Buckets.
Of sh*t.
Somewhere, someone must be laughing about this – I know I’m nearing the point where I burst into hysterical giggles. Ever see the movie, The Money Pit? That moment when Tom Hanks begins to cackle uncontrollably? I understand that now.
Problem #1: So the fridge crisis had been resolved for less than a week, when, much to my horror – I discover the basement is flooding…and it’s not raining. Seems our backup sub-pump was broken; the sub-pump that the condensation from the ac drains into. Yeah. The good news is my Dad was able to help me pull the disgusting, broken one out, buy a new one at – you guessed it – Appliance Valhalla (aka Home Depot), and install the shiny new one. So – the bad news is it cost me about $200, but the good news is that I saved about that much since I didn’t have to pay some dude to do the work for me. As an added bonus, I now know how to install a sub-pump, so when the main one decides to crap out (and it will, I have no doubt on that score) I can put my madskillz to work and install that puppy myself.
Problem #2: While fixing the sub-pump, I decided to fix the drain line from the AC – which had been leaking forever. I assumed it was just the cracked putty around the drain that was the problem – an easy, 10 minute fix for $10. Ha-ha, I’m such a fool. Turns out that the condensation pan under the A-coil has a hole rusted through it. After some research, I discover this is not a simple matter. The easiest and cheapest solution would be to reseal the pan – with a plastic liner or epoxy. Next would be to pull the old pan out and put in a new one – difficult and costly because the pan is not easy to remove, and getting a new pan that is the right size is also…not so easy. The last option – and the one that that HVAC guy who is coming later today will probably insist on – is to buy and install a whole new Acoil. Now, my initial research shows these to cost between $1500 and $2000.
I can feel that hysterical laughter bubbling to the surface again.
The kicker is that the AC is working f-i-i-i-i-i-ine. Perfectly! The unit is only 3 years old! What I didn’t know, is that when you buy a new ac unit, it doesn’t automatically come with a new a-coil. It’s like floor mats for your new car, or batteries: NOT INCLUDED. So, while our ac is relatively new, it’s heart is old and rusty. I guess the previous cheapa$$ owners (we moved here in ’05) didn’t opt for the floor mats. Apparently, the owners before that (who must’ve purchased the Acoil) didn’t opt for the rustproofing.
Guess who’s left with dirty floorboards to clean?
Melonie Johnson 