Same old, same old

It's been a while since my last post, but not much has happened in regards to our house lately. The only noteworthy thing is the continuing water leakage problem...

I had mentioned that O'Bannon roofing came out and fixed our problem. However, on Christmas Eve morning, we found that we still were getting leaks in the same old places. I called and left a message and they got back to me a week later and said they'd send some guys out again. I waited over 2 weeks without any update, even with leaving a few messages about how we were still getting water in at the window and closet on New Year's, etc. I finally got a hold of the lady and she gave me the same "oh I just got the paperwork this morning" routine, and she told me that they looked around and couldn't find the problem. Then she said that they were out of ideas and maybe I should get someone else's opinion. Instead of arguing about it, I just said, "Uh huh, sure. Thanks anyway." I have no proof that they ever came out to the house in the first place, never having gotten any copies of this fabled "paperwork". But then again, I never had to pay them anything, so I guess I'm at an impasse there. Seeking any further action seems like more trouble than it's worth, since the leak isn't threatening to cave my house in...anymore than it already has.

I think I've determined that the mud room ceiling problem is one of condensation, since the water doesn't collect up there during or after rainstorms, but just mostly when it's cold outside. Maybe there's warm, moist air coming from the basement, through the under-kitchen crawlspace and into the cold mud room. Everything in there is moist, almost at all times. There seems to be a lot of condensation on the windows, as well. I crack them from time to time on a really cold day and the room tends to dry out. It may be time to invest in a dehumidifier, as long as I can get it to drain into the pipe that takes the sudsy water from the washer. Our first really, really big-time project will be to tear down that whole room and start from scratch. And do it right.

So anyway...if anyone knows a good, trustworthy roofer, be sure to let us know. We're waiting 'till next month to continue with a new roofer so we can make sure we have enough money to pay them in case it ends up being some astronomical sum. Let's hope not. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed and banging repeatedly on any wooden surface close to hand that we don't get a big snowstorm before then. It only seems to leak when the wind is coming from a certain direction during a rainstorm, so hopefully any kind of softly falling snow won't get in whatever crazy crack leads inside our wall.