Printer-friendly versionMore on this later.
Author:
Blog About:
You've probably all heard that it is raining A LOT in California. Fortunately, I'm not in an area hit by critical flooding and while there are mudslides in the local mountains, I haven't been affected by them either.
But last night, a leak in the bathroom ceiling caused a collapse of the ceiling tiles, with more damage this morning extending out into the hall. It's not that bad, and this has happened before, but that was caused by a leaky cooler on the roof.
Tomorrow it will not be raining, and I can get someone to come out and assess how much repairs will cost. Maybe as much as $1000, I'm thinking, but probably not more. The advantages of living in a flimsy mobile home. :)
Hugs,
Erin
Comments
My sympathies
to your plight.
In my part of the UK, we have has 230% of the expected rainfall for January by the 14th. Many roads were closed over the weekend and the rivers Wey and Arun had burst their banks in many places.
I hope that you can get a repair done at a decent price. Is it covered by buildings insurance?
I'm sure that in the near future, you will have politicians standing in front of the TV cameras talking about the 'wrong sort of rain' and they can't spend money on a once in a 1000 year occurrence. these [redacted] jerks are the same the world over yet we still vote for them.
Samantha.
My thoughts and prayers
I do hope this works out for you Erin. Here in the upper Midwest we have our weather challenges with long, gloomy winters. But thankfully droughts and water shortages are not amongst our natural resource worries. Come out to to Michigan and experience the four seasons Erin. :D
DeeDee
Keeping the Rain Out
Two years ago we had the shingles replaced on our home. We were quite clear that we wanted all the flashing replaced. The roofer must have thought we meant all the flashing he felt like replacing. In December our roof sprung a leak. The smell that ensued has been horrible. There has only been two days when the weather was warm enough and the snow gone from the roof to allow temporary repairs. We have had six fans and two dehumidifier going fulltime.
The flashing around the chimney and a bathroom stack is rusted out.
Not sure what it will ultimately cost, but I have some notion of how you feel.
It's rainy today and forty. Odd for January in Minnesota.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
How are the lake levels?
I and my siblings just picked our weeks for the family cabin in Minnesota this summer.
We go to a large lake east of Fergus Falls. Always worried about how the water levels will be. It's been crazy the last couple of years.
DD
Dehumidifiers?
Depending on the temperature differential between outside and inside the dehumidifiers might not even be necessary. With a temperature differential of just 12℃ I have observed a relative humidity drop of around 50%. Outside 9℃/~95% and inside 21℃/~45%.
So you might be able to do without the dehumidifiers by raising the thermostat of your heating system. Especially in the rooms most affected by the leakage.
Right now, this morning (09:30), my climate monitor shows outside 2℃/93% (with a light dusting of snow on the ground) and inside 21℃/37%. Given that here in Germany the humidity for living spaces is supposed to be between 40% and 60%, my climate monitor is demanding that I open the windows for ventilation. But with my severely irritated respiratory mucus membranes, opening the windows to raise the humidity AND lower the temperature is tantamount to grievous bodily harm, since 21℃ is at the lower limit of comfort temperature wise.
Jessica
Interesting, because I'm
Interesting, because I'm comfortable (other than in the bathroom) at 15C. For sleeping, I'm happy at 8C.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
For metricphobs
Had to do this for myself, so thought I'd post it for others on this side of the Atlantic. 15C = 59F. 8C = 46.4F. Too cool for me, I'm afraid.
My body is incredibly intolerant of large temperature ranges. Which for me is anything above or below about 70F (21.1C) to about 75F (23.9C) depending on the humidity. (All temperatures rounded to one decimal point.) I function best in this range with a relatively low humidity, approximately 35% RH.
Above or below this range and I rapidly develop breathing problems. Throw in high humidity with high temperatures and my breathing goes to h*ll quickly. It's like trying to breathe underwater. Supplemental O2 quickly becomes a must.
Lest you think I'm a wuss, I have Cystic Fibrosis, which is not so slowly killing me*. There are only two effective treatments known. The first is a recently-released drug, which costs approximately $325,000 USD a year; or a total heart/double lung transplant, which I don't qualify for and couldn't afford if I did. Having been born with CF, I'm the classic example of the "pre-existing medical condition" exclusion in every health insurance policy ever written.
