Saturday, April 25, 2009

A Plea to All You Handymen (and women) Out There!

Ahh, the joys of homeownership: Always having to worry about your house (we might need to buy Mike Shanihan's house after all- sorry Arienne!).

Right when we bought the house, there was a soft spot on our kitchen floor. It was very small, and we realized the problem must stem from the doggy door that somebody put into the wall (the dumbest idea EVER) that leaked water. So, we sealed up the doggy door. Problem solved, right? WRONG! A couple of weeks ago, I noticed the soft spot on the floor was getting bigger. Ben didn't believe me, but I was convinced. We noticed our French doors didn't have a very good seal around it, so Ben opened up both French doors today and this is what we found:

I think we found the REAL problem! Talk about disgusting! Now, we have to figure out how to fix it. Any suggestions? I think we will take these pictures down to Home Depot and ask them for help! (And, I am sure, relying on Ben's dad who is an excellent handyman to help us out before we start falling through the water damaged floor!) But really- if you have any suggestions- send them our way!

6 comments:

  1. Well...I'm no handyman, but I can you that you will need to lift off that baseboard and then peel back the carpet. You may have more of a mess on your hands than it appears. Looks to me like there's some serious need for weather-stripping, and a new door-frame. That kind of stuff is scary because it can really seep in farther than you expect. Seal, caulk & FLASH, my friend. You have to think like a drop of water: where would you go? What path would you travel?

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  2. Yeah, we're not looking forward to this. We were going to spend money on some nice landscaping- looks like that plan is out the window! I'm worried because it could be black mold (though it could also just be black dirt, we don't know yet), and if we have black mold under the floor we are in serious trouble. This really could turn into quite the project! Luckily we had a pretty dry winter, or it could be much worse- but I think you're right- a brand new door frame, etc.

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  3. Well, don't mess around with mold. Hire a professional.

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  4. Looks like you will need to tear out the door and surrounding floor boards, I know you need to make sure you get rid of all the mold! Sorry, but with home ownership, this is just the tip of the iceberg! You always need an emergency cash fund for home repairs, they come up at the most inconvenient times and almost always cost more than you think they will.

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  5. Thankfully, we do have money put aside and we should be OK. I might even be able to convince Ben we should get all new hardwood on the main level while we're at it. That depends on the extent of the damage and if we have to replace the flooring in the kitchen anyway. Ben says we should move back into an apartment.

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  6. ugh, water damage is a nightmare... I am sorry that has happened!

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