Sometimes I Hate Being a Homeowner

So I am sitting on my couch, its 9:44pm and I am freezzzzing my buns off. Well I take that back...not so much right now..since we have a fire running and a space heater and a large blanket over me. I pulled out my really heavy blanket that my Grandma made for me and its helping..ALOT.

Let me tell you the crazy story of today. Well I guess I have to back up...ever since we had to turn our heat on, we noticed that the furnace kept turning off. We would be warm one minute and all of a sudden COLD as ICE! So Brian or myself would have to go down into the basement and flick the switch on the furnace and it would go on again. This happened to us last Winter and the winter before, same old story we had the Furnace People out and tons of $$$ later we had a new part and WHAALLLLA heat again. So this time around we thought we had found the problem.....Brian fixed what ever part we thought needed to be fixed and from that point on...the furnace worked like a champ. We did however call our friends at Four Seasons Furnace Co and decided to have them come out for a Furnace clean-up and check-up just to be on the safe side. We were starting to get sick of this furnace, but it was working so we thought it would be and in and out appointment. We we called the company and they only had an open appointment ONE MONTH out...Holy Crap One month! So one month past and here we are today.


Four Seasons was to arrive between 8-1pm...so I waited and waited and they finally showed at 3:45..I was so pissed. My whole day of plans was ruined! Anyways the guy comes in, goes downstairs and starts his job. Brian had stopped home to pick up some work stuff and thank god he did! I swear he was home 10 minutes and the guy comes upstairs and says he needs to show Brian something on the furnace. OMG this is not good...especially with our history.

Long story short there was a medium crack on the heat exchanger and it is and has been leaking carbon monoxide into our home. WOW...he does tell us that it was not a large amount, not large enough for our monitors upstairs to go off...but still leaking. Not safe at all, especially with children in the home (Um really!) He at that point tells us that he can no longer run his tests and do his cleaning..let alone turn the furnace back on...its too much of a liability, we can turn it on if we want but at our own risk, we as in Four Seasons can not be responsible if anything happens...UM THANKS very comforting...OK so moving on....blah blah blah of sales talk..

how much to replace heat exchanger, what is labor, is it worth it, do we need a new one blah blah...After all that...we HAD to get a new furnace, and humidifier...that is not working either...and pronto because our house is now starting to get cold..REALLY REALLY cold!!!

So we finally decide on a furnace/humidifier and the guy says that he can have someone install it tonight..the guys on the night shift can be here between 6-9pm. Fine great..lets get this thing moving!! I ask furnace guy how long will it take...he smiles and says anywhere from 4 to 9 hours. We laugh, he laughs...a couple of are you serious back and forths and we never truly got a straight answer, and we move on, almost as if we did not believe him...he did not seem like he was telling the truth to me. Looking back I am not sure we were thinking straight. We did just make a big purchase that we were not expecting and not happy about. The only bonus was that we did get him to leave two space heaters. We have one, so three is not too bad...we were starting to get feeling back in our toes.

8:30-pm Doorbell rings, two large men walk in with tool belts and tool boxes....ready to install. After introductions I kindly ask them, "so guys, how long do you think this is going to take?" The guy looks at me with a smile and says "Oh about 8-9 hours" UM WHAT..that means that you are going to be in my house...you two guys ....STRANGERS in my house, drilling, making lots of loud noises, moving large pieces of equipment until 4:30/5 in the morning? I look at Brian and we do another OMG are you serious???? And they start moving right away..these guys mean business. Brian and I are gearing up for a long night on the couch...watching movies...doing whatever we have to try and stay up while two Strangers work on our furnace in our home. So weird!!!

About an hour and a half in, one guy comes up to me and says we have a SERIOUS problem. OMG not again, why! why us..what is with our luck!!! I tell him break it to me gently. He explains that he just pulled the new furnace out and it is damaged and dented. So he has to drive back to Bedford Park (about and hour away) and pick up another one. Long story short, we finally agree to call it a night and tell them we will work it out with the space heaters and blankets and they can come back in the morning. I am not waiting two hours for them to go back and forth and then spend 7 hours in my basement.

So that's where we are now...no heat, just a lovely fire and space heaters. God I pray that my kids stay warm tonight. We doubled up on blankets and placed space heaters in their rooms...Now if I can just convince myself that they will be safe I think I may be able to get some sleep...but I am not sure.

What a day. If this would have happened a couple of hours earlier...I would have packed up the whole family and went to my parents house for a nice cozy good night sleep or better yet, I am sure we could have had a slumber party on the St.Legers blow up mattress in their loft or slept on Buzz & Kelly's couch since they live down the street....Right Girls?? HAHA totally kidding.

But its almost 10pm, both kids have been sleeping for a while!

I am sure I am making this seem a bit more dramatic than it really is, but its been a long day. Just another day in the life of a homeowner...I really hate it sometimes!!!