i contain beatitudes
Jul. 18th, 2024 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_siobhanHOLY SHITBALLS. THE HOUSE SALE IS FINALLY CLOSED.
I swear I've been holding my breath for the last month.
Housemate spent the day packing and has now buggered off to stay with a friend. At some point - hopefully tomorrow - their money will be deposited and they will rent a car to take away boxes and their poopy cat.
Yes, I have already started cleaning
***
Toronto got hit with big water on Tuesday. Apparently we got a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours.
There are photos kicking around of people sloshing their way through the PATH, which is like an underground shopping mall that connects the subway system to a bunch of the office buildings in the financial district. My in-office day was Monday, so I just missed getting stranded downtown.
Of course my basement filled up with water.
This time one of the contractors came to the house while it was still raining out and figured out that the water was not coming from the outside or rising groundwater - instead it was coming from one of the inside walls. So he climbed up on the roof and found the spot where the mortar around the exterior bricks had crumbled away and was letting water in to flow down on the inside of the wall.
On the plus side this is eminently fixable. On the minus side it is going to be fucking expensive. But it should finally fix the water problem she says hopefully with fingers crossed while knowing that she is probably jinxing herself as she speaks.
This fucking house, man.
I swear I've been holding my breath for the last month.
Housemate spent the day packing and has now buggered off to stay with a friend. At some point - hopefully tomorrow - their money will be deposited and they will rent a car to take away boxes and their poopy cat.
Yes, I have already started cleaning
***
Toronto got hit with big water on Tuesday. Apparently we got a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours.
There are photos kicking around of people sloshing their way through the PATH, which is like an underground shopping mall that connects the subway system to a bunch of the office buildings in the financial district. My in-office day was Monday, so I just missed getting stranded downtown.
Of course my basement filled up with water.
This time one of the contractors came to the house while it was still raining out and figured out that the water was not coming from the outside or rising groundwater - instead it was coming from one of the inside walls. So he climbed up on the roof and found the spot where the mortar around the exterior bricks had crumbled away and was letting water in to flow down on the inside of the wall.
On the plus side this is eminently fixable. On the minus side it is going to be fucking expensive. But it should finally fix the water problem she says hopefully with fingers crossed while knowing that she is probably jinxing herself as she speaks.
This fucking house, man.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 12:38 am (UTC)OMG I'm so happy/sad to hear that you finally found *knock on wood* the basement water source!
I discovered when shopping for my current house that I probably have a little PTSD from my eternal fixer-upper Houston house (even though a big part of me loved it), and I would not be at all surprised if you have the same, with the extra bonus of the changing relationship emotional rollercoaster.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:19 am (UTC)The emotional rollercoaster is real, but this place has such good bones. I'm looking forward to falling in love with it again.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 12:49 am (UTC)WHOA to the water. I was planning a trip this summer to Toronto and wow...
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 04:18 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 01:01 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 10:20 am (UTC)Are you a change the locks person?
Apparently we got a month's worth of rain in a couple of hours.
Odd. It's almost like some sort of change was happening!
So he climbed up on the roof and found the spot where the mortar around the exterior bricks had crumbled away and was letting water in to flow down on the inside of the wall.
This seems like a win. I assume it's a big tear in the fabric of bricks? I'm assuming coping and spray foam could solve a small hole, or a downpipe. But you say flooding. And that has me thinking this is far beyond my experience.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:34 am (UTC)They have some LIMITED grace time to move their stuff and so far they are being respectful with it.
And that has me thinking this is far beyond my experience.
Mortar will erode away over time. It's the softest part of a brick wall. And of course as soon as you get a hole big enough to let water through, the flow exacerbates the erosion.
Our house it two layers of brick because that's how they built things in 1913. We did a ton of work on reinforcing the mortar on the inside layer when we tore out the original lathe and plaster walls. But we didn't do it as much on the outside layer.
Now the kitchen is technically on the outside of the main part of the house so external to that double layer of brick. So because the outside mortar started to give out, water was able to flow down in between those two layers - entered through the external layer at the top and came right back out again through the "external" layer at the bottom. That specific section where the main part of the building meets the extension has been where the water comes in since we bought the place, and now we know why.
The good news is it's the only place where water came in, so it means the other waterproofing work he did was solid.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 10:09 am (UTC)I guess we don't have basements, so when the mortar gets damaged (which rarely happens), and our rainfall patterns are such there is usually not the time for sufficient time fore serious flooding.
Well, at ground level.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 12:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 05:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:35 am (UTC)My kitchen sink has not been full of dishes for two nights in a row, and it's amazing how much that tiny indicator has brought my shoulders down from around my ears.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-21 09:20 pm (UTC)^^^^ that sounds like heaven!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 08:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:36 am (UTC)Some day I will post pictures.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-19 09:34 pm (UTC)*confetti cannons*
*dancing bears*
I AM SO THRILLED AND RELIEVED FOR YOU.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 01:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 04:40 pm (UTC)Very glad that I live on the third floor these days and my working from home day was *also* Monday so I was safe from rain consequences. The condo building under construction behind me has a huge mud puddle that's been sitting there all week and I bet it's breeding mosquitoes :/
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-22 02:19 am (UTC)Yeah knowing is a huge relief - I'd rather have bad news than be hanging in limbo.
And I just saw an article today about how many people with sump pumps were left without power, so I should probably find out about getting a battery backup for mine.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-20 09:42 pm (UTC)I'm sorry you're still being tested, but I'm so glad you could make this milestone!
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-22 02:20 am (UTC)Now I just have to get their stuff moved out.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-21 09:21 pm (UTC)Congratulations on your Big Emotional Milestone. <3 So relieved for you that it went through.
(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-22 02:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2024-07-22 07:34 pm (UTC)