Our Closing Drama

Dear Friends,
      It is inevitable.  Whenever you put your house on the market people always want to tell you their worst case scenario stories.  Similar to when you are nine months pregnant and people feel the need to tell you of their six hours of pushing only to end up with an emergency c-section nightmare, but with the “hopefully that won’t happen to you” sentiment attached as an afterthought.  

Our closing was quite dramatic but I’m telling you this in a “please learn from this teachable moment” fashion.   Well, we actually had two closings and the one on our old house was sweaty but seamless.  No problems whatsoever.  Sweaty because we were still grabbing stuff out of the yard thirty minutes beforehand but it all went down without a single complication.  The closing on the new house, however was another story…

The Tuesday afternoon before we were supposed to close (Wednesday) I got a call from Mr. C saying that our realtor wanted us to do a walkthrough that night.  We were trying to figure out a time that would work best with dinner and after work plans.  At one point Mr. C said,  ”Is this really necessary?  I mean we just saw the house again a few days ago and everything looked great.”  {Important event # 1}  I said, “Well, we should probably do it just to make sure nothing has gone wrong & that everything from the inspection is taken care of.”

Well, we dragged the kids over that night and they got to play a game of run around the empty house while we checked things out.  {Important event #2}  We were in the guest bath upstairs when Mr. C spotted a very small amount of water on the floor.  It was about the size of a nickel.  He was all “where did this come from” while I’m rolling my eyes, ready to go already.   There were several plausible explanations so it didn’t seem like a big deal.  {Important event #3}  Our realtor said,  ”We can go up in the attic and check up there if you want.”  

Mr. C & the realtor hauled up the ladder while I covered my ears from the noise the children were making (the acoustics in an empty house with hardwood floors is insane) and looked at my watch for the tenth time.   And then I heard an UH OH.  Silence.  Grim faces. It seems that there was water overflowing from the water heater.  It had filled the pan and was spilling over.  Yes, our water heater is in the attic.  That is where they put them in newish houses around here and that is just the way it is.

Basically after that things got crazy.  A plumber was called.  The other realtor was called.  The relo company was called.  A flurry of people came over.  My parents joined the fun.   Someone had the good sense to turn off the water to the house.  (Make sure you know where the shut off is, people! )  There was a lot of standing around and a lot of “hmms.”   I left to go to dinner with friends.  Yes, you read that correctly.  In the middle of a crisis, I bailed for my one night out a month with girlfriends.  I needed it, okay?  Don’t judge me.  Now you know why I was clock watching earlier.

At one point water started to come through the ceiling and into the downstairs hallway.  There were buckets and maybe a few curse words.  I’m guessing on that because I wasn’t there.  My mom took the children home so they wouldn’t develop potty mouths.  

Eventually, the water subsided and everyone went home for the night.  The relo company agreed to repair the damage.  A contract was drawn up for that.  Drywall was involved and paint and plumbing.  It was not cheap but cost was not a factor as we were not paying for it.    The closing was delayed until all the repairs were made in a satisfactory fashion.  Luckily it was as all completed within the week and our closing went forward.

Why did the water heater leak in the first place?  The pilot was lit that afternoon by the gas company in preparation for our arrival.   Apparently,  something went awry during that visit.  A pressure relief valve was not released or something caused a build-up of pressure.  What I do know is that the pressure built up and caused the water to leak.  And leak it did!  We have since added expansion tanks to the water heater which will give the water somewhere to go if there was another scenario of pressure build-up.

The best part of the story?  That water in the guest bathroom was just a droplet from someone washing hands or cleaning.  It had nothing to do with the water heater.  

Can you imagine if we had ignored it, closed on the house and arrived the next day to a collapsed ceiling, ruined hardwood floors, and water everywhere?

I am thankful that the man above was looking out for us that day  Thankful that I insisted we go on the walkthrough.  Thankful that Mr. C paid attention to that tiny drop of water. Thankful that our realtor suggested we go in the attic.

The moral of this story??  GO on a walkthrough before you close.  Do it as close to the closing as you can.  Check everything!  Attic, basement, crawl space, whatever.   Make sure EVERYTHING is just how it should be before you sign on the dotted line and take ownership.

Luckily, our drama was small potatoes compared to what it could have been.  Fate was certainly on our side that night! I am still sending up “thank you” prayers.