More rain, mud, leaks and flooding

The Tucson monsoon is breaking all records this year. So far we’ve gotten ten times more rain as we did last year! We’ve gotten nearly two years worth of rain in the last two months!

I already posted about the mess John and I returned home to after our 3-week van trip to the west coast in July. Mud and roof leaks and downed tree limbs!

We quickly fixed what we could before having to go to Albuquerque again for a couple of weeks. Albuquerque is also in middle of monsoon season, but not with such a crazy amount of rain. We came back to Tucson in mid-August to…another big mess!

Water blew onto the landing outside the front door and ponded there (even though it is two steps up) and then leaked in under the front door. Luckily all that did was saturate an area rug and create a puddle on the cement floor.

Still, I’m not happy with water coming into the house, even if it’s rare, and even if it’s not causing significant damage.

Water had also pooled in the track of sliding glass patio door in the master bedroom, and leaked through, saturating the rug. Apparently the patio door was installed backwards. It’s a very old door and will just need replaced.

In addition to saturating the carpet, it also water-stained the bottom of my curtains.

The roof sealant around the skylight in the hall bath did not do the trick, so more water came in around the skylight. Oh, yeah, looking good! (Not.)

Rain also beat up against the pool bathroom door (which opens to the outside), causing water to leak into that bathroom too.

All this damage happened while we were gone in Albuquerque. After we got back to Tucson, it rained some more so we could watch it leak in real time.

The roads were flooding too, but not enough to cause serious damage. Just enough to wash sand and gravel into the streets.

On the positive side, we suddenly have grass.

John and I are starting to plan a big remodel project, but first we have to get the leaks and flooding issues straightened out. We’ve been talking to contractors about some large projects, so I’ve also been showing them our leaks while they’re here. But of course all they want to do is our expensive kitchen and bathroom remodels. No one wants to mess with leaking doors and skylights!

The contractors propose preposterously complicated and expensive fixes. For example, in order to prevent the water leaking under the front door, one contractor proposed completely redoing our front steps and landing. This is to prevent the less-than-one-inch of ponding that sometimes happens on the landing when the rain blows in sideways.

The front door landing is 2 steps up off the ground already, and the entryway is covered. The only way we get water in there is when there’s a violent enough storm to drive the rain horizontally into the entryway and up against the door. That doesn’t happen very often.

That landing was poured as part of the original foundation so, no, we’re not taking a jackhammer to that.

A second contractor wanted to prevent the front door from leaking by raising the front door by an inch, which would involve completely reframing the door and putting in a new header, as well as somehow building up the threshold without creating a trip hazard, etc., etc. These guys are all nuts.

What we’re actually going to do is buy a new threshold and door sweep, and John is going to install it himself: tight with plenty of caulking. And I’m going to buy a 6-foot wide, extra thick door mat with water sopping properties to keep the water from ponding on the rare occasion that rain is blown into the covered entryway.

My new extra-large, plain brown welcome mat isn’t going to be as cute as my current turquoise llama welcome mat, but the new one should hold in place any ponding water until the storm passes and it evaporates into the desert air – instead of seeping in under our door. And anyway, I have faith in John’s ability to install a new threshold piece under the door.

Keep it simple! If for some reason our do-it-ourself remedies don’t work, we can always pursue fancy contractor ideas later.

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