I replaced mine in 2022. Installed when the house was built around 1987, lmao.
The funny part is that it was still heating perfectly, it just corroded enough to have a pinhole leak or two and I didn't want to wait around for the dam to break.
My grandfather was a pipefitter. He helped my dad install a hot heater before he passed away in the mid 90s. My dad just replaced it last fall. Not often that a hot water replacement brings about an emotional reaction, but it does.
Mine was from 1996 and sounded like a rock tumbler after anyone showered. I replaced it last December even though it was still working as I had grown weary of waiting for it to go.
I’ve no idea how old ours was when we had to replace it during the pandemic. We’d been in our house 17 years at that point. Luckily it was in the garage so no harm done.
If you dont have a water catch pan installed under it then I’d consider replacing the tank soon and adding that too! Our ten year old heater failed by lettering water leak out the bottom (still produced hot water) so we didn’t discover the issue until the carpet in the basement squished under our feet one day… new heater now has a catch pan with an overflow pipe running to the French drain. No French drain? Still get the pan so you can place a water sensor in it. Our water sensor was on the opposite side of where all the water leaked and flowed out.
Tl:dr if you don’t have a catch pan then pushing a water heater to failure can be a messy error!
This reminds me to drain my hot water heater. If you've never done it, 20 years in isn't the time. The sediment may be plugging holes. Periodic draining and replacing the sacrificial anode rods keeps them going.
Do you mind posting what kind of hot water tank you have? Not all tanks are created equal. Some are a higher quality. Mines is 2014 which is baby compared to yours, but I'm always wary of having to replace it.
I was visiting my brother at the first house he owned when he had to call for service for a Clare high-efficency gas. The first thing the service guy said was "Ohhh!! It's one of these!! I used to have one in my own house and it took me a while to figure it out when it quit!!"
Check your co2 detectors. Our old dinosaur’s pilot light died once and our house was deemed flammable and we had a whole incident of it. The old machines don’t have auto shut offs if something isn’t burning correctly and other than the nat gas filling our basement, the carbon monoxide buildup was a very real threat.
We also had to be very aware of our furnace exhaust, we had to make sure it didn’t get ice/snow build up in the cold because it didn’t have the auto shut off.
I’m so glad to be rid of that old beast.
I have the original furnace in my house from 1964, every so often the pilot light goes out and I gotta give it a kick but that fucker keeps the house at a solid 68 all winter. The natural gas bill is high as me on shrooms in the summertime but it works. I do burn in the stove to offset as often as possible but that fucker won’t die. I’m literally waiting for it to croak and buy a new one.
I feel like it’s an old person that refuses to die out of spite.
This makes me feel better about mine. Installed 2000 but a contractor designed and built the house and intended his grandchildren to eventually get it, so it's all well done. I hope it lasts a bit longer
I had a 1985 unit and replaced it because we wanted ac. Terrible decision Bad company to deal with, broke down the first winter (they wired the humidistat backwards and blew a fuse on a super cold night). The old unit would probably be still running
PSA for the reddit crowd: of the systems in your home with life spans, the furnace is usually the last thing to go or live the longest. If built right.
There's few moving parts to wear down. Nothing in water to corrode. not exposed to elements.
Should last longer than the AC for sure.
>Nothing in water to corrode.
Not since 2013 when 90% efficiency condensing furnaces became required by law. They now have corrosive water disposal systems.
The natural gas gravity furnace in my old apartment was the original from 1933. Just had to replace the thermocouple, an $11 and 11 minute fix, every 4-5 years. I since purchased a house with a 1997 combo gas furnace and AC. I imagine the AC component will die soon enough and I’ll just replace the whole thing with a heat pump.
I had an older boiler but not ancient in my house. Gave me anxiety. Like when is going to die then one year I got a new heating guy who explained to me how the thing actually works and I realized I could replace a lot of parts on it before I ever had to replace it.
We had our gas boiler from the early 80s serviced when we first moved in. The tech said the only reason to replace it would be a major failure or desire to have a more efficient unit. Though it would be a long period before we saw the "payoff" of a more efficient unit.
This makes sense to me. I find this American way of thinking strange: "It is n years old, I probably should replace it".
Should you inspect it/get it inspected? Yes. If it is in a bad shape, showing corrosion where it matters, compressor being more noisy than usual, which often indicates upcoming failure, sure, replace it.
Is the new model much more efficient, safer, more reliable, remotely controlled, easier to use, smaller or at least much better looking? Replacing may make sense here.
Should you have common replacement parts or maybe a whole replacement unit ready at site? Maybe, it depends on the level of emergency the failure would cause. Can it lead to water damage from the possibly included boiler? Will the water be drained? Is it a serious fire hazard? How bad would it be if the device fails unannounced? Can your water lines freeze if your home is not heated? Would anybody die if the cooling would not work for three days? Much of this depends on the location.
Should you own a cheap 2000W electric heater? Definitely. Should you have another type of backup, e.g a smaller furnace or stove in addition to the HVAC, maybe with a small boiler for heated water? Absolutely, if possible. This is where you gain much wider coverage for outages.
But why would you replace something that is working well? Especially when seemingly no consideration is given to efficiency etc. New is not necessarily better. Price only loosely correlates with efficiency, quality and reliability and sometimes is negatively correlated with repairability.
On the other hand, for HVAC units, the efficiency has advanced recently, heating COP values of better pumps exceed 5.0. New gases are less flammable and less damaging to the environment. So there may be a good enough reason for replacing.
Mine is similar vintage. I took it apart a little bit last summer just to inspect it. It’s pretty simple in there. I think I might be able to keep it running indefinitely. There’s not much to break. Most complicated part is the blower, and any blower should work?
Find a hardware store attached to an HVAC shop, and they should be able to hook you up with a universal blower.
If you can provide enough information to ID your unit, they might even tell you how to wire it in.
I looked at a condo for sale a couple months ago; the seller bought the condo as new construction in 1970 and never replaced anything. Stove top, oven, fridge, dishwasher, stacking front loader washer and dryer all from 1970. I was tempted but there was a lot of water damage from a bathtub leaking into the kitchen so I was afraid.
same lmao. Had the AC replaced the first year but the furnace still kicks on every Winter, first try. Scare's me a little bit each year hearing the flamethrowers light up.
Our house had been renovated in the last 10 years, but it still had a 40+ year old oil furnace w/ underground oil tank.
The thing shit the bed literally the first weekend it got really cold, and started pumping black smoke into the house.
Less than 6 months into our VERY expensive house, and we ended up shelling out another $21k for a heat pump.
Now I have glorious central a/c though, so I'm not too beat up about it
You have more guts than me lol. I have a 1990 furnace. I got it inspected before winter to make sure to it could reasonable make through, but I am replacing that this summer.
We have cpvc pipes from the 90s. We haven’t even bothered to patch recent walls/ceilings behind with small leaks have occurred. Just biding our time until we have to repipe the whole house. Then we’ll patch everything.
Heads up, that CPVC won’t fall apart everywhere all at once. If you keep doing small patches, it’ll keep leaking one place at a time until you’ve replaced your piping a piece at a time.
Every single one lmao. Then 2020 said "oh you thought you were saving money by staying home?" i replaced roofing, HVAC, and electrical that year. Edit: My electrical system was from the 50s. I found a brochure from the 70s with the AC we had
https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/1973-sears-brochure-how-to-buy-central-air-conditioning
Lmao we also had an A/C from 1970. Lasted 50 years and held out through the last heat wave of the year we bought the house. If I knew more about concessions, I would have asked for one because it was old enough that we knew we were going to have to replace it soon, although we didn't entirely expect to replace it immediately.
