The things you learn when your house breaks down

When I moved into our newly built house, there was a naive side of me that expected everything to run smoothly for at least the first five years. In retrospect, it seems to me that the best house to move into is a house that is four to six years old, after all the problems have been ironed out.

In the last month we’ve had a burst water pipe, cracked marble countertops, halogen lamps that seem to burn out the moment you change the bulb, and a stubbornly clogged toilet (okay, so that last one may have nothing to do with the house). real). Currently our hot water heater is making a strange hum and I am waiting for the repairman to come and take a look.

On the plus side, I’ve learned a lot about lighting, marble, and plumbing that I thought I’d share with you so you can avoid the problems we’ve had.

Halogen spotlights:

Angelo Bossi from Brak-Glan electrical service visited me last week to take a look at my bulbs. This is what he told me:

• 130 volt lights are better than 120 volt lights. Your home power is supplied at 120 volts, but sometimes a power surge occurs and that can blow out a light bulb. 130 volt bulbs are more expensive, but they last longer because they can absorb surges.
• If you are looking to reduce your electricity usage, there is a 9 Watt CFL on the market that replaces your 50 Watt halogen. We have 17 spotlights on our main floor alone that tend to be on from 7-9am and 4-10pm. I did the math:
• 17 halogen bulbs of 50 watts each on for 8 hours a day consume 6.8 kilowatt hours of electricity. At $0.05/kilowatt hour, the total cost equals $0.34 per day or $124 per year. If you were to use the 9-watt bulbs, you would use 1,224 kilowatt hours of electricity per day, which would cost you $0.06 per day. The total annual cost per year is $22.34. You’d save about $100 per year, so switching to CFL bulbs would pay for itself in about two years, less time if your lights are on longer or if electricity prices rise.

There are a few things to keep in mind with these CFL bulbs:

• They are not adjustable.
• They are more expensive than halogen bulbs (approximately $9 to $13 per bulb).
• It takes a few minutes to heat up and provide its full power.
• They come in a variety of “color temperatures” (a softer yellow light to more daylight, blue light).
• They are available at electrical supply stores.

Stone Countertops:

Whenever I tell a contractor that our kitchen countertop is marble, there’s usually a strangled sound of disbelief on the other end of the phone, which roughly translates to “Marble in the kitchen? What were you thinking?” “.

Although we had no choice in finishes, I have to be honest and say that I liked the marble countertop when we moved in and still do, despite its high-maintenance, prima donna shapes. Of course if you look at it the wrong way it chips and needs to be sealed regularly, but it does have a nice European look.

However, I did notice a few months ago that there were some hairline cracks emanating from various edges of the counter. A few on each side of the stove and one off the center edge of the counter. The original installer came and epoxied them right away, but they kept growing. Finally, the contractor sent Peter Potopov from The Stone Doctor.

Peter has repaired the cracks so they won’t grow any more (but they will always be there).

While I had always thought the cracks were caused by improper installation or vibration of the stove against the counter, he said the house, while new, hasn’t quite settled in yet. Apparently stone countertops shouldn’t be installed until a few years after a home has been built. To support that theory he showed me a 1/4 cm. gap between backsplash and countertop.

Now, I would imagine that stress fractures occur when a counter is attached to the wall on two sides because it has less ability to move. Our island, which is also marble, is perfectly fine.

Final Stone Tip: You know it’s time to reseal your countertop when a water spill leaves a dark mark after you’ve cleaned it up.

Plumbing:

I heard a hissing sound one day when I opened the front closet to get my coat out. I touched the back wall of the closet and it was soaked. After the water supply was turned off, the plumber came and took the drywall apart. One of the water pipes had been pierced by a nail that was too long. Jim Davidson of Davidson Home Services said, “If they’d done the job right, they never would have used nails that long. If you lose the stud, you can gouge through plumbing or electrical wiring,” which is exactly what happened.

While Jim was fixing the broken pipe and drywall, I asked him to find out why the toilet on the second floor was so clogged. We tried everything and couldn’t figure it out. After removing the toilet from the floor, he found the culprit: Q-tips. The Q-tips create a grid that is impossible to unlock with a plunger. Conclusion: do not flush the Q-tips down the toilet!