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Plumbing Problems

October 21st, 2012 at 03:34 am

Daughter and son-in-law staying at our place in Houston called to say that yet again the kitchen drain had backed up. This is a 1950's bungalow, and the plumbing in the kitchen is still the original. The old bathroom and the new bathroom both have new plumbing - well, 95% of the old bathroom drain is new or refurbished. We still have about 50% of the supply lines to be redone, as well.

We have asked them to get an estimate on the drain. So far, the estimate has ranged from $13,200 to $6,500. We have one more estimate to go. Of course the lower-priced plumber said that the guy who does official estimates was off, and that they should come back with a camera for a fee to look in the pipes. I guess that means that the lower estimate is the estimated estimate.

I told the SIL that we would not pay anything for an estimate. The $13,200 estimator had a boroscope and also cleared the clog while he was there, both for free. Of course, if I was looking at $7K in profit, I'd probably do a 'scope for free, too.

This is going to make Christmas not so cheerful. We had known the plumbing was going to need to be replaced as we had already done two of three areas, but we had hoped to put it off another year or two. There's still the supply to do, too, when this is done. Luckily, I can do the supply myself. I won't mess with drains, though. Too much can go wrong with drains; supply lines either do or don't leak when you're done.

My wife wants me to sell the bungalow. It is in my name from before we got married. I want to keep it as we can get about $1300 to $1500 per month if we rent it to other than her daughter. So, the time has come for us to make a decision. Do we sell it and use the equity to buy another house or do we keep it and use the rent to help pay off another house? The wife believes the former. I believe the latter.

3 Responses to “Plumbing Problems”

  1. creditcardfree Says:
    1350826452

    Sorry to hear those plumbing issues are so expensive! Good luck in the decision making.

  2. SecretarySaving Says:
    1353077733

    Is the home paid off? I agree it would make great rental property and if I remember correctly your in the Heights (prime location)! Good luck on your decision.

  3. Wino Says:
    1353204041

    The home has a small mortgage, still. DW and I plan to pay it off around June of next year. We had to postpone the plan until then because of our move here (no appliances and new furniture) and the visit of the DD. We set aside quite a chunk of change for their visit, so we aren't financially prevented from doing anything they might want to do.

    We're just north of the Heights. We're looking in the Heights and in our present neighborhood for our return place. Places in our neighborhood rent like wildfire. We were told by a realtor that we could get up to $1700, thus my more realistic estimate of no more than $1500. I'd rather have more say in choosing the renters. Our current neighbor, as well as our previous neighbor have both said they'd be willing to rent our place instead of the one next door.

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