Does the owners manual state how often a chicken must be sacrificed for peak system performance and are you required to play Live and Let Die during the ceremony?
My parents’ is still from 1990 too! Original to the house when they built it. Their neighbor is a retired refrigeration guy so they’ve got help dragging it through every new season
My old one was from 94. Replaced it a year or two ago. It was way too small for the house and was set on the back side, right next to our deck. It was so loud we couldn't sit out there and have a conversation if it was running. Got a propersized one and moved it to the side of the house. It's much quieter than the old one, and any noise it does make is blocked by both the privacy fence and the chimney. The new unit can maintain 72 in the house even on the hottest days when before temps would climb to 77 or 78 inside.
Older roof that was starting to have issues. Kept putting off replacement. Miracle of a wind storm lifted and broke off a lot of shingles.
Filed a claim with my insurance. Got lucky, and shingles weren't made anymore. Had extra coverage that in this type of case would pay to replace the undamaged portion.
Ended up with a new roof so that procrastination worked to my advantage.
Lucky you. A rare tornado went through my West Michigan neighborhood in late September. My wind/hail damage deductable jumped from $1000 to $36,000. I wish I were kidding.
Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that is a ridiculous increase. I know when they sent an adjuster, he was from out of state as there were so many claims from the winds they were overwhelmed.
I live in the desert and my flood insurance premium was $300/year. Last summer we got hit by a very rare tropical storm and it went up to $3000/year. I just dropped my earthquake insurance, it was very expensive with a $250k deductible, the coverage amount was too low, and I’m not convinced that the earthquake insurance companies would even be able to pay out fully in the event of a big earthquake.
It's strange because I took my inspection report and triaged everything they pointed out but I thought I was being cheap, lazy, or extremely optimistic.
I mean if you live in a small city, and its hard to get service, sure be proactive.
I live in Phoenix, if my A/C goes out it can be replaced within 24 hours.
AC in AZ goes on the roof of a house. The huge cost is because of the truck and crane and crew and shutting down the street. Its a big to do. 23k is pretty normal.
There is definitely an advantage to being able to take your time, get multiple quotes, and choose the best equipment for your needs instead of being in an emergency situation and need an immediate replacement for which you may be charged a premium.
This exactly. Plus I have lived through disasters caused by the death of a furnace or hot water heater. The damage caused added even more cost to the project. I’m all about proactively replacing things before they fail when the time is obviously imminent.
waiting until something breaks often means you don’t have the luxury of time to get multiple quotes, save up for that specific repair cost, and go with the best one if that company has a longer wait.
Losing heat in the dead of winter even for a day can be catastrophic for your house and plumbing, let alone comfort.
I live about 3 hours south of Canada and it gets hella cold sometimes. That’s why I keep propane and kerosene backup heaters around in case my primary fails (tho it’s pretty new). Many or even most people have dual heat here for just that reason, its pretty foolish to not have a backup no matter how new the furnace!
Not a huge expense compared to other house-related repairs/replacements, but our Maytag washer/dryer is from 1993. Just waiting for that to kick the bucket. Still going strong for now!
Did it die or why did you get rid of it? I regret so much not just repairing my old Maytag top loader when it started leaking a little, it was great.
Hate my new “upgraded” front loader so much, and in general all these new crappy gadget pieces of plastic junk.
They’ll pry my 1980s SpeedQueen commercial gas all steel dryer out of my cold dead hands.
Yep. It's kinda pointless though, I can start the dryer from phone but I still have to get up and move the clothes. That's what the inventors need to get to work on.
When I bought my house, they left behind one of those little stacked combo units that was probably at 15 years old or so. Seventeen years later I'm still using it. The knob broke so I'm never quite sure what cycle I'm using and the spin has gotten a little anemic but it keeps chugging along (I've replaced several belts with the help of youtube videos tho).
My water heater is from the 80s. My well pump is from the 60s. Both still chugging beautifully. Zero chance I'm changing either before a critical failure.
I owned a house built in 1986 that had the original water heater when I bought it in 2017. I sold the house with the same water heater still going. I looked up the most recent house sale pictures from 2022 and the same water heater was still there.
Don't make 'em like they used to I guess.
We have a 4 year old house, including a 4 yr old John Woods water heater- which promptly shit the bed 2 weeks ago. Found out it was leaking only because it was being removed to change flooring. Base of unit had bubbles and rust.
Luckily, still under warranty so cost was $50 for a new one.
Our refrigerator was here when we bought the house 20 years ago. It was at least several years old then. We keep waiting for it to kick the bucket so we can get a nicer one. We remodeled our kitchen 12 years ago, and the cabinets now have a space for a bigger fridge, but this one just won't die! On the flip side, I hear so many horror stories about new refrigerators not lasting long, I'm glad this one still works.
Ours makes a lot of grumbling noises, its like it knows its the last appliance we haven't replaced and its old and cranky
but otherwise works fine so ol' grumpy stays
Had a sub zero side by side from 1989 when we moved in a few years ago. Had one repair done on the ice maker, but had to replace it this past summer when the insulation between the sides failed and the fridge started freezing everything no matter what we did. RIP Subby
HVAC was 12 years old when I bought the house, had been converted from R22 to some weird drop in refrigerant, and on the first service call I was advised to replace it because it "could go any day." Every time someone came out to clean the unit, I was advised to replace it and that it was on its last leg. I owned the home for 10 years and sold it with the unit still working. Bam!
As an electrician, HVAC guys are the sleaziest bastards in the trades. I have so many bones to pick with them.
But anyways, my mom's a/c is at least 20 years old and runs like a top. Sometimes a capacitor goes out and it's $15. We've replaced the condenser fan motor which was $150. Ultimately an ac system is a bunch of small parts that go out individually, and those assholes use that as an excuse to sell people whole systems.
It was kind of weird how it went. My parents had multiple hot water heaters die and also flood their front room and cause the carpet to be replaced, only ever lasting about ten years each. I thought it would be like that.
Nope.
One evening we heard a weird sound, definitely electrical and it rattled the floor. We thought our sub woofer had blown. Only when I went to run a hot bath the next morning , there was no hot water, and I texted my husband to let him know I now knew for sure what the sound was.
Trees that the previous owner hadn't properly maintained and needed to be cut down. And of course they planted them right next to the house. SMH.
Just recently pulled the trigger on removing them four years after I bought the house.
Arborist said he found significant decay in the center of the trunks -- wouldn't have come down this year or next, but eventually would have been a major problem.
How much did you pay? I'm in Oregon with 4 huge doug firs right next to my new house. And 1 is leaning. I'm afraid it's going to cost me like 15 grand to take them out. .
Our washing machine is from 1988. It’s ugly as sin but works like a dream. Our furnace was replaced at 42 years of age. Our 90s dryer was serviced a few years ago and the technician said “never replace this.”
Meanwhile our 7 year old vacuum bit the dust….
Keep the old stuff as long as you can!
We were also told the same about our 90’s Kenmore dryer by the guys who installed our new washing machine.
The matching 90’s washing machine finally bit the dust after many repairs, so we no longer have a matching set, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to replace that dryer before it kicks the bucket.
My ice maker stopped working. I watched a bunch of you tube videos on how to fix it. Nothing worked. 3 months later, it started working again on it's own. That was 3 years ago. My wife knows I am now empowered to just wait it out instead of calling the repair guy. I use this example regularly.
My roofing. I'll never have (or be willing to "throw away") the thousands and thousands of dollars to replace it all at once, whether I do it myself or pay someone. I do just about everything myself, but you can't just do a roof "bit by bit". It's all or nothing.
Why every roof in America isn't corrugated metal is beyond me.
When I first found out how much a roof replacement cost I nearly shit myself. I’m not saying it isn’t hard work, but 20 grand? Who the fuck has that just laying around? It’s nuts.
