For the last few months we had a small leak in an outdoor pipe. We knew it was small because the blip in the water bill wasn’t monstrous. But we knew it was there because we had weeds where there hadn’t been any before, and the ground was pretty wet.

The good news: the pipe stopped leaking. The bad news: It burst.

Our house was built in 1957 and still has original galvanized steel pipes. They’re well past their life expectancy. The water main that broke is severely rusted, and replacing one piece of it will be a never ending game of catchup. On top of that, our water service comes from the street in *front* of our house, but the water main enters our house in the *back*. They ran the stupid pipe all the way around for reasons no one knows. So to replace the existing main would cost a significant chunk of just running a new main to the front of the house and running new pipe throughout. So, that’s what we’re about to do. Well, what someone else will do, with our money. :)

So we’re replumbing the house. And I was a few weeks away from getting the roof redone. It’s not in super dire straights, but you usually want it reroofed before it gets to that point. New roof on the way.

Back to the plumbing. Our hot water heater is from 1980. That’s about 2 to 3 times it’s lifespan. You can hear the sediment in the thing burbling and gurgling throughout the house. I picture a lava lamp evertime it kicks on. I could drain it, but frankly I’m afraid to touch it. And the current piping on it isn’t up to code, so that needs to be redone as well. Time to upgrade! Right now the rebates and tax incentives on solar water heaters are crazy good. So we’ll probably get that route.

New roof, New pipes, New Water Heater. That’s three boring projects to cover boring infrastructural needs. Screw that! Bring on the expansion.

We’re finally going to enclose our carport to give us a much needed 4th bedroom. Actually the kids don’t mind rooming together that much… yet. But once they do it’s not like we can flip a switch and create the new room. The carport will become a new bedroom and a small office for me. And in the back, we’ll enclose about half of our patio to increase the size of another bedroom.

I’ve already spent many hours meeting plumbers, builders, general contractors, draftsmen, roofers, and HVAC guys. And researching water heaters, and kinds of pipe, and tankless water heaters, and siding, and stucco, and EIFS. And putting our house in a 3d modeling program so we can decide what windows to put where on the new additions. So that’s why I haven’t touched the new PC, Dave. ;)

It should all make for a crazy summer!