that was a great one!
I have almost no hope. There is no shortage of folks here that deny basic science. It is a difficult problem to solve, even if we’re all on the same team.
The only hope I actually have is that science will solve our issues. Maybe, Elon Musk (maybe the most important human alive) will come up with batteries in the next decade that weigh 1/10 as much or cost 1/10 what they do now, enabling energy storage for solar/wind.
Maybe someone will fire up a fusion reactor. Bye bye fossil fuels the day that happens.
Maybe someone will come up with some way to sequester carbon cheaply and efficiently.
Maybe the Google dudes have something brewing in their secret labs.
Dunno.
Hehe, good to find someone on a similar wavelength!
I saw a program about fusion the other day, apparently they have already made a reaction and now it’s just about getting more energy out than in and keeping it going (a lot easier said than done of course). They reckon it could take around 50 years but with those timescales estimates are going to be very unreliable (it could be 10 years or it could be never I guess!)
My only worry with Fusion is that the way we’ve acted thus far when a resource is abundant is that energy usage will just go through the stratosphere as it will be so cheap. This will also not be good for the planet regardless of carbon emissions because most energy usage produces waste heat anyway and that will still be warming the planet if energy usage continues to grow exponentially (that’s what I read on some fancy science blog once anyway). Hopefully even with practically free fusion we’ll still have conservation and efficiency on our minds and that won’t just all go out of the window… again another hope that isn’t filled with that much confidence! 🙂
theFIREstarter recently posted…february 2016 update – and then there were three
I like the fix it first approach. I agree time is valuable and my kids often learn new words and phrase when I attempt to fix something myself, but it much better than the alternative in sending money.
Shame or no shame if you run into an issue again it might be time to throw in the towel, you’ve gotten your $50 worth out of the dishwasher.
Brian @ debt discipline recently posted…Car Insurance: How to get the Best Deal
New words for the children, ha! I think that’s how all children “expand” their vocabulary.
Mr. 1500, to be canonized as the patron saint of appliance and FI individuals.
Ha ha, thanks!
Been down this road many times. Mostly with good results. Observe, research, replace or repair defective part. Over the past ten years however I have found many appliances that are module assembled with fewer and fewer actual parts to be swapped out. We have even junked a 2 year old new washer and replaced it with a workhorse used one that can be repaired.
In addition, many of the new appliances have “so called” safety features that further hamper do-it-yourself projects. Much like working on your car, working on your own appliances is on it’s way out.
“Over the past ten years however I have found many appliances that are module assembled with fewer and fewer actual parts to be swapped out. We have even junked a 2 year old new washer and replaced it with a workhorse used one that can be repaired.”
Kind of sad. Everything is meant to be disposed of.
You came out the other side with a “working” dishwasher and more knowledge of how the whole system works. Which means whenever you have problems down the line, you’ll spend less time (theoretically) tracking down the culprit.
If you had just replaced the dishwasher, you would be more inclined to replace the replacement (heh) down the line instead of fixing the problem.
Yes, yes, YES!!! This is exactly how I was going to justify it too. Dishwashers are pretty much all the same and now, I have a pretty good handle on them. I also know how to test with a multimeter which is applicable to all kinds of stuff. So yeah, my “How to fix crap” area in the noggin expanded a bit. So did my confidence for tackling similar stuff in the future.
My parents were bad about eeking every last drop out of their appliances. The dryer had a fire and they used it for 5 more years after that. The fridge quit working and they babied it for another year. The dishwasher was the one appliance that died and got replaced immediately.
Gwen recently posted…Rant N Rave: Noisy Neighbors and A Raise
Ha ha, maybe I’m related to you somehow?
I resemble this remark. ? For the past 2 years we have been running our dryer twice per load on the low heat setting for a shorter time so it doesn’t overheat or trip the breaker. No shame. It was $100. This method works fine-ish. That’s enough for me!
Ugh. We just replaced the dishwasher at our duplex. If it was at our place, maybe Mr PoP would have taken the time to do more troubleshooting (I think it was the motor?), but with new renters in there expecting a working dishwasher, we just bought a replacement. =P
Mrs PoP recently posted…Returning to the Scene of the Crime…
Yeah, with rentals, the story is completely different. Not much of a choice there.
Although, if I could fix the old one, I’d hold on to it and put it back in the duplex when the next one breaks!
