When It Rains...

Christmas Eve our water heater went out. It was only the pilot light, but it was a sign of things to come.

It took me a while to get the pilot light re-lit because the pilot itself is situated in a way that you need to be a contortionist to light it. Finally, I got it lit. Two days later it was out again.

It turned out that we had a slight leak in the humidifier pipe above the water heater and the water would flow slowly down in little rivulets perfectly over the water heater and...

Drip. Drip. Tsss.

We fixed that too.

Next came the toilet paper dispenser. Now, I know on the grand scheme of things, fixing a toilet paper dispenser is about as crucial to the function of a house as breaking a Pyrex dish, but I have to say it's frustrating. The thing just ripped clean out of the dry wall. How does this happen? I'm in the bathroom holding a chunk of metal with two large screws coming out of it wondering this exact thing when it dawned on me that maybe the house wasn't built all that well.

Our house is one of those development homes -- McMansions, I think they're called. Pinnacle, a New Jersey-based development company, built Great River Golf Estates and our section, The Highlands at Great River, a few years back. We moved in about three and a half years ago. Until recently, we've had our share of "new house" issues, but nothing major. But I just had this gut feeling after we closed and others began moving in that something was just not right.

That's when I noticed this huge crack in the foundation.

Now, Pinnacle and others have all assured us that it's a natural crack and nothing to worry about. Call me paranoid, but I'm not sold just yet. I have a bad feeling that the crack is growing. I haven't started measuring (I think I'll begin now, though). We'll see. I'd like to sleep on this a few more days.

It was difficult to sleep on it last night though. The furnace went and it was freezing.