Had a water heater I figured was good for another 3-4 years based on when I thought it was installed. Pulled the sticker during an unrelated repair last month and found out it was actually 2 years older than I'd been assuming. Not a huge gap, but enough that "plenty of time" was actually "should probably plan for this soon."
Made me realize I'd been going off memory instead of an actual date for longer than I want to admit. Memory rounds down without you noticing, especially once you've got more than one property and things start blending together.
Curious if anyone else has caught themselves misjudging a system's age like this, and whether it changed how you track that stuff going forward, or if you were already logging exact dates before it bit you?
Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
1mo
As we age, the first two things to go are...memory, and, uh, gee, I can't remember the other thing...
You need a system, for everything, and a place to document, everything. It can be simple, or it can be complex, but most of all YOU must be disciplined and consistent in how you document, how/when you file it properly.
Investor · San Diego · Member since 2020 · 92 posts · 60 votes
1mo
@Giuseppe Cavucci this hit close to home. Once I was managing units across two states it stopped being safe to trust memory for anything install related. What's worked for me: the first time I'm in a unit for any reason, I take a photo of every appliance or system data plate right then, before I need the information, and drop it in a note tied to that address. Water heater, HVAC, roof if I can get the permit date, even smoke detector manufacture dates. Costs almost nothing in the moment and means I'm never reconstructing a timeline from a hazy memory of when I "think" something happened. The part that actually changed my habits was realizing a system's age tells you nothing on its own, you need the install date next to the typical lifespan for that unit, otherwise "old" and "new" are just vibes. Do you keep those photos and dates centralized somewhere, or per property in whatever you're using to track it?
Honolulu, HI · Member since 2008 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
1mo
As we age, the first two things to go are...memory, and, uh, gee, I can't remember the other thing...
You need a system, for everything, and a place to document, everything. It can be simple, or it can be complex, but most of all YOU must be disciplined and consistent in how you document, how/when you file it properly.
As we age, the first two things to go are...memory, and, uh, gee, I can't remember the other thing...
You need a system, for everything, and a place to document, everything. It can be simple, or it can be complex, but most of all YOU must be disciplined and consistent in how you document, how/when you file it properly.