I have been very inactive on the blockchain of late. With the exception of a few xhaust.me riding posts and one stop motion, I've barely even looked at Hive of late. My @photo52 contest is in dire need of some love and care. That should happen soon, I hope.
But first, a picture. A screenshot, in fact. I will explain later.
A couple weeks ago my middle son explained that he did not like his loft bed because there was not enough clearance between the bed and the ceiling (he's not wrong - that particular room has a low ceiling). Instead, he would prefer a 'normal' bed, which would require some remodeling of his room.
It was a fine request, and a bed was ordered. The loft was taken apart and, in the process, we noticed water damage on the wall in the corner.
Great. Water damage. It could only have come from outside. A quick examination outside did, in fact, reveal that I need to re-slope the ground behind a row of hedges. Which means I need to trim the hedges first. This is going to wait.
Back into the bedroom. The only thing to do is begin to tear the wall apart to gauge the damage, so drywall began to go. Sure enough, it was soaked. Not only did I need to cut out drywall, I had the rip out some of the 2x4 wall frame. Yay.
I was able to pull some crap out of the french drain, so I'm pretty sure that will help. I will need to reslope outside, but one thing at a time. The boy needs his bedroom back!
As I was pulling out drywall I came across something which is about every homeowners nightmare. Even worse than water damage. This.
Holy shit.
H.o.l.y. s.h.i.t.
And flick goes the breaker to this entire circuit. At least now I know why the lights were flickering. And I shall repeat:
Holy Shit.
Not only was I unable to get to this during the weekend, I now also have more trash than I have any idea what to do with. A 20 yard roll-off dumpster is in my future.
The room is wet, so I place a dehumidifier in it and let it run nonstop for a week. That certainly helped.
I work during the week, so I cannot get to the room during the weekday. I have children to tend to in the evenings. My youngest spends his day playing video games. I prefer to not have him do that in the evening, so I couldn't work on it on the weeknights (and it was also drying out, which I wanted it to do). And, to boot, I am so far behind on a game I am designing that my partner has about given up on me. I need to catch up, so I've been "heads down" on that. The screenshot above shows a tease of the game.
Today I was finally able to get back to it, and now the electric junction looks really nice:
No more flickering lights either! Yay!
Tomorrow I need to work on replacing some of the wall frame and drywall. I have a bed in boxes in my living room which needs it's own home, so after getting the drywall up the bed is going in; I'll paint later, preferably when I'm able to send the boy to his grammas for a weekend.
Yes, I'll need to replace insulation, too.
All the child wanted was a new bed. What I received, in return, was a series of major projects that have put about all my other projects on hold. The next time he asks for something, I might just tell him no.
I'm hopeful when this is done I'll begin to have a semblance of a schedule again. But at least my house will not have burnt down.
(c) All images and photographs, unless otherwise specified, are created and owned by me.
(c) Victor Wiebe
About Me
Amateur photographer. Wannabe author. Game designer. I dabble a little in a lot. General all around problem-solver and creative type.
Founder of Photo 52 weekly photography competition.
Expert generalist. Jack of all Trades.
Dad.
Tags I Use
| Photography | |||
| #photo52 | #pinhole | #altphoto | #crappycameraphotos |
| Lego | |||
| #spaceforce3 | |||
ouch that sucks, unexpected home repairs like this are the worst, so many things to do so little time...
Yep, that's exactly it. It's like playing leapfrog across a river of crises.
I do not for a second believe you will tell that child no! lol
He did you a good deed asking for a new bed. It's bad, but it would have just gotten even worse. It's kind of a good thing he was up on a loft, or he'd been close to the developing mold.
One thing sure leads to another! Life with kids...
Welcome back
It really was a blessing in disguise! Seeing char on the wall frame was a really frightening moment. I'm glad to have been able to fix it myself.
Holly cow! That`s a nightmare alright! Glad the house did not catch on fire because of that old light box. It is great that you actually do the repairs on your own. It may take longer, but it does save you some good money.
It was frightening to see, for sure. Funnily enough, I'd rather do the electric and have someone else put the wall back together. Alas. I get to do it all. Two more nights and it'll all be complete!
A spider web of a project! I looked at that 2x4 where the burnt box was located.. Holy Cow! That sucker was burning slowly. So very lucky you are.. sorry that you have to go through all of that mess. Best of luck with it!