Homeowner Shares Clever Feature Left Behind by Previous Owner, Calling Him a Real MacGyver

Most of the time, when homeowners post on social media about the previous owners of their homes, it’s to complain. In fact, it’s so common that there’s a saying that goes, “You’ll never hate anyone as much as you hate the people who owned the house before you.”

You can usually assume that just about any post on social media that starts off by talking about the previous owners is going to be a vent about something they did to the house. That’s what makes the post from Smith Acres so unusual.

The account recently shared a video about “the old man that lived here before us,” talking about some of the things the new homeowners had discovered about their house. Instead of tearing the prior owner apart, they actually celebrated some of the genius things he did around the house, including a brilliant pellet chute. 

The tube was installed right by the front door to make it easier to get the salt pellets for the water softener down to the basement. Now, people in the comments can’t stop talking about the hack, including a few folks who have serious questions about how it works.

Previous Homeowner Installed a Clever Salt Chute

The video shows a man standing just outside his front door while emptying a 40-pound bag of salt into a hole in the ground. “The old man that lived here before us put a tube in the floor to fill the water softener with salt so he didn’t have to carry the bags all the way down to the basement,” the text on the video said. “The longer we live here, the more we find out this guy was a real MacGyver!”

The video then showed the flight of stairs that the homeowner would otherwise need to walk down with the heavy bags before zooming in on the long tube that ran all the way to the basement. 

‘Work Smarter, Not Harder’

The caption on the clip praised the previous owner for putting so much thought into such a mundane task. Meanwhile, the comments were full of people who felt the same and thought that the idea was a brilliant way to work around a labor-intensive process. 

“He worked hard once so he didn’t have to work hard again,” one person wrote.

Then there were others who laughed about some potential problems that could arise with a setup like that. “Until you have kids,” someone joked. “That pipe will be full of toothbrushes, gum, and the family hamster.”

For those interested in installing something similar in their homes, Angi says the cost can vary depending on the size and location. For example, the website says that a laundry chute can start around $800. But as one commenter said, a little extra work (and cost) up front could likely save you considerable effort down the line.