CAG home owner topic. Buying or selling a home? Have a maintance issue? Help is here!

Pretty good tips so far. The biggest difference between renting and owning is the way you treat your place. Keep in mind that anything you damage or brake is coming out of your pocket (the super is not going to fix it and the landlord is not going to pay for it). You must spend a decent amount of time focusing on maintenance. Here's a pretty good checklist.

-THINK OF YOUR HOUSE AS AN INVESTMENT.

P.S. You should power-wash your house if you got the time and can afford to do so. It has nothing to do with pride. It's maintenance and makes the siding last longer ultimately increasing the value of the home.

P.P.S. I am still dumfounded by the price you paid for your home (that's not even enough for a down payment in the northeast). Congrats and good luck with your new home.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Well we don't have any family in Ohio except my crazy mom and my dad. Everyone else is in Washington state and New England, and we like those areas better. It's not about being ghetto or anything, we just don't seem to really "fit" in Ohio.[/QUOTE]

Missed this comment before, I can understand the whole not fitting in Ohio thing. My mom wanted us to come and live with them at their new house in California which was soooooo freaking tempting because we feel we would have just fit in better out there. Being in our mid to late 20s and not having kids and not intending to have kids for at least several more years, going out for Sushi dinners and not having a TV with working cable but instead using the internet for everything....people around here treat us like we are as foreign as someone coming from butt fuck Egypt. I ma sure the whole tattoos, mohawk, painted nails etc etc do not help at all. The apartment we lived in the maintance man joked with me that I was the "big gay monster of Rossford" because everyone thought I was gay...yet everyone was terrified shitless of me.
 
35k? Wow live in Eastern WA State and i paid $152,000 for a house built in 2000 with 1700 sq ft.

Since you live in an older home you should check out the roof for sure as other CAGS have mentioned
 
Honestly the outside looks good and if you had it checked by a builder or contractor you should be able to take it one project at a time. One day do molding, another day you can do paint or carpet. In time you can tune each room to your liking and you might not want to leave.
 
Congrats on the purchase. We bought our house 6 months ago. I little over 1800sq ft, 3 bed, 2 bath and 3 car garage. Nice neighborhood built in 2005 for $165k.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Why is that? I see mulch or straw used nearly everywhere...[/QUOTE]

It harbors all kinds of bugs and insects... particularly termites!
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Honestly the outside looks good and if you had it checked by a builder or contractor you should be able to take it one project at a time. One day do molding, another day you can do paint or carpet. In time you can tune each room to your liking and you might not want to leave.[/QUOTE]

We probably will not even do that much, I mean as you said the outside looks nice and pretty much everything on the inside is taken care of. There are things we would like to do such as paint it and we prefer hard wood floors to carpet(especially with having 2 shedding dogs!)but we are really simple people so probably will not bother. I mean we look at it like this, we can spend a grand painting, carpeting etc etc but at the end of the day we would hardly notice the change. So why not have most of that grand get invested into our retirement and enjoy a few video/board games and sushi dinners with the rest ;)

I wanted to plant a decent sized tree somewhere to sit under and read, but we really do not have a good place to put one, which lead me to think about knocking down that garage which would give us space for both a pool and the tree....but again once we saw the expense that would be as well as what it does to resale value(since for some reason most people would rather have a garage...).

Like I said though, if all in all we are happy it seems like tossing money into complaints it is easy to ignore is just a waste of good money(and the reason most people are in debt with no retirement savings).
 
[quote name='Warner1281']It harbors all kinds of bugs and insects... particularly termites![/QUOTE]

Which is why you put down plastic in the beds, along with having your home treated for pests. I live in a termite prone area where a termite letter is required before a home can be sold. *Most* houses that sit on a slab with no wood touching the ground are never going to have a termite problem. Any exposed wood obviously would be at risk, however a good maintenance plan is going to catch any problems before they get too serious. You're going to have insects or bugs no matter where you live and what your house is exposed to.

I've always heard that pine straw in particular brings in roaches, but I've never experienced this first hand. Again, with regular treatment this shouldn't be much of an issue.
 
Wow. That's a lot of house for little money. You could afford to buy that house working at Burger King. What are you gonna do with all the money you're going to save? Why is that house so cheap?