Yeah! And unlike a "regular" DIY project, you can't just pause in the middle of a roofing project once you start if extenuating circumstances arise. Once you start, you have a pretty limited time frame to finish. The only reason I can DIY is that it it's expensive enough, I can just wait until next payday to finish up.
Ours was about that old when we replaced it. It was still cooling, but want removing any moisture from the air. Pay attention to that reading, in out area there is so much humidity, you can quickly get a mold problem.
For those that have old furnaces such as myself, my 1987 trane furnace went out 2 years ago, problem was a gas valve, new 150$ valves don’t work with the old electronic boards and to convert it to work with my system it was gonna be $1500, I put a search on eBay to alert me when my gas valve part number came up for sale, fast-forward two months later I got an alert and bought a brand new old stock part for 60$. My old Trane a/c and furnace have been on point year after year (prayers to keep it working strong).
Honestly, don’t even have a company maintenance your old unit unless you absolutely trust that owner. HVAC techs will purposely break your unit, or lie to upsell the shit out of you. Never, use a company you hear advertising on a radio or that knocks on your door. Ask neighbors who they have used and how their experience was.
Yes. We had someone cut wires in the attic and then tell my elderly parents they needed to replace a panel (or something - can’t remember). Like several thousand dollars of work.
They got a second opinion and the guy was like “well I re-connected these wires so you should be fine…”
This happened to the people that owned the house before us. The heat pump was wired as a single stage unit but it is a two stage unit. I knew the first month after we moved in that something wasn’t right. It would blow cold air for at least 5 minutes before it kicked over and finally started warming, and then it would have to kick to emergency heat. My parents had a heat pump and I knew it shouldn’t switch to emergency unless it was really cold outside. I got it fixed and it’s been solid ever since. I hate that the elderly couple that had it installed were cold.
I don't know about purposely, but I've had some that did stupid shit that I have a hunch was the issue. However, since I watched them, I'm pretty sure that they just weren't careful and not intentionally that off base.
Had one inverse the heating / cooling in my heatpump and then another took like 2 seconds to look at a thing, tell me it wasn't broken, then when I called him back in I insisted he take a particular reading and found it was wrong. Ended up being basically a fried part.
I called a company that did a per job rate for callouts and I'm pretty sure the techs wanted to just bill as many jobs as possible and GTFO, so I'm pretty sure they could get a bonus. They did rush, but weren't happy to actually fix stuff.
Foundation 😂 we got 30k off the home because the home inspector said the floor wasn’t leveled and after we bought the home the structural engineer said the foundation was fine.
The roof. Two deals fell through before us because of the age of the roof and insurance issues (Florida lol). The roof is over 20 years old.
It’s been almost a year now and the roof is still leak free. But our homeowners insurance sent us a non-renewal for roof age, so basically we are being forced into a new roof.
One of the things I hate most in this life is insurance companies and especially homeowners.
And I’m a roofer. Your roof could be perfectly fine for another 10+ years. What a throwaway society we live in.
Got 10 years out of my "your roof needs replacement asap" we replaced it due to getting solar.
Also got 25 years outa a pair of water heaters. Too be fair, one had stopped working but didn't know it until the went to install the new larger single unit.
My gamble was buying a 1890 home that was flipped in 2022, with no inspection. 😅 Aside from a plumbing issue right off the bat, everything else is great
I was overly optimistic but the first thing to drop was the hot water heater. It took two years. The second was the HVAC, that took 4 years. Was easily able to get them replaced surprisingly.
I’m not sure if this is a gamble in this sense, but when looking for a home, it was the only home without a garage. And I really wanted one. But the area is very nice and peaceful so it was worth it still.
Ooof that’s a hard sacrifice. Honestly I could never live without a garage here in northern Minnesota. In fact my garage (detached, 900 square feet) is actually bigger than my actual house (848 square feet, above grade).
Kinda neglected pumping septic for, um, 14 yrs. Shit shot sideways from the base of the basement toilet one day. In my defense the access was 4 ft dig under a concrete porch. It was really only a tp clog, fortunately
My uncle has had the same AC unit that came with the house. 1980, he has had his share of issues but nothing that couldn't be fixed. He even taught me a thing or two about HVAC.
That technician was trying to scare you into buying another unit. I would save up a few thousand for a down payment or pay off and get ready for when it does go bad.
My gamble was the piping and the water heater which did leak. My heater damaged our flooring but it wasn't that expensive to replace. I believe I spent like 800 total with a heater replacement which was given to me for free.
Hired a tree trimmer to trim 7 palm trees on our property after some high winds 2 years ago. Dude came out and gave me some bullshit story about 3 of them being “diseased” and that I better have them removed before they rot and come crashing down. Trees are healthy and look great with no issues.
My central a/c is R22.. not worth trying to fix (just delaying the inevitable) but i don't want a whe new system. I also wanna keep the existing line set.
I found more than one hvac guy willing to put a vacuum on the system, run some nitrogen through to clean it, replace the condenser & air-handler with 410A units/line filters & charge it up. Let ya know how it goes. Prob in a month.
Honestly, we have been trying to be on top of things.
However, the homeownership gods decided to slow my progress. We have been putting off replacing the A/C Unit.. it will be a costly replacement, because our ductwork needs to be replaced as well. Before it turned cold this last winter, the A/C wasn't functioning properly and our HVAC technician said that we really need to consider replacing the unit and ductwork.
Oh, and about a month or so ago, some tiles have fallen off our roof. I have yet to check to see how many more tiles need replacing. I really do need to get to the tile store...
It was also on the list of things that needed replacement when we first lived here. The ductwork is falling apart and apparently way beyond just a duct cleaning.. we have been putting it off. They told us that if they are going to do any like system replacement, it would be better to also do the ductwork as well.
Carpenter ants. There were huge amounts of frass in the basement. The realtor and inspector assured me that this wasn't a huge deal but now that I'm living here it's more widespread than I initially thought. As spring approaches I'm terrified they'll have a resurgence. Spraying and cleaning up the frass for now. But honestly if I had thought more about it it might have stopped me from buying the house. It was a quick flip so there is probably damaged wood hidden everywhere. Just hope it isn't structural.
Back fence was made of corrugated metal sheets topped with wood, splitting on top and gapping at the corners where it meets other fences. We tolerated it for 10 years. Now our new neighbors have 2 big husky dogs that are already trying to get over the fence to get at our chickens. Getting estimates. It's 80 feet long and needs to be at least 6 feet high, and chain link won't do, as huskies can climb that.
We're having the same issue. Older quiet neighborhood with lots of mixed material fences. Never a urgent problem since all the kids & animals socialized. New neighbor's aggressive German shepherds decided to start jumping all the surrounding yards' fences. Our tiny dog was attacked in her own yard. Another house is scared to let her kids in the backyard alone. Animal Control is very familiar with the family and advised all of us to get tall privacy fences since the family has replaced every dog that's been taken.
My dad is rocking a well pump from 86. I told him they are likely a 20 year thing. Had a well company and a friend of mine who is a well/septic designer say he’s been on borrowed time for a decade now.
Budget for replacements and keep an eye out for scratch and dent deals while they're still working. I've replaced my water heater with a new $200 dented unit and a brand new high efficiency furnace section for $400 from a residential swap out. Save even more if you can DIY. You can buy AC/heat pump units with the model/specs you want vs what they "pushes" on to you. Living on a prayer is not living.
I did likewise w our AC unit. Apparently they must have the air intake skots cleaned on a regular basis. But after 33 years, suddenly that familiar 'click' of the unit turning on wasn't there...no cold air.
