Sunday, November 17, 2013

When it rains it pours (and leaks)

Friday night Lisa and I were sitting watching TV when it started raining outside. Lisa thought it was coming down really hard but I didn't think much of it. Saturday morning we were getting some of the bedrooms ready for guests when I went in the kids bathroom (we never go into that bathroom any more) and I saw that the ceiling was sagging and there was water dripping from the sagging part. I knew right away that our roof was leaking but I was very confused that we could have such a big leak when we have never had a hint of a problem before. I went up on the roof and never saw anything obvious like broken tiles or anything so then I climbed into the attic to get a better idea of where the problem was. I could see where it was leaking so I went back up on the roof and there was still no way for it to leak unless the wind was blowing in just the right way. The wind had to blow the rain up under the tiles on the peak of the roof. 

There wasn't much I could do at the time so I decided there was no immediate emergency and I would call the insurance company on Monday crossing my fingers that they would cover this. 

I worked in the yard for a few hours and decided to go on a run. I was four miles out when  I got a text from Lisa. I could read her panic in the text. Apparently she had been working in the bathroom and the timer on the washer or dryer went off. She ran downstairs and as she was in the laundry room she heard a huge bang from upstairs. When our kids were home that would not have been unusual but since she was the only person in the house she was quite worried. She ran upstairs to see what was going on and the pictures show what she found. 

I'm just glad that the timer went off when it did. That would have hurt my darlings head. She decided that she wasn't going in there and went back downstairs when she heard an even bigger bang. I guess the ceiling hadn't completely come down but this time it did.

I'm not looking forward to fixing this. I really hope the insurance covers it. 

To make matters even worse, I found two new problems while I was in the attic. My house has the infamous plastic plumbing. This plumbing is notorious for springing leaks and flooding peoples houses. They did a recall on the worst kind of plumbing and had to re-plumb everyone's houses. The kind I have also had a recall that if I sprung a leak within the first 15 years they also had to re-plumb the house. When my fifteen years was about up I was sorely tempted to poke a hole in my water line but I was good. Well when I was in the attic I saw calcium carbonate deposits on a water line. A sure indication that I'm about ready to spring a leak. I guess I better take care of that before Alex's ceiling comes down. 
My other surprise I found in the attic was that: I think I saw termite poop. I looked above where the poop was and noticed a few tiny holes in the rafter. It looks very localized so hopefully I can treat it myself. 

So as you can imagine, Saturday wasn't the best day for me. Tomorrow I talk to the insurance company so let's hope they will cover this.

----------trivia----------
From when the cotton is grown until they are thrown in the trash, a pair of blue jeans consumes 3,480 liters of water.
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5 comments:

Mark said...

Are you sure some of the problem wasn't a seeping pipe?

Peter and Mandy said...

Yikes what a mess!

Unknown said...

The ceiling may have collapsed due to termite infestation in your roof. This is definitely not the kind of Saturday anyone would enjoy. Thankfully, Lisa was not there when your ceiling collapsed. It would be much of a problem if it were the case. Looking at your ceiling, it will take a while before repairing it all. If ever you’ll be needing help, do not hesitate to call for a pro repairman from a trusted company. Hope it will all be fixed soon!

Leeanne @ MasterMyList.com

Lynn said...

Yikes! Pictures say a thousand words. Hope you can get this all taken care of soon with insurance. So sorry. I can't even imagine the stress. Glad Lisa wasn't hurt!

Unknown said...

That is one heck of a collapse. It’s a really good thing that Lisa got out of there before it actually happened. Also, at least you found out about those problems before it sprung another leak and caused more damage.

Chris @ WilliamsMechanical.com