>Something I learned years ago from my brother-in-law who is a contractor. Never buy a house that is built on a cement slab without a crawl space or a house with any appliances (furnace, a/c, water heater) above the ground level. :o) Upstairs plumbing can be a real problem too!

The trouble with crawlspace under a house is that it's usually crawling with who knows what :). True, I do have my concerns about the water going under the slab, but even if it breaks there (though I figure copper should be flexible enough), we can always run it elsewhere. Also, the AC in the attic is the smaller part of it, not worried about that. I was worried about the bathtub being over the dining space, with no carrying walls under it, but we've taken care of that by building a shelf/wall/separation between the living room and the dining space. The rest of the heavy stuff is downstairs.

My worry is the cables, which are bare in the walls. I think we've got rid of mice and rats and squirrels, but I can't know whether and where they may have expressed appetite for insulation. With these hollow walls, the critters can pretty much crawl and nibble wherever they want.

> I have heard so many horror stories!

I could tell a few from this house ;). And I got the pictures to show.