A comparable house like that in Mpls would cost like 160K

You're a true CAG.
 
[quote name='2DMention']Wow. That's a lot of house for little money. You could afford to buy that house with a Burger King salary. What are you gonna do with all the money you're going to save?

A comparable house like that in Mpls would cost like 160K[/QUOTE]

2 hookers and an 8ball.......a day!
 
[quote name='2DMention']Wow. That's a lot of house for little money. You could afford to buy that house working at Burger King. What are you gonna do with all the money you're going to save? Why is that house so cheap?

A comparable house like that in Mpls would cost like 160K

You're a true CAG.[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately there are a lot of housing deals in Ohio, since there are so few jobs. I am originally from Cleveland and I would like to move back, but there are very few white collar openings. If I ever expand a business, I plan to bring whatever I can back to OH.

I looked at my grandma's old house and I could buy it and the one next to it with cash right now.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Why is that? I see mulch or straw used nearly everywhere...[/QUOTE]

Mulch can cause an increase in the possibility of termites. Rock is more expensive but a better choice and you wont ever need to replace it yearly like mulch.
 
Ok so I have ran in to my first potential problem in owning a money pit...erm I mean home. A week or two ago my wife and I noticed that the floor near our washer and dryer was kind of sticky and so was the top of the dryer. Looking around we did not see anything out of the ordinary, so I assumed it must just be that we must have spilled some detergent or something. However, today whenever I went down and went to clean the lint tray I got a fingertip full of grossness. Upon looking at the lint tray there was a small pool of a golden yellow looking fluid/goop sitting there. Naturally I checked the pipes above head and sure enough one of our pipes is sticky too. However I can not find a hole and I do not see signs of an explosion(it is only on the pipe and not the surrounding pipe or walls at all). Tracing the pipe it lead to both our hot water heater(which is gas)and a valve that says meter generator. We have had water the last few weeks that looks both clean and runs hot...so both are working.

Anyone know if this may just be a corroded pipe(this is what family seems to think it may be), gas or what? As I stated it is sticky, yellow, odorless and all our utilities are running properly. I am happy to call a plumber or the gas company, but id prefer to def know which to call before I spend $200 on one just to have them tell me I should have called the other.

Pics

Close up where you can see a bit of the gunk
http://oi56.tinypic.com/10igzh1.jpg

Further back pic and you can see another pipe that has a bit of stickiness too(small and not visible)
http://oi55.tinypic.com/2w5jdxt.jpg

Pic that shows what is in in the lint trap
http://oi55.tinypic.com/16kcsj5.jpg
 
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[quote name='Dead of Knight']Obviously, you need to call the Ghostbusters. Looks like Slimer got loose again.[/QUOTE]

Don't be ridiculous, you need to call the Ghost Hunters on SyFy so they can record with night vision and talk to themselves.
 
Hmmm so I had called a few plumbers to get some quotes in case I did need someone to come out and one instead of just quoting me a price to come out actually was nice enough to try and talk me through some of the problem. He said that he has never heard of water like that and if your water was like that for some reason you should be able to smell it and also see a difference in the water coming through the faucets up stairs. While I was talking to him I was feeling/looking around for any other spots that may be really gross in hopes of finding the issue and my hand touched a really gunky spot. Apparently there is more of it on the heating and cooling vent above the water pipes. So it seems as though it may be an issue from the heater.
 
We have a 50 year old house and we get gooey looking stuff on our vent in the bathroom and sometimes on the door frame. It's yellowish brown and gooey. It's condensate mixing with grime on the vent as far as I know. I think that might be what you are experiencing - condensation mixing with dust/grime. Just a guess...
 
[quote name='bordjon']We have a 50 year old house and we get gooey looking stuff on our vent in the bathroom and sometimes on the door frame. It's yellowish brown and gooey. It's condensate mixing with grime on the vent as far as I know. I think that might be what you are experiencing - condensation mixing with dust/grime. Just a guess...[/QUOTE]

And a good guess it is! Just got this help from someone off of yahoo answers

"Thanx for the pics, Take one from the other side so I can see the duct from the side. It looks like a drip coming off the duct but I can't see that side.

