We’ll start with the plumbing fiasco.
On the 10th of July I received at work (but didn’t answer) a few calls from Justin. When I called him back he informed me that we had an “emergency” and a plumber was in our unit wanting to cut up the wall. I told him not to let the plumber touch anything until I saw what the problem was. When I came home I investigated. The unit directly beneath mine has had a damp carpet in one of the bedrooms for some time (it wasn’t specified whether this was weeks or months). So, while I was at work on a Tuesday afternoon this dampness was declared an “emergency” that I had to fix right away.
I inspected their unit and found that their wall was cut away almost all the way up to the ceiling. The plumber then thought that the next logical step was to go up to the next floor. After talking to the owner of the downstairs unit (who rents it out and was not anywhere near Los Angeles for then entire duration of this “emergency” yet was angry that I hadn’t settled the problem immediately) and our HOA representative I decided to let the plumber back in to “investigate” the next afternoon. He tore a hole in my wall maybe 15 inches wide and 20 inches high. The pipe was not wet up this high. It was then determined that the pipe had a leak just above the downstairs ceiling. Since the pipe was a “common line” it was determined that the HOA would pay for the removal, replacement, and subsequent drywall repairs. I had dodged a bullet this time…
The drywall repairs would end up taking two days…but that is another story for another time.
So – as soon as that was over with … I came home Tuesday to find my condo broiling like a sauna at 92 degrees. Obviously a problem with the air conditioner. It ran – but the air wasn’t cold.
The next day I called our HOA rep (who surely knows me on a first name basis by now) who told me I’d have to pay a $100 deposit to rent a key to the room from “unit 44” (no name ever given). So, after work I marched over and sat at a middle aged man’s kitchen table while a very small fluffy dog yapped at my ankles and wrote out a $100 check.
I wrote the check – not the dog.
After getting the key Yaw and I went up top to investigate. The rusted out air conditioning unit is surely the original 1987 installation. With nothing immediately obviously fixable (like a squirrel in the fan blades or a leaking pipe) I resolved to call an HVAC specialist the next morning. On the third call I found someone willing to come out today to take a look.
Upon initial inspection ($75) it was determined that the cause of malfunction was a spent fuse in the AC fusebox. He replaced the fuse for $34 and gave me an impromptu lesson on what can go wrong with AC units and how to tell without taking them apart.
Cold air seemed to be blowing when I left the condo after noon. Only time will tell if that was the end of my problems though.
Note the “$2.50” price tag on the old fuse that I photoshopped into the picture below…
