One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

I headed over to the house this morning to open it up for the carpet guy who was supposed to come at 8:30 A.M.  I was happy to see him pull up at 8:27 A.M., and he got right to work.  He was a one-man job for a pretty simple room:  all square and no closets.

While he worked, I drove around the neighborhood to look at homes, especially the front doors and shutters.  I stopped at one man's house who had a front door with sidelights (it looked beautiful), and I decided to walk up and knock on the door!  He told me he had to replace his, too...to the tune of $2000!  Ouch!  But it DID look beautiful.  Oh, how, I hope my contractor can salvage my front doors!

I took note of the beautiful homes decorated for Christmas in the area, and I just parked outside the front of my house and dreamed a bit.  (I also took note of a home for sale in the same neighborhood for $247,000).  That is nothing but good news, albeit a much larger home.

I then headed back to the house to see how the carpet guy was doing.  As we talked small talk, a thunderstorm moved through the area.  I figured I would just walk around the house a bit when I saw lightning out the backyard.  Of course the thunder came next.  Pretty crazy for late November.

But then I heard a crazy sound.  The sound of water.  What?!

I decided to check all of the areas that I knew were weak from water leaks, but I was just simply ill-prepared for what I saw.  This house does nothing but leak water!  What I needed was a good storm complete with heavy rain and wind, and I got just that this morning.  The winds whipped, and the rain blew in sideways from the south right into the back of my house.

I noticed the obscene amounts of water coming through the patio door.  Unbelievable.

There is a difference between a leak...and a flood.  This was a deluge.

More than just a leak.

And then I traced the sound of the water leak to the kitchen.  That bulge in the ceiling that I thought was an old leak (and fixed) was not that at all.  It was a very active leak just waiting for the right conditions.  I literally saw a steady stream of water reach from the ceiling all the way to the floor where it then entered the crawlspace through the hole in the floor.

I just watched as water poured into the house.

I honestly don't have adequate words to convey how that feels.  A new homeowner literally staring at money going just like that water...down the hole.  It's almost surreal.  I did what any reasonable owner would do and grabbed a bucket and put it under the water.  Nothing I could do now to fix it, so I just watched and contemplated.

But I ran upstairs to see if I could track if the water was coming from the roof or through the leak in the upstairs door.  I honestly don't have a good feel for that, but it was obvious that water was running into the house from upstairs, too.  I'm wondering if it's not coming through the upstairs door in the Master Bedroom.  An obvious stream of water was coming through the door and going down the hole in the floor.  To where it went is anyone's guess.

The water coming in the door and going to who knows where.

Wow, what a mess I have on my hands.

I'm actually happy I was there while the thunderstorm went through.  It just solidified the fact that I need to get a contractor in there...like yesterday.  I've been waiting to hear back from one of them, but I don't know how much longer I can wait!  This house needs to be sealed!

In happy news, the carpet guy was done with the room in 75 minutes.  So I have three rooms fully carpeted and ready to be lived in.  It's actually pretty refreshing.  Another $360 out the door, but the rooms are coming together.  I can now move everything into these three rooms and hopefully get a contractor in there to fix the floors and doors...and ceiling.

Another completed room!  Fresh paint and carpet!

Beautiful new carpet!

Oh, the joys of picking up a foreclosure.  What a mess.