People do indeed love their pets.
We spend billions of dollars annually on pets in this country (This “Pet Bailout” is somewhere near $50,000,000,000.00 a year).
One of the simple little things that is part of that number is pet doors installed in the door to the garage. These simple little pet doors cost about $30.00—-perhaps another $30 bucks to get someone handy to install it—-unless of course it is on the “honey-do” list, which of course, as we all know, would then be “free of charge.”
What that initial cost won’t include is replacement of the door itself as soon as the first home inspector comes along.
Installing these things in the fire-resistant door between the house and the garage negates the fire-resistance of the door and thus the door would have to be replaced. A new door (assuming the existing jambs and threshold can be re-used) would cost somewhere around $160.00. Installation would likely require the services of someone that knows what they are doing (so NOT on the “honey-do” list)—-which might add another $160.00—perhaps more. Now with some serious number crunching, we arrive at a new total cost of the pet door at $380.00—-at least.
Fortunately the house didn’t burn down and no one died—-so the adjusted cost is still within acceptable limits—-I guess.
So let’s get back to the $50,000,000,000.00 pet bailout. Do we have to add all these extra “hidden costs” to the total? Do we have to start adding to that number the costs of new carpeting throughout the home? Replacement of other damaged fixed items in the home? How about the damaged blinds or curtains, chewed moldings, scratched door jambs and ductwork full of pet hair? There is also the re-grading/re-seeding the back yard where Rover got creative.
Well, we may not be up to the “infamous” $700,000,000,000.00 bailout—-but I think you can get the picture—pets are expensive and hard on a home.
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Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
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