All other treatments consist of treating the symptoms, with less than optimal results. So I'm a greenhouse flower, stuck within my controlled temperature greenhouse.
Sh*t happens.
* I've far-outlived any projections made at the time I was born. In 1953, living to 18 was a longshot.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Narrow temperature band for comfort
Since I reached the menopause-age at around 47/48 years old, my tolerance for temperature fluctuations has shrunk drastically. Combine that with some auto-immune issues caused in part by a cortisone treatment 20 years prior, it makes for some "interesting" living experiences.
When temperatures drop below 22,0℃/71,6℉ I start to shiver from cold. And when the temperature climbs to 25,0℃/77,0℉ and above I start to sweat. So the sweet spot is between 23,0℃/73,4℉ and 24,0℃/75,2℉.
And as I stated, sweating (or glowing as females supposedly do) either from high ambient temperature or from physical exertion triggers an auto-immune reaction that causes severe itching not only where the perspiration erupts but also beyond. Combined with a high pressure sensitivity around my lower torso, makes wearing pants/trousers or skirts very painful. So I need to find dresses or gowns with no horizontal seam between the bust and the thighs.
As for the [relative] humidity, my comfort zone is 45% to 55%. Below that my nose and throat mucus membranes become irritated or inflamed and start to produce phlegm. And below 40% my nose starts to clog up, which means I can only sleep in a semi-reclined position (hard as a side sleeper).
For me, I discovered a positive side effect of the recent mask mandates: Especially during the winter cold I suffer far fewer upper respiratory inflammations, due to being protected from direct contact with the very cold air that upon warming up inside the nose instantly becomes extremely dry, causing irritation and inflammation. So, especially in cold weather, I will continue to use a surgical or cloth mask for the foreseeable future.
Sounds like you need to
Sounds like you need to invest in toga fabric and fibulae.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Every home repair . . .
Seems to cost $1000. Unless it cost $5000 or $10,000. Coincidence?
Emma
Do It Yourself
Over the ages I repaired shower stalls, stock tanks, water tanks, roofs, etc with a polymer sold by this company. You might contact them and see what they have. It's been more than twenty years since I've been in the business and things change. If you never coated a roof with Cool Seal or a polymer you might enlist someone who has experience.
https://virdenproducts.com/epoxy-tank-coatings/
Or you might give this some consideration. I've used this also on a friends mobile home. You may purchase it at Lowes or any of the main lumber yards.
https://mobilehomepartsstore.com/parts/540110.html
If there is an open on the roof, lay down the sealer, lay down a flat sheet of tin, recoat the whole thing. Be dang quick. All these sealers are quick to set and one can't dally. As much as I love you, I am not driving to CA to coat your roof.
Hugs Erin
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Tools of the Trade
Use a paint pan, paint roller, and use a six foot handle on the paint roller. Wear "OLD CLOTHES" and shoes you no longer wish to keep. Careful of the edges of the roof you don't step off. Stories abound of people falling off the roof when they focus too much on the job and not where they are.
An hour or less to do the job. For those who never did this before I'll allow them three hours as OJT. Kerosene or diesel to clean up with if using the Cool Seal. Nothing with touch the polymer from Virden once it set. Wear it off.
Hugs Erin
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Should at least help with the
Should at least help with the droughts and water shortages... right?
Maybe
We still need a lot more rain on the eastern side of the Rockies. Much of the SouthWest gets their water from the Colorado and Mississippi & Missouri rivers, whose sources are from the eastern Rockies and the Great Plains. Just look at Lake Mead for an example of how bad off the Colorado River is.
Seven states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming depend on the Colorado River for water. (Source: usbr.gov)
If Mead drops any lower Las Vegas could dry up and die.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Unless
it is the wrong sort of water... :)
Those of us in the UK will remember when lots of trains stopped running because 'the wrong sort of snow' fell and clogged up the braking systems.
Samantha
Except that actually _is_ a
Except that actually _is_ a distinction. Water is water; the only change is what's in solution. However, _ice_ comes in a large variety of forms. There's a reason that folks like the Inuit had 40-50 words for snow, depending on the dialect.
Just think of the words in English for precipitation. Mist, fog, drizzle, rain, shower, sprinkle, torrent. (likely a dozen others). It's all water in the air, right? No difference? :)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Good luck
With the repairs, it's even more expensive in a typical brick semi.
Angharad