Probably $20 K Plus headaches

[susandennis]

So Matt, aka a/c guy, was just here. He's great. Efficient and listens. No blowing up my skirt or bullshit. And the news is better than I thought and worse.

I hate the idea of a compressor outside on my terrace. BUT, the reality is that I never just hang out there anyway. It will be fine. I hate the idea of giant warts hanging off my walls but... turns out, I can paint them!!! This last bit is huge. One will hang off a blue soffit (in the bedroom) and one off a purple one (living room) and at least they won't be cream colored eyesores.

The bad news is that it will take two days. The real bad news is that it will involve a whole lot of wall tearing up ("it will be like cutting a zipper channel across your livingroom, kitchen and bedroom".)

More good news, they handle all the electrical stuff. Whew. Including city permits. AND adding wifi to the whole system is easy peasy. So "Alexa, cool me the fuck off!"

They handle NONE of the wall repair.

BUT, the other day, when I went in to peek at my neighbor's renovations, the worker guys were so nice. And the work site was so tidy. And they have caused now hallway mayhem (like leaving stuff out, leaving a mess, etc.). I just sent a note to the building manager asking who would be good to fix the walls and he gave me the name of a company and noted that they were the ones I met in my neighbor's unit!

So. Bottom line. It will be ugly. It will be messy. It will involve two whole companies and three city inspections. But, I will be cool. And even have heat in the winter.

Matt's going to send me the details today or tomorrow. He guesses it will be somewhere in the $15,000 neighborhood. And take about 12 weeks to get the equipment. So I'll be fighting holidays to get the damn stuff done. Ugh. 50 percent down at order. 50 percent upon completion. 15% cancellation fee.

He said he would be my single point of contact. Whew. This is big. When I had my shower done, the sales person dumped me as soon as I signed and she was replaced with basically nobody. It was a bit of a shit show - contact wize. I did not want that.

He's in solid with Jathan, the building manager and knows the condo rules. So. Whew and Yeah.

And, yeah, I think I'm going to do it. My finance guy will approve - he loves anything that adds value to assets.

So... how about a cat pic?

I just caught Biggie chilling while Julio tackled his tree.

Comments

[bill_schubert]

Not that you asked but I think the A/C is a great idea. Apparently this global warming thing is going to be around for a while. And it sounds like the worker bees have it down.

[susandennis]

I didn't ask but I should have and I'm delighted to hear you say that you think it's a good idea. Thanks! (And, yeah, having peops who know this building's ropes and are Jathan approved, helps so much.)

[spiffikins]

Here in Santa Cruz we have always enjoyed the marine layer/fog that rolls in around 4pm all summer long - calling it "mother nature's air conditioning" - but a few years ago, my friend ended up installing a/c in her house and she is SO happy she has it. There seem to be more and more hot days/weeks - and more often than not, they coincide with wildfires and then the air might be full of smoke and you have to keep your windows closed anyway!

It's a chunk of money - but it sounds like they know what they are doing, have done the same thing in other units and while it will be obnoxious *during* the process - the results sound worthwhile!

[susandennis]

OMG the smoke!! But, you remind me of when I first moved to California. I was up in Morgan Hill so hotter than Santa Cruz. I bought a condo. In May. I had the greatest real estate agent. I didn't know shit about the west coast and he was patient and kind. For several months, I called him often with stupid questions.

Then we got the first hot day. Ring Ring "Hey Michael, I can't find how to turn on the air conditioning. Where are the controls?"

"Susan, you don't have air conditioning."

Coming from the southeast, this was so foreign to me, I couldn't stand it.

"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU SELL ME A LIVING SPACE WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING?????"

I think he's probably still laughing at me now 35 years later.

[spiffikins]

ahahahaha - but Morgan Hill *totally* needs air conditioning! That's on the *other* side of the hill!

The clouds just bang into the hills and stay on our side!

[susandennis]

I only had 2 summers there and lived through it. it wasn't horrible back then

[sweetmeow]

Great idea to get a/c -- coming from one who hates hanging out in heat. And - an added benefit is adding value to your condo, too.

We put a/c in our Long Island house in 2011. In the downstairs we put in the traditional A/C, running ducts in the basement, but that was next to impossible for the upstairs, so we chose ductless "Mitsubishi Units" which both heat and cool. They work well, and are significantly less expensive to operate than portable window a/c units.

I know what you mean about "off-white warts" sticking out of your walls, though. Our walls upstairs are painted a muted white, so the units match, so no need to paint. But - they still are kind of an eyesore. I'd rather be cool! 😜

[susandennis]

Yep. The Mitsubishi outfit is exactly what I'm getting.

[msconduct]

In NZ those are the major form of heating (we call 'em heat pumps). But with climate change I suspect we might start to see use of them for air conditioning take off here. Wish I could have them but my house is as uncoolable as it is unheatable (big open spaces, gappy windows).

[adafrog]

Sounds great!

[sleepybadger]

I'm very curious about those types of units. We have no vents and someone suggested that style of a/c, but was also have metal walls so really not sure how they would be able to run everything! I get why companies like that won't fix the walls, but it's not fun having to bring on multiple companies. And how awesome to never have to worry about that stuff again!

[susandennis]

There are a fair number of them in this building and I've not heard a discouraging word (except from one person who loved her unit but was all bent out of shape about the installation)

[maju]

Reverse cycle airconditioning is very common in Australia, so common that I'd never given any thought to how it looks on the wall.

[susandennis]

then you can come visit any time!!