February. wow, where did the time go? 8 snow days and freezing weather, that is where! And there is nothing you want to do less than go work in a freezing, poorly lit building when it is too cold to feel your fingers. Especially when you can stay home and sit by the fire.
Today was a sunny day, in the upper 60’s, so it seemed ripe to head down to the studio (as we now call it. Ouachita Studio). No plan, just ready to look at the drainage situation through the new lens of 2011. We look at the back of the building, the old drain had been completely blocked by dirt, and we had dug away the dirt to find it last year. This year, we needed to meet it on the other side of the wall, and rip out all the flooring that would be in the way. So armed with dust-masks and hammers and pry-bars, we went at it. There it is, Ok, lets move further down, ok, under the toilet that is has a top half of green ceramic and a bottom half of white ceramic, ok, under the bathroom wall, over to the part of the floor that caved in.
Why yes, that toilet IS dangling in mid-air!!!
Yes, yes, when we bought the building no one seemed to know why the back half of the middle shop was caved in. It just seemed to have happened one day. Well, today was the day I finally believed Joe Davis. It wasn’t any major act that caved the floor in, but rather the slow work of a water leak. Several water leaks. The major drainage pipe that went from the back of the building to the city sewer (not sewage, but drainage) had several large cracks in it. And some pipe was going to it that had rusted off, and several other large operator errors. But none of this would have been detected from above the floor. And what day do you really want to rip out your oak hardwood flooring to see the drain pipe? Well I’ll tell you. Februrary 14th, 2011. How romantic. I would imagine most people would be able to cut their losses on the whole “hardwood flooring” topic when they noticed the entire floor sagging and eventually coming apart 18 inches below where it is supposed to be. It seems at that point you could say that something isn’t working, and perhaps there really is a problem. No, not Joe Davis. He put strange floor bandaids all over the place, and then eventually just started throwing wood trash down into the “pit”. Lovely. Today it came out. Today we “went there”. Zac took a shovel and started to dig the pipe out, and it looks like tomorrow will be a date with the advice guy, also known as the plumber.
The original drainage pipe-is that historic??!
We had a nice lunch out back, and it was such a beautiful day to be there, it was nice to sit in that backyard, nice until you start thinking about the neighbor’s tree that is right on the retaining wall, or the retaining wall itself, or the brickwork, oh me oh my! I have to not think about anything but the drainage. We’ve got to get that water off the back of the building! Yes! We do! All future progress hinges on the building being dry. Today, though, today was the day I laid eyes on the broken pipe. There is always the hope that things aren’t really broken, that maybe if the guy with the snake could come back he could knock the little dirt out of the pipe and everything would be fine, but today we got the telegram. The pipe is broken, it is full of dirt. It cannot be repaired, and it has caused all this damage. Unreal, huh? A pipe! A faulty pipe! But that pipe allowed (and certainly aided) water to flow freely under the building, and that trapped moisture rotted and molded the floors (oh, and the roof leaks), and made a wonderful habitat for the termites to thrive in.
Really? Is this really all that happened?
And there it started. When? What day did the first leak spring? 50 years ago? 10? 35? 82? I wish there was a way to find out little life mysteries like that! What was going on in the building then? Someone selling a piano, discussing in 1963, and right under their feet, silent as the night, a little bit of water started draining out. And then more, and then some rain, and there it goes! What madness! Let us have a look at this brown, dusty, strange mess that is the messiest it can go before it gets better. Right? I am really counting on this being the nastiest point of this renovation project. Please.
Contemplating divorce.