With my wife going out of town with her best friend and college roommate for the weekend, and an offer by her family to take care of our daughter, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get some things done around the house.
And I had a lot to do.
I had written about the half-bath ceiling problem in my last column. My wife suggested that if we're going to repair the ceiling, why don't we just remodel it while we're at it?
Not having ever done this before, I thought if she has faith in my abilities, why shouldn't I likewise.
This was the biggest of my home improvement project list that I intended to tackle.
Another one was a 70-foot red oak tree that had fallen in our backyard after a rash of heavy rains had uprooted it. After no timber brokers wanted to take it (they won't come out for less than about half a dozen trees), it's fallen upon me (pardon the pun) to cut it up.
Half-bath. Tree. Pruning the walnut tree in the back yard. Fixing a leak in the ceiling above the half-bath. Oh, three loads of laundry needed doing too.
The roof project was to say the least, interesting.
After caulking a leak seam in the attic, I saw there was still dripping afterwards. I told my dad about it and how difficult it was to access the area.
"Why not get it from the outside," he said.
Uh, I am your son, and you've obviously forgotten I have acrophobia.
But I wasn't going to verbalize those thoughts to a former cop and U.S. Army drill sergeant who built his own home.
So I sucked it up and went up on the roof.
I could find no visible place where water could come in easily. The shingles were tight against the roof, and there were no signs of breakage.
However, I did see a couple of small areas on the roof that looked like they had been treated with rubber roof caulking. Armed with my own caulk gun, I re-treated those areas, including a so-called 'no caulk' bit of flashing surrounding the attic vent pipe. I was bound and determined not to let water get into this house.
Even the water well was shaking with fear.
But I was proud of myself. I survived my fears of a twenty-foot fall and got down from the ladder without getting hurt.
Then into the attic I went, with my caulk gun, but with some new ammunition.
Silicon caulk...the same stuff I used before.
But I done used my noodle! I had a system in place this time!
Take some netting and put it across the area to repair. Then apply the caulk to a Bondo putty scraper and apply it to the repair area.
I had forgotten to consider the fact that I was doing this on a day when it was pushing 90 degrees outside, and it was much hotter in the attic. Can you see where this is going?
If not, I'll press on.
I felt like I was breathing vinegar. I had forgotten to consider the dangers of vapor on a hot day in an even hotter attic.
Uh-oh.
Not even the attic fan going at full tilt could have aired this out.
I had just made it to the attic opening before I thought I was going to pass out.
Now wait for the rain...
NEXT WEEK: Yes, there is a Part III!
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