Hard Hat Area

We had some excitement Tues night.  About 7:00 pm, I went upstairs and discovered water coming down from the middle of the ceiling at the top of the stairs.  It looked like it had just started but it was coming fast enough that we had to put pails underneath it. 



Look at that nasty brown, yucky water in the pails

I called several roofing places but none answered the phone because it was after hours.  Finally, I found a company who sent out two guys at about 8:30 pm.  As I was making the calls for the emergency guys to come out, Chuck was busy moving clothing out of the closet (which we discovered was also leaking from the ceiling) and other things out of harm's way (books and a shelving unit). Fortunately, he got everything moved in time -- including my mother's wedding dress !

The guys from the emergency company climbed on the roof (in the dark!) and took off all the snow (the 11.5 inches we rec'd a few days earlier).  They discovered that a section of the "flat" roof on one of the back dormers had peeled back.  We must have had a wind ?? --we don't know because we were up at the cottage for a few days so didn't know anything about it before the snow hit.  Anyway, after clearing all the snow off, they nailed it back down and finished up about 9:30 pm. 

But, the inside was getting worse. We could see that the ceiling was bulging full of water and was about to come crashing down if we didn't do something fast. The same company sent out two other guys who specialize in "inside water problems." They arrived about 10:00 pm. They ended up removing the drywall and cutting a hole in the ceiling.  They drained a ton of water from the ceiling and extracted water from the carpeting.


Before



Same shot of ceiling -- after

Then they set up a huge fan and a large dehumidifier (as Chuck says "the size of a Buick") to try to dry things out.

But the old tiles that were underneath the ceiling drywall and the insulation up inside the attic is all wet -- so it will all have to come out.  And the carpeting is all stained from the discolored water that dripped down and seeped underneath before we could catch it.  So that will all have to be replaced.

Wednesday, I had a roofer come out and give me an estimate for the outside repair. He also put a tarp on.

He said the type of material for a "flat" roof can't be applied until the weather gets to be 50 degrees !! so it will be a while before we can have it fixed.  

And our insurance adjuster can't make it out until this coming Tuesday due to so many other claims. So we're in a holding pattern.  Consequently, the whole upstairs is a mess until we know what they'll pay for and how to proceed.