Sometimes there really is a perfect storm.
The night before Halloween, we had a tremendous storm down here. Rain at 5 inches per hour, near hurricane winds, tornadoes – the works. We thought we’d come through unscathed, until about 10 days ago when we went to pull some decorations out of the small, largely unused front room that we’ve relegated to storage. One step into the room and the mildew smell told the story.
It appears the geometry of the roof and a small crack in the sealant on the tiles in one valley could not deal with the volume of wind driven rain that night. The ceiling inside was stained over a good couple of square yards, the drywall there had buckled and rippled from floor to ceiling, the carpeting was STILL wet (more than two weeks later) and the mildew/mold had gotten a running start.
We did all we could right away, pulling up and disposing the carpet and pad, washing it all down with diluted Clorox etc. (Live in Florida and you learn the drill.) Insurance looks to be coming in alright (although we’ll see how they do when the wall gets opened) and thank heaven for metal studs.
At the same time, my darling bride has been expressing dissatisfaction with the now 10-year-old leather furniture in the family room, which is showing its age and daily use.
Meanwhile, my class has me doing more work at home than usual – and usually taking up most of the kitchen table to do it, meaning lots of packing and unpacking of law books, notes and computer. And the storage space can be found elsewhere in the house – and, frankly, plenty of the stored items donated or tossed.
So . . . When we redo the front room we’re going make it a den/gun room/office/man cave. The two large leather club chairs will fit nicely, and in that context will appear “cozy” and “broken in” rather than just worn. Floor will be hard wood or laminate and we’ll minimal fabrics, etc so as to render the room most amenable to tobacco use.
Since there’s no air return in that room (just an A/C vent) I’m thinking some simple weather stripping on the door will avoid any stale smoke odors anywhere else in the house. Any other tips on that score or generally on dedicated smoking rooms.
Add a table/desk for the laptop; a small bookshelf, a side or end table for pipes and whisky; a flat screen (it’s a small room, so a 43-inch will be more than enough), a couple antique shotguns than need places to hang . . . and there you go. It will be awfully welcome come August, I can tell you.
The night before Halloween, we had a tremendous storm down here. Rain at 5 inches per hour, near hurricane winds, tornadoes – the works. We thought we’d come through unscathed, until about 10 days ago when we went to pull some decorations out of the small, largely unused front room that we’ve relegated to storage. One step into the room and the mildew smell told the story.
It appears the geometry of the roof and a small crack in the sealant on the tiles in one valley could not deal with the volume of wind driven rain that night. The ceiling inside was stained over a good couple of square yards, the drywall there had buckled and rippled from floor to ceiling, the carpeting was STILL wet (more than two weeks later) and the mildew/mold had gotten a running start.
We did all we could right away, pulling up and disposing the carpet and pad, washing it all down with diluted Clorox etc. (Live in Florida and you learn the drill.) Insurance looks to be coming in alright (although we’ll see how they do when the wall gets opened) and thank heaven for metal studs.
At the same time, my darling bride has been expressing dissatisfaction with the now 10-year-old leather furniture in the family room, which is showing its age and daily use.
Meanwhile, my class has me doing more work at home than usual – and usually taking up most of the kitchen table to do it, meaning lots of packing and unpacking of law books, notes and computer. And the storage space can be found elsewhere in the house – and, frankly, plenty of the stored items donated or tossed.
So . . . When we redo the front room we’re going make it a den/gun room/office/man cave. The two large leather club chairs will fit nicely, and in that context will appear “cozy” and “broken in” rather than just worn. Floor will be hard wood or laminate and we’ll minimal fabrics, etc so as to render the room most amenable to tobacco use.
Since there’s no air return in that room (just an A/C vent) I’m thinking some simple weather stripping on the door will avoid any stale smoke odors anywhere else in the house. Any other tips on that score or generally on dedicated smoking rooms.
Add a table/desk for the laptop; a small bookshelf, a side or end table for pipes and whisky; a flat screen (it’s a small room, so a 43-inch will be more than enough), a couple antique shotguns than need places to hang . . . and there you go. It will be awfully welcome come August, I can tell you.
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