My leaky roof

The landlord's workmen were here again this week, working on the roof of the house. First they replaced the broken clay tiles on the roof above the carport. This carport is where we store all of the donated items until they can be distributed. Currently everything is placed up on wooden pallets, and covered by tarps, because of the many leaks. It's not a great solution, but we don't have much choice, as there isn't enough room inside the house for all of the stuff - plus, there are plenty of leaks inside the house, as well!

This is the ceiling of the carport (I'm standing on the front porch, looking out to the carport through the arch), after the workmen caused one of the ceiling tiles to fall. Soon after this picture was taken, a second tile (the blackest one in the photo) also fell. As you can see, all of the tiles have a lot of water damage. The two that fell were the worst of the bunch. Those two tiles have now been replaced. There is a gutter which runs along the side of the house, just where the porch meets the carport, and it has a low spot right here! It doesn't take much rain for water to just pour down out of the gutter in this spot. We're waiting to see, with the next big rain, if this particular water problem has been solved.

The roof of the actual house is a flat slab of cement, and it leaks very badly in a number of places, including the kitchen, master bedroom, powder room, and the office (a room we use for tool storage, since we certainly can't keep a computer or important paperwork in there to get wet).

For all of the time we've rented this house, the owner has stored construction supplies in piles on the roof. There is also a small shack, used for a storage shed, on the roof. This week, the workmen removed all of the piles and have emptied out the shed. I'm pleased to see this. In the past, when we have complained about the leaks, the workers have put tar on the exposed areas of the roof, but did nothing where the piles were located. Now, at least, they will be able to access the entire roof, when they attempt their repairs.

Here's the current condition of the kitchen ceiling. Since it rains most every day this time of year, this spot is constantly dripping. The stain has spread well beyond where there are actual leaks.

Here you can see that the water has also damaged this wall in the kitchen. Most of that damage was actually done before we moved in. The landlord assured us at that time that the damage was from previous leaks that had been repaired. We were skeptical, but now that I have seen the quality of the repairs, I think he might have actually been telling the truth!

You can imagine how much this situation makes us yearn to move into the buildings we are currently constructing on our property. Not having to arrange furniture based on the locations of water leaks will be so delightful! Not having to look at nasty mildew stains on the ceilings will be nice, too.