Homeowner woes

Have to vent, totally not adoption related.

Toilet fixed! Busted pipe in basement fixed! (gotta love the cold temps that busted our pipe last year and cracked a window). Appointment was also made to perform routine maintenance on the heater and fix a duct issue in the basement.

In the four years we have lived in our home (we are the first owners), we have decided we must have had the world's worst home builder and sub contractors. Our plumber was TERRIBLE. When we first moved in, we went to start up the water softener and water went shooting out all over the basement. The water softener company came out to fix it and said whoever installed it didn't do it correctly. That would have been the plumbers.

Today I found out from the company we called to fix the toilet that the plumbers didn't do things correctly again. They installed the toilet improperly in the downstairs bathroom and put plastic seals on backwards. They also failed to angle the water faucet pipe correctly so the water drained back into the house instead of out to the yard. This led to water staying in the pipe after we shut the water off for the winter and when temps dipped well below freezing last year, the pipe burst. We also had the wrong faucets in the house but got those replaced and the plumbers improperly installed the bathtub faucet and shower head in one of the bathrooms. There was also the leak under the sink in the guest bathroom. See, they were awful.

Don't get me wrong I am grateful that we are able to afford to own a home (hence that is one reason we left CA) but sometimes being a homeowner is frustrating. Between the plumbing issues, deck issues, and a handful of other things, we were less than satisfied with our builders and the plumbers. I made my frustrations known to the builders just shortly after moving in and within the first year we lived here. The plumbers are now on my list. I am going to contact them and let them know that I will never recommend them to anyone and I have already told people about these issues and encourage them to select another plumbing contractor.

My displeasure goes so far that when and if we build another home I won't work with a company that wants to use this plumber. It has caused me time and money to fix all the things they have done wrong. Some we caught in the first year under warranty, others are rearing their ugly head now. Okay, I feel better now that I vented.