My insurance agent dropped a bombshell on me a few weeks ago.
- After I failed a home inspection, he told me that I had to replace my roof or I would lose my policy.
This meant that everything in my house from the drywall to the expensive television and home theater set in my living room would suddenly become uninsured. Therefore, I had no choice but to begin plans on having the whole system replaced. But, I already knew that it would be hard to scrape the money together. It’s hard to plan for an expense as massive as a total roof replacement. It took well over a week of hearing constant noise on my rooftop from dawn until dusk everyday. And, I paced my house worrying about the interest rates on the loans I had to take out to have the procedure done and paid for. In the end, I simply wished I had thought to look for these things and catch them years ahead of time so minimal planning of some kind can happen. It made me think of my air conditioner instantly. I wondered how long I was supposed to wait until replacing the air handler and condenser, let alone what the age on my ductwork was supposed to be. My heating and cooling tech told me that fifteen to twenty years is a good estimate for an air conditioner and furnace combo. But, it depends entirely on how often one uses the system and whether it’s abused past its limits. Since I have sheet metal ductwork, it should last as long as the seals at each joint last. But, even then, if a seal is broken it can be patched in many cases.