Endless Winter - Trials and Tribulations

It's been a long winter. A  looonnnggggg winter.  I am rather grumpy about it by this point - and I'm originally a Prairie girl, used to MUCH colder winters than Eastern Ontario brings. This one's just been so ... varied. Cold, then snow, then icy melts, than more cold - then throw in some wind. We are shoveling endlessly (well, that's the royal "we") .. it just seems more tiresome than usual this year. Here is what our street looks like ..

But for homeowners, winter can be a more serious issue than something to complain about. Winter in Canada means snow, and snow melts, which means water. (Same applies to ice). And water - always - means big trouble for our homes. Water damage can be deadly (and costly!). Over the past few weeks, we've had to deal with a few issues relating to cold and water. We had frozen pipes at our Arlington Woods project - causing us to rip open a ceiling that was almost ready for paint and final touches. This is so irritating for homeowners. They get so close ... and then need to take a few steps backwards. All was well within a few days .... Luckily, we had a worker on site over the weekend who noticed the leak, so we were able to help the homeowners with it quickly. Far worse damage could have been done if it had gone unnoticed!
It's hard to know - especially in older homes with questionable insulation - what might freeze in desperately cold weather, but often a reno is a great opportunity to figure this out! At our Delmar Street project, we actually turn off the main water source each night when it's cold. Just to be sure.

At our own house, the fun continues as we struggle with our flat roof. Warren spends an inordinate amount of time on our roof - shoveling.  We think (but can't be sure because it's too icy up there!) that

When we had a warm spell a few weeks back - as lovely as it was - we had leaks in our walls. Warren did some investigation by flashlight and has identified (we think) the problem. Melted snow is making its way behind our siding somehow - we can't see the flashing due to snow build up - but think there is a crack or hold somewhere. The water is finding its way through whatever channels it can find and coming into our drywall. It's bizarre where it ends up. Hopefully Spring will solve this mystery once and for all and we can make repairs and avoid this for next year.

We also had some ice dams ... indicating our roof needs better ventilation. This is our first real cold winter in this house. Last winter we had just moved in, and it never really got cold. We weren't able to test our attic insulation and ventilation. We now have some work ahead to make some improvements. This just goes to show that even long after a renovation - there are new discoveries about how a home ticks. Even for professional renovators - our homes always have these little surprises!

And to end on a upside .. here is a much prettier shot of winter skating on the canal in Ottawa - just a few steps away from our roof problems!