When the ox is in the mire

Sunday morning we got up, ate some waffles, flipped on the Olympics and plopped on the couch, anticipating another normal and relaxing Sabbath. Within minutes Neil and I noticed (simultaneously) a discolored area on the ceiling just ahead of us. Not good.

Upon a closer glance (and feel), the area was determined to be wet, and yes, slightly moldy. Again, not good. Neil immediately grabbed the ladder and headed up to the one area of the house he'd never visited: the attic. Within a few minutes he located the leak (a crack of light coming from above pretty much gave it away) and then made his way onto the roof to seal it up.

It turned out that a pipe on the roof's seal had broken or separated just enough that the water was able to make its way in. Must have been all that crazy weekend rain. Oh, and hail. Yes, in August! What, you don't believe me?

{This was taken Thursday night during a BRUTAL storm which entailed thunder, lightning, rain and hail. The picture really doesn't even begin to capture what it was like - our street was literally a river and between the hail and thunder we could hardly carry on a conversation without yelling.}

Within an hour it was all taken care of, and we are now just waiting for the ceiling to dry completely so we can prime and paint over it again. Thank goodness Neil knows what he's doing. That short hour it took him to diagnose and fix the problem would have easily cost us $200+ had we called someone out - especially with it being Sunday.

I am so grateful we discovered the spot on the ceiling when we did, and that it wasn't holding more water. Call me crazy, but the idea of having to replace a chunk of my ceiling really doesn't appeal to me!