…Water (Part 2)

Water, it’s a thing! In my last post, I shared the saga of our flooded basement and the seasonal stream that began running through our property in the spring of 2016. And while the cause of the flooding was determined and subsequently resolved, there was yet another challenge just ahead for us.

You Can’t Ignore Water

About a week after the flooding issue (mind you the water was still actively flowing through our repaired drainage and would continue to do so for several more weeks), Warren made yet another water related discovery. This time, water made it’s presence known in the form of a damaged exterior wall in the foyer. Be sure to visit my post on the foyer work to see previous work completed in this space.

Big Water (And Little Water) Will Always Run!

Once Warren opened up the wall, surprise! Tons of water damage to the exterior wall. I mean it was mushy at this point and completely undetectable both inside and from the porch as the damage was hiding behind the wood siding.

Remember in my post on our master bedroom, that little spot on the drywall in the upper corner of our closet that Warren had to repair? You know the one that was of no concern to both the seller and the inspector because the cause of the water leak had been fixed? Yeah, that spot. Well if you’ve ever dealt with water leaks in your home, you know that water gets in and then it runs! And that’s what happened here. The water came in from the roof (which we did actually fix, thank you very much) and ran straight down into the foyer wall. Water plus wood over a really long time equals mush!

Warren had returned to working in the foyer space, but this time on the opposite side of the entryway. This project involved opening the wall to build a laundry chute that would originate in our closet directly above. The chute would then travel down to the basement laundry area. A brilliant plan that would reduce my lugging laundry both down and up the stairs! Why did awesome things like laundry chutes and dumbwaiters disappear from modern multi-level housing? They’re not only really efficient but just plain cool in my opinion!

More Snow, More Water!

Poor Warren, set about a simple task of building a laundry chute and ended up having to tear out a whole section of wall, rebuild it, and properly seal everything to prevent further damage. And did I mention that by this time, another snow storm had moved into the area? Yep, not as big as the one a week or so before, but enough to give Warren some additional challenge in repairing this wall.

Thanks Neighbor!

We have great neighbors by the way. While Warren was out braving the elements under a tarp, one of our neighbors came by to plow our driveway for us. They had to have felt so bad for Warren. I mean honestly, hard to miss the tarp which must have conjured up pure pity for us for having yet another unplanned project to deal with!

Our neighbors were all well aware of the house’s condition as many of them had often helped the original owners with snow removal, small maintenance tasks, etc. The older couple had illnesses and physical limitations that prevented them from properly maintaining the home. So we were told that folks jumped in to help often!

Just One More Leak! Again, You Can’t Ignore Water!

Yep, so that’s just one more water story. There were others during this renovation but you’ve gone through one and the story is pretty much the same! There’s the initial shock of the discovery and then you just move on with the repair! Which is why maintenance is so critical! You cannot, I repeat, cannot ignore water intrusion into your home. It will not just go away and no amount of caulking and no amount of different types of caulking, will make it magically go away (ask me how I know; more discoveries)! Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and call in the experts if you can’t properly fix the problem on your own. Next time, I’ll share more flooring details; time to get on those downstairs hardwoods! Back soon!

Blessings,
{Shelley}

P.S. Warren did finally get to proceed with the building of the laundry chute! And I love it; just one more little piece of character that makes our Young Victorian look and feel like a much older home!

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