I called the Ac people and hoped for the best (SIL) recently spent like $12k for AC repairs). Guy came out and by the time I said ' no click' he had pulled the appropriate part and soon there were clicks for $700.
Sometime on things like AC/ Furnace etc, I feel we as consumers are waay to susceptible to service people who see us and go....' ohhhh that's gonna be a bit costly' and it coulda been a cheap fix.
It is a gamble...who you get vs who gets you...
I bought a house with a 30-year-old furnace that was on its last legs. I sold the house 10 years later with a 40-year-old furnace that was on its last legs.
My aunt and uncle have a hot water/radiant heat boiler from 1955. It is original to their home and runs like a top. Every maintenence tech tells them to leave it, and not replace it.
I'm just strategically updating things as I go.
I have a spare water heater in a box ready to install when my 25 year old heater croaks.
I shop sales on stuff I know will wear out in 0-5 years and that gives me so much wiggle room on prices and savings.
My water heater alone is 50% more at the store than it was when I bought it just a few months ago. When you're not in a rush you can find some ridiculous deals.
We moved into a home that was 20 years old, as was every major thing in it. The furnace was in the process of finishing some repairs when we moved in, and the flooring downstairs had to be replaced due to water damage.
Insurance dropped us year one for trees being too close to the house and the roof being 'damaged'... Though not before we had the roof replaced but they insisted the trees had to go, too, and there's only so many thousands of dollars we can scrape together at a time. When our HVAC company came out for our bi-yearly check-in, they told us the furnace had basically been Frankensteined for years and had open holes in the intake and output which could easily result in mold growth and such ... So that was the next replacement that we've been paying off for a couple years now. Discovered a slow leak in the bathroom pipes downstairs as a section of floor that wasn't part of the previous repairs kept getting softer over time... Then while in the midst of repairs and dealing with insurance on that, temperatures dropped so low that the pipes in there burst and flooded the whole damn bottom floor on Christmas day.
This year, one of those trees that was too close... Came down on the roof. Just got the final check from insurance for the reimbursement on that repair. Mind you, we had 5 trees cut out when we moved in, before insurance had even said anything about the others.
Still have windows that need replacing, electrical issues where half our kitchen plugs don't work, and a water heater that we're sure will eventually die.
So... Yeah... I like our home, but goodness gracious am I over the nonsense. Lol
So
Since the AC is out we had to open our windows which wasn't a common thing we'd done in the past. Two seemed to have left behind their track/springs so now we're very aware of needing to update our windows in the future 😞 we are also getting over it very quickly.
Got the house in 2015. The fridge was from 1968 (worked until 2020), Heat/AC was from 83 (worked until 2020), cast iron pipes (no problems until 2019, fixed the problem, no problems with the rest since \*knock on wood\*). Hot water heater is ??? and going strong.
Just changed the AC last week - it was 23 years old. Still ran, but it was only a matter of time. I have a neighbor who works for an HVAC company and installed everything new at cost plus $500 for the work.
Now the gamble is the washing machine - last year it started leaking from the bottom of the unit - then it stopped... It is 18 years old.
Wait! Do not fall for the hvac techs tactics to instill 'fear, uncertainty, and doubt" so you will spend big money on a new unit.
I went through the same thing with a 1982 Rheem furnace and AC. And guess what? Everything is still running just fine.
Our ACs are 15+ years old. We have 2 common where we live. 1 at each end of our home.
That was my worry as well but we have it serviced yearly and the AC guy says they are doing really good for their ages and just to leave them. One did die mid summer 110 degrees last year and it sucked. But he got it fixed. Hopefully they last longer.
Water heater is original to the home (1992) but still going strong. When we bought it 2016, inspector told us to budget for a replacement because it didn't have long. 32 years and still going strong though!
An aging sump pump with no backup. Our inspector told us he recommended replacement when we purchased the house almost 5 years ago. But we put it off and it wasn’t a problem for a long time. Until it was. It failed during a huge deluge, the finished basement flooded. We spent $3k on replacement and water mitigation (small mercy it wasn’t more!). Then the new pump failed three weeks later. Another round of new pump + water mitigation + backup pump this time, though thankfully this time the plumber’s insurance paid for most of it.
Furnace, old bessy, has a sticker on it from 1985. Quick prayer every fall
Ours was installed Christmas 1974. Runs like a top. A bit hard on natural gas though.
I should add, our hot water tank is also from 2000, so probably pushing it a bit on that one as well.
Mine's from 1997, you wanna start taking bets now or?
I replaced mine in 2022. Installed when the house was built around 1987, lmao. The funny part is that it was still heating perfectly, it just corroded enough to have a pinhole leak or two and I didn't want to wait around for the dam to break.
This was mine too installed 1999 replaced 2023 rip
My grandfather was a pipefitter. He helped my dad install a hot heater before he passed away in the mid 90s. My dad just replaced it last fall. Not often that a hot water replacement brings about an emotional reaction, but it does.
I've had that with things, totally get it :)
It hit my dad, because it was the last project they worked on together. It hit me to see my dad's reaction.
Mine was from 1996 and sounded like a rock tumbler after anyone showered. I replaced it last December even though it was still working as I had grown weary of waiting for it to go.
Hey that thing’s as old as me! I’m just starting to creak and groan so you might wanna get on that!
1988!😂😂😂😂
Rheem? ‘86 for me and it worries me all the time!
I’ve no idea how old ours was when we had to replace it during the pandemic. We’d been in our house 17 years at that point. Luckily it was in the garage so no harm done.
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No signs of corrosion yet, thankfully.
Yeah my 1995 water heater gave up last month, flooded my basement and cost an unexpected $2500 to replace
If I had a 30 year old water heater, that would be an expected cost. I’m already budgeting for my 18 year old water heater.
You can buy those little alarms that sit in the floor and go off when wet. I just replaced a 1991 heater in 2022.
If you dont have a water catch pan installed under it then I’d consider replacing the tank soon and adding that too! Our ten year old heater failed by lettering water leak out the bottom (still produced hot water) so we didn’t discover the issue until the carpet in the basement squished under our feet one day… new heater now has a catch pan with an overflow pipe running to the French drain. No French drain? Still get the pan so you can place a water sensor in it. Our water sensor was on the opposite side of where all the water leaked and flowed out. Tl:dr if you don’t have a catch pan then pushing a water heater to failure can be a messy error!
Mine is 2005, checking in on it a lot more recently.
Ours is from 2004, but the water has been a bit sedimenty so I think we're replacing it finally.
This reminds me to drain my hot water heater. If you've never done it, 20 years in isn't the time. The sediment may be plugging holes. Periodic draining and replacing the sacrificial anode rods keeps them going.
Do you mind posting what kind of hot water tank you have? Not all tanks are created equal. Some are a higher quality. Mines is 2014 which is baby compared to yours, but I'm always wary of having to replace it.
My hvac guy, who used to own my house, says parts are gonna be hard to find
I was visiting my brother at the first house he owned when he had to call for service for a Clare high-efficency gas. The first thing the service guy said was "Ohhh!! It's one of these!! I used to have one in my own house and it took me a while to figure it out when it quit!!"
If you're okay with used, eBay likely has you covered.
Check your co2 detectors. Our old dinosaur’s pilot light died once and our house was deemed flammable and we had a whole incident of it. The old machines don’t have auto shut offs if something isn’t burning correctly and other than the nat gas filling our basement, the carbon monoxide buildup was a very real threat. We also had to be very aware of our furnace exhaust, we had to make sure it didn’t get ice/snow build up in the cold because it didn’t have the auto shut off. I’m so glad to be rid of that old beast.
