The home inspection was this morning

**nuisance26** · 07-24-2012, 04:22 PM

~It took a long time and I was right about almost everything I guessed(condition/safety/wear/age)so the no surprises thing was awesome. Nearly everything checked out great with a few minor things like outlet/safe wires/baseboard heater covers. There were some water pressure issues but nothing to indicate that it was anything more than adjusting the flow at the cistern(the inspector said he wasn't allowed to touch that faucet).
Even though the inspector raved about the wonderfully built, clean and easily accessible cistern, I was disappointed to learn that it was only 1600 gallons. I was hoping for the 2000+ gallon tanks I'd been reading about. We're planning to switch out the plumbing fixtures to low flow ASAP, exchanging our top load washer for a front load and minimizing waste even further than we have in the past. In NJ we were watering my garden plus using a kiddie pool and still coming in under 3000 gallons a month without trying hard at all. Everything in the rental is high pressure, massive flow and we are using 6000 gallons a month here. Knowing I need to pay upfront and have it trucked in at the new place makes me more nervous about wasting any.
Being able to take interior pictures and measurements was very helpful and did get me more excited about moving. My ds is so excited about this place. You'd think he'd picked it himself.
Now I have to think up a cool name for our new homestead.

~

**wanderlusting** · 07-24-2012, 05:07 PM

Yay- that's so exciting that things are coming along!

**Spirit Deer** · 07-24-2012, 05:35 PM

I still have fingers crossed for you, which makes it really hard to type.

It sounds like things are coming along. Does this good inspection mean you're assured of getting the place now?

**nuisance26** · 07-24-2012, 05:45 PM

~The inspection was for our benefit to rule out anything major our untrained eyes couldn't see. It really does feel like things are finally moving along though which is making me breath easier.

Next up: receiving and reviewing the Common Interest Community covenants. No fees are due and the agreement is over 30 years old. It'd be really hard for anyone to enforce anything so I don't foresee a problem there either.~

**nodmicks** · 07-24-2012, 06:01 PM

Sounds like it went well! We also had the inspection on the house we want to purchase today. A few minor issues for us. I was shocked is was 2.5 hours.

**Spirit Deer** · 07-24-2012, 06:07 PM

What have you heard about selling your place, Nod?

**nodmicks** · 07-24-2012, 06:21 PM

Originally Posted by Spirit Deer

What have you heard about selling your place, Nod?

Final answer by bank on all their financing by Fri. We also have another buyer in line after them so fingers crossed! I figure odds are we cant strike out 3 times

**nuisance26** · 07-24-2012, 08:32 PM

~It has a brand new disposal Alessa. The inspector actually told us not to use it too much though, to save water. I thought that was pretty good advice when the water rate out there is 3x the cost of public water.
Nodmicks, I gotta tell you, this is so much more fun going through this in tandem with you! I love seeing your updates.

~

**Spirit Deer** · 07-24-2012, 08:35 PM

Is this place in the country or in town?

If you're on a septic system, you should not use a disposal AT ALL. It will end up clogging up the holes in the pipes in the drain field, resulting in thousands of dollars worth of repairs.

Limit bleach use if you're on a septic system, too. Bleach and other disinfectants kill off the good bacteria that make a septic system function.

**nuisance26** · 07-24-2012, 08:37 PM

~It is a septic, our first experience with that so TY! I'd rather compost anyway.

~

**Spirit Deer** · 07-24-2012, 08:42 PM

Check with the county extension office or maybe it was the county health office. (This was almost twenty years ago now, so I forget who presented it.) They gave a free seminar about the care and feeding of our septic system which was very helpful and informative, and they also had some brochures and info about the same. They may use a different septic system there that allows for use of disposals, now that I think about it. I guess I'd be surprised though.

Minnesota no longer allows dug wells or cisterns. They have to be drilled wells. All septic systems here have to be inspected and repaired or replaced if needed before a property is sold. Very strict, and it's a good thing from a public health standpoint.

Yeah, I know I'm weird because I'm interested in all this stuff.

Also check with the extension office and the DNR (or Colorado's equivalent, whoever deals with wildlife) and find out what they advise about composting. I'd love to compost here, but can't find out how to do so without attracting bears, coons, and other beasties.

**nodmicks** · 07-24-2012, 08:56 PM

Thanks Constance. I have enjoyed seeing your updates also! We have had a septic system the last 15 years and were always told by the inspoector and the guys that do every other year pumping and inspections that disposals are a big no no. Grease and food kill the good bacteria in the system. Sounds like composting is a wonderful idea!

We were also told by all the experts to stay away from all the additives for the septic.

**Spirit Deer** · 07-24-2012, 09:38 PM

We were told that too, about not putting food particles down the drain, so be sure to use baskets in the drain to catch stuff.

We have only had our system pumped out once in about seventeen years or so, but it gets very light use. It's just the two of us, we rarely have company, and my husband is gone to work most of the time, so it's not like it's being flushed constantly. It's also oversized for our needs because they're built based on the number of bedrooms and we have four.

**ShadowMom** · 07-24-2012, 09:46 PM

Glad to hear things seem to be moving along!

**Spirit Deer** · 07-25-2012, 08:45 AM

Been thinking about this cistern set-up. I'm not familiar with that as a modern-day practice so I did some research. Not much, but enough to understand people now use huge plastic tanks for water storage and some places do not have enough water to have wells.

Do you know why the new place does not have a well? Can you look into it? It seems like a well, if possible, might be cheaper in the long run for you and less hassle, but of course I'm not familiar with your geology there enough to know if you'd have adequate ground water. Or maybe you can't get good water there. Or some other reason I can't think of. I'm also wondering how old your cistern set-up is. The reason I'm wondering about that is because of the new technologies being used to drill wells now, such as hydrofracking. If the cistern system is older, maybe there have been better well drilling methods developed since it was put in.

It used to be difficult to get water up here. People could go down a thousand feet and still not hit water. It was all hit and miss. And then of course, since we're on the Iron Range, there was the issue of mineral content, taste, rust in the water, etc. But by the time we had our well drilled about seventeen years ago, they had just started hydrofracking. Our well went down fifty feet before they hit ledge rock. Then they drilled down through that another 375 feet. We still did not have water, so they fracked. We've had good water and plenty of it since then. The fracking cost us about $3,000 extra, for a total of $14,000 for the entire well, but we haven't had any expense for water since then nor any interruption in water service except during power outages. Costs for wells vary greatly depending on local geology and how deep your water table is, but it might be worth looking into. Our well was expensive for our area due to the cost of fracking and the depth drilled through solid rock, but we did save some money for the 375 feet of casing we didn't need.

Just some thoughts. Like you don't have enough on your mind.