I haven't been into doing any modeling lately...

[Ramfins59]

Well, the old saying "life gets in the way" has struck here BIG TIME...

I have not had the urge or desire to work on any projects for the past week... The following pictures will tell the story...

The clay pipe sewer line in my driveway collapsed and my basement was flooded with "you know what"... A call to Mr. Rooter, a week's worth of work, a $17,000 bill resulting in a Home Equity Line of Credit fixed it all. Now I have a monthly "mortgage payment" which we didn't have previously as we paid cash for the house when we moved here from L.I., NY 6 years ago.

Life certainly got in my way this past week...!!!

Edited October 15, 2012 by Ramfins59

[Harry P.]

Tough luck, but if I were you I wouldn't complain about a $17,000 "mortgage," which is pocket change compared to what most people have to shell out every month. You were incredibly lucky to have been able to buy a house with cash and have no mortgage at all!

[Rob McKee]

Sorry to hear about all this Richard. $17,000 sure is a lot of money to come up with in an emergency like this.

I am sure once all this mess is over you'll get back to your day to day life including modelling.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks guys... Harry, when you're retired & only getting Social Security, not having a monthly mortgage payment is wonderful. Granted it's only $17K, but when you suddenly have to squeeze an extra monthly payment into an already tight budget it makes things a little tougher to deal with.

[lanesteele240]

Should have went for 18000 and bought 1000 dollars worth of kits

[cobraman]

I can feel your pain in part. In the last 2 months I have had to replace my water softner tank at 550.00 then repairs to my wifes car of motor mount transmisson mount and some air tube at 850.00 then a battery in my truck for 110.00. Then my Mustang GT that my daughter has in California needed 2 front tires, front brakes and a wheel alignment for 450.00 My garage door started to not work but I managed to fix that and now our dryer is making funny noises. Not nearly as bad as your situation but you my friend are not alone in having some bad luck. If it wasn't for bad luck I wouldn't have no luck.

[Rob Hall]

Unfortunate when unexpected expenses come up like that. My Jeep needed $2k in repairs last month, and one of my dogs is getting $2k in knee surgery next week. But the electric bill was $290 less than usual last month because the weather is slowly getting cooler...

[martinfan5]

Unfortunate when unexpected expenses come up like that. My Jeep needed $2k in repairs last month, and one of my dogs is getting $2k in knee surgery next week. But the electric bill was $290 less than usual last month because the weather is slowly getting cooler...

We went from 100 degrees to 80's and mid 70's over night , not complaining, we had some beautiful weather here the last week

Life always seems to find a way to slap you in the back of the head and say here are some things that are going to drain the ole bank account

Edited October 15, 2012 by martinfan5

[Rob Hall]

We went from 100 degrees to 80's and mid 70's over night , not complaing, we had some beatufil weather here the last week

Life always seems to find a way to slap you in the back of the head and say here are some things that are going to drain the ole bank accout

Yeah, weather this past weekend was great...I went most of the weekend w/o the A/C on...

[Paul Bunyan]

tax write off!

[Harry P.]

Thanks guys... Harry, when you're retired & only getting Social Security, not having a monthly mortgage payment is wonderful. Granted it's only $17K, but when you suddenly have to squeeze an extra monthly payment into an already tight budget it makes things a little tougher to deal with.

Oh, don't get me wrong... I totally get that it's a pain to have to make payments on any loan, especially something like this, which you neither wanted or caused. "I feel your pain," to quote Bill Clinton. But I mean, count your blessings that, for example, you're not in the place millions of American homeowners are in... owing more on their mortgage than their house is worth.

In that sense, you got off easy. Still a pain, I know... but again, it could be a lot worse.

[crazyjim]

Bummer. Life has a way of throwing bumps in there every once in a while.

[Ramfins59]

Thanks guys. I just needed to "vent" a little 'cause this situation has had me bummed out for awhile... I'll get back to the bench and immerse myself in my plastic world where usually all goes well...

After all, it's only money right... At least everyone here is still healthy and well which is overall the most important thing.

[Harry P.]

And just think... now when you flush the toilet, you'll know that everything will work like it's supposed to work!