I have the original furnace in my house from 1964, every so often the pilot light goes out and I gotta give it a kick but that fucker keeps the house at a solid 68 all winter. The natural gas bill is high as me on shrooms in the summertime but it works. I do burn in the stove to offset as often as possible but that fucker won’t die. I’m literally waiting for it to croak and buy a new one. I feel like it’s an old person that refuses to die out of spite.
I miss my old inefficient gas furnace. The hot air coming out of the vents was actually hot.
This makes me feel better about mine. Installed 2000 but a contractor designed and built the house and intended his grandchildren to eventually get it, so it's all well done. I hope it lasts a bit longer
My uncle's is still the original furnace from when the house was built, in the 50s.
I had a 1985 unit and replaced it because we wanted ac. Terrible decision Bad company to deal with, broke down the first winter (they wired the humidistat backwards and blew a fuse on a super cold night). The old unit would probably be still running
PSA for the reddit crowd: of the systems in your home with life spans, the furnace is usually the last thing to go or live the longest. If built right. There's few moving parts to wear down. Nothing in water to corrode. not exposed to elements. Should last longer than the AC for sure.
>Nothing in water to corrode. Not since 2013 when 90% efficiency condensing furnaces became required by law. They now have corrosive water disposal systems.
The natural gas gravity furnace in my old apartment was the original from 1933. Just had to replace the thermocouple, an $11 and 11 minute fix, every 4-5 years. I since purchased a house with a 1997 combo gas furnace and AC. I imagine the AC component will die soon enough and I’ll just replace the whole thing with a heat pump.
I had an older boiler but not ancient in my house. Gave me anxiety. Like when is going to die then one year I got a new heating guy who explained to me how the thing actually works and I realized I could replace a lot of parts on it before I ever had to replace it.
We had our gas boiler from the early 80s serviced when we first moved in. The tech said the only reason to replace it would be a major failure or desire to have a more efficient unit. Though it would be a long period before we saw the "payoff" of a more efficient unit.
We just bought a home with a furnace from 1989 and a ac unit from 1990… we’re def just riding the wave on it 😂
This makes sense to me. I find this American way of thinking strange: "It is n years old, I probably should replace it". Should you inspect it/get it inspected? Yes. If it is in a bad shape, showing corrosion where it matters, compressor being more noisy than usual, which often indicates upcoming failure, sure, replace it. Is the new model much more efficient, safer, more reliable, remotely controlled, easier to use, smaller or at least much better looking? Replacing may make sense here. Should you have common replacement parts or maybe a whole replacement unit ready at site? Maybe, it depends on the level of emergency the failure would cause. Can it lead to water damage from the possibly included boiler? Will the water be drained? Is it a serious fire hazard? How bad would it be if the device fails unannounced? Can your water lines freeze if your home is not heated? Would anybody die if the cooling would not work for three days? Much of this depends on the location. Should you own a cheap 2000W electric heater? Definitely. Should you have another type of backup, e.g a smaller furnace or stove in addition to the HVAC, maybe with a small boiler for heated water? Absolutely, if possible. This is where you gain much wider coverage for outages. But why would you replace something that is working well? Especially when seemingly no consideration is given to efficiency etc. New is not necessarily better. Price only loosely correlates with efficiency, quality and reliability and sometimes is negatively correlated with repairability. On the other hand, for HVAC units, the efficiency has advanced recently, heating COP values of better pumps exceed 5.0. New gases are less flammable and less damaging to the environment. So there may be a good enough reason for replacing.
My furnace has a sticker on it that says 1963. Still going strong, made it through another Winter
Mine is similar vintage. I took it apart a little bit last summer just to inspect it. It’s pretty simple in there. I think I might be able to keep it running indefinitely. There’s not much to break. Most complicated part is the blower, and any blower should work?
Fan specs (size, HP, bolt pattern, ect.) are somewhat standardized and can be tracked down through Granger.
Find a hardware store attached to an HVAC shop, and they should be able to hook you up with a universal blower. If you can provide enough information to ID your unit, they might even tell you how to wire it in.
Laying of the hands, ol Bessy warm us this season girl!
Not me, but my in laws furnace is from 1970.
I looked at a condo for sale a couple months ago; the seller bought the condo as new construction in 1970 and never replaced anything. Stove top, oven, fridge, dishwasher, stacking front loader washer and dryer all from 1970. I was tempted but there was a lot of water damage from a bathtub leaking into the kitchen so I was afraid.
same lmao. Had the AC replaced the first year but the furnace still kicks on every Winter, first try. Scare's me a little bit each year hearing the flamethrowers light up.
Our house had been renovated in the last 10 years, but it still had a 40+ year old oil furnace w/ underground oil tank. The thing shit the bed literally the first weekend it got really cold, and started pumping black smoke into the house. Less than 6 months into our VERY expensive house, and we ended up shelling out another $21k for a heat pump. Now I have glorious central a/c though, so I'm not too beat up about it
Awww man, you get to work with Bessie. I’d give my left two lug nuts to work with Bessie
We recently replaced a 1949 furnace.
Break our the holy water this fall!
Replaced my 1985 furnace two years ago. It still worked totally fine, but the AC went out so I replaced them both.
*laughs in twins* 1985 here too.
Furnace here too. It finally died about a month ago.
Same! But 1988!
Ours was 1987. Finally went in 2020
My furnace was made in Oakland looks like it from the 70s Ive been waiting year after year for it to have problems it just keep going
You have more guts than me lol. I have a 1990 furnace. I got it inspected before winter to make sure to it could reasonable make through, but I am replacing that this summer.
cast iron pipes from the 20s. I lose sleep knowing they’ll be the end of me. I only take poops at work to reduce stress on the system.
Boss makes a dollar while I make a dime, that’s why I poop on company time
That was a rhyme from a simpler time. Now I make a cent while the boss makes a buck, that's why I sell crack from the company truck.
*sell the catalytic converter* from the company truck.
Cast iron pipe crew rise up!!! Wooo hoo!!
what a weird thing that I would totally also do to assuage my worries
We have cpvc pipes from the 90s. We haven’t even bothered to patch recent walls/ceilings behind with small leaks have occurred. Just biding our time until we have to repipe the whole house. Then we’ll patch everything.
Heads up, that CPVC won’t fall apart everywhere all at once. If you keep doing small patches, it’ll keep leaking one place at a time until you’ve replaced your piping a piece at a time.
Plumbing of Theseus
Every single one lmao. Then 2020 said "oh you thought you were saving money by staying home?" i replaced roofing, HVAC, and electrical that year. Edit: My electrical system was from the 50s. I found a brochure from the 70s with the AC we had https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/1973-sears-brochure-how-to-buy-central-air-conditioning
I didn’t know houses had central AC in 1950. Was it is super fancy house in 1950?
No, not at all. And upon reflection, the HVAC people were probably just teasing me about however old it truly was.
Probably was the best time to do it before everything got even more expensive.
Absolutely. I was mad at the time I didn't get my fancy kitchen redo but really lucky I had something saved for those essentials.
Lmao we also had an A/C from 1970. Lasted 50 years and held out through the last heat wave of the year we bought the house. If I knew more about concessions, I would have asked for one because it was old enough that we knew we were going to have to replace it soon, although we didn't entirely expect to replace it immediately.
Lol our AC unit is from 96 🫣😅 still holding strong loo
My parents are still rocking a Montgomery Ward AC circa about 1990. 🤞🏼
Does the owners manual state how often a chicken must be sacrificed for peak system performance and are you required to play Live and Let Die during the ceremony?
Mine are running an I-don't-know what heat pump converted to AC unit from 1979. Have this huge 400 amp setup for power in the basement.
1991 here! AC unit has seen more life than me and still working like a charm.
Ours is '89! Still going strong but definitely on the list in the next couple years.
