As the summer comes to a close, one final "F U" from the Anti Chuff dept. It got chilly the other night, so I fired up my furnace. I replaced it about 8 years ago, although it feels like a year or two ago. To me it's still my "new" furnace. It came on, then turned right off and then the air blew cold for a few minutes.
So I called a local HVAC guy and of course he wanted $150 to come out on a weekend. He figured it was the flame sensor, and sure enough, the flame sensor read bad. He cleaned it up and it was metering perfectly, except it was still only running the gas for about 5 seconds before stopping. After a half hour of tinkering he announced the control board was bad on it. Of course, they didn't have one in stock, so I ended up having to wait until Monday anyway.... So much for the $150 weekend service call.
So the board is $457. I already owe $150 and now it will cost more to install it. The guy who called me actually said maybe it's time for a new furnace... WTF!! I mean, sure, it is older than I think, but my last one was 30 years old when I replaced it. "Well," he says, "You are already a quarter the way to a new furnace with repairs..." FFS, this should be under warranty still, and I'll be damned if I'm going to replace the whole thing again!
Am I just getting old and feeling the years slipping past too fast? I seriously feel like this thing was installed just a couple years ago, maybe 5, but even so why do I feel like a $6500 furnace and AC should still be practically brand new after only 8 or 9 years?
And WTF is with all my damned appliances failing suddenly? Last year it was cars.. 2 engines and a transmission along with a dozen other repairs that totaled well over $10k. This year I'm somehow replacing appliances that aren't that old. Granted, aside from the fridge I am replacing the rest just to match, but damn, first the fridge, then the water line, then the furnace....
Yesterday me and my son and my girlfriend walked through the house and I explained all the things I WANT to do in each room. It took over two hours just to go through each room and point out what projects I had in mind. I am sure it will be around $30k to do them all, which is why they have been projects on the back burner for ten years. Thing is, most of the stuff I did 10 years ago is already needing a refresh. And this is all if I do it myself, if I hire it out, which I might have to since my back is getting so bad, it would be twice as much or more.
I start to see why people want to buy new construction homes that are completely move in ready, even if it means being in a townhouse or duplex with a hundred square feet for lawn and your neighbor's window seven feet from yours. I can't even imagine what it is like owning an older home if you aren't handy and in good health. I suppose that is why you find so many houses on the market that are just dumps and need more work than the house is worth to make habitable.
Anyway, I almost made it out of Summer without another blow, but the Naff caught me at the last second.