We in the southeast have been experiencing a drought for a few years now. We are happy to get any rain. Tropical Storm Fay, after her triple-whammy to Florida, headed inland and we’ve been getting rain since mid-day Monday. Yesterday was significant. The rain last night was very heavy and relentless. We have an easement along the side of the house. When they built the house they narrowed the easement to give us more yard. While that was sweet of them, it didn’t have enough room for the amount of water that a rain storm sends our way. We asked politely and made some noise and they finally agreed to rework the easement to make it deeper and wider. It’s a good thing, because at 4am we looked out and the water was deep and wide rushing down the easemeant. But it was all in the easement, which is a good thing.
Why were we looking at the easement at 4am, you ask? Excellent question! The other water-related problem we had with the house 2 years ago (we moved in 3 years ago, where does the time go) was a leak around the flashing that was improperly put around the chimney. That time during the afternoon I heard water dripping in the bedroom and found it behind the a/c intake vent. This time the fire alarm started chirping at 3:40am and wouldn’t stop. Anthony said it wasn’t the low battery sound, but since it was not going to stop we finally got up and pulled out our extra tall ladder to get it down. Glad we have that ladder, toolman wins this argument, I don’t have any friends I hate enough to ask to borrow a ladder at 4am. While we were doing this I noticed a small stream of water coming down the wall by the light switch. Then I noticed water on the back of the fire alarm (that explains the chirping).
Did I mention that the attic area with the chimney has a door to it from the upper hallway? It’s just a small area with lots of insulation, so we logically put a bookcase in front of it and loaded it up with books. I guess if we have to empty and move the bookcase only every 2 years I shouldn’t complain, but at 4am I wasn’t thrilled to be moving books. Especially since it was a small stream and I wasn’t sure what we would do at 4am. Anthony imagined a bucket catching steady drops of water. I’m not sure we own a bucket, I guess I would have found something.
Anyway, no drops to catch in the attic. Then the rain stopped and the trickle down the wall dried up. We’ll start with the builder and see what we end up doing about the leak. At least we can be sure that’s the only place we have a leak!
Of course, the nephew slept through all of this. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.
