3 tips if you are considering building or buying a new house

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Clarentavious

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For anyone who is thinking about it, here are 3 suggestions you should take into consideration

The current house I live in is like, 15 years old, give or take. I've been thinking about the major "repairs" that have been done to it.

1. Use PVC pipes for your plumping. We had copper pipes in this house before, and the impurities and minerals from the city water lead to corrosion and build up in the pipes. They had to come into our house with a jackhammer, rip out our carpet, and tear up the concrete ground to just find out what the problem was. We had PVC piping run through our attic, instead of under the house. The construction was quite costly. PVC pipes are more resistant to build up.

2. The foundation of the house should be brick. From the termites, to the rotting from rain and humidity, to the threat of hurricanes, to the threat of fires, the drawbacks of wood siding became apparent quite quickly... and the reduced cost of using it just isn't worth the risk.

3. Get cast iron tubs for your bathrooms. They don't rust as easily as stainless steel tubs. Stainless steel is less expensive, and weighs less, but I assure you that you'll wind up replacing it soon enough, and it will be a hassle.

Well, if any of you are considering getting a house, I hope this info has proven useful. I can't give any personal advice on this one, as my house hasn't had it, but I'd stay away from gas power, and rely on AC electricity alone - in my opinion the risk of your neighborhood turning into napalm and carbon monoxide poisoning is not worth the few advantages gas offers.
 
I disagree about the copper pipes. I know because I'm a plumber that copper is much better than PVC because PVC contains cancer causing agent that could eventually cause health problems when it deteroriates with age. It also is GLUED together which could burst if the pressure was ever greatly increased for any reason. Copper , on the other hand, will not allow build up of calcium inside of its walls and can be welded together with lead free solder. This type of installation will last much longer than galvanized pipes and for certain longer than PVC. Look up Poly Vinal Chloride and see what it can do to your body if you drink it. You will drink it because any PVC over time will deteroriate. Copper will also deteroriate but can be absorbed in your body as a trace element without any harm.
 
our house is over 30 years old and i cant even list all the problems we have with it.
the roof leaks, we had to replace the phone wires last month because of said leaky roof and water getting in the attic.
the planks on the side of the house are rotting off.
the back porch is a terrible safty hazard and near to collapse.
2 windows are in their frames crooked. the one in my room has a gap at the top of 2+ inches, nasty draft in the winter and bugs get in.
the wiring is so messed up when you turn on the light in the hall the living room lights go off.
we need to replace the carpet upstairs and we had to replace floorboards in the kitchen.

dont buy fixerer-upers. thats my 2 cents.
 
I agree with cosmictraveller. PVC is bad shit. Many stores will not stock childrens toys made from PVC as it's in the class of chemicals known as pseudo oestrogens, and has been linked to hormonal imbalances in children, and lowering of sperm count in males.

Of course, PVC isn't just once simple chemical, Poly Vinyl Chloride. it's a cocktail of hardeners and plasticisers, all of which are complex organic molecules, which do the harm.

So having water delivered through it seems a bit dangerous.
 
Yikes, Mike the plumber at Kwik Fix did not tell us this. He also happens to be our neighbor.....

We have a professional water filter on our sink in the kitchen, and that is the only water I drink from the house. There's a tank underneath the cabinet, with tubes, a membrane filter, etc... My parents decided to get one as they were tired of buying bottled water.

It is supposed to filter out impurities, bacteria, and other stuff. Do you think it might offer an protection?
 
weird. I lived in a 50 year old house which never had any problems. Maybe there is a problem with the building regulations in your area?
 
The best thing I can recommend to you is to BUY your water in BOTTLES. Get something from a natural spring if possible like Zepher hills or North Carolina water. The filters that you can buy don't do that good of a job getting rid of unwanted taste or some other contaminates. Reverse osmosis is a great filter but it costs over 500.00 US. It would be the only filter I would ever install to be certain of safety. Bottled water is the way to go for DRINKING OR COOKING only. The tap water is fine for bathing and cleaning with.
 
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Well we also have a water softener unit in the garage, which adds salt to the water and makes it feel slimey, I hate it. However this is supposed to increase the longevity of the 3 filters. Um, I think the company that installed it is Affordable Water. They come by every so often to check the total disolve solid count, and see if any of the filters need changing.
 
Originally posted by cosmictraveler
The best thing I can recommend to you is to BUY your water in BOTTLES. Get something from a natural spring if possible like Zepher hills or North Carolina water. The filters that you can buy don't do that good of a job getting rid of unwanted taste or some other contaminates. Reverse osmosis is a great filter but it costs over 500.00 US. It would be the only filter I would ever install to be certain of safety. Bottled water is the way to go for DRINKING OR COOKING only. The tap water is fine for bathing and cleaning with.
Click to expand...

?? I remember seeing some documentaries about bottled water having a higher bacteria count than tap water.
 
It all depends on how old the water is and has been sitting on the shelf. Most larger food chains have a pretty fast turn over rate so I don't think they would have a problem with it at all, but as you say you can never be certain. I still would rather have bottled than regular tap because of fewer containimates in it.
 
There are a couple of other tips I could recommend, though they weren't as big of repairs. Avoid tile like wall structures in bathrooms. Get a whole solid wall like you usually see in hotels. With a wall with tiles connected together, all of the humidity and moisture in bathrooms, from showers and what not, will wear away at the caulking and cause leaks.

Tiles are ok for the bathroom floor if you have hard tiles truly sealed (like cement, not with caulk or grout), but avoid them on the walls.

Also it is wise to invest in a high quality air conditioner with a good filter.
 
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