Homeowner's Delight

We have lived in our 1914 Arts and Crafts style home in Greenacres for over 20 years. And though the house is almost 100 years old, for the most part it has held up very well. Yes, when we moved in we quickly realized that our ancient furnace could only put out enough hot water for one shower. So when we recovered from the shock of the closing costs we put in a separate hot water heater. There have been other bumps along the way – a White Pine tree fell on the house, a leaky kitchen ceiling – but these were things that could be cleared up with a little angst and a few phone calls.

That was then, and now is now – and it appears that our luck has finally run out. The sad story began in October when temperatures dipped and my husband decided to turn on the oil burner. Little did he know that there was sludge in the line, the safety switch was broken and voila, … our oil burner was saturated with oil. First it smoked and then it really burned. Not realizing the seriousness of the situation, we tried to turn it off and headed out to dinner. By the time we got home, we had to call the fire department. Smoke billowed out of the burner and rose from the basement to the third floor. Five trucks arrived, we grabbed our valuables and stood shivering outside, wondering why we had never bothered to change the batteries in our smoke alarms.

Now what? After the smoke cleared we learned that the burner was kaput. The trusty steel box had to go. We thought it might be good to convert to gas, but with a full tank of oil underground, worth $2,400, we were reluctant to waste the oil. After much deliberation and conferring with the insurance company and several contractors, we decided to eat the cost of the oil and move forward with the conversion to gas.

However we didn’t realize that Con Edison could take months to approve the new service. While we huddled next to our electric heaters, days turned into weeks and we waited and waited. And who knew that a freak October snowstorm would intervene and knock out the power. Now we were without heat, without power and without a solution to our problem.

We moved in with gracious friends awaiting the return of the power as the temperature in the house fell to 46 degrees. Strangely, throughout the entire crisis, there was still hot water in our trusty hot water heater – so chilly days of despair could be cured with a warm bath.

Finally, after emails and phone calls, Con Ed gave us the go ahead and a new heating system was installed that warmed a good part of the house. Cleaning crews swarmed the house to scrub away the soot left by the smoky burner, scouring every item we owned, including the walls and the ceilings. The upholstery was steamed and all the rugs in the house was taken out for cleaning. But that wasn’t the end. It turned out that we needed a new hot water system as well – as we had been using the same water that heated the house for cooking and bathing for years without knowing it!

So now, though we do have heat in most of the house, we are still waiting for hot water. The 1,000-gallon oil tank needs to be dug out of the front lawn and we pray the excavators won’t find an oil leak.

Though I liken the situation to the plagues …. Oil, Fire, Cold Showers, Darkness, etc. my aunt would call these “uptown” problems. And she is right. We still do own a beautiful house – and maybe one day all systems will be go. This humbling experience has made me realize how lucky we are to have a home, especially one in Scarsdale. … plus the resources to correct our myriad problems.