Lessons from a Scupper

We're renovators. We've owned seven homes and (two cottages). We've seen stuff happen with houses of all shapes and sizes. We  KNOW stuff. Warren, especially, knows all kinds of stuff about homes and the behind the scenes mechanics that make them work - heating, cooling, foundations, insulation, eavestroughs, flashing, and air flow.

However, we've had an experience with our own home over the past few weeks that show how - even when you think you know what you are doing - repairs can emerge and knock you on your a#s! We didn't see this one coming!

Here's what happened to us. We moved into our renovated home last December when we enjoyed a mild winter, with little snow and an early Spring. No real issues in terms of snow, ice management. All was well.

This year is another story. We had plenty of snow in Ottawa - and ice - and more snow. Throw a few periods of melting and you've got a bit of a mess for a flat roof like ours. Long story short we had some ice dams, and then we had some leaks from run off from flat roof. Where our eavestrough met our roof - there was a gap not easily seen by our roofers (or us!). When we had an ice dam, the melted snow/water found it's way into a minuscule gap behind our siding and into our East wall ... all the way down to the basement! You can see bit of the exterior trail here.

You can see the thing called a "scupper" here. It is supposed take the water off the roof (with flat roofs you need an extra scupper, on top of an eavestrough ..) In case you don't know what a scupper is ... Many of our clients have or are entertaining the idea of flat roofs. They have a cool look we love, but our climate is not always friendly to these types of roofs. You just need a good roofer to tell you how to deal with them. (Thanks Todd Fenton from THF Roofing from  for fixing ours!)

We had so much snow that we couldn't even see this small gap up on the roof  - and had to shovel it all out of the way to see our way to repair things. Meanwhile, during our March break trip to Mexico ..... the water came in and found it's way into our basement ceiling, floor and presumably, our walls ....As Warren says, water always finds the path of least resistance.

Luckily for us there's insurance! My Mom, who is staying in our downstairs guest suite while she waits for her new condo to be built ... is now  a displaced person. She'll be spending some time in a hotel while we rip apart her suite - new drywall, new flooring, new insulation. She's moving out - along with a good deal of her worldly possessions. Sorry, Mom.

Meanwhile, as a family that has (ahem) moved a few times .... here is a funny one that could have been posted by someone we know (not mentioning any names ..).