School me on cisterns please!

First, get two more quotes involved. On ANY job that is more than a grand, it makes sense to get multiple quotes. On the quote for the line from the street to the house, get a quote from someone who installs septic and/or buried electrical conduit. A plumber is just going to subcontract that and add a fee anyway.

Second, as Horse Hook points out, re-plumb the bathroom nearest the water entrance and the kitchen, and terminate the lines elsewhere until you have the cash.

You could take an old water tower and turn it into a prayer room, and then you would have a...........










Cistern Chapel!

In My opinion, there is No Need to replace all the boards on your roof just because you got a bad spot or two---------Meaning Why Tear out all your plumbing just because you got a leak or two. Find and fix the leaks. If another leak shows up in a year----fix it. You can do a check on the water meter often to make sure there is no new leaks.

Some High Plumbing/plummers in your area----Mercy----It only cost a couple hundred bucks in pipe and fittings to plumb my whole house 3 years ago--Its 1 1/2 bath, kitchen and 2 hot water heaters. This did not include any fixtures, commodes etc. The price you got must be replacing everything including tubs, commodes, sinks and all fixtures----Mercy.

There is No way I want to go back to my own well as cheap is it is to be on rural water system compared to time, upkeep, electric bill etc for my own well. Must be some High water bills in some places.

My concern here is there was a spring, then a well and now city water. You may have bad water, no water in dry season, bad water, bad tasting water or water with high mineral content that needs filtered, all very expensive fixes. I would put in the pressure regulator and fix the leak, see what happens. These leaks, they seem to be moving. Are they under the house, in the walls or the line coming in, or all?


....James

There should have been an owners disclosure form with the realtor who listed the house if it wasn't sold as-is. Miss-information on that may get you some help with repairs. Get the realtor involved.
We had a spring fed what I would call a holding tank above our house as a kid in WV that worked great. My mother would have died if she had known about the frogs that sometimes got in there!! 8 years ago I purchased a home about the age you did. It had a true cistern and city water. The shut off for the cistern was open. So glad I checked it BEFORE using water as there were dead animals in it (rat and opossum)
About the leaks. Turn on your meter and see if stops running. This would indicate no leaks. If it runs start first by checking toilets(easy fix) a toilet leak can easily cost 1000.00in a month know form experience. Hopefully you have shut off valves for different areas. Have someone watch the meter and shut them off one by one to determine where leak is. To determine a leak from meter to home, shut off valve where metered water comes in and see if meter runs. Good Luck! Home inspections and 1 year warranties are the way to go.

The previous owners lived there for thirty years and paid the town water bill for three years before ever changing over to them. I don't know how long they had the town water since though.

As far as DIY, I don't mind doing plumbing, BUT I can't do crawl spaces. I'm not comfortable with that at all. Nope, I know my limits.

I'm having problems finding anyone within a reasonable distance. The property is considered out in the boonies to folks that live 20 miles away. The guy yesterday got lost using his gps and was over 2 hours late getting there.

I thought I had a handyman lined up to do the work at an extremely reasonable price, but it looks like he's bailed on me. Or died.

It wasn't sold "as is" and I've had the realtor involved from the get go. There were a few repairs that the mortgage company said had to be done before the loan would be approved. The appraiser signed off on them being done. Due to being out of state and my oldest kid's health, I wasn't able to do a final walk through and relied on the realtor and appraiser to be honest about the repairs. They weren't. I left the property after signing and told the realtor and the mortgage company that I was taking steps to rescind my commitment to the property.

I am now in contact with the 9th law firm trying to get this crap straightened out and 3 months into this mess. The realtor has blowed enough smoke up my backside that I should have a chimney installed out of the top of my head. He's told me repeatedly that the repairs were being done and still nothing. And those aren't the only issues.

As far as the water, I was told that there had been a leak, but that was fixed. It was under the house. I found out later that there had also been a leak in the yard, but that had been fixed. I did not find out about this latest leak until I decided to go ahead and move in at the end of October. I thought I'd have better luck fighting them if I were in state. When I went to turn on the water then, the PSD informed me that there was a leak when the former owners had the water taken out of their name. That is why I was looking into having the whole house re-plumbed. I figured it would be better to put the money into plumbing rather than to pay $1,000+ every time it sprung a leak.

The local handyman, that has apparently abandoned me now, had installed a new shut off to check the supply line from the meter. It's not leaking and so he says it's under the house. He knows the house and has done odds and ends repairs over the years.

I left a message with another contractor a little bit ago and I hope that he will get back to me. Two other contractor numbers that I tried have been disconnected. I also sent an email to the guy from yesterday asking what the cost would be to just plumb under the house. When I had mentioned the cistern to him, he completely blew it off.