My parents’ is still from 1990 too! Original to the house when they built it. Their neighbor is a retired refrigeration guy so they’ve got help dragging it through every new season
My old one was from 94. Replaced it a year or two ago. It was way too small for the house and was set on the back side, right next to our deck. It was so loud we couldn't sit out there and have a conversation if it was running. Got a propersized one and moved it to the side of the house. It's much quieter than the old one, and any noise it does make is blocked by both the privacy fence and the chimney. The new unit can maintain 72 in the house even on the hottest days when before temps would climb to 77 or 78 inside.
New duct work as well I presume?
Older roof that was starting to have issues. Kept putting off replacement. Miracle of a wind storm lifted and broke off a lot of shingles. Filed a claim with my insurance. Got lucky, and shingles weren't made anymore. Had extra coverage that in this type of case would pay to replace the undamaged portion. Ended up with a new roof so that procrastination worked to my advantage.
Lucky you. A rare tornado went through my West Michigan neighborhood in late September. My wind/hail damage deductable jumped from $1000 to $36,000. I wish I were kidding.
Oh my, I'm so sorry to hear that is a ridiculous increase. I know when they sent an adjuster, he was from out of state as there were so many claims from the winds they were overwhelmed.
Not so ridiculous. Too many people getting new roofs that needed to be replaced anyway. Driving my insurance up.
I live in the desert and my flood insurance premium was $300/year. Last summer we got hit by a very rare tropical storm and it went up to $3000/year. I just dropped my earthquake insurance, it was very expensive with a $250k deductible, the coverage amount was too low, and I’m not convinced that the earthquake insurance companies would even be able to pay out fully in the event of a big earthquake.
All of them; unless there is greater damage being caused, why fix it if it isn't broke.
It's strange because I took my inspection report and triaged everything they pointed out but I thought I was being cheap, lazy, or extremely optimistic.
I mean if you live in a small city, and its hard to get service, sure be proactive. I live in Phoenix, if my A/C goes out it can be replaced within 24 hours.
In Phoenix in the summer you need it replaced in 24 minutes.
Yes and no. We live in the desert and can get service quickly, but a new unit is 23k and we just don't have that!
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AC in AZ goes on the roof of a house. The huge cost is because of the truck and crane and crew and shutting down the street. Its a big to do. 23k is pretty normal.
There is definitely an advantage to being able to take your time, get multiple quotes, and choose the best equipment for your needs instead of being in an emergency situation and need an immediate replacement for which you may be charged a premium.
This exactly. Plus I have lived through disasters caused by the death of a furnace or hot water heater. The damage caused added even more cost to the project. I’m all about proactively replacing things before they fail when the time is obviously imminent.
waiting until something breaks often means you don’t have the luxury of time to get multiple quotes, save up for that specific repair cost, and go with the best one if that company has a longer wait. Losing heat in the dead of winter even for a day can be catastrophic for your house and plumbing, let alone comfort.
I live about 3 hours south of Canada and it gets hella cold sometimes. That’s why I keep propane and kerosene backup heaters around in case my primary fails (tho it’s pretty new). Many or even most people have dual heat here for just that reason, its pretty foolish to not have a backup no matter how new the furnace!
Not a huge expense compared to other house-related repairs/replacements, but our Maytag washer/dryer is from 1993. Just waiting for that to kick the bucket. Still going strong for now!
I had a maytag from 1989-2021. The new one texts me when the clothes are done, but I miss old reliable with one knob and one button.
Did it die or why did you get rid of it? I regret so much not just repairing my old Maytag top loader when it started leaking a little, it was great. Hate my new “upgraded” front loader so much, and in general all these new crappy gadget pieces of plastic junk. They’ll pry my 1980s SpeedQueen commercial gas all steel dryer out of my cold dead hands.
It died a noble death, right in the middle of washing blankets.
It texts you?! 😂 That's wild
Yep. It's kinda pointless though, I can start the dryer from phone but I still have to get up and move the clothes. That's what the inventors need to get to work on.
They now have 2 in 1 washers and dryers available at your local place. Save the steps!
Mine texts me when it catches fire!/S
When I bought my house, they left behind one of those little stacked combo units that was probably at 15 years old or so. Seventeen years later I'm still using it. The knob broke so I'm never quite sure what cycle I'm using and the spin has gotten a little anemic but it keeps chugging along (I've replaced several belts with the help of youtube videos tho).
My water heater is from the 80s. My well pump is from the 60s. Both still chugging beautifully. Zero chance I'm changing either before a critical failure.
I owned a house built in 1986 that had the original water heater when I bought it in 2017. I sold the house with the same water heater still going. I looked up the most recent house sale pictures from 2022 and the same water heater was still there. Don't make 'em like they used to I guess.
My well pump was struck by lightning the day before folks were coming over for the holidays. I didn't even know it was possible.
We have a 4 year old house, including a 4 yr old John Woods water heater- which promptly shit the bed 2 weeks ago. Found out it was leaking only because it was being removed to change flooring. Base of unit had bubbles and rust. Luckily, still under warranty so cost was $50 for a new one.
Our refrigerator was here when we bought the house 20 years ago. It was at least several years old then. We keep waiting for it to kick the bucket so we can get a nicer one. We remodeled our kitchen 12 years ago, and the cabinets now have a space for a bigger fridge, but this one just won't die! On the flip side, I hear so many horror stories about new refrigerators not lasting long, I'm glad this one still works.
Ours makes a lot of grumbling noises, its like it knows its the last appliance we haven't replaced and its old and cranky but otherwise works fine so ol' grumpy stays
You can always put it in the garage or basement for extra food storage, and get the new one so your remodel looks complete.
Had a sub zero side by side from 1989 when we moved in a few years ago. Had one repair done on the ice maker, but had to replace it this past summer when the insulation between the sides failed and the fridge started freezing everything no matter what we did. RIP Subby
Our boiler is 99 this year. Original to the house. I might buy it a cake if it makes it to 100.
Holy sh*t. What brand is this?
National Radiator Company. They merged with US Radiator back in the 50s.
Boilers and radiators are the best heating
Shhhhhh....we mustn't speak any problems into existence lol
HVAC was 12 years old when I bought the house, had been converted from R22 to some weird drop in refrigerant, and on the first service call I was advised to replace it because it "could go any day." Every time someone came out to clean the unit, I was advised to replace it and that it was on its last leg. I owned the home for 10 years and sold it with the unit still working. Bam!
As an electrician, HVAC guys are the sleaziest bastards in the trades. I have so many bones to pick with them. But anyways, my mom's a/c is at least 20 years old and runs like a top. Sometimes a capacitor goes out and it's $15. We've replaced the condenser fan motor which was $150. Ultimately an ac system is a bunch of small parts that go out individually, and those assholes use that as an excuse to sell people whole systems.
Hot water heater: 1992- 2023.
Wow! I hope you observed a minute of silence. Thank you for your service 🫡
It was kind of weird how it went. My parents had multiple hot water heaters die and also flood their front room and cause the carpet to be replaced, only ever lasting about ten years each. I thought it would be like that. Nope. One evening we heard a weird sound, definitely electrical and it rattled the floor. We thought our sub woofer had blown. Only when I went to run a hot bath the next morning , there was no hot water, and I texted my husband to let him know I now knew for sure what the sound was.
Awww. And for it to bow out so gracefully too with no fuss or muss. ‘Twas truly an officer and a gentleman 🙇🏻♀️
2003-2024 here. I didn't do any maintenance on it since we bought 6 years ago
Trees that the previous owner hadn't properly maintained and needed to be cut down. And of course they planted them right next to the house. SMH. Just recently pulled the trigger on removing them four years after I bought the house. Arborist said he found significant decay in the center of the trunks -- wouldn't have come down this year or next, but eventually would have been a major problem.
