I hate fixing other peoples' mistakes.
Hate it, to the tune of $6200.00
That's the cost to get the roof fixed and re-shingled, as well as a "torch-on" roof for the addition (as opposed to the nailed-down stips of tar paper that currently sheath the flat roof of the addition.)
Why a new roof? In addition to the fact that the current roof has no vents...
...wait, have I told this story before? If not, quick re-cap. When you look at the roof from outside, you see vents. Two of them. New. Perfect. On the fantastic, less-than-10-years-old roof.
But when you look in the attic, you see... nothing. No vents. No holes under the vents.
Yes, the last roofers actually went to the trouble of putting in roof vents, without actually, you know, making them vent. Grrrrrr.....
In addition, there are two old stove pipes in the roof that go nowhere. One would think it'd be easier to take them out, rather than shingle around them, but what do I know? One, in fact, was completely open at the top, and "sealed" at the bottom, (which was inside one of the upstairs walls) only by a piece of metal sheeting. How long do you think it would take that to start leaking??
Ironically enough, *that* stove pipe is mere inches away from the non-vent. They could have actually taken out the stove pipe, and placed the vent on the hole, making a real vent. Instead, I have a useless pipe to nowhere and a pseudo-vent.
But the current issue is the second stove pipe. It starts in the dining room (I assume there was a stove of some sort, possibly a cook stove, since the original wood floor is missing in that corner as well), and goes through what was the original back wall of the house (currently the bathroom wall in the addition), and up through the roof.
The stove pipe in the bathroom, along with the original(?) clapboard of the exterior wall. (Please note: a lot of the bottles you see are dog grooming products. Really. The dogs have more grooming products than I do.)
It was always boxed in (with a bunch of shelves added on) - at least until water started dripping from it, and we pulled it apart. It was, at first, a slow leak, and I thought I'd be able to make it until spring.
Of course, it got worse and worse, until today, Dad rigged up the high-tech water capture system you see above :)
Hi-tech drainage system part two.
Basically, it's an old chunk of ducting, opened up "flat", nailed to the wall, with a used piece of string duct-taped to the pipe, leading into a bucket. I love innovation, especially when its free!!
Dad's also been working on the plumbing, with surprisingly few problems (knock on
Kip's head wood). Today, he had to change something (see Dad? I didn't tell them about that massive mistake you made), and afterwards, wanting to make sure there were no leaks, turned on the water for the new pipes, and had me run upstairs to make sure nothing was leaking.
Nothing was leaking. Really.
Which was why I was surprised, ~10 minutes after the water had been turned back off, the see water dripping from the ceiling into the living room.
The guilty party.
(HEY!! Wasn't me!! - Kip)
Ooops. Sorry Kip.
The guilty party.
Actually, the plumbing was fine too - the value that controls the shower (I think that's what is it) was open a smidge, and the air trapped in the lines took a while to squeeze out, followed by water. Lots and lots of water. Quick fix though, fortunately!!
And since Dad has been working on the plumbing, he decided it was time to put one of these in:
My favourite (for now) thing.
It's an outside tap!! Woohoo!! You have no idea how useful these little things are - until you don't have one. I had a hose snaking out a window all summer long, so I could water the garden with a sprinkler. Good times.
Other new things:
My reno-chic pink living room, with red accents.
At least it's WARM!
New doorbell.
Again, you don't realize how nice it is to have one - until you don't. And holywow, you can spend some serious cash on doorbells!
And some old things - old kitchen wallpaper, peeking through here and there:
I assume these were used at two different times!
I should be posting more often, I hope, as things have calmed down a bit here, and there are more interesting things going on soon (like floor tile! And sinks! And lights!!).
Until then, stay dry.