Every step I try to take forward has me going back 6...sigh....

I would try my best to "get in good with the man who knows the house". I like to buy, fix, and sell about every three years. I just moved in July and have had major problems with all contractors. They think their time is worth 100.00 per hour and they get it! BTY I'm claustrophobic and don't do crawl spaces ever!
If you do fix the leak under the house make sure it wasn't from freezing and correct that also if necessary.

You all keep your fingers crossed for me, I think(hope) I found a general handyman. My mom's guy friend happened to mention my predicament to a man that used to work for him. AND he's actually from about 20 odd miles away and knows the area and knows which house it is. Not sure if that's a good thing or not yet, with the way it's been going.

He wants me to call him Friday.

Terri, It could be SO much worse. My parents bought a house. Every time it rains hard, my mom's room floods. They took the carpet out and she has a concrete floor now. Then came the foundation problems. The first time they fixed it it cost $18,000.00. A few years later the house had shifted again. They found a leak under the house. They call in the plumber who said the entire sewer system under the house has to be replaced. $20,000. later they can now fix the foundation... which cost $5,300.00. Now all they have to do is remodel the house to get rid of all the huge cracks in the walls, completely remodel 2 bathrooms, the kitchen and re-carpet the whole house. Oh, and put a french drain on 2 sides of the house so mom's room doesn't flood. I'd be surprised if that doesn't add another $75,000. to $100,000. to the total.

Count your blessings...

Run. Don't walk from that house. Buy a new one. (or build your own so you can know it was done right)

Buffy, I'm so sorry your parents are going through a nightmare too!

I would be running IF I could. I've been trying to get out of it and would just walk away if it weren't for the fact that I put so much money down. In for a penny, in for a pound...

I wish the water issues were the only problems....

Well that sure is easy to get around. When you talk to somebody that is coming even 20 miles away do what I do.
Tell Them NOT to use your GPS but follow MY Directions as I give them to you. Period.
Nobody will find me using their GPS. It brings them 9 milers further south and lots of hills and curves and such before they could IF they Ever Do Find Me.
I knew this years ago. So anybody that needs directions, I tell them I HAVE to Tell them how to get here. Do not use the GPS system.
And leave it at that. And BTW I am only 1 miles from a major hi way to the north and 2 miles to the west of another major hi way. So I am not Out In The Bonnies.
3 miles from a small town and 18 miles from a larger city of 65K. So they being 20 miles away is not unheard of at all in getting lost using a GPS. LOL

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ak, I told him not to use the gps! I also told not to expect cell service when he got close to the house, it's spotty at best.

I talked with the new guy today and he's going out to look at it Sunday and see if he'll be able to help me. He agrees with me about getting the cistern(or whatever it is) working and bypass the town for now. It's getting too cold to be doing a lot of work under the house now.

An update for all you kind folks!

After the guy busting his butt for this past week, he just called tonight to let me know that I now have water and heat!

Not only were the water lines bad, but the gas lines were too. I now have all new Pex lines under the house and all new gas lines. No more leaks anywhere. The furnace is working, along with the one gas fireplace and it's plumbed for a stove in my canning kitchen and a heater for the pool(that will come later though).

He ended up keeping it connected to the town water and said that if I wanted to, next spring he could get the cistern working. There are no leaks in the line from the meter for now, so that's still a bit of a concern for me.

He did say that if he had known what he was going to be getting into, he'd have never done it. I think he felt really bad for me. He had to take a small shovel in under with him, because along the back of the house there wasn't room to do anything. He said that he had never seen such a cobbled mess.

But, it's done and for less than half the price the other guy was going to charge. I think I might start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel soon...

Thanks to all!

so proud for yall...!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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i went to the woods because i wished to live deliberately to front only the essential facts of life,.......,and not,when i came to die,discover that i had not lived...Henry David Thoreau

Are you sure you want to do that? He won't help and then you'll get a large bill.

You should do something special for him. Take him out to a steak dinner or something to let him know how much you appreciate the help.

Christmas box--homemade baked goods and canned goods.

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Dorothy Kaye Collins

There are a lot of other issues that I need to have a lawyer involved for, so yes, I need to get one involved.

I plan on inviting the guys to Christmas dinner and will get them a little something to show my appreciation. I talked to them a little bit ago. They finished up a few things today and are celebrating by tying one on...at the house. They're a hoot to talk to. They'll be back this spring(after I get some more money saved up) to do some more work. Their next project will be the kitchen floor that was supposed to have been fixed BEFORE I got the loan(hence one of the needs for the lawyer).