Sheari
1450
30
0
TL;DR - old furnace died and we went almost 10 weeks without heat in our house BUT IT'S BACK BAYBEEEEE
Long Version: January 14th we noticed our house was colder than usual. It was the very first day of the polar vortex so we didn't think much of it. By the 18th we finally realized Something Was Amiss and we discovered our furnace was dying. Turned it off and called around the next day to have it fixed. The guy came out, tore it apart, and told us "she ded, like DED ded" (not an actual quote).
Well, shit.
After being Very Cold and Very Uncomfortable for 5 days already, hubs and I got into a bit of a "fight" because we weren't going to be able to do anything about it until Monday at the earliest anyway. We decided he'd take our son to his parents' house for the weekend and I'd stay home to take care of the pets. My dad brought over a space heater and a lovely friend of mine lent me a heated blanket. We all thought this would only last another week at most.
Oh how wrong we all were.
The price gouging is INSANE. Our CHEAPEST quote was 7500$USD to purchase and install a furnace...that retails for 2250$USD (they wanted to charge us more than double for JUST THE FURNACE). Next cheapest was 10k. Clearly none of these guys expected little 5'3 me to be as stubborn as I am. "I'll go the rest of the winter without a furnace if I have to, before I let someone take advantage of me like that!" I declared. Oops.
I'm from Michigan. The robins got here before we got our furnace installed.
We had nothing but time once we settled into the new normal of running two space heaters and living in a fraction of our home. We shopped around, got some financing to help, bought the furnace ourselves intending to install it ourselves naively thinking "how hard can it be?"
My dad, a gas explosion survivor: that's a gas-powered boiler. Hire someone who knows what they're doing :I
>.> fair point...
Today the guy we found and hired, a private contractor named Tom whom got sent our way from a friend of my husband's from work, finished installing the boiler. Monday we will hand him a check for 3500$USD. Tonight, I sleep in my own bed for the first time in over 2 months.
We somehow managed to cram 1 child, 2 adults, and 3 dogs into roughly 350sqft for over two months surprisingly with little issue ._.
Some Fun Things that also happened during this time:
- insurance denied us (because of course they did c:)
- the cheapest quote actually TOLD US they were price gouging us (lmao wut)
- one of the pipes for our radiator lines burst because we were stressed and forgot to drain them (but did remember to drip our faucets!)
- we have to replace part of the ceiling in one of the rooms once the weather is nice
- we should also probably replace the light fixture the water was draining out of
- rocks fell out of the foundation (thankfully actually a minor, easy fix)
- I somehow dislocated my jaw THREE SEPARATE TIMES, all while brushing my teeth (???)
- I fell off my horse and injured my back
- my son and I both caught the flu something fierce at the same time (because of course we did)
It's...been a journey.
Honesty, what I take away from all of this is that I have a rock solid relationship with my wonderful spouse and having someone like that in my life...I don't even know. Wtf did I ever do to deserve someone like him?
Valkor
michigan has been a fuckin bitch this year. not just the weather, but the businesses.
Metallica93
I had 1.5 months of a furnace (that wasn't even for my unit) leaking carbon monoxide into the basement. Management finally stopped dragging ass. A week or two after that one was replaced, the other furnace went out. Heh heh... Glad you got it resolved!
rbudrick
Had my furnace go dead. Guy came out who had his back turned to me the whole time he spoke (but only during the lying parts), lying that I needed a new furnace and that mine is too dangerous to even work on, and I needed to replace it for $8500. It needed a new fan motor. $150, installed myself in 15 min. Called another place a month later for a diff issue, they said furnace is in great shape. They tried to fuck me.
redtails2649
They always do
Sheari
Our issue was the last two times we'd had it servced we didn't know what we didn't know and trusted the guy working on it. Turns out what killed ours was a water leak inside slowly corroding the electronics over the last 2-3 years that could have easily been caught and fixed provided the guy had actually done his job.
Cuppyycaakes
That's the one I got but it's way uglier at this point. And the old couple that owned the house before us jerry-rigged everything so it's only a matter of time. This is the one we're terrified of dealing with! Glad you raised the dead!!
Sheari
In the back to the right you can see the old one, the greenish-yellowish-grey box of 27 year old boiler
Cuppyycaakes
Ahh, okay. There's the wear I expected. If a similar system lasted you 27yrs I'm hoping I get about 10 more out of mine considering it's age. Such a not fun thing to go... Glad you have full heat again! Been a cold March here in New England, can't speak for elsewhere though
Sheari
Unfortunately it would have lasted longer if the guy we trusted to service it the last 2-3 years had actually done his job :/ What killed it was a slow leak inside that slowly corroded the cast iron reservoir. 100% preventable, we just didn't know what we didn't know and evidently put our faith in the wrong person
Cuppyycaakes
We've been in this house three years and now I feel like I should get it fully checked out in that case! Had a small drip leak once from the front pipe letting out too much and it was fixed. But you just set off a lightbulb telling me I shouldn't assume it was fully inspected during that time. And sounds like your guy did the bare minimum and just said "looks good!" -.-; oof
Sheari
Learn from our mistakes! Have the guy tear it apart and deep clean it!