Got it , it's the drip pan or condinsation pan under the unit above. Find that pan and clean it out with a shop vac and clean out the drain line for the a/c suck it out with the shop vac and put some bleach threw the line. It's just the slime from the pan that is not draining, An a/c guy will do it or you can save some cash on the service call and do it in a flash."

Pisses me off though since we just paid someone almost $100 to come out and do yearly maintenance on our heating/cooling a few weeks ago. The guy totally did not even notice this...maybe because all he did was look at the unit itself vs checking the god damn vents as I asked him to!
 
[quote name='bordjon']We have a 50 year old house and we get gooey looking stuff on our vent in the bathroom and sometimes on the door frame. It's yellowish brown and gooey. It's condensate mixing with grime on the vent as far as I know. I think that might be what you are experiencing - condensation mixing with dust/grime. Just a guess...[/QUOTE]

I was going to mention the same thing. That is might be a form on condensation created from your ventaliation system.
 
Anyone know the best way to take care of it? Like I said I am guessing the jackass that did a poor job on the maintenance we paid him for should have taken care of it, but since he did not it would be nice if there was something we could do.
 
Haven't read any more than the first page so I'll offer you two years worth of home ownership advice that may have already been mentioned, if so, consider it reinforcement.

That power washer? Not a bad idea. It isn't a matter of keep the outside aesthetically pleasing, that dirt build up will cause rot in the boards and also makes it that much harder to see if you have insects and what not that are damaging your home. The first guy just didn't present his argument very well. I rented one the first year for about $80 or something like that. I was going to rent another one this year but then found one on Craigslist for $150. You may not want to pony up $150-300 on a washer right now (and probably won't need to until next summer anyway), but remember that all house stuff like this holds its value very well.

Get a decent set of tools. Home Depot (though from the vs. thread you may prefer Lowe's due to HD's CEO being a huge RNC donator) has sets that will fill many of your needs. I have this one http://www.homedepot.com/Tools-Hard...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 and have been very happy with it.

Start reading about home maintainence and repair. Since you're a CAG, go to the library, but seriously home maintainence for dummies is worth its weight in gold. Also, if something happens (i.e. toilet leak) don't panic and think you need to buy a new whatever. Google can be very handy as well at times like this.

If you've got that big air exchanger outside of your house for the A/C, hose it down every couple of months and use a fridge coil brush to clean off any cottonwood and such that gets stuck on there. The 5 minutes it will take you to do this will save you MANY THOUSANDS of dollars instead of replacing the thing if it gets gummed up.
You may have to spring to have an HVAC professional come in and assess your situation if it's still too hot when you're sleeping. Also remember, hot air rises and cool air falls. When it's hot out, keep your upstairs vents closed and vice versa. This helps in recirculation and will help you keep costs down over the year.

I'm an animal lover and the thought of killing anything with fur turns my stomach. That said, if you get mice it's you against them because they will destroy things in your house. Woodpeckers? Get some cement based wood putty to fill the holes and then hang some peanut butter soot in a tree away from your house. Like, two blocks away. Raccoons? BB Gun. They're the fucking devil I tell you. Snakes? Glue traps, same for larger vermin of the vole/mole/rat variety.

Clean, heavily and often. Not just your entryway either. Be prepared to get dirty by mucking out your own sewer line instead of paying Roto-Rooter $300 to do it for you every couple of years. If you have carpet, vaccuum the hell out of it on a regular basis, especially if you have pets. Carpet is a bacterial paradise. Get a Dyson vaccuum, they cost more up front but you can fix 99% of anything that goes wrong with it by yourself (even if you're not terribly mechanically inclined) and you will spend $0 on filters and bags for as long as you have the thing. Get a shop vac too for any wet spills. I bought a mini wet/dry from Lowes for maybe $30. Brilliant purchase.

Have a lawn? Then you're gonna mow the fucker. Might as well get a decent mower, unless it's really small and you can just get one of those mechanical push mowers. I have 1/3rd acre which is not much land, but my self propelled mower makes the whole ordeal last less than 45 minutes. Have trees? Then you have leaves, time to get a rake. Get two so you can do it with your lady.

