Rain, rain go away…

I mentioned briefly in my last post that our roof is still not back to 100% waterproof.

It's not nearly as big a problem as it was before. Before my last repair attempt the water was coming into the house in a torrent. This time the leak is just making the ceiling nice and damp. However, even though I'm not having to worry quite so much about getting rained on in my bed anymore, it still has to be dealt with.

As well as water damage and mold…small leaks have this annoying habit of turning into big leaks.

Anyway, after so much trial and error, I think I finally worked out what I was doing wrong and why the previous repairs weren't holding:

Firstly, I was climbing up onto the roof and having to soak up great big puddles of water so I could apply the leak-stopper goop. This means I was applying it to a very damp surface…and even though the leak-stopper I'm using says this is ok…obviously you're going to get better adhesion and waterproofing if the roof-patch has a nice dry surface to stick to.

Secondly, the rain never stayed off long enough to give the stuff time to cure and set up properly. The stuff's going onto a wet surface and then getting rained on within hours. Not exactly the most optimal conditions for it to work.

This time, I decided to play it smart.. I was going to check the weather forecast, and time the repair so I could get onto the roof, soak up the puddles, then have 48 hours for the roof to dry out completely, followed by a further 48 hours after the repair job for the leak-stopper to cure.

There is, however, a small snag in my plan.

Having checked the 15 day forecast numerous times over the past month or so, I've not seen a single occurrence where there's even a chance of the rain staying off for four days.

I mean, this is South Carolina and in the five years I've lived here I've never known it to rain so much at any time of year. In the first two years I lived here, if the roof leaked during a rainstorm I'd know I'd have anywhere from a week to a month before I could expect rain again….and that rain would probably be in the form of a light thirty-minute shower.

Instead, it's been raining almost solidly…and I don't mean a light rain, I mean really, really heavy rain. After raining for almost two whole days, it finally stopped at about two this afternoon. A few hours later, I stepped outside and saw the sky was clear, and the wind had really started to pick up.

Awesome. I thought. The high winds would be some serious help in drying out the roof.

I checked the forecast and realized I might actually be in with a shot. After the rain went off today, there was only 'slight possibilities of showers' forecast until Monday.

Instead, just three hours later at 5pm, the rain started again and it's been absolutely pissing down ever since.

Yup the forecast called for 'light showers possible' and instead we got 'seven straight hours of torrential rainfall'. Thank you, Accuweather shmucks!

When I was living in England I'd expect weather like this, so it wouldn't be such a big deal. However, considering I'm living in freaking SC, is a week…or even a couple of days…without rain really that much to ask?