And I think they must have pulled off some of the flashing from around the chimney and the apex of the west roof line, because we're getting as much water inside as the Titanic.
I did take a picture of what I rigged up in the meantime to scuttle the water outside instead of pooling (or freezing) on the floors of both the first and second floor. It's rather rudimentary, but it's working like a charm so far.
If you ever have a REALLY leaky roof and need to divert some moisture out a nearby window, I suggest buying a large roll of plastic and grab your staple gun.
We were told that the Benchmark guys would be back when the roofing materials came in (should be another week, week-and-a-half or so) but I really hope we don't have to wait the entire time with no flashing on the roof.
The winds were howling and we noticed that every once in a while, we'd hear the existing metal roof being picked up and off the sheathing. Hubby wanted to get up on the roof and secure the roofing materials so that we didn't have an even bigger problem than we have now, but I wasn't about to agree to that. Gusts were recorded between 47-50 mph. Yeah, go on, Gidget. I dare ya.
Not on my watch.
The next problem to tackle is the rear door. Everyone seems to think that replacing an exterior door is no big deal. Yeah, that's if you already have a framed in door. -----We don't.
The rough opening for the door is 39" wide by 101.5" tall and 9" deep. The transom was covered over in 1x6 and painted white. The door is
hanging on by a few nails. There's a 6" gap between the 1" door frame on the left side of the door (where the hinges are) and the rough brick exterior wall. If we pull out the door and frame, I fear the lintel above the door will collapse.
I think we'll need to carefully pull the door apart, temporarily support the lintel with a 2x8 and 2- 2x4's on each side, and rebuild the hinge side of the door frame with some connected 2x8's tapconned to the exterior brick, and seal up the gaps with expanding foam sealant. Once the lintel in once again supported, then we can work on the door frame itself.
As you can see in the image here, the pink area is where the lintel is (behind the white painted wood covering). The lintel is supposed to deflect the downward pressure of the wall above the opening towards the side walls left and right of an opening. That's not happening here and explains why there's a small crack in the exterior brick just above the doorway.
You can also see the gaps above the door and on the side. What a pain in the @ss.
On to better news: our first shipment of lumber is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. We bought from Riemeier in Norwood, Ohio and delivery cost is only $35. The lumber is a little bit more versus Home Depot, and I just found out why.
First, the price comparison:
Lumber Size: Riemeier Prices vs. Home Depot $
2x4x10 :......... $2.99........................ $2.69
2x4x16 : ........ $5.69 ........................$4.67
2x8x8 :..........$5.87 ........................ $5.25
So Riemeier is about 5-10% higher in prices, but from what I've seen and what I've been told, unlike the other lumber yards where the toss in about 10% of grade 3 lumber in with their grade 2 lumber and use 5 year old growth, Riemeier uses much older growth lumber (25 years?) so the lumber doesn't twist as soon as you cover it with drywall like the stuff from Home Depot.
I've also been told that the grade 2 lumber is as good quality as grade 1 lumber from Riemeier. I've walked through the drive through (Yes, they have a drive through!) and from what I've seen, the lumber yard is packed with high quality, no warping, no knots, no split lumber.
Also, Home Depot's delivery charge was $65, so if you're getting lumber delivered, overall, it's about the same cost for a small shipment from Riemeier.
But don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself. I'll let you know how it goes from this side when the lumber shipment arrives tomorrow for the reinforcing of the ceiling joists (see bouncy floors previous post) and for furring out the walls with the tapcons.
G'night.
ADDENDUM from M:
We were still shipping a ton of water around the chimney. Actually, because flashing and the cricket were disturbed/destroyed by the roofers and box gutter guys in the process of doing their work and diagnosing the situation, we're bringing in much more water than we were before. I'm getting worried about deterioration of the brick at this point.
Sooooo, I gambled on a bit of spray foam. This isn't a solution, of course, but it is a stop gap measure. I sprayed AMPLE foam between the brick and some goofy framing at the roof line from inside. It took a lot of foam, but it seems that the fast majority of the water is no longer eroding my brick. That should hold if we get some more snow or rain between here and when the roof arrives.
I'm sweating bullets about that roof popping up with high winds, too. I'd rather not lose that, thank you very much. That's a water leak that I can't patch with spray foam. I'll be checking on it this morning.
M
No comments:
Post a Comment