After the first freeze, turn off the water to your exterior spigots (trace the line back to your house, but the valves are typically in the laundry room) and then cover said spigots to keep the creepy crawlies out of there as well as prevent freezing up the line.

It's like having a car. Keep your fluids topped off, regular oil changes, keep the tires close to full and don't set the thing on fire. Do all that and it'll last a long time and keep you happy.

If you have a dishwasher, check the drainage pipe every other month or so to make sure it isn't leaking (likely under your sink). Replacing all the wood under your sink because you didn't bother to bend over for twenty seconds every once in a while will make you feel like a major dumbass. Not cheap either.

Walk around your house and look at things fairly often. The first few times you do this, take a lot of notes and pictures. It'll make it a lot easier for you to notice if things are changing.
 
I wasn't real clear on what I was seeing in the pics - if it's just condensate on the pipes you might look into some insulation to wrap around them and see if you can block the draft that might be coming across them.

If it is the a/c unit that is *above* those pipes and the condensate line that is clogged and dripping down onto the pipes and dryer - the drain is typically a small diameter pvc pipe and typically has a clean-out where you can pour some bleach down it.
 
nasum has some good points

Can't go wrong with a shopvac, I've got mostly fake wood floors

Walk around and take a look at your house every couple of days
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Ok so I have ran in to my first potential problem in owning a money pit...erm I mean home. A week or two ago my wife and I noticed that the floor near our washer and dryer was kind of sticky and so was the top of the dryer. Looking around we did not see anything out of the ordinary, so I assumed it must just be that we must have spilled some detergent or something. However, today whenever I went down and went to clean the lint tray I got a fingertip full of grossness. Upon looking at the lint tray there was a small pool of a golden yellow looking fluid/goop sitting there. Naturally I checked the pipes above head and sure enough one of our pipes is sticky too. However I can not find a hole and I do not see signs of an explosion(it is only on the pipe and not the surrounding pipe or walls at all). Tracing the pipe it lead to both our hot water heater(which is gas)and a valve that says meter generator. We have had water the last few weeks that looks both clean and runs hot...so both are working.

Anyone know if this may just be a corroded pipe(this is what family seems to think it may be), gas or what? As I stated it is sticky, yellow, odorless and all our utilities are running properly. I am happy to call a plumber or the gas company, but id prefer to def know which to call before I spend $200 on one just to have them tell me I should have called the other.

Pics

Close up where you can see a bit of the gunk
http://oi56.tinypic.com/10igzh1.jpg

Further back pic and you can see another pipe that has a bit of stickiness too(small and not visible)
http://oi55.tinypic.com/2w5jdxt.jpg

Pic that shows what is in in the lint trap
http://oi55.tinypic.com/16kcsj5.jpg[/QUOTE]

Now, I've only been doing pipe fitting for about 3 years, so this may not be it, but here's a guess. What it *looks* like to me is the valve wasn't sweated on properly. That 'sticky' stuff could just be the flux coming out from the valve. (It probably has a tiny pinhole in the solder. It happens and can show up at any time.) If you have or know anyone with any soldering experience, isolate that line, drain it and trying sweating that valve again.

Again, just a guess.

EDIT: After looking at the pic of the lint trap (which I hadn't before), that definitely looks like flux. Wipe the pipe clean and keep an eye on it throughout the day to see if you can spot it coming from the valve.
 
So me and my wife have noticed over the last few weeks as the chilly fall weather has set in that our water has been running cooler and cooler. If the faucet in the tub has 10 settings to it, we used to run it at a 6 and now we are running it at the full 10 and its not as hot as it was before. We plan on buying some pipe insulation to wrap around the hot water pipes in our basement, but I am doubtful that by itself will fix the problem.

Is there anything else that we can do to get our bath/shower water to run hotter without turning up the heater? Just trying to save money with common sense/maintenance before expending extra energy.
 
Magus. Is it only that one room in which the water doesn't seem as hot as before, or is it all over your house where there is a drop in temperature?
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Magus. Is it only that one room in which the water doesn't seem as hot as before, or is it all over your house where there is a drop in temperature?[/QUOTE]

Hmmm well my wife is going to do dishes later tonight. I well have her keep an eye on the water in the Kitchen(which outside the bathroom is the only other room with water)and see if the water seems cooler there too. Will report back if the kitchen was the same, or if its just the bathroom that the water is running cooler.
 
