I was sitting at the breakfast table reading the news today when I heard a loud drip-drip-drip-drip. Uh oh. Water was coming out of the recessed light in our wet bar. Long story short, there must be a leak in the metal roof over that area. Also, the downspout in that area had frozen at the bottom, was still in the shade and still frozen, so no outlet for water to drain. So it had backed up pressure all the way up to the roof. With all the snow and ice melting, I guess it had nowhere else to drain but into the small hole or split in the seam over the bar.
DH has been on a ladder breaking up the snow and ice on that part of the roof. He’s used a long broom, the even longer pool cleaning broom, and multiple buckets of hot water to try to clear the ice and snow off. I had to remind him that he’s 60 years old and not to overdo it. I could practically see my advice going into his right ear and coming out of his left, almost as if it was steam.
Anyway, so far the dripping has stopped, but I can see wet spots in the ceiling.
As DH likes to say “if it’s not ants, it’s roaches.”
@Nrdsb4 sorry to hear of all of your water woes. And yes, tell your husband to be careful!
My husband’s boss slipped on the ice earlier this year, they had to call an ambulance for him. The good news is that he and his wife had a long talk and he decided to retire in June. Life is too short!
Oh, I know. Seeing him on a ladder that was sitting on snow wasn’t the best optic for me (chronic worrier). We had a friend who fell off his ladder changing a light bulb in a ceiling fan. He told his wife he was fine and to quit worrying. When she came out of her home office a while later to check on him, he was lying on the sofa-dead.
I told him I didn’t want him to be another casualty like our friend. He said “I won’t. Stop worrying.” Grrr…
We just had a leak like that in our “owners’ suite” (formerly known as MB). This is called an ice dam. Welcome to the world of frozen tundra! The good news is that when the dam is gone, there will be no more water pooling on the roof, and the leaks will stop. In my case, I went out on the balcony and knocked the dam off the roof edge… the roofing guys came out and told me “good job.” No repairs were needed.
DH got all of the ice and snow off that part of the roof and the dripping has stopped. I think there must be a small hole or split in the seam at that part of the roof.
We don’t have any more precip in the forecast and our roofer is coming out on Monday to fix whatever is going on. Plumber will be here tomorrow.
Annoying and frustrating, but we remain very aware of how lucky we’ve been compared to many in our state!
This is a new to you house, correct? Idk if you had the roof replaced but sometimes the roofer will make a mistake with the roofing nails and it will cause a leak. I’ve seen it happen. So when the roofer comes out, that’s something else to look for.
And as @BunsenBurner said, ice dams! Owners suite, very fancy!
Yes, this is our “new” 25 year old house. It has a standing seam metal roof-the house is a Texas Hill Country style house, which is stucco and cream limestone with a metal roof. You see this style a lot in Austin and environs. So the roof doesn’t have shingles, but panels of metal that are somehow attached to both each other and the roof. Our wet bar is a semi circle room, so the roof over it is not like the rest of the house. And that part of the roof was completely re-done when we remodeled, so something may not have been done correctly.
We have learned some important lessons with this cold event. We’ve never had a pier and beam house before. We didn’t know you should get vent covers for the vents in the foundation. We could possibly have prevented the pipes in the master bath from freezing had we put those covers on as winter approached. DH also wishes we had purchased some space heaters to put near the pipes.
My poor friend in DFW had water bulging from her walls and pouring from ceiling, Today’s pics on fb show walls taken down to studs. Glad it was not any worse for you…The vision of latter sitting on snow is freaking me out a bit.
@deb922 - it is no longer OK to call the big bedroom “master bedroom.” All our local RE listings refer to MB as “owners’ suite.” As my grandfather used to say, “you may call me a pot as long you don’t put me on the stove.”
We are no longer under “boil water “ orders, so I emptied the ice maker and the instant hot water tap tank (at the sink, for tea on demand). Plugged the heater back in and it hasn’t cycled on again. I hope it’s not toast, I really enjoy my tea in hand thrown mugs that can’t go in the microwave.
Heading to the back yard to check on pool equipment. One neighbor didn’t drain the filter in time and just sent out a group text with a picture. They got the top off and it looks like a giant cylindrical popsicle.
Well just as we thought we were good Friday our internet and cable went out. We just got it back a few minutes ago. Grrr. Oh well. We still have boil water even though every city around us has lifted the order. By tomorrow we hope it is back to normal.
After pricing new instant hot water taps online I decided to try unplugging and replugging. Turns out that my arms are about 1/2” too short to really plug something in under the sink just reaching. Empty the cabinet and stick head and shoulders under there and the power connects. Hooray! Tea for breakfast! @momocarly , I hope you have potable water soon.
We have been so fortunate in Northern Mississippi with this storm. We never lost power or water. We had snow, sleet and freezing rain at various times. We were so lucky that we didn’t have much freezing rain, as that is often the cause of power outages due to ice on the trees and power lines.
Late yesterday afternoon we received our newspapers from last Tuesday until Sunday. Hopefully, we will receive mail today. We haven’t had it since 2/13. I just can’t imagine where the post office has been keeping everyone’s mail for a week. Of course, our mail comes from Memphis, and they have been hammered, so who knows how much is waiting at the Post Office.
The schools are closed again today. While the major roads are cleared, the back county roads are still dreadful.
As of last night there were less than 19,000 homes without power. That down from a peak of 200,000. Once the state’s power has been restored, I am sure that crews will head to Texas. They always go where needed.
We have been so blessed that we were spared all of the terrible effects of the storm that Texas has felt. I pray for everyone who has been hurt by this dreadful storm.
My daughter in Austin said the boil water in her area was lifted this afternoon, but still has low water pressure. The best news in her eyes is daycare will be opened tomorrow after being closed for almost 2 weeks. Maybe she and her husband can get some real work done now!
