That large gap that you see in the ceiling tiles is not a design feature, nor is it the beginnings of a skylight installation. It’s not even one of those little “fix-it-up” jobs that came with the house when we bought it.
Rather, it’s something that just happened last week. We came home and found the kitchen ceiling getting really acquainted with the kitchen floor.
We’re not sure what caused it. There’s not been any kind of a leak or drip or anything like that. In fact, it rained over the weekend, and I kept listening and looking in the hole for signs of a leak, and there weren’t any.
We’re reasonably sure it’s not termites either. At least there are no signs of damage on any of the joists and such. I’m a little concerned that it might have been larger critters crawling around in the ceiling, but the hole’s been there for a week and we’ve not seen any signs of such. And none of the cats are acting like there’s something up there we need to check out.
Still, for some reason, the ceiling tiles ripped away from the staples holding them up. I’m starting to think maybe the house decided to redecorate itself. Either that, or there’s some kind of inter-dimensional Star Trekky portal up there. Maybe the answer is incredibly obvious and we’re just not seeing it yet.
More puzzling than what caused it is what to do about it. We thought our home warranty would cover it, but no such luck. Keith thinks we can handle it ourselves. I’m still thinking we might be too handy-man challenged for that. There are only about twelve tiles that have fallen (so far), but that could change any time now.
If we do tackle the job ourselves, then should we just replace the tiles that have fallen or rip the whole thing out and put something new and shiny up. I’m a little afraid they might not make this particular style of ceiling tile any more. It would be our luck that they have matching tiles these days, but they’re a larger size, so they won’t fit in the hole.
I’m honestly lazy enough that, if we’re going to have to yank the whole thing down, I just might advocate waiting until the rest of them fall out on their own. I mean, what’s gravity good for if you can’t use it to your own advantage?
On the other hand, a little destructive-therapy might feel good about now. Who can I pretend that ceiling tile is as I rip it down and cast it to the floor with a disdainful sneer? Take that foul fiend! Now back to the pit that spawned you!!
Anyway, now that the dust has settled a bit and we’re through having people pass through the house and look at this, I’ll blog a bit more. This includes finally answering Roger's questions! And when we come to a decision, I’ll post something here. It might make for some fun photo ops.
Speaking of photos, here are some that are happier than a hole in the ceiling.
The garden is going okay. The beans and bell peppers are not doing well and several tomato plants have died, but we still have a bunch that are really producing well. The hot peppers are doing great, too. I missed the chance to take a pic of our first huge batch of Roma tomatoes, but here are some Orange Pixies! Aren't they cute?
Wait a minute, that last one wasn’t an Orange Pixie! That was Chiquito! Isn’t he HUGE now? He's been with us almost a year now.
The reason I couldn’t get a pic of the first bunch of Romas is…
..They’ve already been turned into yummy homemade salsa! I love yummy homemade salsa!
The green flecks are homegrown cilantro from the herb garden.
I missed the first batch, but here’s the second batch of Romas, with a couple of others thrown in. All waiting to be turned into more yummy salsa!
And to close out, here’s our only bell pepper to date. Sad, huh?
2 comments:
Oh, good. I thought you forgot.
I could never forget you Roger. :-)
I still need to check two things out before I post my answers. What I wrote doesn't look right, so I want to do a fact-check before I embarass myself further.
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