It's cold. We have no furnace.

Spiky Bugger

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Since late November, we have had no furnace. Saturday and Sunday nights the low will be about 38°.

We have a home warranty policy. We stick it to them every year. But there CAN BE a price to pay. Usually, it has to do with timeliness.

First HVAC team came out once, "fixed" it, the fix lasted about a day. They returned, tried the same fix and decided they had no clue as to what was wrong.

Next team came out and the guy was...a bit odd. He wanted us to know that we'd be okay if we were committed to Jesus Christ; that the Armenian Genocide was not perpetrated by Turks, but by the Masons; and tbat Hillary Clinton's primary backer was Satan himself. But, he did find the problem. While he never mentioned on tbe paperwork that he "condemned" the furnace and disconnected the gas line because it was delivering carbon monoxide to the house, he DID mention that we'd need a structural engineer to okay the project and a licensed contractor to rearrange...oh...a few rafters and such.

I called the reliable, established, local, reputable company that does our twice-a-year HVAC checks. When they stopped laughing about the engineer and contractor, they bid almost $5000 to do what we need. Home warranty will kick in some, so our out-of-pocket would be close to $3600.

In three or four weeks.

It's cold.

The "odd" guy did not include prices for some of the things we need because he knew tbe warranty people wouldn't cover those things. His services would cost us about $3000 out-of-pocket.

In a couple of weeks.

My step-brother can install a somewhat cheaper brand...but he says it is serviceable...and the same brand as the AC he installed here...for around $2500-2600.

Next week.

(I'm glad I reminded my sister to invite him to the family Christmas gathering.)

He will be here tomorrow to start the demo of the existing furnace.
 
Geeze Looeze! That house sure is ... conveniently located.

Except...it can take two hours to get to Long Beach.


Hey! Wait! It was a bargain...remember?

Except...well...
+/- $25,000 for the roof
and $21,000 for the solar
and $5,000 for AC and ductwork
and $3,000 for the patio foundation (but just so the roof wouldn't collapse)
and $8,000 for the fence
and $6,000 for pool plumbing, filter, pump, auto fill, concrete work (still needs pkaster and tile)
and several thousand for knocking out a wall, removing tons of 1970s paneling, painting and so on.

But we JUST got a $1000 check from homeowners insurance for last year's flood and mold because the solar company paid all of our claim to include our deductible...so we're flush, right?
 
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Except...step-brother just called. His big bro is on his death bed. So...not starting demo today.

(This is of course another step-brother to me, but very estranged since about 35 years ago when that step-bro and sisters decided that their father's Alzheimer's was the result of my mother's "trying to kill Daddy." This isn't a very clever clan. How unclever? One sister needed INTENSIVE tutoring to make it through cosmetology school. She persisted. Finally made it through. Very good hair cutter. Gorgeous. But just dumber than a box of rocks...and LITERALLY straight outta Compton.)
 
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Well, that was fast.

He died late this morning. And the step-bro I'm on good terms with says that he'd rather keep busy. So demo starts tomorrow at 7:00 a.m.

(The older bro had been dealing w/cancer, was doing well, but then the cancer took over again. He was comfortable and had his six or eight or howevermany kids and a couple dozen grandkids and great grandkids there. Comfortable is good. That's my goal...comfortable.)

Mr Sue and step-bro will even go buy all the parts tomorrow.

Nobody else better get sick or die.

[Now I have to go explain the "step" part of step-bro to a seven-year-old. (Her grown-ups are at his company holiday party, so she was around for some of the discussion.) Her dad, MiniSue's boyfriend, is an only child with 13 step- and half-siblings...and the only "parents" he deals with right now are the dad who relinquished him for adoption and that dad's wife...so he's not legally related to any of that part of "his family." I'm leaving those details out of the explanation...lol.]
 
I'm sorry for your step-brother's loss. And for your lack of heat. But glad you have a lot of support and offers for heat sources!
 
Sorry about your step brother. And that you risk freezing to death before you can get a new HVAC. Um, this is hopefully irrelevant, but I've read that freezing to death is a "comfortable" way to go.
 
Well...we had family Christmas last night...if everyone would just stop dying...so my estranged step-bro died. And my other step-bro's, the one who came to the party...wife announced that her brother died. Then another cousin called to tell us his sister, obviously our cousin, too, died.

MiniSue was tired and had to leave early because she works for a PD and this is the time of year that families kill off their weakest or most troublesome members. (Although, contrary to urban legend, "suicide season" is actually in the spring...when none of those New Year's resolutions pan out.) and then my nephew couldn't be there because he's a firefighter and LA is on fire.

You know what was saddest? There were seven adult females...one with a normal BMI. Two who were obese. One who is morbidly obese and three who were Super Morbidly Obese. (I didn't weigh people, but the normal and SMOs were easy to spot. I was kinda guessing at the Obese vs MO.)
 

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