By popular demand, here are the results of our office repair. if you missed the post, the previous owners of the house improperly ran the HVAC cables out of the wall straight into the rain trench, so when it rained and the water level rose, it ran straight into the wall, flooding the office.
The electrician who came to look at it backed away slowly with his hands in the air. Then we called the company who usually services our AC, SM Air. A couple of techs came out, looked at it, and one of them said, “Well, that’s interesting.” Words you never want a contractor to say. And then they said, “We have to take this back to the office.”
I didn’t think they would get back to us. But a couple of days after they did.
Behold.
They hired two subcontractors, one for the concrete, the other for the dry wall, came out, and fixed it in a single day. So apparently none of the cables were properly isolated. They had cut the wall up in the office, pulled everything out, rerouted it, made a new hole, pulled the cables through to the outside, sealed it, and repaired everything.
Look. Like it never happened.
The whole thing cost us less than $1,700, which was quite reasonable considering cost involved in dealing with the flood and the danger of mold. So Gordon and I are quite happy with it. We’ve had rain and it hasn’t leaked. Yesterday Dad called via Skype and commented on how nice the office looked. They are having what would’ve been a record heat wave of 102 degrees, except that this is the new normal now. We talked about COVID and people refusing to wear masks, and he told me a joke.
How to get a Russian to kill themselves?
Pick a tall bridge and put up a sign “Jumping off this bridge is categorically prohibited!”
Ba-dam-dam!
Still no progress on camera. Thinking about it, but most of the energy is going into writing.
Okays, got to go work. Ryder won’t write itself.
Thanks for the update and the joke! 🙂 ba-dam-dam!
Congratulations. It’s wonderful to get something off the To-Do list. Thanks for the Rider installment.
Repair looks wonderful! That must be a relief to have completed.
Thank you for Ryder. Love it!
Yes, people do not like to feel that their freedom is being infringed upon, even for the sake of keeping them alive so that they may enjoy their freedom!
This is great! So glad you got it fixed, and it looks wonderful. I am a claims adjuster that handles construction defect claims so this is right up my alley.
I like the joke, too. My soon to be son-in-law is Belarussian and while not actually Russian, will still appreciate the joke!
I’m glad that your AC people solved this for you. That’s awesome!
You could replace ‘Russian’ with pretty much any stereotypically obstinate or ornery group in that joke and it would be accurate. Still made me snort.
Coolness. On all levels. Hehehe. Unpacked camera kit from shipping box. Still looking at it. Next 8days in row over 103 degrees. Need to frog maybe 3″of knitting just too crummy and OPEN UP THE CAMERA BOX ALREADY.
Glad it got sorted out and the price is reasonable,around here it seems like any job, no matter how small, is 10k. It was interesting to see they used a mini split system in your house for AC, up here new houses use the standard ducted AC (I assume that came with the house). Looks like they did it right,not only was that a flood issue but also could end up causing a massive short and potential fire or worse. Unfortunately a lot of house inspections are pretty cursory, I have seen blatently horrible things get through home inspections, exposed wiring, do it yourself black (gas) pipe work, unreal.
I have had two doors replaced in my house recently. The one from the house to the garage and the front door. I am still reeling from sticker shock for the front door. What is really interesting is seeing what the original builder did and what my contractor had to do to fix it. The framing for the front door was done OK but the door was too big, but they put it in anyway and only used 3 nails to hold it in. The front door never worked right but now I know why.
Thanks for the update. Bet the technicians keep pics of THAT mess.
One thing to consider if you buy a new camera is that you can rent an expensive lens that you might like to have. Then you’ll be able to see if you really, truly have to have it. Or not.
Yesterday I heard the mail arrive, and my Hubby beat me to the door and refused to open it until I was in the kitchen. When I asked him why he said the heat index was 107 and he didn’t want my brain to melt. (I pass out when the temp is over 80.)
Thank the Great Whatever for air conditioning.
