Keeping the wooden walkways and deck cleared of snow is a task I like to do during the winter months. However, any amount of wind tends to form a drift all along this area that is sometimes challenging to remove. The winds we had before Christmas made the drift about three-plus feet high and the consistency of cement.
I think my husband took pity on me and worked on a bit of the area, mainly clearing the areas in front of the two doors. I must be waiting for spring weather to magically melt the rest of it because I sure haven't been in any hurry to attack the remainder.
Yesterday was mild (high 20s) and windless so my daughter and husband ventured up onto the roof to take a look at the chimney pipe that blew off Christmas Eve.
Assessing the damage.
Making a plan.
We all agreed they did a good job that should hold until spring when the roof is dry (and clear of ice!) when we may decide to replace the chimney pipe and, for sure, make the chimney more stable with wire supports.
Job finished, they oh-so-carefully made their way across the roof to the ladder leading them down to solid ground level. (Whew.)
10 comments:
Wow a lot of snow! Our mostly melted yesterday, was almost 60! Love your new header shot!
Nancy - Thanks for the compliment on the header photo. Daughter keeps telling me I need to get something up that is more in keeping with our current amount of snow! Your temp of almost 60° is quite unbelievable to us at this time of year. Although the way the weather has been so unusual and strange all over the world, maybe I shouldn't say that too loudly! ;o)
When I saw your folks on that snow covered roof all I could think was "What could possibly go wrong?!" I'm an absolute chicken when it comes to high places and/or roofs with slick stuff on 'em. Glad you got it repaired though! Guy wires should be a must. When the guys put on my new house roof last summer, I kept telling them they weren't securing it for nice days like they were working in. They were putting it down for a hurricane! Same goes for chimneys as far as I'm concerned. Happy heating! Cheers
Tim - I do think I suffer more (nerves twanging like crazy) watching anyone being up on a snow/ice covered roof (heck, a bare, dry roof in summer time is bad enough) than being up there myself! Fortunately, neither daughter nor husband are bothered by heights but, I know, could have done very well without the ice and snow! Yes, guy wires will go up this spring. For sure.
Mama Pea, Ah yes, the vagaries of dealing with chimneys. Don't we all know! You have competent help there with Papa and daughter! With the recent high winds, we've been having an unusual amount of downdrafting in the middle of the night and end up coughing from the smoke; even the dog hates it. Obviously it's not healthy and I have to turn on the electric bathroom vent draw the smoke out! So now we are considering a wind directional chimney cap to solve the downdraft issue. We are just now learning/researching about them. Apparently, these caps are used a lot in high wind areas like coastal regions. It sure looks like a simple yet effective solution and I suspect that it probably was invented by someone long ago who lived through too many noreasters!-M
Brave ones, getting up there in all that snow! Kudos to them! And to you too, for keeping on keeping on through the weather.
Somehow you blog disappeared from my blog roll. I will have to add you back because it is always interesting to see whats going on in your northern world.
Anonymous M - We know you can get some crazy high winds in your location! Burning wood stoves for heat can make for "interesting" problems, but we wouldn't trade it, would you? For the few days we weren't firing the stove that lost its chimney, I realized how much lovely warmth that stove radiated whenever I walked past it, and that I took it for granted. (Does that make sense?) Good luck with finding that directional chimney cap or something else that will work for you. Smoke in the middle of the night in the house is not good!
Granny Sue - Brave? Maybe only super-careful! We did what had to be done. Not something that could be put off until spring! Thanks for staying interested in what goes on in our little corner of our northern world!
Are you in the path of the next snowfall Monday and Tuesday? If so, I think you're being sensible ;) to wait until it's over before starting over on the shoveling.
tpals - So far, it doesn't look like we'll get much snow from that predicted on Monday and Tuesday. Only an inch or so. We did get another 2" overnight which we may or may not clear off today. Temps are to (possibly) rise to a bit over freezing so it could melt. I already attacked the rest of the snow on our deck and walkways. It wasn't as bad as I had expected . . . just a good workout in the fresh air!
What a session you guys have been through! So very glad things are working now. Having smoke come in must have been so scary, and nasty!! especially at night, and Christmas eve, to boot!
We had a good pile of snow, over 2 ft., which sadly has all settled and melted a lot. One does not expect to see bare ground (drive and walkways) in January.
We ran out of our limited data allotment earlier in Dec. so what a shock to read this, now that we are back on-line.
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