Templo de Santo Domingo, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Puddle Detective
It looks like the storm we’ve been waiting for has finally hit northern California. I do enjoy a good rainy day from time to time—comfy clothes, movies, reading—although I do admit that storms have become a bit more stressful since purchasing a leaky van. Every storm that passes I go out to the van and become a puddle detective, searching for any sign of pooling or splatter. My heart sinks every time I find a new one.
Speaking of leaks, do you remember the last one I wrote about that was leaking from the fan and that I thought I had inadvertently caused while working on my solar project? I have an update.
As you may remember, just about everything that was installed in the van when I purchased it has either had to be repaired or removed. The carelessness and lack of skill has been astounding. But for whatever reason—laziness, blind optimism, sheer stupidity, or the belief that if I close my eyes the monsters can’t hurt me—I assumed the fan had been installed properly. Even though everything else was absolute trash, surely the fan was done right…right?! Wrong.
At first, because my newly installed solar panels blocked easy access to the fan, I started by sealing the few areas I could access, which didn’t end up solving the problem. So I finally mustered the courage to strip off the solar panels in order to gain full access to the fan. Upon removing the fan I found that the previous owner not only half-assed their application of sealant (big surprise), but more importantly the “weatherproof” flange, which acts as the primary barrier between the interior of the van and the wet exterior, had two large cracks in it. Awesome.
I hopped online and started shopping around for a new flange, figuring it couldn’t be more than ten or twenty dollars. Wrong again. $80 dollars later my new flange is in the mail. It was supposed to arrive five or six days before this storm moved in, giving me plenty of time to get everything installed and for the sealant to cure. Well, that flange ended up being delayed in transit and arrived right when the storm hit, leaving me with an unsealed leaky fan as well as sixteen open holes from where the solar panels had been bolted to the roof. With few options, I threw a tarp on top and parked the van under a large tree, hoping that would deflect some of the storm. The tarp was weighted down and mostly stayed in place, but ended up being no match for the insane wind that hit the first night. I woke up to a few new puddles in the van from where wind-driven rain had snuck in. But no damage was done.
Fortunately, I got a little break in the storm yesterday which gave me the time I needed to seal the new flange, reinstall the fan, re-mount the solar panels and waterproof all the bolt holes. I decided to throw the tarp back up there to give the sealant a little more time to cure before getting rained on for the next week, and hopefully the tarp will be more effective this time around. Once this storm passes I’ll remove the tarp and expose the roof to the elements—which means the next storm will be the real test. Pray for me.
“Your ability to adapt to failure, and navigate your way out of it, absolutely 100% makes you who you are.” –Viola Davis