Congrats on the office fix! It looks fantastic, and is sounds like the price was reasonable. Looks like a good place for a cup of tea and word smithing.
How wonderful to get competent repair people! One more check in the “project complete” list. (Makes you wonder what else the home inspection guy missed.)
Having a good repair service is like having a wonderful jewel. I am not mechanically inclined at all so having capable, reliable, experienced and smart
plumbers, electricians, HVAC folks, and all-around handyman types is one of the most calming influences in my life. Honestly.
I’m hoping it’s one of the good things to come out of this pandemic. We have to develop a greater appreciation for the people in the background who keep our lives running and they’ve been out there without fanfare quietly working as usual without the freedom to freak out like the rest of us. Hats off to them!
Bringing odd old repairs up to code is always a pain. We’ve experienced this with our house a fair bit as the previous owner was an independent contractor in his own right, and he did a lot of the work with leftover mats or had his buddies come in and do stuff on the side. It’s been.. interesting.
The office looks amazing! I love those bookshelves especially! I’ve been looking for bookshelves of that height for my house.
I’m glad this got fixed correctly. I can believe the inspector missed this because the inspector for this house missed that it was almost overrun with termites! Fortunately, I saw the tunnels and called a “bug guy” and the former owner had to pay to kill them, but the inspector missed it entirely. They miss a lot. SM Air probably had to go back to the office to figure out who to call to fix the wall inside. It was patently obvious that the wiring had to be moved above the drainage ditch, but they needed someone to do the mold removal and replace the wall, too, plus the concrete work. Hang onto their phone number.
It’s so refreshing when a company does some good problem solving and also allows you to keep all your arms and legs. What a relief! Thanks for the update. You know we worry. 😉
So glad you were able to get the problem fixed and at a reasonable price.
It’s great knowing there are still people and businesses willing to meet the challenges of unusual problems. AND not charge based on customer desperation.
Thank you for all your wonderful books and generously sharing your talents.
I’ll share our saying for our house when we run into stuff like that (which happens more often than we’d like):
“Welcome to the house the monkeys built!”
I am so happy for you! A resolution with quality work and low cost is so great!
I wish someone would post those signs in the U.S., we might get some of the stupid out of the gene pool.
I moved into a house in Eugene and had trouble with my cable (tv and internet). It was intermittent. Finally called xfinity. The previous owner was a fantastic (that’s sarcasm) DIY person. The tech from xfinity finally pulled at where the coax came in and the DIY solution was to connect multiple 6” pieces of cable together so it could stretch about 3 feet. Tech said “That is interesting” … I didn’t need to have concrete work though…
Ryder is lovely btw!
Your dad’s joke was so funny. You could put American in there and it would apply.
Looks a lot safer than the old set up and I am happy for you both that it didn’t cost a fortune.
Wow, fast repair and at a reasonable price (IMHO)…I just had a minor plumbing repair done for $800, so $1700 seems pretty good considering all the ppl involved. And they did such a good job, that dry wall looks pristine! Congrats and enjoy the peace of mind!
Fantastic job. It is wonderful when service technicians step up, figure things out and get the job done. Thank goodness there are still smart “Blue Collar” workers out there.
It looks like these folks got it right. Great to see it.
Congrats on finding a great company to do the work correctly & at a reasonable price. Also, I love the flooring in the office.
Nice! I used to have a damp spot in the backyard. My kid-who-mows-the-lawn said “You have a pond in your back yard.” Seems he stepped in it and went down about 4 feet. I called the water company, and yes, our water feed to the house is leaking… and yes, it’s “our” responsibility. I had my favorite contractor come out… he says a new feed should be about $2500. Seeing as I’ve been making double payments on the house for a while, we’re down to significantly less owed than is mortgaged so … I don’t know if I’m going to have them rewrite the mortgage or going to do a home improvement loan… or an equity loan. Fix the waterline and remodel the downstairs bathroom are both on the list for this year… I’m starting to think my cousin is right. She sold her house and lives in an apartment now. Something goes wrong, she just calls the building super and they fix it.
