pooks

Thanks Lansbury!! The garage was touted as a major selling point, so the abnormal settling plus all the bug issues was disappointing to say the least. Talk of structural engineers and raising it up on piers etc is not the sort of thing I wanted to be dealing with - kudos to people who can do that sort of thing and think it is nothing, but sadly I'm not that sort of person.

lansbury

Structural work on US houses isn't as bad as UK ones. Having said that I would have walked as well. Why buy something that needs that much work on the garage, plus you would need a bug inspection to know how bad that damage was as well. Personal I think you made a good decision.

Pulaski

Pooks, I have a sneaking suspicion that your realtor is trying to educate you.

You previously posted that you were looking for a CPA in "south Charlotte", which is the most expensive part of Charlotte, by far. If you told your realtor that south Charlotte is the part of Charlotte that you want to buy in, and what your budget is, I suspect that your realtor is, not too subtly, demonstrating the sort of house you can afford in that part of town.

See also my previous advice about houses being sold for the development value of the land they are sitting on - south Charlotte is where that is happening. ..... You will find fairly nice brick ranches in a good state of repair, that "in the area", say radius 30 miles of south Charlotte, are "worth" around $150,000, but in Charlotte in general might fetch $250,000. In south Charlotte they could well fetch $400,000 because south Charlotte is "that sort of area", and have a tax value of $700,000, because several older houses in the same street have been torn down and replaced with 5,000-7,000 sqft mansions, that have sold for $1,000,000, and therefore escalated the tax values dramatically. Alternatively two or three old ranch style homes have been town down and replaced with a development of as many as twenty mews style homes perhaps selling for $500,000, or more, each.

hungryhorace

We had it done under warranty for $500 in the end, but that was the cost of a fully plumbed replacement. Thankfully the previous owners took out the extended warranty. It didn't even last four years! We now have a water softener so hopefully this one will last longer.

Does anyone change the rod inside to extend their heaters life out of interest?

Pulaski

$500 is a fair price for a mid-spec 50gal W/H, plumbed in, so somebody is taking the pi§§ if they think that $2,000 is a fair, reasonable, or competitive price for a "fully plumbed replacement". "Rod"? You mean heating element? I haven't done, but I certainly would do if it got me some more life out of my water heater.

hungryhorace

I dug out the quote. $1675.

Remove existing 80 gallon water heater
Install 50 gallon 6 year warranty state electric heater
Install Honeywell Mixing Valve
Install on new cement block.
Supply piping, wiring and labor for install.

So, $1k looks cheap from my experience. No idea why others think it costs so little as my experience is completely contrary.

Mercury39

Minor point compared to the other items on the list, but there is no right or wrong way up for an electrical outlet. The national code does not specify, but possible that local codes do. Convention is ground pin in down, and other convention is be consistent, so if its ground up then they should all be.

Pulaski

Why did it need a new cement block? And WTF is a "mixing valve"? .... And that's only for a 6 year warranty tank!!!! FFS!

A six year warranty 50 gal State W/H retails for about $300, labour and incidental plumbing and wiring shouldn't be more than another $300, and quite frankly is generous at that rate. Many home machinery/ equipment installations and project's are customarily charged at material cost +100%, so the buyer of a $300 W/H would be charged $300 for installation even if it only took an hour to install. Cost +100% is usually a rip off.

ETA. Oh, a "mixing valve" is a thermostat device, plumbed in-line. I could insert one of those in about 10 minutes, and I am not a plumber.

hungryhorace

The cement block is to raise the smaller heater up to the pipes and wiring of the old 80 gallon one. The mixing valve saves us money as it mixes a set percentage of cold water with the hot pipe.

I got other quotes as well and they were all around that mark btw.

Pulaski

I don't suppose they had considered extending the pipe downwards? A couple of feet of piping would cost a lot less than a cement block. .... And in fact it is common here to install a water heater on a frame of deck timber to raise it up, if that is necessary. Charging you for the cost and labour for a cement block is outrageous!

Nutmegger

When I bought my house there were a number of windows with broken seals and the basement had a high radon level. We agreed that the seller would replace the windows and install a mitigator prior to the closing. Oh, and we had them pump the septic, too. I understand that in your case the seller might have been unwilling to make corrections for you, but next time around it is an option to bear in mind when you review the inspection report that you can request that the work be done prior to closing at the seller's expense.

hungryhorace

How much do you reckon the cement block cost out of interest?

Rete

Totally agree. We needed to do that when we bought the house 5 years ago. Several things needed to be corrected as per the inspection and the seller didn't quibble about doing them.

We were lucky that after moving in within 2 years the boiler went and then last year the pipe from the laundry room to the sewer collapsed. Only had to pay the deductible of $500 on the insurance to have all that redone. That included ripping up and replacing three rooms of tiles, kitchen, laundry/pantry and dining room. Apparently, the collapse of the pipes under ground is not uncommon down here as they used copper originally and they get eaten through or weaken and collapse. Hubby is in the process of changing all the electrical outlets and did a few more today.

Pulaski

Not much, but if it was a solid block, cast in place, it would be heavy and awkward and likely mean using a cement mixer, so quite a bit of labour. Depending on how high the cement block is, it could easy be 5-10 80lb sacks of pre-mixed concrete @ around $5 each, but with labour and an awkward job, I could see it being billed for $200 or more.

Whereas ¾" pex pipe would be 50¢/ft, and about $10 of fittings total for hot and cold to extend the pipes down. If codes requires copper pipe it might mean $25 of pipe and fitting, and take probably four times as long. I could do the two pex extensions myself in 10 minutes, with tools I have in the garage, whereas färting around with copper pipe and solder takes much longer - it might take me an hour.

I suspect that many of your problems/ expenses may be linked to archaic plumbing codes and unionised labour - which lobbies to maintain those archaic, labour-intensive plumbing codes. So using a frame of deck timber and 4×4 posts, which is quick and cheap, and could be prefabricated, may not be allowed. Perhaps all the plumbing has to be soldered copper too?

Pulaski

If you want the cheapest, shodiest work, maybe. It always makes me laugh when someone thinks they got a deal when they made the seller of a house pay for a new roof.

I know it's not the usual way in America, but I'd definitely negotiate for a price reduction for something such as a roof or ancient but operational heating/AC or waterheater (something that doesn't affect the liveability of the house in the short term, such as a critical plumbing or drain issue might), then find my own contractor and get a good quality job done, rather than accept whatever bargain-basement deal the seller was able to find at short notice!