What a Drip! (Part 1)

Yeah, so on Saturday. . .

this happened.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Tarp - buckets - my darling hubby's body language.

They all spell DEFEAT.

Steve got up around 7:00 a.m. on Saturday. It was still dark. He doesn't like a lot of light in the a.m., so he usually walks out to the kitchen in the dark and turns on the copper pendant light above the sink. His loving wife had programmed the coffee pot to have the coffee ready at 7:00, so he was standing there pouring himself the first cup of the day when he heard. . .

something. . .

an unusual rhythmic sound.

Oh. . .

no.

It was that awful, discouraging sound. . .

the sound that shakes you to your core. . . 

the sound that strikes fear and panic within your heart. . .

the sound that cuts through the silence of your home's peace and tranquility. . .

and drops your heart into your stomach.

OK, that might be just a tad overly dramatic. . .

but it's the sound that no homeowner ever wants to hear. . .

the drip. . .

drip. . .

drip sound of water landing on the carpeting in the great room as it fell from the ceiling.

This was the same sound he heard a year ago - before the carpeting was in - before the furniture was in place - before we were living here full time. That sound made him so sick back then that it took him several days to tell me about it, so you can imagine how sick he feels now.

He immediately knew the source of the problem. That spray foam insulation is a wonderful thing. We believe in the product 100%, but a second or two of inattention on the part of the installer can lead to bad consequences. If warm air escapes, snow and ice will collect in the valleys of the roof, and water will eventually find its way in. We've had a lengthy cold spell, but Friday and Saturday were warm - high 30's - with bright, beautiful sunshine. 

We knew a problem was possibly developing by looking at the buildup of snow and ice in the valleys on the back of the house, and we had someone knock it off a couple times in the last several weeks. It was already on Steve's agenda to contact the spray foam company this week, so this just escalated his timeline by a few days.

The head guy came out on Saturday and spent a couple of hours on our roof - breaking up ice dams - giving himself a real good idea of the area from which the problem was originating. He came inside and removed some boards in the area of the leak. 

He studied our ceilings and we checked through the photos on my computer that Steve had taken when the product was first sprayed in August of 2014. A plan of attack was formulated. Was it going to be easy? No. Was it going to be quick? No. Was it going to be messy? Yes. Was it going to cause a major disruption of our lives? Yes. Do we all want the problem to be solved this time - once and for all? Yes, yes, yes!

We were told the crew would be here at 8:30 this morning. . .

and they were right on time. They're hoping to be done in a week - or so, but it's an awfully big job.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening getting ready for the main event. I boiled eggs and chopped up all the veggies for a week of salads. I cooked a humongous pot of chili. I washed everything in the hamper. I put all my copper pieces into the tub in the master bath. Steve then covered the tub with a sheet of OSB, and I loaded up that board with everything that was in the china cabinet and all the decor items from the great room and loft. Steve moved all the smaller pieces of furniture to the basement. My desktop computer in the loft has been disassembled and several lamps are sitting on the floor in the master bath.

I'm in the master bedroom now with the door shut. This is my sanctuary for the week. I have a thermos of coffee, some snacks and my laptop. I'm sitting in the recliner (which is now sitting parallel to the foot of our bed) listening to the crew pounding - and sawing - tearing our house apart - removing our beautiful tongue and groove boards - piece by piece by piece. Sigh. 

Steve came to the door of the bathroom when I was getting ready this morning and said, "I put on my construction hat." I looked at him and questioned what he meant by that when he was obviously wearing one of his Corvette hats. He said, "Cause we're goin' for a ride!"

We're super frustrated about this whole situation, but we know we're still incredibly blessed, so we're doing our best to "go with the flow" - and "roll with the punches." We've both been through worse things in our lives. Our appetites may not be the best at the moment, but we're thankful that we've been able to maintain our composure and our testimony - no crying, yelling or screaming at the company - and the company has stepped up and accepted responsibility - and are doing their best to resolve the problem for good. It's apparent that they feel awful about it, too.

I'll try to give you daily updates this week. Oh, and we're under a winter weather advisory for tomorrow and Wednesday with blizzard conditions expected tomorrow night. That will certainly add to the fun!

#WhatGoesUp-MustComeDown

#De-Construction

#TearingMyHouseApart

#Goin'WithTheFlow

#Rollin'WithThePunches

All is still well (with our souls) in the Keweenaw.