Money Pit

Well, it's been an eventful first few days in the house. As mentioned before, we found out our dishwasher spouts water like Niagra Falls which comes down in sheets onto the basement floor. I also found that the toilet will get clogged and back up. Not to be gross, but I found this out with a bowl full of crap.

And suddenly this morning, (Thursday, Jan 8) there was no hot water. Now, our oil-fired hot water heater is not terribly old and should have many years left of service. The issue stemmed from a clogged oil line. The previous owner had gotten an oil delivery in mid-December but not a whole lot. It must have been running low and the pump line to the oil burner on the heater picked up some sludge and prevented it from getting oil. When the oil tank is full, the sludge tends to stay on the sides of the tank but when it gets lower, it obviously drains down to the bottom and can clog the pickup. All is well though after a visit from our friendly local plumbing and heating guy.

Oil-fired water heater service - unclogging the line to the burner, filter and fitting change.













We got an oil delivery this morning too, our first as homeowners - $401.60 for 200 gallons. Not too bad, but the price of heating oil went up a few cents the day we put the order in.

The tally for the plumber was $108.75. That's $510 for one day. Hope the rest of the week is quiet...