Prob want to pour a cup of bleach down each sink drain once a month.

Also, do NOT buy cheap air filters. We switched to them and our AC unit leaked water that we didn't notice until it started dripping from the ceiling.We're out of extras right now or I'd recommend a brand/type, but either way look for quality.

If you have a septic tank you might want to look into stuff that you can pour down your toilet once a month to maintain it.We don't so I don't know much about them.
 
So me and the wife are disagreeing on if the tap is running the same or not. She thinks its the same, but I am positive it is not because when we first moved in I recall multiple times burning my hands from the water being too hot(where today doing dishes I could keep my hand under the running water on max heat no problem).
 
[quote name='keithp']Gas or electric hot water heater? You might have an element burned out in it. They're pretty easy to replace.[/QUOTE]

Gas heater. Thanks to those continuing to try and help.
 
I agree that sounds like burned out element. They are usually pretty cheap (I think the last one I bought was $30) and fairly easy to replace. The only thing that was a pain with ours was trying to figure out which element was bad, the top or bottom one. Just make sure you turn the water and the electricity off before you start messing with it. Good luck.
 
Ok so two updates. First off the sticky golden brown liquid in the basement....ya...it was apple juice. My wife apparently had spilled most of a gallon jug of apple juice up stairs and while she was cleaning it up some of it had ran to the side, touched the wall and then leaked down through the floor boards. We figured this out after finding a spot that was still sticky near the wall a week or so ago and putting together what happened. I had to breath and laugh to not get a bit upset ;)

Second, after insulating the house and our basement pipes it seems as though the water is at least running warm all the time and once or twice it has run scalding hot again....but its still not running scalding hot all the time. It seems like for some reason too it runs hotter in the mourning and late at night. I am going to look in to that burned out element thing, but any more ideas?
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']Ok so two updates. First off the sticky golden brown liquid in the basement....ya...it was apple juice. My wife apparently had spilled most of a gallon jug of apple juice up stairs and while she was cleaning it up some of it had ran to the side, touched the wall and then leaked down through the floor boards. We figured this out after finding a spot that was still sticky near the wall a week or so ago and putting together what happened. I had to breath and laugh to not get a bit upset ;)
[/QUOTE]

:rofl:
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']:rofl:[/QUOTE]

Yeah as I said its funny looking back on it....but after a week of tearing my hair out trying to figure out what the problem could be I was pretty angry. I kept my cool though and just kissed her and laughed it off...then went and screamed in to a pillow ;)
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']
Second, after insulating the house and our basement pipes it seems as though the water is at least running warm all the time and once or twice it has run scalding hot again....but its still not running scalding hot all the time. It seems like for some reason too it runs hotter in the mourning and late at night. I am going to look in to that burned out element thing, but any more ideas?[/QUOTE]

Do you know the last time that the hot water heater was flushed and refilled? It might be good to do this anyway to get rid of sediment that is in there.

You *may* want to open up the front panel on your heater and check to see if a fuse is blown on it. Mine has a fuse trip that blows if the unit gets overloaded. This will result in lukewarm water at times. I reset the fuse and everything was fine after that...
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Do you know the last time that the hot water heater was flushed and refilled? It might be good to do this anyway to get rid of sediment that is in there.

You *may* want to open up the front panel on your heater and check to see if a fuse is blown on it. Mine has a fuse trip that blows if the unit gets overloaded. This will result in lukewarm water at times. I reset the fuse and everything was fine after that...[/QUOTE]

How would I tell if a fuse trip is blown or not? Would it be obvious like a signed/destroyed part or less obvious? Same thing with the flushing of the unit itself. The hot water heater itself is only 2-5 years old though, my guess is they never flushed it. How would I go about flushing it, and any risk that I may break something doing so?
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']How would I tell if a fuse trip is blown or not? Would it be obvious like a signed/destroyed part or less obvious? Same thing with the flushing of the unit itself. The hot water heater itself is only 2-5 years old though, my guess is they never flushed it. How would I go about flushing it, and any risk that I may break something doing so?[/QUOTE]

You'd see it on the panel when you open it up. It's kind of like a button. If I have time later, I'll go photo mine.

http://www.chilipepperapp.com/flush.htm

Flushing it is very easy. You're only taking the water in it and flushing it out the bottom. You'll see a spigot down there...
 
