When we bought our house, there were two big issues we knew that we needed to deal with right away:
- the ancient furnace for the first floor was so poorly maintained we weren’t sure it would run
- the 32 year old roof was at the end of it’s life and there was a hole in it (it was actively leaking into the attic every time it rained)
Thankfully we knew about both of these issues when we bid on the house, and we were able to negotiate thousands of dollars back at closing to go towards those updates (since a new roof and a new furnace are hardly cheap fixes). Then it was just a matter of getting them repaired as soon as possible. So while we were on our book tour, picture us playing phone tag with furnace folks and roofers in order to get those things straight while bouncing around the country. And by some miracle, we were able to get the furnace cleaned and running along with a completely new 50 year dimensional shingle roof within a few weeks of owning the house.
It was crazy to see how much rot there was (in some cases, the entire roof, including the plywood underneath, had to be removed and replaced).
It definitely got a little worse looking before it got better…
… but Clara didn’t seem fazed by the 2′ piles of old roofing stuff around the house. Atta girl.
Ahh, much better.
Oh and as for how we chose the roofer, we used them on our first house and loved them (they’re a a fully insured family owned local business who’ve been in the roofing game for nearly 60 years). We still got three roofing estimates again, just to be sure, but they came in at the best price plus they were folks we had used already – so it was a nice easy choice.
When it came to choosing the type of roof, we looked around at homes in our neighborhood and noticed that the brick colonials that we loved the most had this type of roof (it’s a 50 year dimensional shingle roof that has nice big slate-like shapes going on, which seemed more to scale with the house) so we pulled the trigger. You can see them best on the lower roof on the left of the house (that’s over the garage) in this picture:
You get more of the slate-like look when you get closer. Here’s a photo of a smaller awning on the back of the house that shows how beefy and square-ish the tiles are. The brand is GAF Camelot 2, and the color is Antique Slate. It actually has a lifetime warranty, so although it’s occasionally known as a 50 year roof, it could hold up longer (knock on wood). Plus it has the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, which is nice, but I always wish there was an actual seal (you know, with a ball on his nose) in the logo. Missed opportunity.
But while the new roof felt like a nice long-term fix (which was especially comforting after we confirmed that there was no long-term damage or mold from that leak) we continued to have issues with the furnace. So that initial fix felt like a band-aid while the new roof was a nice solid improvement. Apparently the furnace was original to the house (32 years old) and had never been cleaned. Never! They didn’t even think the filter had been changed once. So yeah. It was, in the words of Rob Lowe on Parks & Rec, LITERALLY a hot mess.
And since it was so old and has never really been serviced or maintained, it was incredibly hard to find parts. So finally after our 5th service call or so (we were smelling gas in the garage, which was SCARY and we worried there was some sort of leak or carbon monoxide issue) we got a pretty amazing call from our home warranty folks. We were getting a brand new Goodman furnace (which comes with an awesome warranty). On the house! As in, it was going to be free thanks to the 1 year home warranty that we got when we bought our house (we paid about $500 for it at closing because we knew if anything major broke in that time, it would be covered, and that peace of mind seemed worth it to us). Let me tell you, when they pulled into our driveway with a new 5K furnace (which included free installation and some new duct work)… that $500 was the best money we ever spent!
So those are two updates that we did way back when we got the house, just because they couldn’t wait. Sorry it took so long for us to share them, we had to clear out some moving chaos that we had amassed in the garage to get that breathtakingly gorgeous after shot of the furnace that you see above.
On one hand it felt really nice to check two major things off the list so early (especially since one was free from the home warranty company and one was paid for with money that we got back at closing), but it was also a nice early lesson that juggling two houses was a lot more overwhelming than one. In fact John’s parents had to meet the service folks at our new house for an emergency furnace appointment once because we were on a plane coming back from a tour stop in Palo Alto.
So we got these two big important things taken care of as quickly as we could and immediately clicked back into “current house mode” in the hopes of avoiding immediate brain combustion (that’s a thing, right?). Then once we wrapped up the tour, the holidays, and the rest of the projects we wanted to complete at our last house, we finally allowed ourselves to switch gears back into “new house mode.” Which was so exciting it made me want to write one word 3,000 letter posts like this:
Squuuuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
While doing this dance.