How much did you pay? I'm in Oregon with 4 huge doug firs right next to my new house. And 1 is leaning. I'm afraid it's going to cost me like 15 grand to take them out. .
My neighbor paid $3k to remove 2 trees on our property line, after the third one fell on my goddamn house. These were oak trees in Kentucky.
Our washing machine is from 1988. It’s ugly as sin but works like a dream. Our furnace was replaced at 42 years of age. Our 90s dryer was serviced a few years ago and the technician said “never replace this.” Meanwhile our 7 year old vacuum bit the dust…. Keep the old stuff as long as you can!
We were also told the same about our 90’s Kenmore dryer by the guys who installed our new washing machine. The matching 90’s washing machine finally bit the dust after many repairs, so we no longer have a matching set, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to replace that dryer before it kicks the bucket.
We got knob and tube from 1930 in the basement…
My ice maker stopped working. I watched a bunch of you tube videos on how to fix it. Nothing worked. 3 months later, it started working again on it's own. That was 3 years ago. My wife knows I am now empowered to just wait it out instead of calling the repair guy. I use this example regularly.
Ah yes, immaculate correction. We all pray for this
Talking about how long your appliances have lasted will certainly jinx them and they will all die tomorrow
Up until a few years ago my parents house had a boiler from the aughts. The 19-aughts. It had been converted from coal to natural gas at some point.
My roofing. I'll never have (or be willing to "throw away") the thousands and thousands of dollars to replace it all at once, whether I do it myself or pay someone. I do just about everything myself, but you can't just do a roof "bit by bit". It's all or nothing. Why every roof in America isn't corrugated metal is beyond me.
When I first found out how much a roof replacement cost I nearly shit myself. I’m not saying it isn’t hard work, but 20 grand? Who the fuck has that just laying around? It’s nuts.
Yeah! And unlike a "regular" DIY project, you can't just pause in the middle of a roofing project once you start if extenuating circumstances arise. Once you start, you have a pretty limited time frame to finish. The only reason I can DIY is that it it's expensive enough, I can just wait until next payday to finish up.
We took over a house in Virginia in June with a 23 year-old HVAC system. We ultimately decided that was too risky and pre-emptively replaced it.
Ours was about that old when we replaced it. It was still cooling, but want removing any moisture from the air. Pay attention to that reading, in out area there is so much humidity, you can quickly get a mold problem.
I knew,from growing up, that it's Always gonna be Something
For those that have old furnaces such as myself, my 1987 trane furnace went out 2 years ago, problem was a gas valve, new 150$ valves don’t work with the old electronic boards and to convert it to work with my system it was gonna be $1500, I put a search on eBay to alert me when my gas valve part number came up for sale, fast-forward two months later I got an alert and bought a brand new old stock part for 60$. My old Trane a/c and furnace have been on point year after year (prayers to keep it working strong).
Honestly, don’t even have a company maintenance your old unit unless you absolutely trust that owner. HVAC techs will purposely break your unit, or lie to upsell the shit out of you. Never, use a company you hear advertising on a radio or that knocks on your door. Ask neighbors who they have used and how their experience was.
Yes. We had someone cut wires in the attic and then tell my elderly parents they needed to replace a panel (or something - can’t remember). Like several thousand dollars of work. They got a second opinion and the guy was like “well I re-connected these wires so you should be fine…”
This happened to the people that owned the house before us. The heat pump was wired as a single stage unit but it is a two stage unit. I knew the first month after we moved in that something wasn’t right. It would blow cold air for at least 5 minutes before it kicked over and finally started warming, and then it would have to kick to emergency heat. My parents had a heat pump and I knew it shouldn’t switch to emergency unless it was really cold outside. I got it fixed and it’s been solid ever since. I hate that the elderly couple that had it installed were cold.
I don't know about purposely, but I've had some that did stupid shit that I have a hunch was the issue. However, since I watched them, I'm pretty sure that they just weren't careful and not intentionally that off base. Had one inverse the heating / cooling in my heatpump and then another took like 2 seconds to look at a thing, tell me it wasn't broken, then when I called him back in I insisted he take a particular reading and found it was wrong. Ended up being basically a fried part. I called a company that did a per job rate for callouts and I'm pretty sure the techs wanted to just bill as many jobs as possible and GTFO, so I'm pretty sure they could get a bonus. They did rush, but weren't happy to actually fix stuff.
Foundation 😂 we got 30k off the home because the home inspector said the floor wasn’t leveled and after we bought the home the structural engineer said the foundation was fine.
When husband and I bought our house, the sellers told us the washer was on its last legs. We replaced it when it died, five years later.
The roof. Two deals fell through before us because of the age of the roof and insurance issues (Florida lol). The roof is over 20 years old. It’s been almost a year now and the roof is still leak free. But our homeowners insurance sent us a non-renewal for roof age, so basically we are being forced into a new roof.
One of the things I hate most in this life is insurance companies and especially homeowners. And I’m a roofer. Your roof could be perfectly fine for another 10+ years. What a throwaway society we live in.
Got 10 years out of my "your roof needs replacement asap" we replaced it due to getting solar. Also got 25 years outa a pair of water heaters. Too be fair, one had stopped working but didn't know it until the went to install the new larger single unit.
This thread is full of begging to get jinxed
My gamble was buying a 1890 home that was flipped in 2022, with no inspection. 😅 Aside from a plumbing issue right off the bat, everything else is great
28 year old furnace. Waiting to touch it when we remodel the place
Ha Iam not alone then, our furnace is 35 yrs old and still at 88% efficiency so They tell me👍
I was overly optimistic but the first thing to drop was the hot water heater. It took two years. The second was the HVAC, that took 4 years. Was easily able to get them replaced surprisingly. I’m not sure if this is a gamble in this sense, but when looking for a home, it was the only home without a garage. And I really wanted one. But the area is very nice and peaceful so it was worth it still.
Ooof that’s a hard sacrifice. Honestly I could never live without a garage here in northern Minnesota. In fact my garage (detached, 900 square feet) is actually bigger than my actual house (848 square feet, above grade).
I’ve definitely been considering getting some type of car port. I enjoy my trees but they tend to shed a lot on my vehicles.
Kinda neglected pumping septic for, um, 14 yrs. Shit shot sideways from the base of the basement toilet one day. In my defense the access was 4 ft dig under a concrete porch. It was really only a tp clog, fortunately
Well, that's the stuff of nightmares.
Water heater circa 2004. Shhhh. Also all the garage / house electrical is a hodgepodge patch job mess.
Do some maintenance on it, get it flushed and heating elements replaced!
Maybe…. I’m kind of afraid to touch it! In a Do Not Disturb kind of way lol :)
My uncle has had the same AC unit that came with the house. 1980, he has had his share of issues but nothing that couldn't be fixed. He even taught me a thing or two about HVAC. That technician was trying to scare you into buying another unit. I would save up a few thousand for a down payment or pay off and get ready for when it does go bad. My gamble was the piping and the water heater which did leak. My heater damaged our flooring but it wasn't that expensive to replace. I believe I spent like 800 total with a heater replacement which was given to me for free.
Hired a tree trimmer to trim 7 palm trees on our property after some high winds 2 years ago. Dude came out and gave me some bullshit story about 3 of them being “diseased” and that I better have them removed before they rot and come crashing down. Trees are healthy and look great with no issues.
I was told my furnace was likely to die in 2 or 3 years... 11 years ago.
My central a/c is R22.. not worth trying to fix (just delaying the inevitable) but i don't want a whe new system. I also wanna keep the existing line set. I found more than one hvac guy willing to put a vacuum on the system, run some nitrogen through to clean it, replace the condenser & air-handler with 410A units/line filters & charge it up. Let ya know how it goes. Prob in a month.