So we tried draining/flushing last night. We did not drain the whole tank because after an intial test putting a bucket under it and checking the water it was running pretty clean. There was a small amount of cloudiness to it, but no chunks or grits. Am I right to assume that means its clean?

Also last night wife complained that her shower was luke warm and then this mourning the water was not even luke warm, it was actually more on the cold end. DEFINITELY has to be a problem now since it had all night to heat and only put out cool to tepid water. I am trying to research this blown fuse thing and some other solutions, but I have a feeling in the next few hours I may just call a plumber.
 
Might actually be cheaper to just buy a new water heater than to have a plumber come out. Sounds to me like the heating element in the water heater is shot. It can be replaced... but it's still wiser (and probably cheaper) to just buy a new water heater.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']So we tried draining/flushing last night. We did not drain the whole tank because after an intial test putting a bucket under it and checking the water it was running pretty clean. There was a small amount of cloudiness to it, but no chunks or grits. Am I right to assume that means its clean?

Also last night wife complained that her shower was luke warm and then this mourning the water was not even luke warm, it was actually more on the cold end. DEFINITELY has to be a problem now since it had all night to heat and only put out cool to tepid water. I am trying to research this blown fuse thing and some other solutions, but I have a feeling in the next few hours I may just call a plumber.[/QUOTE]


Well, typically sediment rests at the bottom of the tank, so you'd want to run it all the way out.

I still think you have one of two things happening. The fuse has either popped or the heating element is blown. If you look at the front of your tank, you should see an access panel. Unscrew the panel and have a look inside. You should see a temperature control and the fuse button (usually). You might try cranking up the heat on it.

Do gas water heaters have pilot lights? Maybe it's out?
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Well, typically sediment rests at the bottom of the tank, so you'd want to run it all the way out.

I still think you have one of two things happening. The fuse has either popped or the heating element is blown. If you look at the front of your tank, you should see an access panel. Unscrew the panel and have a look inside. You should see a temperature control and the fuse button (usually). You might try cranking up the heat on it.

Do gas water heaters have pilot lights? Maybe it's out?[/QUOTE]

I would think if the Pilot light was out that we would not get any hot water though right? My wife claimed she took a look at the panel, but since it requires unscrewing stuff I really doubt she did(she was not down there long enough after I came back up). I will try doing that in a bit here. What exactly am I looking for though? Like what does a burned out element/blown fuse look like?

@metaphysicalstyles - Man the hot water heater is only supposed to be like 3 or 4 years old...buying a new hot water heater seems like a huge expense for something so new.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']I would think if the Pilot light was out that we would not get any hot water though right? My wife claimed she took a look at the panel, but since it requires unscrewing stuff I really doubt she did(she was not down there long enough after I came back up). I will try doing that in a bit here. What exactly am I looking for though? Like what does a burned out element/blown fuse look like?

@metaphysicalstyles - Man the hot water heater is only supposed to be like 3 or 4 years old...buying a new hot water heater seems like a huge expense for something so new.[/QUOTE]

Trust me, you'll see it. There isn't much on the inside of the panel... It should be pretty clearly labeled if the fuse needs to be reset. I had to just press the button in on mine.

What make/model? The manual should show what I'm talking about.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']Trust me, you'll see it. There isn't much on the inside of the panel... It should be pretty clearly labeled if the fuse needs to be reset. I had to just press the button in on mine.

What make/model? The manual should show what I'm talking about.[/QUOTE]

The previous home owners did not leave a manaul that we are aware of. I will try calling them later and seeing if they have it.
 
Yeah, I'd agree with others if the water is hot sometimes and not others the water heater is probably shot and just needs replaced. Better to get a new one (that will have a warranty etc.) than pay to fix an old one.
 
[quote name='MSI Magus']The previous home owners did not leave a manaul that we are aware of. I will try calling them later and seeing if they have it.[/QUOTE]

Post the make/model here.
 
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