IMPORTANT "After Construction" TIP

I'll start trying to catch up on all that's occurred during this past... 9 MONTHS!... of silence. Needless to say, we've been busy. So - I'm going to jump right in with problemo numero uno (that's all the Spanish I know).

We moved into Medallion (OMG, I LOVE THIS HOUSE!) and immediately found that we had a plumbing problem. We had a plumber out who ran his snake thingy down the drain (I know, I'm so technical - I'll try to dumb down my vocab so as not to leave anyone behind) and poof! All was fine. We don't even know what caused the backup but let me just say that while the construction was going on here, the construction crew removed the toilets and left the gaping hole that toilets are designed to utilize, gaping. That's right. They did not in any way cover up the gaping hole while they installed new fixtures, did the drywall, laid the tile, etc. I can't help but think our plumbing was basically just clogged up with construction debris.

Well - all in all it wasn't like it was a horrible catastrophe or anything. However, at Sun Bay we weren't so lucky. No, at Sun Bay the tenants FLOODED the house the first night they moved in. And then... get this... did it again the next morning before calling us to tell us there was a problem with the plumbing. We had a plumber out with his snake thingy again (sorry gang, you're just going to have to look it up if you can't follow the terminology) and all was fine at Sun Bay. Well, actually, not so fine. Being that they didn't just have a slow leak kind of problem - no, they FILLED the bathtub in order to clean it (who fills a bathtub to scrub it?) and then when they unplugged the drain all the water began emptying out of the tub and up onto the tile from beneath the toilet until it had all drained out and flooded the bathroom and the 3 rooms adjacent to it.

I'm sorry... I think I must be missing something here... if water starts filling your bathroom when you unplug a filled bathtub wouldn't YOU REPLUG THE BATHTUB???? Apparently we didn't rent out to rocket scientists. But the move that has my brain completely boggled is that they then got up in the morning and took showers and did it all over again. {shaking head in disbelief}...

On with the story... we not only had the plumber out but we also got carpet cleaning done and did the whole "fan" thing to deal with the flood damage. Then, about a month (read that again... A MONTH) later our tenants called for something else (they wanted a new hose bib outside or something) and mentioned in passing that "Oh yeah, and the walls where we had the flooding are a funny color now".

Can you say "mold remediation"? And incidentally, our NEW contractor said "Don't ever say the work mold... EVER". We went to great lengths to deal with the "water damage". Great lengths to the tune of a few thousand dollars.

Soooo - to sum up the little tip I wanted to pass on in this entry:

ALWAYS HAVE A PLUMBER CLEAR THE DRAINS OUT TO THE MAIN AFTER CONSTRUCTION

LONG JOURNEY / SHORT POST

I just wanted to let all my peeps know that I'm back at it, hoping to start posting regularly about our many adventures since my last post. As a short note... between the two rental properties we currently have (hoping to acquire two more by the end of this year) the profit they are pulling in almost pays for the 1800 sq.ft., 4bd, 2ba house we live in now. You can bet Sponge is excited we've settled into a house of our own instead of apartment hopping while we chase the dream... he was going crazy trying to find places that would let us have our 3 cats. And since we've settled in, I've adopted 3 more and take care of all the strays in the neighborhood too. You can't possibly imagine how overjoyed he is about that!

So... sticking with the plan, 2 houses a year for 10 years and then we retire... but I don't think the plan includes any more cats ;)