So there’s gotta be a lesson in here somewhere, right? Maybe it’s “seriously consider the $500 home warranty, just for the peace of mind!” And I think there’s something to our roof-picking method (we literally just drove all over our neighborhood staring at the ones we liked best and tried to analyze why we liked them). Did you do a “neighborhood crawl” like we did? Have you ever gotten anything for free within the first year of home ownership thanks to a home warranty?
Update: It has been really interesting to read everyone’s experiences in the comment section. While a bunch of folks have scored new items thanks to a home warranty (and some people renew them every year since they find them to be so worth it) others haven’t been as happy with theirs and have terrible stories of frustration and disappointment. It seems to really depend on the region, warranty company, and each individual situation.
VV says
Lol. That gif is awesome. Snortchucklewheeze
Bonnie says
Have you ever considered getting an energy audit done? On a house built in this era, that might be a good idea! Although, to be honest, it might not pay off *quite* as much in VA as it does in the frozen wastelands of MI. :)
YoungHouseLove says
It definitely sounds interesting to us! We’d love to make a lot of energy efficient changes over time (all LED bulbs slowly as we can save up for them, a Nest thermostat since we’re hear they’re so awesome, adding insulation if it’s needed, etc).
xo
s
jackie says
How did you get the home warranty company to actually cover something? Ours is really difficult!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s what we’ve heard too! It sounds like it really depends on what your situation is and what company you’re working with. Ours attempted to fix the problem cheaply with small parts and the system just kept failing so after about 5 service calls they gave up and just said “fine, you need a new system” – and we’re forever grateful!
xo
s
Angela says
Great deal on the furnace! That is one of the best deals I have ever heard, and a great relief heading into a new house with an expensive problem. It would feel good to know that those 2 big things have been covered and are brand new on moving in.
Jenny says
The roof looks awesome! It’s funny, we knew going into our new house we’d have to replace the roof this year (whole thing has to come off) and our boiler went the first month! Unfortunately our home warranty only covered part of it, I think it was 1k out of the 5k total. But since then we’ve had them come out to fix a toilet and a leaking tub faucet so we’re trying to get our money’s worth. ;)
It’s great to see the shingles, we were planning on that brand but haven’t nailed down a color yet. We might be following suit!
xox
Catherine says
About the roof and the molding, we have the same molding on our house. Have you thought about or inquired about getting gutters? Our yard has some drainage issues and we think that gutters might help, but we were told that installing them wouldn’t work so well on our roof with the molding as is. Just wondering if you looked into at all.
Also, we’re local here in RVA and just had a FAMILY of possums removed who had taken up residence in our crawl space – ick! It was quite an ordeal.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh! A family?! That’s crazy! As for the gutter thing, we actually were concerned about that during the inspection but we don’t seem to have any drainage issues and there’s a thick gravel bed around the house for drainage (as opposed to mulch right up to the side of the house) so that seems to help too. It would be sad to lose the pretty molding! Maybe try adding a gravel channel around the house and calling in an expert to see if something else can be done?
xo
s
Sarah says
When I closed on my house it came with the warranty. Even though my house was only 5 years old, it had sat empty for a while and within the first 6 months the garage door needed to be fixed and there was a major leak in the basement. It turns out the sump pump was installed incorrectly and I got a brand new system for free! The only downside was all of the teaching materials that were in the basement were found floating about!
Christy Niebaum says
We have used American Home Shield (AHS) for our home warranty. They use the cheapest possible contractors in town, which usually means the work is shoddy. They also won’t replace anything big until they’ve tried replacing, literally, every single part and piece of the appliance first. Color us frustrated.
Ali says
We got a home warranty when we bought our 40-year-old house, and it wasn’t worth it for us. We had several things break that fell through little loopholes in what the warranty would and wouldn’t cover, so we gave up. :) But I love hearing stories like this because that’s what it’s all about! And we know plenty of others who have had good experiences with them. So, good for you guys!
We also have a GAF roof that we got with our house (sellers paid – woot!) and we like it a lot. Yours looks great!
And what’s the bear that people are talking about on the screen??
YoungHouseLove says
It’s an ad for British Columbia which keeps sneaking in through our ad network. We’ve asked them to put a block on it, but somehow the bear keeps getting around it!
-John
Barbara says
Thanks for the link, but I just don’t see where you say how much it cost. Am I missing something?