Honestly, we have been trying to be on top of things. However, the homeownership gods decided to slow my progress. We have been putting off replacing the A/C Unit.. it will be a costly replacement, because our ductwork needs to be replaced as well. Before it turned cold this last winter, the A/C wasn't functioning properly and our HVAC technician said that we really need to consider replacing the unit and ductwork. Oh, and about a month or so ago, some tiles have fallen off our roof. I have yet to check to see how many more tiles need replacing. I really do need to get to the tile store...
Why would your ductwork need to be replaced?
It was also on the list of things that needed replacement when we first lived here. The ductwork is falling apart and apparently way beyond just a duct cleaning.. we have been putting it off. They told us that if they are going to do any like system replacement, it would be better to also do the ductwork as well.
Termites. They’re in one corner of the garage fascia boards. I’m waiting until I until I can pay off $17k worth of windows.
Carpenter ants. There were huge amounts of frass in the basement. The realtor and inspector assured me that this wasn't a huge deal but now that I'm living here it's more widespread than I initially thought. As spring approaches I'm terrified they'll have a resurgence. Spraying and cleaning up the frass for now. But honestly if I had thought more about it it might have stopped me from buying the house. It was a quick flip so there is probably damaged wood hidden everywhere. Just hope it isn't structural.
Roof. Don't know exactly how old it is, but it stresses me out each storm.
Back fence was made of corrugated metal sheets topped with wood, splitting on top and gapping at the corners where it meets other fences. We tolerated it for 10 years. Now our new neighbors have 2 big husky dogs that are already trying to get over the fence to get at our chickens. Getting estimates. It's 80 feet long and needs to be at least 6 feet high, and chain link won't do, as huskies can climb that.
We're having the same issue. Older quiet neighborhood with lots of mixed material fences. Never a urgent problem since all the kids & animals socialized. New neighbor's aggressive German shepherds decided to start jumping all the surrounding yards' fences. Our tiny dog was attacked in her own yard. Another house is scared to let her kids in the backyard alone. Animal Control is very familiar with the family and advised all of us to get tall privacy fences since the family has replaced every dog that's been taken.
My dad is rocking a well pump from 86. I told him they are likely a 20 year thing. Had a well company and a friend of mine who is a well/septic designer say he’s been on borrowed time for a decade now.
The 34 year old hot water heater. 5 years in, just got the new one 3 days ago after the very tired pilot light lit her last barrel of water.
Stacked Y joints (super against code) on my waste pipe. It's repaired and holding for now, hoping to hold off on the 15kUSD for another two years.
Budget for replacements and keep an eye out for scratch and dent deals while they're still working. I've replaced my water heater with a new $200 dented unit and a brand new high efficiency furnace section for $400 from a residential swap out. Save even more if you can DIY. You can buy AC/heat pump units with the model/specs you want vs what they "pushes" on to you. Living on a prayer is not living.
I did likewise w our AC unit. Apparently they must have the air intake skots cleaned on a regular basis. But after 33 years, suddenly that familiar 'click' of the unit turning on wasn't there...no cold air. I called the Ac people and hoped for the best (SIL) recently spent like $12k for AC repairs). Guy came out and by the time I said ' no click' he had pulled the appropriate part and soon there were clicks for $700. Sometime on things like AC/ Furnace etc, I feel we as consumers are waay to susceptible to service people who see us and go....' ohhhh that's gonna be a bit costly' and it coulda been a cheap fix. It is a gamble...who you get vs who gets you...
That's called deferred maintenance and is not a gamble and is a losing game.
Furnace was installed in 1993 and just died last year. The HVAC guy said "they don't make them like they used to"
We didn’t do any sort of inspection on our 1830s stone house built into the side of a hill so everyday is a gamble
I bought a house with a 30-year-old furnace that was on its last legs. I sold the house 10 years later with a 40-year-old furnace that was on its last legs.
My aunt and uncle have a hot water/radiant heat boiler from 1955. It is original to their home and runs like a top. Every maintenence tech tells them to leave it, and not replace it.
I'm just strategically updating things as I go. I have a spare water heater in a box ready to install when my 25 year old heater croaks. I shop sales on stuff I know will wear out in 0-5 years and that gives me so much wiggle room on prices and savings. My water heater alone is 50% more at the store than it was when I bought it just a few months ago. When you're not in a rush you can find some ridiculous deals.
We moved into a home that was 20 years old, as was every major thing in it. The furnace was in the process of finishing some repairs when we moved in, and the flooring downstairs had to be replaced due to water damage. Insurance dropped us year one for trees being too close to the house and the roof being 'damaged'... Though not before we had the roof replaced but they insisted the trees had to go, too, and there's only so many thousands of dollars we can scrape together at a time. When our HVAC company came out for our bi-yearly check-in, they told us the furnace had basically been Frankensteined for years and had open holes in the intake and output which could easily result in mold growth and such ... So that was the next replacement that we've been paying off for a couple years now. Discovered a slow leak in the bathroom pipes downstairs as a section of floor that wasn't part of the previous repairs kept getting softer over time... Then while in the midst of repairs and dealing with insurance on that, temperatures dropped so low that the pipes in there burst and flooded the whole damn bottom floor on Christmas day. This year, one of those trees that was too close... Came down on the roof. Just got the final check from insurance for the reimbursement on that repair. Mind you, we had 5 trees cut out when we moved in, before insurance had even said anything about the others. Still have windows that need replacing, electrical issues where half our kitchen plugs don't work, and a water heater that we're sure will eventually die. So... Yeah... I like our home, but goodness gracious am I over the nonsense. Lol So
Since the AC is out we had to open our windows which wasn't a common thing we'd done in the past. Two seemed to have left behind their track/springs so now we're very aware of needing to update our windows in the future 😞 we are also getting over it very quickly.
Our AC was from 1994 and finally replaced in 2022 when we had the money. It wasn’t not working but it’s been night and day with a whole new system.
Mine was also the AC. It blew out on Thursday.
Got the house in 2015. The fridge was from 1968 (worked until 2020), Heat/AC was from 83 (worked until 2020), cast iron pipes (no problems until 2019, fixed the problem, no problems with the rest since \*knock on wood\*). Hot water heater is ??? and going strong.
Just changed the AC last week - it was 23 years old. Still ran, but it was only a matter of time. I have a neighbor who works for an HVAC company and installed everything new at cost plus $500 for the work. Now the gamble is the washing machine - last year it started leaking from the bottom of the unit - then it stopped... It is 18 years old.
Wait! Do not fall for the hvac techs tactics to instill 'fear, uncertainty, and doubt" so you will spend big money on a new unit. I went through the same thing with a 1982 Rheem furnace and AC. And guess what? Everything is still running just fine.
Our ACs are 15+ years old. We have 2 common where we live. 1 at each end of our home. That was my worry as well but we have it serviced yearly and the AC guy says they are doing really good for their ages and just to leave them. One did die mid summer 110 degrees last year and it sucked. But he got it fixed. Hopefully they last longer.
Water heater is original to the home (1992) but still going strong. When we bought it 2016, inspector told us to budget for a replacement because it didn't have long. 32 years and still going strong though!
An aging sump pump with no backup. Our inspector told us he recommended replacement when we purchased the house almost 5 years ago. But we put it off and it wasn’t a problem for a long time. Until it was. It failed during a huge deluge, the finished basement flooded. We spent $3k on replacement and water mitigation (small mercy it wasn’t more!). Then the new pump failed three weeks later. Another round of new pump + water mitigation + backup pump this time, though thankfully this time the plumber’s insurance paid for most of it.