Its been a fun and exciting 40 days in the rental business
#2 Contractors Contributor
- Severna Park, MD
Bad luck comes in threes ( and fours sometimes) A little over a month ago I picked up a nice little 2/1 to rehab and rent out . I figured on about 20 to 25 days start to finish . But No , other things have to go wrong right at the finish line .
The new 2/1 is almost done , tenants moving in in a week . I am also putting a tenant in another property and I find out the well went dry ( that was another post ) Getting that done took time away from the first project . I get these 2 under control by working 7 days a week and both tenants are in , up and running . Then last week we get that big wind storm , and I lose lots of shingles off my personal house and the house with the new well . Insurance covers that , but there goes 2 grand in deductibles .
Then I get a phone call from my tenants that have been there 20 years , ( that house just got a new furnace a year ago $ 6000 ) . He tells me the septic is clogged . Oh Boy something else to deal with . I went there around lunch and you , fields are clogged , so I grab my little backhoe and go over and do some digging . I find the lateral and lots of gray water . So I dig a 4 by 8 hole 5 ft deep and drain all the gray water into it . Now they can use the bathrooms . i just bought me some time .
So mondays project is to cut into the line , run the sewer snake then jet rod the drainfield lines to try and loosen things up . Then go find some caustic soda and send it down the line to break up and clear the sludge in the fields . Not going to be a fun day .
I am lucky to a degree , I have the skills , knowledge and equipment to tackle just about all my own repairs . This is where I make my money on my rentals , by doing it myself . Septic companies around here dont clean drainfield lines , they just replace ( around $ 20K with the new systems ) So I am figuring on about 200 bucks in stone and 80 dollars in fittings and 100 in chemicals . Probably spend about 4 to 6 hours . And I will have things opened up . A HUGE savings .