It's raining again. My living room ceiling is really leaking but good this time. We think the problem may be with the gutters, which need to be replaced with some made custom. That job is in the process of being contracted now. The house is pretty old. It originally had cedar gutters which sat differently than the modern replacement gutters do, which causes problems with water running back over the lip and towards the house in some places. The leaking may also be related to a moving truck accident awhile back. The truck got hung up on the cable television wires and yanked a board clear off the building. The board was replaced but perhaps not properly, or maybe some other damage occured that was not noticed at the time.
The leaks have been growing in number and severity with each rainy day. We've had a lot of rainy days this summer and now fall is getting into the act too. The landlady is scheduled to survey the situation on Monday. I've been cleaning the house in an attempt to ensure it is presentable to her and the contractors sure to follow. I got about halfway through cleaning the kitchen when the leaking grew out of control. Two drop-ceiling panels have collapsed and a third is well on its way. Three more panels show clear signs of water beginning to soak through from above. The water damage is pretty significant on one, with a stain covering maybe 60 or 70 percent of the surface and a gentle buckling. I imagine it will collapse before morning.
The water has spread so deep into the room I had to move practically everything therein into other areas of the house and put down tarps in the now nearly empty room. This has created a mess in its own right. My task of cleaning has probably tripled in scale. I am thoroughly exhausted and looking forward to at least another 3 or 4 hours of cleaning tonight before I get any sleep. It is expected to continue raining and perhaps even snowing for at least that long too. There will be more cleaning to do in the morning after the rain has stopped and the tarps can be taken up. Then I'm supposed to celebrate my birthday. Heaven knows where I'll find the energy for that.
Cover the children's ears, because I'm about to use some words.