Tuesday, October 31, 2017

It's Always Sumthin'

Note the drip within the circle. One of many.

As I was preparing to retire for the evening, Sunday last, I could hear the wind and rain increasing outside my window. Checking the weather forecast, I saw that very heavy rains and very high winds were expected during the overnight hours into Monday.

Oh joy.

I went to bed, but what with all the howling and driving rain 'gainst the side of Chez Sarge, sleep was long in coming. I started a countdown around midnight.

Midnight. [Groan] Well, I can get six hours of sleep before I have to get up. I can hack that.

One AM? Seriously? Five hours, I've got through work with less. Might as well read for a while.

Two AM. Guess I better try and sleep. Four hours will be rough, but I've done it before.

Then at 3 AM I am awakened by a frantic feline. Seems that Sasha wants me to get up for some reason.

What's wrong girl? Did Tuna fall in the well again? It's okay baby, it's not time to get up yet. Uh, why do I hear water running? Did I leave the water on in the bathroom sink? Sounds awfully loud for that.

I swear that cat followed me into the bathroom meowing all the way, I think what she was saying was -

No, you idiot! It's not in the bathroom, follow me!

So I did. Damn it.

Pissing through the lintel atop the closet opening (that first photo is what's called foreshadowing) was something like this -

(Source)
Yes, a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much. Not when being awakened out of a sound sleep (finally, and doesn't that figure) and finding that the floor in the computer room in front of the closet is awash with more water pouring in from the overhead.

I half expected to hear this...



Followed by the sounds of depth charges splashing into the water overhead.

Well, not really. I was too busy yelling fire truck and mustering all of the trash cans and towels I could find. I may have uttered a few Germanic phrases as well. The progeny have noted in the past my ability to swear in multiple languages. (I know a couple of bad words in French and Russian as well. I tend to bring out the entire repertoire when stressed.)



Yeah, just like that. Without the strafing aircraft. Without the red lighting. Certainly there were no fireworks aloft.

Just me, and the cats watching, manning the bucket brigade.


As it was the middle of the night, I had no real hope of getting my guy to come out to fix the damage caused by the storm. But I called him anyway, left a message. He actually responded via text that he would call me in the morning. Well, yes, it was morning, going on 0400 as a matter of fact, but I assumed he meant "morning when the sun is up."

Now I wonder, as I write this, just how much this is going to cost. When the rain had let up, I could tell because the waterfall slowed down, I went outside with flashlight in hand (that would be a torch to my British and Commonwealth readers) to see what I could see.

Wasn't much, but a couple of shingles on the front of the house looked somewhat the worse for wear. I can imagine what the top might look like. We had gusts in the 60 mph range, so I don't know. Maybe the insurance will cover some of it.


My guy showed up around 0930, though we had swapped a number of texts beforehand as to the color of the shingles on the roof and the type. Dark gray, architectural (I think) and oh yeah, I have about ten left over from when the job was done 14 years ago. He likes to hit the ground running. While I was his first stop on the road to fixing leaking roofs, I wasn't his last.

Turns out that the winds in parts of Little Rhody were gusting to over 100 mph Sunday night into Monday morning. While I doubt we got that high, the winds were coming in at 60+ at times. Stripped off a section of shingles right down to the bare wood right above that closet door in the computer room.

My leftover shingles were enough to finish the job. Cost me 3 and a half C-Notes. Which hurts but isn't all that bad, so I'm told.

I informed The Missus Herself (who is forward deployed to Virginia for the nonce) and she was less than pleased. She is under the impression that roofs should last forever. While I am in agreement with her on that, I know that that isn't really realistic. Still and all, beats replacing the roof entirely.

For now.

As Buck was wont to say, "It's always sumthin'."

The hero of the hour.


40 comments:

  1. I believed your story, right up until the part where your CAT was HELPFUL. Try to keep it realistic next time. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha!

      True story though. She will always alert me when something is to her displeasure. She likes to sleep in that closet, so no doubt she didn't like the water in her closet.

      Delete
  2. You did good. The FEWS (Feline Early Warning System) allowed a degree of damage control, and prevented a cataclysmic catastrophe of a cataract. You will have to catalogue the damage for the insurance company. And because of the loss of sleep a catnap might be in order.
    If you had gone through the Navy's Damage Control training you could have done some soft patching and shoring work up in the attic.

    Luckily I didn't have a mouthful of coffee when I read, "What's wrong girl? Did Tuna fall in the well again?"



    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FEWS, I like it. I'll tell Sasha and Anya, I bet they'll like it too.

      Delete
  3. A most excellent cat! She definitely deserves extra attention and treats (although I have a feeling in your household they're already pretty spoiled).

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    Replies
    1. She and her sister are quite spoiled. Of course, they earn their keep, we used to have a mouse problem in the basement.

      Used to...

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  4. Good cat! Earlier this summer we had some problems with our tankless hot-water heater, which malfunctioned and blew a pex, spewing water into my art closet. We got that fixed, but the first time it rained, water poured into my closet from the roof - chimney to the hot-water heater. It required replacing the chimney pipe and caulking around the chimney on the roof. Of course, we put this off until last weekend when a big storm was due to hit. I love those moments of togetherness when the hubby is on the slippery roof (tin) and I am running and fetching, climbing in the attic, out of the attic, running to the barn to find the caulk gun, throwing the pliers to him (three tries), etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha! My wife and I have had days like that.

      Great story Lou. Hope your art closet wasn't too badly damaged.