[Ramfins59]

And away go "troubles"...... down the drain......

[moparmagiclives]

Not to argue, but where did the 17k go ???

[Ramfins59]

The $17K went to the Mr. Rooter company.

[James Flowers]

I would have to say if that is all they did was dig out a line and replace it you were rip off totally. I had a complete septic tank and and all lines put in for only $3000.00 and that was with the health inspector watching the whole time for ywo days. That took a track hoe, dump truck plus the truck that delivered the tank and set it in the hole.

[Ramfins59]

Well James, it was a bit more involved than just digging a long hole and replacing pipes. First they came and camera'd the lines to see where the problems were... found the collapsed section and the non-glued sections of old pipe leading up to that point... Then they came to blow out the lines with high pressure water so we could use our "facilities". They got the necessary "OK to dig" permits from the town and also had to make the PA One Call, which notifies the Electric , Gas & Water utilities so they can all come to mark where on my property all their lines are so they don't cut into something that they're not supposed to... Then they came with the backhoe & dump truck to dig up the driveway and pull out all the old decrepit piping that was put in back in the '60's when the house was built. Then they came with a jackhammer to get to the main drain line leading out from my garage floor. Then they laid several loads of pea gravel under where they laid all new PVC pipe to connect to the town sewer lines. Then the town inspector came to give his blessing on the work. After that came 5 dump truck loads of gravel to fill the hole and resurface my gravel driveway. Finally they came today to cement up my garage floor which they jackhammered up. We have to wait at least a couple of days before we can put our car back in the garage because the 400 lbs. of cement they used to fill and smooth the garage floor has to dry and cure properly. They worked here for a total of 5 days with a crew of 2 to 3 guys each day. Do I think the $17K was a hell of a lot of money...??? Hell yes I do...!!! But I know that all the work was done right, and up to code, and that for the rest of our lives here, we'll be able to flush with no problems. There is a Lifetime guarantee on the work that was done.

[FASTBACK340]

Wow... sorry to hear about this Rich. I haven't been bitten that hard at once, but home ownership has had its surprises. Between last fall and this summer we've spent over $10K on concrete work alone. Plus all the other "projects" that pop up. Granted I'm still punching the clock every day, but it still sucks to pay...pay....and pay.

Hope things get better and send Jill our regards.

Edited October 16, 2012 by FASTBACK340

[martinfan5]

You can get pretty much everything Insured here in the states

[Ramfins59]

Most homeowners insurance policies will only cover what is "in the house" repairs...at least that's what ours does. Since 95% of the work that was done was "outside" of the house, it was not covered under the policy. For the little bit that might have been covered, it wasn't worth filing a claim due to the deductible amount, plus the fact that my premiums would then increase by about 12 to 15%. Ya gotta love those insurance companies.... you pay premiums for insurance coverage but as soon as you file a claim, they raise your premiums.

Overall, looking at the bright side of this mess, we were approved for way more of an equity credit line than we thought we would get, so we'll be able to take care of a bunch of other small projects that we've been wanting to do in the house.

[Harry P.]

Ya gotta love those insurance companies.... you pay premiums for insurance coverage but as soon as you file a claim, they raise your premiums.

Boy, ain't that the truth!

They got you if you don't make a claim, by collecting premiums from you, and if you do ever make a claim they raise your rates so fast it makes your head spin! Insurance has to be one of the most perfect business models ever invented!

[Skip]

Wow Rich, sorry to hear about this, has to be frustrating to say the least.

What a crappy deal! (Sorry couldn't let that one get by.)

Call me wierd but the first deranged thought that came to my head was;

"Wow this must be the house that they were going to dig up to find Jimmy

Hoffa". On the bright side, they didn't find him under your house!

[Ramfins59]

No worries about the ranting. I've been doing plenty of that over this situation. We're still waiting to speak to people at Mr. Rooter to answer some questions. We called them 4 times and they say they will finally be here tomorrow AM. They aren't getting the final payment from our financing until they satisfactorily answer our questions. In addition, I have a few more smaller plumbing issues that I'd like to get estimates on, but after experiencing their crappy customer service response, i will probably look elsewhere to get that additional work done...... and I will let them know that.