This has turned into quite the rant on home leaks, so I'm putting it after the fold to help my homepage look less like one long block of text. There are pictures, though, if you want the worth-a-thousand-words version. And to think that I was going to talk about finally reading Sherlock Holmes in this post. And Vegas. And photography. So much to talk about, all drowned out (pardon the metaphor) by the din of rainfall.
Click through to read more about the stupid nonsense that I probably should be taking more action to prevent. That action comes soon. Right after Las Vegas. No comments about how things that start after a trip to vegas have little chance of being successful.
Water came pouring out of my ceiling on Monday afternoon about 3" from my $100 keyboard. That wasn't fun. Not in the slightest.
Two years ago, the first time this happened, I mentioned it to my landlord with some concern. He replied with a seemingly-equal amount of concern, and that was that. Other than verbal confirmation that he had heard my complaint, there was no sign that he intended to do anything about the situation. Fine, I thought, it only rains here a few days a year, right? It hadn't happened before - why would I think that it would happen again any time soon? I mean, the house hadn't rotted away and fallen down, right?
Fast-forward another year to the rainy season again. Again, the water comes from the ceiling, and this time, not just in my office, but in the kitchen, as well. Now, while the hole in my office ceiling sits above thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment, the hole in the kitchen (which was, by the way, a hole left by former tenants, presumably for a hook for the hanging of potted plants) sat conveniently above the sink. Water poured out of that hole for more than an hour once it started, same behaviour as before.
More disconcertingly, a section of the carpet by the same wall in the bedroom above my office was soaked. Soaked. This really brought the point home, and it was clear what was happening. Somewhere along the line, water was getting in between the walls. Then, it must be running along the underside of the bedroom floor and, hitting an obstacle, dripping down onto the ceiling a couple inches below, pooling up, and eventually pouring through a hole in the ceiling. It was unfortunate that the low point in the ceiling was just above my livelihood. It concerned me, also, that the two leak points were more than 10 linear feet apart, and that a *lot* of water poured out when it leaked. Just this time, I had an 8" pot full to an inch deep yesterday, and I missed the initial surge (which ended up on my desk, ruining a controller of mine).
I called the landlord. He seemed concerned. This time, his concern was overtly for his purse, rather than for the state of the house or the safety of the occupants. He said he'd have to get someone in there to rip the wall and ceiling apart and that it would be costly and time consuming. I told him it would have to wait until I was back from my business trip because I didn't want his workmen tearing apart my office when I wasn't there - there are three computers here, multiple monitors, printers, accessories, etc., all of which need to work for me to do my job.
No one ever came.
And here we are. I mean, I already do the landscaping (mowing, leaf removal, etc). Two sinks haven't had working knobs in an embarassingly long time (I know, I really should fix those myself), and this leak can't be good for my allergies or the structural integrety of the house, what with the mold that must be eating away the wood above me and below the bedroom. I'm going to buy a bunch of shit at Home Depot once the weather clears and things dry up.
And, once again, I'm going on a business trip. I'm not even sure I'm going to call the landlord this time. It's absurd.
Here are pictures of the current leak. I have others, in case the house falls down and I have to sue. Of course, those all have to be on a server somewhere, because if the house falls down, I'll lose everything on my computers. Maybe I need offsite backup.
This essay is devolving, so I'll stop now. Look at the pictures.