YoungHouseLove says
We actually didn’t share the price of our first house’s roof either. We like to share costs that seem more across the board, like how much a sink, toilet, or even a french door from a big box store might cost most people. But when it comes to things by the square footage (flooring, roofing) it really seems to depend on location/how large of an area you’re doing/what roof you choose, etc. If you’re wondering how much it might cost, I’d recommend getting a few free estimates :)
xo
s
Luci Miller says
….. don’t do that dance. I mean really. You can do better than THAT can’t you? LOL Who IS that ANYway? I hope it’s not who I think it is. LOL LOL!! Trust me – don’t do that dance.
YoungHouseLove says
Ha! Rhymes with Schmeline. :)
-John
Paula says
We had a great experience with our home owner’s warranty as well. Our range (stove) was on the fritz and was also too expensive to fix. And too old to find parts. So they footed the $1500+ installation and take away, and we have a lovely new range now.
And we also had to get a new roof when we bought our place. Not the sexiest big ticket item, but well worth it :) and right before the rainy season hit here in Northern California.
Pree says
Hello,
I was wondering if you would do a budget breakdown for the roof as well as the wood flooring post (For wood flooring- you mentioned how much it was per square feet, not for the total flooring). Earlier, you always used to give the cost of any project you undertake and this time, you haven’t revealed the cost of 2 major projects in your home which I find really weird. I mean, you even gave a budget breakdown of the paint job you did on the baseboards and doors!!
I also remember a few posts where you compared prices of different quotations and explained to us readers why you went ahead with a particular vendor but this time all you said was “We still got three roofing estimates again, just to be sure, but they came in at the best price plus they were folks we had used already”
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We actually didn’t share the price of our first house’s roof back in 2010 either, so we have always blogged this way. We like to share costs that seem more across the board, like how much a sink, toilet, or even a french door from a big box store might cost most people. But when it comes to things by the square footage (flooring, roofing) it really seems to depend on location/how large of an area you’re doing/what roof you choose, etc. If you’re wondering how much it might cost, I’d recommend getting a few free estimates.
xo,
s
Laura Williams says
So interesting to read peoples comments about their warranty experience. We used ours when our 16 year old dishwasher was making horrible sounds. The great thing was that we were given the option to replace or repair. The cost of the repair was $350-ish dollars, or they were willing to just mail us a check and we could go pick whatever new one we wanted, which was the option we took. I can’t imagine the company deciding what to buy for the new one. I don’t think I could trust they would choose the best one.
Andrea says
Oh man warranties: if you you have a lot of time and willpower and understand how the companies work then you can really make out with warranty companies. It is also good to know that if you don’t want the product that the warranty company offers that you can take a buyout. We did that with our dryer. We took the buyout and got the cash and bought a dryer better then what the warranty company offered. I also suggest making a list and waiting until you have a long list before you call the warranty companies. They act like a doctors office and charge a copay but if you have a long list they can only charge you one copay.
Rachel says
We love our home warranty! We have been renovating a house built in the 1930’s and our warranty has replaced our fridge, pipes that exploded, our electrical box, and gave us a new furnace when our radiators quit working. We renewed it and have not regretted it once!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s awesome!
xo
s
Joseph says
I think that’s a great way to pick out a roof! It’s so much better to look at other similar houses and see what looks good on them, rather than just picking out a roof you think will work and have it end up looking weird.
As far as home warranties, our realtor actually told us that she wouldn’t bother with it since even though it helps out you usually end up paying some service fees and she didn’t think it would pay off for us. We’re still in the settling in stage and we have a couple things we need to get fixed. I guess depending on how much they cost I might end up regretting not getting it, hopefully not though.
Janel says
I don’t think you’ve done this but as a hopefully-soon-to-be-first-time-homeowner, I’d LOVE a post on a recommended timeline of sorts for maintenance and repair..like annually replace the furnace filter, annially get the chimney cleaned, etc. I can’t imagine suddenly knowing these things if I’ve always been an apartment renter and never had to think about heating systems, roofs, etc.!
YoungHouseLove says
We’d love to do that!
xo
s
Alexa @ travelmiamor says
my husband use to work at the Goodman furnace plant in Houston, TX!
