The Roof, The Roof !

Well it's not on fire, thank goodness.  Just a leak that is becoming a pain in the butt.  We noticed cracks in the paint of this arch a long time ago, very subtle at first.  It's right at the door to the back deck, and we blamed it on our closing the door too hard.  We thought it was just the paint only.  The other day when my folks were here, my mom said, are you sure you don't have a leak in the roof?  We said no, the paint has been cracking for a long time now, probably a year at least.  Again, it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the photo below, from today.

Last week we had a hard hard rain, and to our surprise, we watched water running down our walls inside the arch.  Oops. Guess we do have a leak.  Monday James called our home owners insurance company, and they sent a team out right away.  One team to dry everything, and another team to patch up the roof. Turns out there is no hole, it's just where several different roof angles meet, and water is gathering up under the flashing.  He said it's quite common on a house with so many steep pitches. They sealed the area and put on a tarp for good measure.

The blowers and dehumidifier have been running nonstop since Monday, and someone comes to the house every day to check the progress of the drying.  So far, this is all that's been done.  The repairs haven't even started, and that will entail replacing drywall, trim, hardwood floors, and carpet- and repainting.  Joy. The blowers put off an insufferable amount of heat, during our first week of weather in the 90's.  They are so loud, I feel like I'm at a Nascar race when I try to talk to James at the dinner table- we have to yell.  

I will be glad when they are gone.  However, it's kept the cats entertained.  The air bubbles and water moving through the clear plastic tube of the dehumidifier have become a fascination for them, especially Romeo, and he has spent almost every minute of every day, perched over the tube chasing the bubbles as they travel on their way to the sink.  Yes, my kitchen sink has been commandeered all week too, for drainage.

So lesson learned.  If we had gotten this checked last year, when it was simply a very minor issue, I am sure it would have been a lot less headache.  Not sure when it will be over with, but as James said, it's a minor inconvenience and thank goodness we have insurance!