"Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning."
That was for folks sailing the ocean and not landlocked desert dwellers, I thought, discounting the adage completely.
Instead we went and visited friends so we could see their darling new baby.
We noticed as we were leaving that it was really windy and it had rained all day.
And all night.
The next morning, we rose and saw that water was gushing off our neighbors perfectly level cobblestone driveway pad and rushing down alongside our house.
Hmmm. Not good.
Mucking out a short trench helped bring the water level down enough that we figured it would hold until Jeff returned home from work and could help me dig a longer, deeper trench to better divert the water, and so he and Jericho left for school.
Inside the house on that very same wall, the closet began to smell a little moist.
Uh oh. Looks like the trim has some water starting to seep through. (Sorry for the scrambled pictures. The camera card is worn out.)
Being the damage was already done, and the water level outside was no longer an immediate threat, I decided to go ahead and go to Bible Study and worry about things later.
When I arrived home, not much had changed, but I put Judah down for his nap and went out to shovel away some debris that seemed to be clogging the downward flow of water.
I came in soaked to the skin and shivering from working in the pouring rain.
About the time I warmed up and got a few things done around the house, Jeff and Jericho returned home.
Because of the seepage inside the master bedroom closet, we went back outside and dug a deeper trench along the edge of the backyard as a precaution. The water closest to the house came down several inches further, completely eleviating the problem along that side of the house.
While we were working, it began snowing....and sticking...on all that wetness!
It was coOooOold!
We came inside and moved the shelving from that side of bedroom, which naturally involved rearranging furniture in other rooms so that we could move it permanently.
Thankfully, upon inspection we found that only a small portion of wall nearest the master bedroom closet seemed to be affected.
For the past couple days now, we've had the carpets and padding pulled back since and are drying out that area as best we can. It appears to be working.
We may have to cut out a chunk of drywall to treat it inside to be sure there aren't any mold issues later on, but thankfully we still have a partial sheet of the needed drywall in our garage from a patching job when we first moved in.
It doesn't appear that it will be necessary to replace the carpeting or make any insurance claims, and for that I do thank the Lord.
It's still raining.
It's still cold.
And school has been canceled today.
Kind of like a snow day but not. There isn't any snow left, but the roads will be closed due to dangerous road conditions.
All that water just doesn't have any place to go when it comes down that fast and heavy.
Last evening we had thunder and lightening overhead, and then had a bit of hail.
I'm just thankful we haven't had to worry about tornados or waterspouts or mudslides like folks closer to the coast do!
And I pray we don't have any earthquakes in the mix!
Off to make some hot tea...
7 comments:
Wow, that first photo is stupendous! I think you should have it enlarged and make prints to sell! Gorgeous!
And baby Micah (isn't that his name?) is soooo adorable! Tell Chrissy I'm an expert on adorable grandchildren and she's definitely got one!
Wow - sounds like things are still crazy around your parts! Thank God the water damage wasn't worse. My husband works in the restoration business and deals with drying out houses for a living. He's not home, but from what I've picked up from him - you shouldn't have to cut out the dry wall. A lot of times they'll pop a few holes in the drywall (with a metal tube that is cut on an angle) to allow the air in there. It's a much easier patch job. And then you should set a fan blowing on that if you haven't done so already. Restoration companies use big blowers, but if it's not too bad a fan should help the process.
Hope things settle down for you guys. I didn't know it snowed in the desert, either.
XO,
Pam
P.S. I agree with frumpgram about that first picture. Beautiful!
oh dear. sorry about all the leakiness... hope you're all dried out soon!
Gorgeous sky! So sorry about the water damage! What a bummer! At least you caught it early. You can fill that trench with large rock and even plant grass over the top and it'll still work. Maybe if you borrow a dehumidifier for that room, or even use a small space heater with the window cracked you could get rid of the moisture so you could just paint over it...
I cannot believe how much Micah has changed since I last saw him! AHH, I can't wait to hold him this weekend! Glad you got to love on my boy! :)
I feel ya! It was ugly. So glad the worst is over. Expecting a gush tomorrow but hoping it's nothing as bad as last weeks 5 endless days of rain and flooding.
It's unusually cold in my part of town. I went out yesterday in sandals, enjoying the sea breeze and sun. Was shivering so bad had to come home.
Stay warm and dry!
So glad you're all okay, Becky. I know, once again, I'm late to the party on this one. Also, very grateful that you and your hubby are so handy at ditch digging and protecting your house. Glad that you didn't have to make an insurance claim. Hope weather becomes boring again, very soon.
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