Daily Home Renovation Tips

Sometimes we come across situations where we encounter an arch nemesis, even in home renovations.

Our small dog, Sandy, for example has an arch nemesis, the vacuum cleaner. Anyone with a dog knows exactly what I mean.

For our home renovation, our arch nemesis became this:



What is that? Well, remember a couple of weeks ago when our weekend renovation plans were interrupted by water coming through our dining room’s bay window? Well, we found the reason (bay window protruding beyond the fascia and likely not sealed / installed properly for ice buildup). But, we couldn’t find the cause because everything was still iced up. We described the situation in this post: Home Renovation Tip - Bay Windows, Eve Troughs and Melting Ice

Well, when the ice melted (and sorry for being late on finishing the report of this incident) we found the problem. It was this 7 inch by 4 inch piece of wood. Yes, when we moved in, after we had the roof replaced (stay tuned for several postings about that experience) we had the gutters cleaned. Well, they didn’t do a very good job. This piece of wood found its way right on top of downspout, so when we had the freezing rain / wet snow a few weeks ago, our arch nemesis created a ice jam / log jam (’log’……get it, ha!) right on top of the downspout.

So, when the ice and snow melted, the water had no where to go except over the side of the eve trough and back up the roof under the new fibre glass 40 year shingles, which did have a 3 foot ice shield underneath.

Luckily, the hardwood floor in the dining room was not damaged, but several ceiling tiles in the basement were. So, this tip is to remind all of us to watch out for any new arch nemesis during home renovations…….oh, and check the downspouts personally as no one is as interested in the safekeeping of your home as you are.