14 july 2004 bastille day

Here are some digipix to illustrate the continuing saga from yesterday. I'm standing on an almost-top step. The thin paving bricks are all gone, even the bit on the stair landing, as are the short stucco walls topped by wooden rails, except for that piece of wooden wall skeleton where the phone jack and electrical outlet were. We're down to the plywood base that rests on the roof support beams. Notice the respectably-sized hole. The plywood has just rotted away right there, and you can see the fiberglass insulation and a support beam. That hole corresponds suspiciously well to the center of the lovely spreading-leak pattern on the living room ceiling, which is right below that insulation. My dad told me that the guy in charge showed him where (if I'm understanding this correctly) the guys who had built this deck did not install some kind of sheet metal that was supposed to block water and divert it off elsewhere, which is generally a standard part of a job such as this. He was rather bemused at this lack, in fact. Given some of the other reasons we have long had to be annoyed at that 1979-80 crew, though, it did not much surprise us. That would explain a lot about why we had water seeping in all around before we gave up and went with the tarp. With workmen tramping up and down the stairs all day, the steps have gone from "a bit wobbly and saggy here and there" to "shifting dangerously and liable to break off in bits after a few more days of this". Especially that one with the actual chunks missing, there. It feels like it could completely fall off any time. Poor old steps. Beginning this morning's work: prying up some more of the floor. Who knows what will be left by this evening. yesterday | tomorrow | journal archives index | other things email me using: carrie [at] purpletricycle [dot] com contents of purple tricycle are copyright 2004 carrie lynn king unless otherwise noted.