It's raining; it's pouring

[wayfaringwordhack]

The other day, during a big rain, I remarked (yes, I'm totally using the French sense of the word) that there was a pouch of accumulated water on the fiberglass sheets of our terrace roof. I took a long pole and gently--gently--lifted the pouch. The pole stabbed right through the fiberglass, and I got a shower of dirty rainwater in my face. And the shower kept coming--100 liters worth during the duration of the rain, in addition to the other leaks that we already have.

mana_trini, being the good husband (perhaps, frigg, I should say "wer" so that I'm not using your Danish word :P) that he is, bought some new sheets and repaired my inadvertent damage. Once he took off the old sheets, we could see that they were a burnt caramel color--almost black along the area where we had the leaks--instead of opaque with off-white fibers. It was so baked by the sun, it is no small wonder that it broke under such a slight pressure.

We hoped that his reparations would fix the other leaks that we have, but we hadn't since had a good rain to test it out. J wasn't quite as optimistic as I because he had seen the condition of the rest of the roof. Well, yesty, the sky was black and charged with promising clouds. In my chipper way, I chanted, "Rain, rain, rain!!!" And boy did it. I checked the leaky areas and they were DRY! With a gloating grin, I went back to drilling holes in rocks and shells for my jewelry. A few minutes later, I checked again, and streams--a veritable curtain of water--were pouring onto the terrace. Even worse than before, I think. I frantically placed the buckets, bottles, and pans. The rain lasted 30-40 minutes and I dumped over 200L of water; that is WITHOUT the hole. Also, two leaks started up over our bed and I didn't catch them in time, so our bedding was soaked, forcing me to sleep inside.

We called the landlord about the leaks last year and she did nothing. J sent her a message yesterday (she's in mainland France), but she hasn't called back. All I have to say is that it had been be fixed before we go on holiday. I'm not coming back to a flooded house.

 

Comments

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

You'd think she'd be fairly concerned for the structural integrity of her house, for no other reason than she'll eventually have to rent it to someone else. But maybe she likes being a slumlord...

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what we told her. The worst leak runs right down the bathroom wall and is in the process of ruining it. There are other, smaller leaks that appear from time to time in the ceilings of the living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

As I told J, thank goodness it isn't our house. (Although we *would* take better care of it; still, I don't fancy footing the bill for changing the roof.)

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Yeah, at this point, making the repairs would probably cost close to as much as the whole house. Just ain't smart to let things get that bad.