Joys of Home Ownership

[jamesq]

My cold is moving into my sinuses. This is good because it's a sign I'm recovering. It's bad because it means I'll be blowing my nose constantly for the next several days.

I ran out of tissue beside my bed so I went to grab some out of the linen closet. The tissues come in a shrink wrapped batch of eight. four have been used, leaving four in the partially torn shrink wrap.

All four boxes are damp and soggy. Therefore there is some kind of leak in my linen closet. It shares a back wall with the shower. FUCK.

So tomorrow I get to empty out the closet, pull out the shelves and see if I know anyone who knows anything about inspecting leaky buildings who can recommend a contractor. DOUBLE FUCK.

Comments

[oblivions.livejournal.com]

You don't need me for this so let me give the run down of what I would do. It's simple.

1. Pull off the base board and puul back the carpet and observe the staining (if any) on the undersdie of the carpet. If it radiates from the baseboard out, well, that's pretty obvious. Though I'm sure you know this already.
2. With some thought on the matter I would suggest two cuts. One, behind the shower head first. Observe if any staining can be seen on the back side of the drywall. Two, at the base of the wall if there is no staining at the shower head.
3. To confirm everything, run the shower AFTER you have cut the holes and have someone watch them both to see where the water comes from. If it's as wet as you describe after a shower the signs should show all most immedeatly.

After that, we work out what it takes to fix the issue. Might be something as simple as a bit of plumbing tape. Hope that helps. While I will be out of town please phone me if you end up with questions.

VERY IMPORTANT: Very few spieces of black mould are toxic mould. That you have not felt any breathing issues, or other allergy reations generally means no toxic mould. with that much mositure present for that long, you would have noticed symptoms long ago.

If you do find mould don't panic. I am attaching a CMHC document that is a basic guuid to mould and some cleaning tips. On drywall it's best to simply replace the contaminated pieces. If not (like it backs onto you your shower liner), solutions exist to clean that. I can find that info. The studs can be cleaned and often the back side of the drywall. A light sanding with some chemical treament is usually sufficient for small patches.

If you'd rater wait until I get back, we can take your closet apart on wednesday.

Cheers!

[oblivions.livejournal.com]

The CMHC link:

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/maho/yohoyohe/momo/momo_005.cfm