We bought our dishwasher off of Craigslist after the BF’s family made a comment. I grew up without one and we currently run ours maybe once a week and handwash our dishes the rest of the week. So yes, we would have put time and effort into fixing it because of how little use it obtains in our house, it would make sense to see what the problem is rather than going back on Craigslist and hauling another one home. There’s quite a few things in our home that if they broke, I’d actually be fine with living without (just not the washer, or the stove, or…you get the point).
Amanda S @ Passionately Simple Life recently posted…What’s Moving Me…03/20
Craigslist is like a little miracle. I wonder what the economic impact of it is?
I like your move to simplicity. Most of us have far too many fancy electronic things laying around…
I would have stopped at the leaking clamp. If you give it a serious try and there are still problems I think it is time to go for a new dented+scratched one.
I am always amazed that quite a number of the FI/RE people take a lot of time out of their life to repair/ build things that are meant to be fixed by a professional or to be replaced. It is our goal to save a lot of money to rescue a lot of lifetime from working. So why do we sometimes waste some of it for a lost cause, just to prove it can be done DIY?
(Concerning things for my daughter. We get everything used except for underwear. There is some much barely used things available for them, it would be unfair to the environment to waste resources to get something new.)
“I am always amazed that quite a number of the FI/RE people take a lot of time out of their life to repair/ build things that are meant to be fixed by a professional or to be replaced.”
I think it goes back out our engineer minds. We want to find efficient solutions and some of enjoy the puzzle. If I had more time in my life, I’d be taking stuff apart just for the fun of it.
The other thing is that I think a lot of us are type A and stubborn. I don’t like to lose, no matter what the cost. I realize this is silly, but maybe I sleep better at night. Dunno.
Lmao. I had a frustrating situation similar to this. Our water dispenser on the fridge wasn’t working. I took it all apart and was able to show that it was a block/clog at the dispenser (water would come out the bottom when disconnected. After dealing with this for a month or so, I got desperate and was prepared to use a hair dryer since the culprit apeared to be a frozen line. In my infinite wisdom, I tried blowing on the line using my mouth and boom. The damn thing worked again.
So my family had to deal with non-filtered county treated water for a month for basically no reason. Oh the humanity!
Chris @ Flipping A Dollar recently posted…Listing Items – eBay Process
“So my family had to deal with non-filtered county treated water for a month for basically no reason. Oh the humanity!”
Ha ha!
I think water dispensing refrigerators were invented so refrigerator companies could have a recurring revenue stream. Those filters aren’t cheap!
I always have to watch myself swearing at work, not out of frustration though. I was going to try and fix a washing machine but I ended up randomly finding a front load scratch and dent for way to good of a deal to pass up and they offered to deliver and take the old one for free. I go through a lot usually, but in the end I have a million projects yet.
Dishwasher I put in 2 years ago (there was none in my house) was about $400 super quiet, stainless steel tub. Been great. Sorry to say I feel like the American appliance brands are like American cars were in the 90s and early 2000s. Generally half assed lazily designed junk that doesn’t stand well against the competition or time. Then again I’ve heard the same of pretty much all appliance brands. Long live your dishwasher
Kyle recently posted…Theory of Savers and Spenders: Why Your Financial Advice is Ignored
Ha ha, American cars were crap before the 90s! Looking at you Chevy Citation…
I don’t know if appliances are that bad, but if so, the German and Korean brands should whip them into shape soon…
Sometimes you can put up with frustrations and try to fix things. Other times you have to decide if the time spent fixing something is worthwhile – the cost vs. benefit.
We bought a new car last week, which is not what I wanted to do, but we had to. All our cars are over 100,000 miles, and while well cared for, could go. One did, one which is historically prone to blowing the head gasket. The choice was to fix it, again (not for a blown head gasket), or take that money and place toward a new car with zero to low mileage. For us, cost vs. benefit was the key – cost no longer was worth it as the benefit was beginning to dwindle quite rapidly. Cost is high, per se, but the benefit is higher as we now have a vehicle we know should be good for several years.
BTW, the car we got rid of was 14 years old, the others are 14 and 19 respectively. Why so many cars? Because there is no such thing as public transportation of any value where we live.
A car is not a dishwasher – but a $50 dishwasher was a great buy!
I go back and forth on cars. We did buy 2 new ones, but I probably never would again. If a modern car is well cared for, 200,000 miles is easy. So, if I can get something for half the price with 40,000 miles, I’m going for that.
