Mid 40s, raining. Easy run. 20 min. strength work. This is another "weird week," when I will have to do a long run on Sunday and miss out on my club run Saturday. Maybe when I get back on schedule next week there will be some new folks at the club and I will actually have someone to run with. I'm looking forward to a day off tomorrow - not missing the run but sleeping more! I'm sorry - this is going to be a long post. I have reason to be extremely happy this morning! This has nothing to do with running, except that I've been trying to solve this problem for even longer than the time I've been trying to get my marathon time down to a BQ. After over four years of repairs, wasted money, and endless experimental (and unsuccessful) fixes... we now know what is causing our living room windows to leak. We have this beautiful wall of picture windows looking out on Mt. Si that has leaked every winter since the year we moved in. Since they only leak in heavy rain with a strong east wind, we have had a small window of opportunity every winter to try to find and fix the problem. The first two winters were a Blame Battle between the builder of the house and Milgard Windows, with various ineffective "cures" performed on both sides as proof of the other's culpability. Since only certain kinds of storms caused leaking, the last fix of each winter would always have to wait for autumn to be tested, and always with disappointing results. Just before the third winter, Milgard agreed to reseal every window by hand and the Sno family footed the bill to have all the siding around the windows replaced (with all new flashing as well) and the attic examined and sealed up. Results? Zip. I won't even bother to list all the subsequent measures we took to find and stop this leak. The money, the new contractors brought in, the dashed hopes when the next big storm came and we heard drip, drip, drip. The gentleman who finally found the problem had all the past failures of others to go on, and I guess it was inevitable that we'd hit on it sooner or later. But I am ready to nominate him for president I'm so happy. He too tried some unsuccessful fixes. But we tested a new, temporary "fix" on two of the three leaky windows this week and last night the "perfect storm" arrived. This morning, towels in the windows show our victory: one wet towel, and the other two: dry!!!! I'll bet you want to know what it turned out to be. Not interested in waiting 4+ years like I had to do? Well ok.... Weep holes. Somehow, during the window installation, a "fin," attached to a hollow chamber, underneath a trough for draining moisture -- was pierced on several windows. The specific conditions we experienced during heavy winter storms caused water to be sucked into the weep holes (pressure differential in the house in high winds), filling up the chamber, whose wall was breeched by the fin crack, and flooding over onto the frame of the window below, which then dripped from the top of the frame onto the sill. If you stuck with my narrative this long, thanks a lot for listening. Where else could I tell my tale and shout my joy? I was beginning to think we might never see the end of this problem, and spend every winter laying plastic wrap and towels on our window sills and saying no to all travel opportunities. Happy day!!! May your troubles find solutions as well. Persevere and keep hope. :)
| 