damaged ceiling | River's world…..

Home repair projects are lining up faster than ever here at Casa River… and if my husband wants to go back to work instead of enjoying retirement? Then I’m going to spend his reinstated paycheck hiring a contractor to fix the things that need to be fixed.

New driveway? Done.

New windows for the master bedroom? Ordered.

New back deck? Materials being delivered today.

And then there’s the disaster we call a living room ceiling.

The one that’s been damaged by roof leaks for the the past decade.

( It doesn’t really look this awful, I had to increase the contrast for the pictures)

Thankfully the cause of the leak was finally found and repaired, but it’s left us with a mess that’s been screaming for help.

Our house was built in 1974 and an addition was added in 1994. This bump out to the living room included a support beam like structure that has been nothing but trouble.

It’s slightly sagging in the middle and of course it was also water damaged.

The problem in fixing and replacing it…. is we don’t really know what’s up there. The only access is through a tiny hole in the den closet and though my husband has crawled up there numerous times, there’s no attic and no way to reach that particular area.

After one contractor quoted us $25,000 to fix it sight unseen, and another quoted $35,000 to completely rework the trusses, we despaired. But the guy who will be doing our back deck and windows agreed to give it a go and brought over some fun equipment to investigate.

This required moving the furniture into a pile on the other side of the room which Lord Dudley Mountcatten did not appreciate.

How can you fling your mouse off the couch when it’s right next to the coffee table?

Oh, the horror.

The first step was drilling holes in the ceiling.

Second step… threading the spy camera lens into the holes.

Third step… trying to figure out what the hell you’re looking at.

Fourth step… drawing a highly technical schematic.

The contractor wasn’t pleased with the outcome, something about overlapping beams and braces and trusses … but agreed to repair and replace it as best he could. This will involve an utter mess and temporary load bearing devices which I’m not looking forward to, but it has to be done.

And until that day?