Stupid. Just Stupid - I'm ratting myself out.

[Deborah Burian]

This would make a great blog post but the blog is for my multi-unit.

I get a call from a tenant, thinks there is termite damage because her brother fell through the back step. It's been very, unusually, wet here so I'm thinking more likely water rotted out the wood back step I've been meaning to replace.

Go to house. Brother fell through the KITCHEN FLOOR near the back step. As it turns out, and probably for longer than our recent wet spell, water has been funneling out of a roof valley and into a spot by the back step where it has rotted out a portion of the plate and the sill. To add the bonus event, the house evidently never had a floor joist on that end of the kitchen so when the sill went, the pressed wood subfloor, hardiplank and tile went with it. Structural repair, including putting in a damn floor joist - $4200. Another few hundred for the cosmetic repair, re-install tile in damaged area, etc.

Now, I've sort of vaguely had guttering this house on my "when I'm done buying properties" list for a long time. An embarrassingly long time. A long enough time to rot out a plate/sill/subfloor. I'm thinking $4000.00 would have guttered it with dollars to spare.

[Deborah Burian]

J Scott. You make a valid point and I did think about getting an additional bid but 1) we have a good long history with this guy and he's always been very fair, 2) the hole in the kitchen floor constituted an emergency in my book and 3) with the tornadoes, finding new contractors is a real problem right now. This was more than the floor, we took off siding, replaced 8-10 feet of plate, rebuilt the sill, etc. I emphasize the floor joist because it annoyed me. As a complete aside, I am LOVING your books. Thank you for what you have done and no doubt will continue to do here.