September 11, 2016 Update

Four weeks ago (August 15), we left on a three week road trip through western U.S. Around 2:00 am the morning that we left, we were awakened to a strange "popping" or "dripping" sound. I got up and found that we had water dripping out of the electrical box in the ceiling of our master bedroom to which the ceiling fan hangs. To make a tediously long story short, we had a massive leak in the eave above our bedroom. Water was running across the ceiling, between the 2nd and 3rd floors, and exiting through the electrical box in our bedroom ceiling. We spent the next several hours with buckets and towels trying to minimize the damage. Around 5:00 am, we had the situation, more or less, under control but the leak continued. I caught a couple of hours of sleep while T monitored the situation, with the aid of some Champagne. What made this very discomforting was the fact that we just spent $25,000 to have a new roof put on the main house so that we would not have to worry about this kind of thing happening for the remainder of our lives.

At 8:00 am, I called our insurance agent (Devin). He advised me to contact the roofer and have him cover the area and then determine whether the leak was due to poor installation or weather damage. Based upon my previous experience with the roofer, I was a bit doubtful I would even be able to contact him. However, the stars were aligned for us and Bret's (the roofer) wife not only answered their phone, but promised Bret would get back with me shortly. He did and arrived around 9:30 am. I showed him the leakage on the interior. Exterior, nothing was obviously wrong. Bret assured me he would find the problem and correct it and I should go ahead and leave town. He said he would call when he found the problem. He got four new shingles out of the garage in case they needed them.

We did leave town on our trip (http://summerfall2017.blogspot.com/). We did get a call from Bret the following day saying he believed the problem was with the flashing around the southeast dormer and that they would fix the problem. When we got back from our trip last Tuesday (September 6), I noticed the four new shingles were still right where we put them before we left. I talked with our neighbor and he said he did see them up working on the roof. Since our return, we have had over four inches of rain without any indication of leakage in the eave. However, the storm we had the night of August 14/15 was torrential with high winds. I hop the problem has been resolved.

Today is the first day that the weather conditions have been favorable for sealing the garage apron aggregate. The temperature is below 80F and above 50F. There is not supposed to be any rain for the next 24 hours. This morning I got up and swept the apron well and applied the first of two coats. This was supposed to have been done by John, the landscaper, but never was. I used a Black Diamond product and applied it with a roller. Previously, I had filled the cracks in the apron with concrete filler. This was another issue that John was to have addressed, but did not. In fact, John had mentioned to me that he was having trouble getting getting the attention of the concrete guy to implement the fix suggested.

 Before we left on our road trip, I bought and installed a Watkins water level controller in the skimmer of the pond. This device is commonly used in livestock water tanks. It is a simple device which I was able to mount to a bulk head fitting on the side of the skimmer. I hooked up the garden hose before we left. It appears to have done the job well. Our neighbor said he periodically checked the pond level and it was holding.

While the hose stretched across the chessboard is not very good looking, we only need it while we are away. This will also not be used during freezing weather.

The fish are all well and, overall, the garden has done very well while we were gone. The tomatoes are numerous as are the peppers. We planted okra a couple of weeks before we left and it the plants are now 4 feet tall and producing fruit.

We have a few boxwood along the west fence line that do not look too healthy. Not completely dead yet, but heading that way.