And… you know you’re an adult when you have a favorite contractor.
I’m glad it’s fixed.
On the other hand … how the heck did that get past the home inspector?
Also, the flooding issue is definitely the kind of thing that the seller/prior owner is required to disclose in their paperwork when listing the property. The post-flood mold issues would probably also need to be mentioned in the disclosures.
At least, it would be where I live, and I’m pretty sure that that’s the kind of thing where there’s effectively a national standard for realtors. Though, I don’t actually know what the rules around real estate disclosures are in Texas … so it could be that there isn’t a requirement, or the prior owner/seller left it out, since I don’t believe you’d have overlooked or ignored a disclosed flooding issue.
But if there is a requirement, and the prior owner/seller (or their agent) didn’t properly disclose a known issue with the property, you might have a legal case against them, and get at least the cost of repairs. On the other hand … pursuing a suit against them might not be worth it for you.
Great news on the repair. Check that insulation bulging out of that wall every year or so. It is not made for exterior use and sometimes rodents enjoy chewing on it. Exterior caulk is better. ????
Thank you for your time and effort to create this blog. I keep the page open on my phone and read your blog several times a week. I enjoy reading book snippets before the books come out, but I also enjoy hearing about your life.
Ba dam damnnn … seriously, oh for the shame of it all …
you know I can’t stand it,
O K, forgot the name of the repair crew (already) ???? but hot damn is it not wonderful, when the help you call, helps.
Amazing! I’m so pleased for you guys!
My [former contractor] brother-in-law ‘s version of “Well. That’s interesting.” is ” Isn’t that PRECIOUS! ”
Several years ago, my husband [now ex-] was fixated on a particular house in the “funky/cool part of town.
In a last-ditch effort to inject hubby with a little sanity, I asked brother-in-law to please do an inspection…let me know where the land mines were…..save me?….please?
The verdict? SIX! SIX! Six “Isn’t that PRECIOUS!”
Hubby bought the house anyway. And people wonder why he’s my EX-husband.
I hesitated on buying Small Magics, because I had those stories separately. Also, I didn’t want to be faced buying it again in 2 years because EVEN MORE NEW CONTENT was added. I did buy it yesterday though, and I’m glad I did. Just the additions to Curran and Jim’s POV was worth $4. I’ll check out the rest later.
This is excellent news indeed!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsUFBm1uENs
(couldn’t find it with just one quote…)
Wow! I am glad that is fixed. That could have been so much worse so I’m thankful it is done. I am also thankful you are working on Ryder! I am loving it!
I would like one of those units in my bedroom upstairs. It has one window and I hate spending all summer with an AC unit in it.
They did a beautiful job on it!!
like the joke. You could just place “Russian” with just people. I know most Texans would react the same way.
Glad you got your flooding problem fixed. Now you can move to Florida with peace of mind.
And thanks for Ryder. It’s just great
It might be worthwhile to protect the foam Insulation on the outside of the wall. It is not UV stable and will break down in direct sun,
I am not sure if painting will work. There are neoprene gasketed covers that might be able to be retrofit. Normally the covers would slide over the line set before it is hooked up but you might be able to slice one enough to slide it on after, The. Ones I have seen fit under siding but there may be some made for a stucco wall.
I just did a quick search for air conditioning line set covers and found a Fortress brand 4 1/2” cover that seems like it would work on a masonry wall. It appears to be a PVC 90 degree hood with a flat face that can be screwed to a wall. I don’t know anything about the brand or if the size is right but the configuration would probably offer good protection for the wall penetration. I am a general contractor in St. Petersburg FL. I love your work and hate to see a small problem become a larger issue. If you want to follow up I will be happy to check with my HVAC contractor about proper covers
Oh, my. Just got hold of Magic Stars , do feeling much more up to dat on things Derek-related. It’s Grey Wolf Book One. Wondering if the dots between it and Ryder are all in Ryder, or perhaps part of the GW series.