Our 2003 Element is approaching 160,000 miles. Beside a seized brake caliper, it has been trouble free.
Bravo for getting it working again! I think you were completely right to try to get it to work again. Current model appliances are universally garbage. We had to replace a fridge a few years ago, and after doing tons of research, getting what everyone claimed was the most reliable model, it’s still had nothing but problems. We had to replace a DW, too (the old one wouldn’t run at all — we would literally say prayers to it, because actual repairs failed… and still, it wouldn’t run), and while the current one hasn’t had maintenance issues, it only really cleans on the pots and pans cycle, which seems wasteful to us. So stick with what you have until you absolutely, positively can’t anymore.
Our Next Life recently posted…Rethinking the Emergency Fund
Thanks ONL!
With many modern products, it seems like there is a race to the bottom. Maybe it’s the expectations of our disposable society? Folks expect something to only last a couple years before shuffling it off to the landfill, so this is how stuff is built.
In the interest of not tossing one more thing into a landfill we hire out our appliance repairs. My husband and I are the opposite of handy. In fact, we are total Breakers. Give us something perfectly nice and we will break it in some incomprehensible way. Due to this we buy/find used things and have them repaired until nothing can be done to save them. In 20 years and 2 homes this has meant two washer/dryer sets (thank you, refurbished appliance store and our friendly neighborhood repair guy that tells when even I can fix the problem.), scratch and dent kitchen appliances (2 stoves, two dishwashers, one fridge and two freezers) and untold numbers of clothes, furniture, kid stuff, decor and more from thrift stores and hand-me-downs. There is kindness and respect in making sure you get all the use out of whatever you have. So…I think you did just what you should have. Our method differs but the reasoning is the same. Frugality means we have the money set aside to get help with our accidental breaking of all the things. The saving is, of course, no accident.
Ha, saving is never accidental!
“There is kindness and respect in making sure you get all the use out of whatever you have.”
Yeah, I like this! One of our cars has 160,000 miles on it and is still on the original clutch and we’ve only had to do the brakes once. Our other one has 100,000 miles and has never needed brakes. Take care of stuff and it will take care of you1
And the opposite of handy? Ha! You may be surprised at what you can accomplish with just a little YouTubing and a couple tools…
Tannerite works very well with naughty dishwashers…
I had to Google that one. I’m probably on some government list now.
Hey FBI, just kidding!
http://ochemonline.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/clamps.jpg
“I’ll give ’em the clamps!”
This is all I could think about during your story
I know exactly what you mean about those pesky rabbit holes. This January I was hired by an old widow and her sister (nicest ladies ever and I’ve gained about thirty pounds working there because they insist I eat every fifteen minutes) to repair their ceilings, which had fallen down (we had done the roof previously but the timing hadn’t worked out for the ceilings at the time). So we quoted two weeks for the ceiling repair and I started dropping damage and putting up new drywall.
Well it didn’t take long to discover that the old house had no insulation in the attic. So I suggested it should be done while we were there. They were down with it, so we did it. Then the son asked if, since we were already there, if we could change up some things and do some other rooms that had never been damaged. And we said that was doable. And then he asked, and then they suggested, and then and then and then…
Fast forward to now (which you will note is three months later) and I’m still there. They decided they wanted new kitchen cabinets and laminate flooring (which I can’t blame them for as the original floor was indoor/outdoor carpet) after I had already finished all the new paint and crown moldings. So we started pulling things out and discovered that the floor had collapsed. That this section of the house was built on deck blocks and fir lumber placed on dirt. That somewhere along the line somebody had built up eight layers of floor, plywood, shims, and mortar to make it look flat and hid the worst of it behind the old cabinets.
So what started as some new drywall on the ceilings, some paint, and a couple weeks of busywork during the winter has turned into a new house being built inside the old one. By my best estimate I have another month to go before I can even get to finishing part I was initially hired to do!
Quite possibly the deepest rabbit hole I have ever wandered down.
Hey Mr. 1500, been lurking around this blog for quite a while now and figured that this post was just too good to not comment on.
I FEEL your PAIN.
Just the other day my cheap butt decided to try and extend the life of the dryer hose that connected the dryer to the vent…instead of just running to the local home improvement store and picking up the $2 replacement.
Many profanities and metal shavings in the finger later, I ended up surrendering and picked up the new tubing…somewhere there is a moral in our stories but I can’t really find them.
Thanks for the humor and keep it up:)