Sarah J. says
we did a home warranty and got the seller to pay for it the first year (we renewed it for a second year ourselves). so far it’s paid for 1) new furnace, 2) new dishwasher, 3) new water heater, & 4) new electrical panel. so yeah, our home warranty has saved us THOUSANDS of dollars! so thankful our realtor recommended writing it into our offer. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Woah! That’s awesome Sarah! Congrats!
xo
s
Sara says
We got a home warranty with our house we purchased last summer and about a month later the refrigerator (original to our 15 year old house) went out. We put in a claim and the repair guy came out and said the warranty company almost ALWAYS only repaired. After he took a look he said it couldn’t be fixed and told the warranty company. The warranty company still wanted to get new parts and try to repair it until my husband pretty much insisted that couldn’t work since I’d already been without a fridge for over a week and the parts would take another week to come in! So they agreed to “buy” our old fridge for parts. So we ended up applying that money to a new fridge and got to replace the rickety shelved almond side by side with a gorgeous stainless Samsung. Crisis averted!
Sara says
OMG OMG OMG I love you so much. Our AC unit stopped working YESTERDAY, and this post just reminded me that we got a home warranty when we bought the house. It seems odd to thank someone for oversharing, but seriously, this post may have saved us a ton of money. Love you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
So glad Sara! Hope it helps!
xo
s
Chanelle says
I went through the first page of comments, so forgive me if someone already asked! How did you get financed with a pre-existing issue with the roof, especially one that is already leaking? I know the appraiser had to have noticed it since it was super obvious and I cant imagine the bank didnt care. Did you have to do anything special to make the financing work?
YoungHouseLove says
Never even thought about that! It thankfully wasn’t a problem for us, maybe because the house was marketed (and priced) as a fixer-upper that needed a lot of work? Since it was over 100K less than the updated ones in the neighborhood, I’m sure the appraiser knew about the roof but also knew about the houses selling for a lot more that had new roofs, so it all evened out. At least that would be my best guess.
xo
s
Farris says
It happens all the time that people get sued after they sell their house. We got a bill for the septic tank because we checked the box when we sold the house that the septic tank was ok. Five years later they added a new sink and bath and big surprise the septic tank gave them trouble. They did not repair it because they said they could not bring the existing one to code so they got a new septic tank on us. House was built in the seventies. The warranty company sued us and we called a lawyer and the lawyer said warranty companies almost always sue the previous owners and they usually win. We settled with the warranty company. This is a fact of life. Your warranty company will most likely sue the people that sold you the house.
YoungHouseLove says
I don’t think they checked any boxes saying the furnace was ok (they sold the house as-is and even mentioned clearly that many items needed updating/replacement) so perhaps that’s the issue – when you put in paper that something is ok and it’s not they can come after you and actually have a case in court (it totally stinks, but I bet they have more grounds to stand on when they have something in writing like that).
xo
s
Winifred says
Wow. You got really lucky on the furnace, especially since it was obviously poorly maintained. Typically that is not something that gets replaced. I know they wouldn’t replace ours even though we had multiple maintenance calls, it completely stopped working a couple of times, etc. You were extremely fortunate. Wish we had your insurance when we purchased!
Love the new roof — it looks really good.
JB says
Are you allowed to tell us where/what company you got your home warranty through? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Sure! It’s Old Republic, which seems to be the most common one here in Richmond (we got one through them for each house, and when we sold our first and second house we purchased a year-long plan for the buyers in both cases – just for their peace of mind).
xo
s
JB says
Thank you. We are in the process of buying a house in Michigan and just contemplating about a home warranty. I appreciated this post.
YoungHouseLove says
Good luck JB!
xo
s
Jen D says
Yay! The furnace!!! I get excited about furnaces… my family has been in the HVAC business for over 50 years. The furnace is the “heart of the home,” you know! :) So glad you got yours for free. Even if they didn’t put in a super high efficiency furnace, your efficiency will be wayyyyy better than the 32 year old model! That will certainly help with your energy bill! One maintenance item you may wish to consider is a duct cleaning by a NADCA certified company. Believe me, if you had a 32 year old furnace that never had a filter change, you are definitely breathing 32 years worth of dirt and dust from previous owners who probably didn’t bother having the ductwork cleaned either. Congrats on the new house! It is looking fabulous already!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes, that’s on the list for sure! Thanks Jen!
xo
s
jennifer says
Wish I had read this article two years ago, when we were buying our 2nd home! : ) We did not get home warranty insurance, and I wish we would have, if nothing else than for the peace of mind. There are so many things to think about when buying a new house–we thought we were in good shape because it had a new roof, siding and furnace. And then our dryer died within the first 9 months and we had some issues with a pipe that broke in our basement (not sure that would have been covered). Bottom line–owing a home is expensive business!
