How soon after your home purchase did you have an enexpected repair? (My plumbing regulator burst!) (bathroom, plumber)

[Hemlock140]

That regulator is required when the city water pressure is too high at your house, and if it fails, will break hoses but also may break supply lines to sinks, toilets, and can burst sprinkler control valves. For an emergency repair on short notice that's not a bad price, though I would do it myself. We had the furnace go out after about a year and 4 months, after we bought this house. It was December and 18F at the time. That was about $400 to change the flame sensor, a $30 part, but I couldn't buy one at that hour or day so just paid the heating place to do it rather than freeze.

[Cali Doll]

Yeah, sometimes it seems like paying for overpriced parts and labor is worth it.

I was holding a rapidly filling bowl under the regulator, with no idea why this was happening or how to stop it.

Sometimes I wish I was married to a handyman!

[Gerania]

How long? The first one happened when we were in the process of moving in. The sump pumped kicked 24 hours into 4 days of torrential rain. That was a mess.

[Ohiogirl81]

I've owned my house for 10 years and the only true calamity we've ever had was when the roof leaked about 5 years after we bought the place. Sure, there have been problems, but maintenance and repair are part of owning a home.

[North Beach Person]

The evening we closed. The house had been empty for a couple years or so and the main soil line had some tree root penetration. Water backed up in the kitchen sink. from the shower and toilet upstairs.

[revelated]

The only unexpected required expense I've incurred - and I've owned my home for just over a year now - was an old valve that failed under the kitchen sink. Just $200.

The only unexpected optional expenses were:

• the washing machine that the previous owners left with the home - the one that worked fine during the inspection - started making a very loud noise. Turns out the agitator was completely loose. Could have fixed it for a hundred, chose to buy a higher end front load model instead that would last a lot longer. But I anticipated both the washer and dryer failing when I saw them. Old. Especially the washer. $500
• The flusher on the master bathroom toilet started having issues where it wouldn't stop flowing water. Old bobber style. I chose to replace the unit with a newer style, and the stopper, rather than get a new toilet. Been working fine ever since. I anticipated failure when I saw the bobbers during the inspection. $50
• The builders had left a piece of batts insulation inside the return vent (!), and it looked like the return vent system had never been cleaned out. Got that taken care of. $200
• The previous owners never got the yard storm drain system cleaned and it was clogged something fierce. This was causing major pooling in the backyard and the gutters to constantly overflow, which I got tired of. $500

Everything else was expected, even if not immediately.

• Had to buy screens for the attic soffit vent holes, they were not screened at the top level. The inspector noted the remnants of nesting material which seemed perfectly normal to him. But when I started hearing a bunch of birds making racket right above the master, I took action. $700 all told.
• The inspector recommended a new vapor barrier in the crawlspace, got that done last month. Also, the crawlspace access door was rotted at the bottom because of water getting into the well. Got a completely new door and a well cover installed. $500.
• The garage opener was fundamentally useless, I replaced it with a newer model and got the door maintained (it hadn't been since the home was built, from what I can tell). $600
• The flooring in the master bathroom was a mix of water damaged vinyl and carpeting (!). Got that replaced with newer, better vinyl. $1200
• The bathroom fan wasn't working when the inspector checked it, though the heat lamp was. I figured it out later, the fan blades were rotted and jammed. Got them loose, it spun up but was making a LOUD noise because of balance. Replaced the whole unit myself (still have to do some drywall repair). Found in the attic the builder had laid an electrical cable directly on top of the heat lamp housing, along with a foam wrapped water PVC that had melted to the housing. Lovely. $250
• Moss dominated the roof because the house was on the market for like 9 months. Got that cleaned up and treated, plus there was never a harness hook installed for some weird reason (I think the previous owners cheaped out when they replaced the roof and didn't have them install a new hook). $500.

Might seem like a lot but they're all small things. I've spent way more money on completely optional things, like window replacements and landscaping, the sum of which I'd put somewhere in the $8,000 range by now, but which have a lot greater value to the home come time to sell it.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Unexpected repairs? Not usually. I go over a house pretty carefully before I buy and I usually have a qualified home inspector. I've bought a lot of places that had big repairs that I knew about before I purchased them.

I did have an unexpected repair on my latest purchase. I bought a beach house for myself. It was sitting empty and the electric bill was about what I expected for a couple of months and all of a sudden it went down to just the taxes and service fees. Uh-oh. I drove over to the coast and the heat was off and wouldn't stay on.

A close look at the circuit box revealed that it had had water in it. Uh-oh.

I had an electrician out. The conduit where the electric wires went from the pole and into the house had developed a crack in a seal and rain water was running down the inside of the conduit and into the circuit box. $160 to fix, which included a bunch of parts including 2 new circuit breakers.

A bit later, I will have the electrician back and have him replace the circuit box and all the breakers. I expect that to cost around $800. It's not dangerous but there is some corrosion. I want to make sure it stays dry before I pay to have it replaced.

There are always repairs and upgrades needed for any new house. Just know it is going to happen and budget for it. That same house on the coast is going to get new flooring, new paint, maybe a new roof, and a fenced yard. All of which I knew before I made an offer on it. It's completely liveable just like it is, but I want different flooring. The only thing that absolutely needs to be done is a fence for the dogs. The rest of it is wants, not needs.

[fasttimes1]

When I bought my old foreclosure house, I know it needed some work, but had to wait about a year to get them done.

That first winter, the old galvanized pipes feeding the washer froze, and somehow the cold line stopped working after that. Hot only to the washer for 6 months, until I replaced all the house pluming with new copper. About $400 for all the materials for the whole house.

The second summer, the a couple of breakers on the Zinsco main panel would not reset, including the one for the AC. Had to temporarily swap the 50 amp stove breaker for the 30 amp bad breaker to make it for a couple of weeks. Replaced the whole panel. About $500 in parts for that job.

The last unexpected repair was the old cast iron drains were clog-prone, and I had to replace all that with ABS when things started backing up, and even a plumber couldn't get it cleared. Was going to do this anyway, but the clog made it a priority. About $250 in materials.

Learn to DIY. God knows what the above would have cost if I had to hire people to do all these projects!

[lurtsman]

I've owned for almost 2.5 years, so far no unexpected repairs. Well, the deck will need some major work, more than we thought when we were buying, but it hasn't been done yet.

[veuvegirl]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

I spent $17,000 on this house the first year I owned it, over and above mortgage and insurance. I think that's pretty typical for buying a used house.

Um...not typical.

Our first house we had plumbing that needed fixing which was around $3000. That was year two.

Our second house, only a few things when we owned it.

Our current house, about $1000 so far.