TGIF

What a long week this was!  Between work and our water damage issues we are both exhausted.  So last I left off we had pulled up part of the kitchen floor and determined that the cupboards and wall weren't damaged, only some flooring.  Next up was for the plumber who installed the hot water tank to come back and try and help us find the source of the leak and fix it.

The only spot where water was found, back of stove area

He had the nicest tiniest little drywall saw and he was so neat - he did a far better job than hubby and I would have which will make this wall in the garage so much easier to repair with just a little drywall tape, mud and a sand.  Anyhow what we found out is....it isn't a plumbing leak.  We spent an hour and a half climbing around/under/cutting holes and feeling dark spaces (he did, I saw a freaking big spider in the garage so wasn't keen to do it myself and hubby was on a conference call).  He even looked up in the space above the attic because after all that we think it is a roof/vent leak that leaked down inside the wall directly to where the stove sits and leaked out onto the floor.  There is no black mold in the space, thank goodness and still just a little bit of moisture.  He gave me the name of a local trusted roofer (a good tradesman is a great source of referrals) and that guy should arrive some time today.  No ETA so I have to hang around all day, this week has been like that.

Unless there is a big issue up on the roof when all is said and done we should still be under our insurance deductible on this and not be making an insurance claim.  If there is more damage that we can't see at this point we can still open a claim.

***update - the roofer just left and is coming back tomorrow or Monday to fix our leak - it was a roof vent.  No damage to attic.  Only damage is the flooring - woohoo!  The roof repair is only $100!  Plus he inspected the 10 year old asphalt shingle roof (they have 15-20 year life) and it looks really good and all the other vents don't show any cracking like this one.  He said it was because the roofer used a nail gun instead of hand-nailing the vent area.  Sooooo happy!  So now our costs are likely well under $2000 plus the HWT which was a completely separate thing coinciding at the same time.  No black mold which was a huge concern due to hubbies allergies/asthma!  We have fans going and most of the moisture is already gone.  Hopefully there won't be any rain before he fixes it. 

I did manage to get a walk for Buddy yesterday after the plumber left - we had to wait as 75 ducks moved from where someone had fed them some grain back to the pond.  So glad Buddy is well behaved around ducks.  He just looks at them and is not worried as long as they keep their distance.  He hates crows though, they constantly try and break peanuts and chestnuts on our roof and they taunt him while he is in the yard.  When we cleaned our eaves out last year we found chicken bones as they had been mining someone's trash and eating it up there.

We actually received some good news this week.  The windshield claim from our rental car in Alberta on our December family visit has been 100% covered through hubby's credit card insurance.  We pay $65 a year for the RBC Avion and I honestly think it is the best Canadian credit card out there.  We get points that we can use towards travel with no blackout dates, only dollar levels that they will cover which means you can use any airline you want.  Now we saved a couple of hundred dollars from their car rental coverage.  They don't include liability but do cover physical damage and glass is zero deductible so a definite bonus for us as we were sure we would be on the hook for $200 deductible through our regular auto policy that covers car rentals.

I picked up the currency I ordered last week.  With Euros in my hands I can almost start counting down the days (might be a tad early as still four months away) until our trip to Greece.  I am going to fill out my passport application and take it in on Monday so that will be another thing off the travel list.  I have ordered a nice pair of comfortable sandals 3 times since December.  The amazon order got canceled as the 3rd party seller left them and they refunded the order.  The second time I ordered through The Bay and due to lack of stock they canceled the order  Then I ordered through Naturalizer and the same thing happened.  Today I stumbled on a great pair of leather sandals including shipping for $32.  That is cheaper than all the other orders I had made.  I don't think Sears has inventory issues so likely will actually be getting these.  While I find some shoes in excellent condition at the thrift store I haven't found any good sandals so bit the bullet and ordered them.  We have only one decent shoe store in town and there was nothing there that worked for me so online it was.

Hubby has worked really hard and I have tried to deal with all the tradespeople/damage issues so hopefully we actually get our first weekend off since January 1.  We both need it.  We are not even considering putting the garage back together/fixing it until we pinpoint the exact source of damage so that will likely  be dealt with in a few weeks.  Right now all the shelving units have been emptied where we cut holes so the truck will be parked outside for a while.  Usually our garage is pretty clean and tidy but I realized when I was moving everything that we need to have another garage declutter so that will happen when we put it all back.

Have a great weekend everyone!