Raining.
Each time when heavy rain with thunder and lashing winds strikes I worry about the water-tightness of the roof. Predictably the roof leaks again. With a LED head light strapped to my head I climbed up into the ceiling space via the ceiling inspection manhole to inspect the roof.
Where previously rain water would penetrate the porous plastering to run down the surface of the parapet wall to the ceiling and exit to the bedroom below this time the wall is dry as a bone, an indication that the last water-proof treatment applied to the parapet wall is working well.
Two wet patches in the ceiling board and also a wet patch at the bottom chord of the timber truss indicate that the rain water is leaking through the roof covering, either through gaps in the inter-locking tile arrangement or some tiles due to old age, wear and tear have become porous to water.
Instead of waiting for us to come home the contractor said that he had already taken it upon himself to repair the leaking roof while we were out. When I stood outside the gate to check it out I saw a shinny new piece of galvanised iron flashing being installed over some roofing tiles. He said he did the same to the rear portion of the roof.
Actually I intended to climb up to the roof with him. I wanted to understand the cause and the full extent of the leak. That was why we told him to wait until we got home from our hospital visit.
Now the only thing to do is to wait for the next rain to come. Hopefully no more leaking after three reparis have failed to stop the rain from leaking through the roof covering to the bedrooms below
While last evening's one hour downpour caused flash floods and brought traffic to a standstill in many parts of the city the storm brought rainwater into the master bedroom.
After returning home from a shopping trip found a pool of water on the floor beside the table lamp and also signs of water mark on the ceiling of the master bedroom. Fortunately only a pool of water on the floor and not the whole room inundated with rain water. So it was quite easy to remove the water with a mop and a pail.
Apparently the gale force wind must have had forced rain water to penetrate some gaps in the roof covering or lifted the zinc flashing causing the rainwater to fall into the room. From past experience the roof only leaks if the rain is accompanied by strong winds. However, last evening's wind was exceptionally strong.
This morning at the first opportunity spoke to Pak Argus the friendly Indonesian contractor who is currently renovating my next door neighbour's house about the leaking roof. Although in his 50s and not feeling particularly well today he climbed up the roof with the aid of a ladder to inspect the roof covering. After the inspection he found the cause of the leaks ; 5 pieces of cracked tiles.
"Call me again if there are further leaks", Pak Argus said cheerfully after replacing the 5 damaged tiles and descending from the roof. I was lucky because he was using the same type of roofing tiles as my house in his renovation work and there are some spare ones lying around unused.
"How much should I pay you". I asked as I wanted to make a payment in gratitude to his service.
"Twenty Ringgit", Pak Argus flashed me his toothy smile before returning to his work.
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