      Delete
  5. Glad it was an obvious fix. I tell ya, standing seam steel roof is sounding pretty good to me.

    Had a solar panel installer mess up my pristine set of 35yr rated composition shingles. He drilled for rafters, then just dabbed on caulk w/out putting any flashing up under the drilled tab. Grrrr.... RCOB moment for this old Pac NW roofer.

    Took 3 tries over the course of 5 months to isolate and fix it. Had to troubleshoot during the semi-occasional rains here. It never rains in sunny SoCal, but it pours -- right out of the light fixture above the kitchen sink.

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    Replies
    1. The reason I called the guy I did was that some time ago he came out and fixed a less than obvious leak. Took a couple of tries but he finally tracked it down and fixed it up. He's good at his job and reasonable price-wise.

      Delete
  6. I saw that storm coming your way on the news...
    Leave it to a B & W kitty to let you know about stuff like this!
    More treats! MORE TREATS!!

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  7. Always sumthin' indeed. Decades ago when our kids were still kidlets, We had a stiff wind come through northern kalifonia. Our house had a centrally located zero clearance fire place, and the wind peeled the metal cap off the top and dumped it in the front yard. Fortunately, this was not accompanied by bucket of rain. When the weather cleared, I "ironed" the cap back into shape and re-installed it with some of these---

    https://www.homedepot.com/p/Teks-9-x-1-1-2-in-Zinc-Plated-Steel-Hex-Washer-Head-Roofing-Screws-100-Pack-21404/100188361

    The other "fun" was after we had an addition built. The addition roof and existing roof were of different pitch and formed a valley. Come to find out when the roof was installed, there was no metal sheeting in the bottom of the valley, and some genius nicked the tar paper under the shingles with his knife. My first clue was when we were getting buckets of rain, and noticed that there was water coming off the BOTTOM of the rafter in that valley. Called the install company and told them, and they offered to send someone out. I told them no, they had their chance, and I was going to pay someone else to do it right.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roofing is an art as much as it is a science.

      Some roofers have neither art nor science in them.

      Delete
  8. Welcome to my world. Good job! Nice kitty!! Double the ration all around.

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  9. The roof should last at least 20 years, but high winds can mess up a lot of stuff. Your home owners insurance may cover damage after a deductible of...oh probably about $350 or so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deductible is a grand. Didn't even ask.

      Delete
    2. If the winds were more than 50, bet the insurance company would have tossed it under 'catastrophic wind damage' and your deduct would shoot up to 5% or so of book value of house (pre storm, of course.)

      House insurance is there for either the mortgage company or to cover catastrophic events. No matter what, you're gonna pay, and pay, and pay...

      Delete
    3. We here at the condo (as an Association) are STILL waiting for a settlement from our insurance policy/agent/vendor for damage from Matthew ($1.7M). I have been assigned (as board member) to shop for a new agent. I have descended into a world of intrigue, deception, vile imagining and promises of things to come (and I don't mean I'm buying a new car).

      Delete
    4. Sigh, insurance companies, another word for banditry.

      (As USAA has always been good to me, I don't include them. I should switch my homeowner's policy to them. Not sure why I haven't.)

      Delete
  10. Have you checked to see if Amazon sells catnip?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shh, don't tell Sasha, she'll go nuts. (She's also a mean drunk.)

      Delete
  11. You need a new CATegory for this tale. Your story is just one example of why I like cats. Thanks for the post.

    Paul L. Quandt

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  12. When most people have shingles, they're happy when they go way! Honestly! Some people would complain if you hung them with a new rope! : )

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  13. We are currently having our guest bathroom re-modeled. We could not be more pleased with our contractor. He happened to grab us a couple of moisture detectors (they beep like smoke detectors but not as shrill) to put under our sinks. Taking a cue from 'Das Boot', I think they should sound off with "Ahhooooogah! Dive! Dive!". But that's just me.

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  14. Here's hoping your collection of games and puzzles didn't get wet! I see from the picture it was THAT closet. Leaky roofs are no fun, but do make work for my #1 son. Heard on the radio New England got slammed, heard VT had large number of trees down as well as power out. Glad your guy was able to fix it right up for you. And definitely more kitty pot for helpful watch-cats!! And a nip of something alcoholic for you as reward for paying attention to the watch-cat!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The games survived without a touch of moisture. It all was in the front of the closet and Sasha had me up and at it before everything got truly soaked. Still smells a bit musty in the room but that should dry out soon.

      Lots of trees down here as well. Lost power for nearly a day.

      You have some excellent ideas for refreshments for the crew!

      Delete
  15. "I think they should sound off with "Ahhooooogah! Dive! Dive!"."

    That's on the order of Bill Cosby's doorbell, which, instead of going 'ding dong' would loudly announce " Someone's at the door ".

    Paul

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  16. I was just going to comment on the games....I got real concerned when I saw that. Glad you were able to perform the appropriate damage control to the situation

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    1. Got lucky there, all the water was forward of that shelf, more over the doors.

      Delete
  17. Glub glub glub (Help, I'm in the well!) Good kitty. In all seriousness, I'm glad the leak wasn't more serious. Long term leaks aren't covered by insurance and the mold factor can make it even more expensive. Just ask my boss who is now renovating his upstairs bathroom, getting a new subfloor, etc.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ouch!

      (I told you to stay away from that well.)

      Delete
  18. Wait~! There was a flood?

    Nobody tells me these things. Did you at least have a shamwow?

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    Replies
    1. DC didn't have a shamwow, more's the pity, we had to respond with old fashioned towels. Which did the trick.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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