Janet Gaupp says
Well the Home Buyers warranty saved us over $1000. 7 days into ownership we had the septic tank pumped…only to have the guy almost fall in it when trying to locate the tank itself. The metal rod went straight through the concrete top making a hug hole. He ended up sticking our old Christmas tree in the hole so people wouldn’t fall in. 1 week later we had a whole new tank installed…yay!
YoungHouseLove says
Woah!
xo
s
Mary S. says
You mentioned the furnace hadn’t been cleaned at all… how often are you supposed to do that? Did you do that at your old houses? I’m embarrassed to say we didn’t know you were supposed to… (fortunately, we’ve only been homeowners for 2 years, not 32!)
YoungHouseLove says
We would change the filter regularly ourselves (depending on the filter you buy, they’ll tell you how long they should last) and once a year we’d have the furnace cleaned/serviced (usually in the fall).
xo
s
audra says
We’ve had a seperate warranty system for all our home appliances. Last summer we had to use them it get our a/c unit fix (took them about 2 weeks to get the part fix, butit only cost us $100). Back in March, our freezer started messing up and it took them no less than 10 visits (and 3 different repair companies) to finally decide that it had to be replaced. We got our new fridge/freezer last week and I literally hugged it! The only downside was we had to go 3 months without a working freezer, lost all our frozen foods, and had to clean up water everyday from it leaking. But it only cost us $75 this time.
Keri says
The roof looks great, and I’m glad the home warranty worked out! When we bought our house our realtor included a clause in our offer that the seller would pay for the warranty. It covered us, but they paid. We used it several times that first year and paid to keep it ourself the second year, before canceling it last year. Fingers crossed we don’t need it again!
Kiya says
I am listening to my Paul McCartney Pandora station while reading your blog. When I scrolled down and saw your Celine Dion gif, it cracked me right up, because the song playing was a live version of “Live and Let Die” – it was at the end with all the whooping and hollaring and it just fit so perfectly. Just wanted to share that.
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
karen says
Hi! My 20 year old daughter introduced me to your site and I LOVE IT! I just bought a 1921 arts and crafts bungalow. :))) You have lovely decorating ideas and I can’t wait to move in next month!!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Karen! All the best with everything!
xo
s
Amy says
Thank you for this interesting post. I am curious about one aspect of these negotiations: how to determine the amount a credit should be. How did you determine how much to ask for as a credit? Did you bring in roofers to get a quote before you had even bought the house? what about the furnace? Did you include in that quote any of the water damage (such as repairing drywall that had been damaged by water)?
YoungHouseLove says
When you pay to get an inspection, the inspector takes measurements and makes educated ballpark guesses about the costs of things (every single thing he finds has an approximate dollar amount in the report). You also have a few days before you have to get back to the buyer, so we could call our favorite heating company and ask the price range of furnaces that would work for a two level house that has gas heating, etc. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Jacqui says
We are waiting anxiously for our closing date, but before we start to move in we need to replace the roof on a 120 year old house! Knowing the roof needed to be replaced definitely affected our offer price.
We got a bunch of quotes that were super expensive because they had to take out the old style planks and add a ply-wood sub roof. For the same price we could have a metal roof installed instead. And it came with a 50 year warranty instead of a 20 year. Not too shabby in our minds. Plus, we hope that it will add some resale value if we sell in the next few years. Here’s hoping everything goes well!
Wesley says
Home warranties are almost always a bad deal. Do a little google research to read about it. As a refrigeration contractor, I won’t even take home warranty calls anymore. The major players are very hard for contractors to work with, they are slow to pay, and they force you to use the cheapest equipment/supplies. The new furnace installed in the Sherry and John’s home, for example, is an 80% efficient Goodman. It is the cheapest and least efficient furnace available right now.
Stan says
Way to be very heads up about the condition that roof was in and to negotiate lower closings costs as a result! I think you just inspired my next blog post over at http://www.bestboulderroofers.com ! Would you mind if I reference this post of yours in my next entry?
YoungHouseLove says
Sure thing, feel free to reference it/link over if you’d like!
xo
s
Jess says
Hi Guys! Would you be wiling to share who your home warranty is with? We just bought a home, and you had such a great experience with your warranty, I was wondering who the great company was. Thanks.
YoungHouseLove says
Ours is called Old Republic, but it might just be a Virginia based company. Good luck!
xo
s