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TIFU by ignoring the signs of a gas leak

TL DR at the bottom.

I tried to post this last week, but I deleted it pretty soon after I got a couple of comments asking if I was ok. I wasn't and still am not. I'm not even going to attempt to fix it, so here's another attempt.

Somewhat important backstory. Bought a house in late summer of 2018, and immediately had problems with it (built in 1975). In the first year we had to get a new AC unit for the outside, all new appliances, and a new water heater. It's been other things since, but the last time was in June of 2020 when we had the HVAC line cleaned out. June 2020, that's important.

In April of 2019, the water heater went out and we had to get a tankless one due to how the former owners remodeled the house in 2006, so the old water heater was at least 13 years old. Had to get a new gas line for it and ended up with a gas leak. It was scary and I bought all new smoke and carbon monoxide detectors for the whole house.

And forgot to install them.

In June of 2020, there was a water leak coming from where the furnace and blower are for the HVAC system. Got it flushed, no big deal. They had to cut the pipe (and fix it back) to flush it due to a lack of space where the pipe, furnace, gas line, etc are.

This past December, 2021, I was doing laundry directly across from the furnace and I smelled natural gas. I figured it was just from the heater running, and didn't say anything. January 10th, I changed out the air filter and smelled it again. Had my wife come smell it and we argued about it enough for me to order new smoke, carbon monoxide and 2 natural gas detectors bc I learned carbon monoxide detectors don't pick up natural gas unless they're rated to.

By the time the detectors arrived, we both had forgotten about why I had ordered them to begin with. And the argument.

Thursday before last, the 10th of February 2022, my wife came into my home office screaming at me to evacuate the house because of a natural gas leak.

The utility company came out and there was a hole in the flex line to the furnace. The NATURAL GAS LINE. Next to the pipe that was cut and fixed. In June 2020.

We are lucky to even be alive. The dogs. All of us had been breathing a ridiculous amount of natural gas since at LEAST June of 2020, if not before.

My wife had lost her sense of smell since we bought the house. We've both been sick, me especially the last 2 years. We've argued about the dumbest things. I think my memory is permanently damaged.

We got the flex line replaced and paid to have every detector put in. A strong fart will hopefully set off at least one.

TL/DR: Make sure you have working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and if you have natural gas, get detectors for that. Don't wait until you need them.

Any edits are for grammar or spelling.

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