Saga (Everyone loves a neverending saga, right?)

Have you ever played on of those games where you pull one piece out and then everything crumbles and makes a mess?  It’s fun to try to keep everything up and steady, but it doesn’t always work that way.

We are renters.  We rent from a lovely couple who are currently residing overseas.  They have a beautiful home and we are blessed to be able to be here while they are gone.  They are considerate and kind and when they return home for visits we get together with them and invite neighbors whom they may not be able to visit with otherwise.

This past summer, before we left for Baby Watch 2012, they stopped by for a visit.  At the time, they determined it was time to replace the roof.  We had some minor leaks and it turned out that most of our neighborhood replaced roofs this summer.  I would say 2 out of every 3 homes now has a new roof.  The roof was put on while we were waiting for our precious grandson to be born.

We returned home to a beautiful new roof.  The colors we had picked out were great and all was well.

All was well until early fall when hurricane season came upon us.  We were not hit with hurricanes, but we did get some good storms from tropical storms running up the coast.  On one occasion, I was sitting in my livingroom listening to the rain and wind.  Both were strong.  The rain sounded so very clear and then I got up and realized why it sounded so clear.  It was raining in my dining room.  Water was pouring into the room.

The next few minutes were quite exciting as I grabbed towels, buckets, big soup pots and sheets of plastic.  Eventually we got everything moved, dried as best we could and covered as best we could.  The next couple hours found us emptying buckets and watching them fill as quickly as they emptied.  At least we got our exercise!

We contacted the owners and the roofing company.  The roofer came over, inspected their work, and determined it was not them.  The roof was intact and working.  However, and that is where the saga truly begins…

The pinning between the brick facade was chipped and broken.  This could  be it.  Called several people to come repair the pinning.  No luck.  Talked with the owners, tried more people.  No luck.  Replacing pinning in brick is an art form, and it is expensive and very few people do it.  We had one elderly gentleman come to look at the bricks.  It took him 45 minutes to find us from the main road (3 minute drive away). My dear hubby was on the phone with him the entire time.  He didn’t have room in his schedule.  Actually, I think he was on his last legs and we still don’t know if he made it out of the development, for all we know he is still driving his truck around trying to get out of here.

After a few months of trying to find someone, and fortunately no more leaks, the owners contacted a handyman who has worked with them in the past.  So, early last week, the handyman (will from now on refer to him as owner, as he owns his business) and his helper (will refer to him as helper) arrived at our home.

They both came into the diningroom.  Talked with hubby and I about what has happened.  They were shown pictures of the leaks, and could see the water damage on the walls and floors.  They began to get busy.  First the room was covered in plastic. If they would had used yellow tape instead of blue painters tape, it would have looked like a crime scene. Next, the ceiling had a hole cut into it and the ceiling removed (well about 4 feet of it).  Next a ladder appeared inside the dining room.

This was the beginning of the ‘water test’.  A ladder was raised outside the dining room.  The owner climbed that ladder and held a garden hose on full force.  The helper was up the ladder in the dining room.  His job was to stick his head between the ceiling and the sub flooring of the second floor.  The owner began to pour water onto the side of the house.  The helper knocked on the wall.  They had found the leaks.  The leaks were sealed and dried and retested.  Ahh… done.  Right?  Wrong.

The owner was not satisfied that was the only problem.  Up the ladder her went again, this time going up a little more.  The hose was once more on.  The helper, his head in between the ceiling and the floor was in place.  I heard the water and then I heard the helper, not knocking, but pounding on the wall!  He emerged drenched.  Problem area two found.  Fixed, left to dry.

By this time it was pouring outside.  Good test of their handiwork.  They left and we were left with a plastic enclosed dining room.  We could almost hear the theme song for CSI playing in the background.

Next day, they returned.  The hose was once more turned on.  Viola!!  No leaks.  Yay!

They replaced the ceiling and removed some of the plastic.  It was starting to look like normal, well, almost.

The following day they finished the ceiling.  It looked like it had never been disturbed.  Again, a round of applause.  We found the paint that matched the dining room and the repairs on the walls began.  Things were moving in the right direction.  I would have my dining room back to normal within hours.  I could see it, I was excited.

The walls were about done when the owner leaned down by the base board to cut into the wall.  He touched the baseboard and his fingers went through the base board.  Uh-oh… not good.

A call was made to the owners of the house.  It was 2 a.m. where they were.  They heard the new news.  Termites.  Active termites.  Termite damage.  What a nightmare, literally.

The handyman finished up his part of the job.  He did a great job.  We love a dry home.

This week began with a well-known termite company coming to visit us… again.  They hadn’t completed their task from the last time they were here (before we moved in).

We have just one section of baseboard missing now.  They removed it and did a preliminary treatment.

Tomorrow morning I get to fly up to spend a week with my grandson.  I cannot wait.  I will be met at the airport by my dear friend who is the other grandma.  I cannot wait to hug on Nana.  I cannot wait to see my kids and my baby.  It is going to be such a wonderful, wonderful day.

Tomorrow morning, my dear hubby will get to see this termite company come in and tear out the wall of the dining room.  They will also be tearing up the hardwood flooring in part of the dining room and in our entry way.   It looks like we will have some brick replaced outside and some major repairs going on.

I think I have the better schedule tomorrow, don’t you?  I have no idea what else they will find as they tear into my newly painted dining room walls.  It’s sort of like that game where you pull sticks out of a pile?    Only I don’t hear anyone hollering Jenga yet!

Thanks for stopping by.  Pray for my dear hubby…   DAF

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