The Joy of Homeownership

A continuation of my previous house maintenance post. An additional 2 more issue to add onto the list yay, so much fun.

July 5th, 2023. 
It was a hot day and we started running the air conditioner around noon. Work day per usual and after work we went grocery shopping at Winco. We came home and the house was surprisingly hot even though the AC was running. Checked the temperature, tried turning it down and temperature was still not going down. Felt the vent and like non-cold air was coming out. Looked outside and found that the AC machine was not running which it usually is whenever the AC is on. Gabe tried to debug a little, but we weren't able to fix it. Just great because it was the hottest day of the year so far. It was so hot. Just opened all the window, stayed and slept downstairs. Told my dad about it and he told me that he called this AC guy he knew and the person will come tomorrow to take a look at it.

July 6th, 2023. 
The AC guy came around 3pm-ish. He took a look and was able to figure out the issue. Told me the cost and then proceeded to fix it. He spoke with my dad briefly on the phone in Vietnamese. AC was fixed yay! I was so happy because Gabe and I were working upstairs in our office and it was another hot day. Felt so nice having AC again and I was thankful it was an easy fix. Literally like an hour later, as I was downstairs to check up on the rice we were making for dinner, I passed by the door to the garage and I heard running water downstairs. In my mind, I was like "Oh shit, this isn't happening. Please no..." I rushed downstairs and my worse nightmare came true....water was like rushing out from the top of the water heater. I was in deniable for a few seconds and couldn't believe what was happening. I quickly ran upstairs and yelled for Gabe because I had no idea what to do or how to stop it. I was panicking! Water was gushing out continuously and it already flooded the utility closet and was leaking to the garage. Thankfully, Gabe knew what to do. He turned off the water using the switch in the garage and that stopped the rush of water, but it was still leaking. Attached a garden hose to drain the water from the water heater outside, but water was still going into the water heater because the stupid valve in the garage was like broken and wouldn't turn it off completely. Also, the valve at the top of the water heater was busted ugh. Raymond and Austin came to help but we still weren't able to shut off the water completely. My aunts and cousins came to drop off fans and extra towels to soak up the water. They tried to help too and even called Vickie's dad, but no luck. Water was still flowing through and being drained out through the garden hose. The garden hose was busted or something because water was leaking from where it connects to the water heater sigh. Super frustrating and I still couldn't believe this was happening to me. Dealing with water issue is no fun and is the worse because if you don't take care of it correctly, there could be mold and it's just super busy and annoying to clean up. Couldn't do much since it was late and no plumber would be able to come out to fix it, so water was just flowing through and drained outside. Had the fan on the whole night to dry off the utility closet. Didn't eat much for dinner because I was so stressed and sad. It was hot in the house too since we had to turn off the AC since the HVAC was inside the utility closet as well and we had to turn it off. Gabe and I drove to my parent's to take a quick shower and to pick up another garden hose to see if it would work better. It didn't. At like midnight my parents dropped by after they got off work to check up on us and to bring us some containers of clean water and water bottles. My dad was able to fix the hose leak yay. So thankful for everyone who came to help and drop stuff off for us! Kinda thankful for the heat too so that it helps dry off the water.

July 7th, 2023. 
This plumber guy named David came at like 9am-ish. I messaged him the night before, found him on Thumbtack and he had really good reviews. Thankful he was so responsive and was able to come and so early too. My parents came too to help provide moral support. David checked on the water heater, said it needed to be replaced and gave me a cost. He said he was able to replace it right away so I agreed and went with the more expensive water heater option because I don't want to cheap out on anything that has to do with water. He showed us that there was the main water shut off just like 2 feet away from the garage. I didn't even know about it. He had this tool and he was able to quickly completely shut off all the water. He placed the order for the water heater, picked it up, came back, installed it, and took away the old water heater. He was able to get it replaced in like a few hours and was very professional about it. Definitely recommend him. I paid in cash since there was a discount. Had to go to Chase to withdraw the money though. Water heater is replaced and have running water again woo! What an experience. A expensive experience. Never again please.

 

Yeah super fun stuff. 

Like about 2 weeks later there was a slight leak in the bedroom bathroom. It was a drip drip leak in the water supply line so I used a container to catch the water so that it wouldn't get all over the floor. Thankfully Gabe was able to fix it. He did some research, ordered the part on Amazon and replaced it. Took him like 4ish hours though but he did it! Proud of him!

Then a few weeks after that our internet died right in the middle of my meeting. Called Ziply and they suspect that the battery in the backup battery box (in the garage) is dead and needs to be replaced, which I have never heard of. We tried restarting it and internet came back for a few hours and then died again sigh. The next day Gabe and I went to Battery Plus to get a new battery. Replaced it and internet is back online!

Most recently (literally like a week ago), the office toilet flapper broke. I went into the bathroom and heard that water was just running from the toilet non-stop. Checked and the flapper like eroded and was no longer covering it so water was flowing through the toilet tank. Had to shut off the toilet water line and we weren't able to use it for the rest of the day. Ordered a new toilet flapper from Amazon that came the next day. Gabe tried putting in the new flapper and it didn't fit. We had to go to Fred Meyer to get a smaller one. That didn't work out. Finally, it worked after moving the downstairs toilet flapper to the office toilet and the new flapper to the downstairs toilet. It was very annoying, but it's fixed now.

 Please be kind to me and no more house issues for a very very long time. Please. Please. Please.