Grand Lake, CO.
The Rain Test
It wasn’t until the weather changed and the rain began, that I noticed that I have a leak in the roof of my van. I actually found two leaks, but the first one was a quick and easy fix, and therefore not worth writing about. I wish I could say the same about the second.
The area that’s leaking is right next to the roof fan, so I’ve been assuming that whoever installed the fan simply hadn’t sealed the area properly. So I got up there and applied a double coat of sealant around the fan. But the next rain storm caused the same leak in the same exact spot. Grrrrr.
Leaks are not rocket science and fixing them isn’t either, however the struggle I’m having is that I’ve already sealed the areas that I have easy access to, which, as you know, didn’t pass the rain test. To get better access to the rest of the area, I’m going to need to remove two of the solar panels that I spent hours installing a while back. See, in order to maximize roof space I installed the solar panels as close to the fan as possible (without affecting the fan’s functionality), which is a great idea from a space optimizing standpoint, but has proven to be difficult from a repairs standpoint. I’m not a fan of backtracking, but it’s looking like I don’t have any other choice.
The more I think about it, and the more research I do on this issue, the more I’m beginning to think that I caused this leak myself. Looking back, there were definitely other rainstorms that passed through that didn’t leak from this spot. I know that 100%. And so it’s likely that the area was actually sealed properly until I got up on the roof to install the solar panels. This whole time I’d been assuming someone else caused this issue, and it turns out it was probably me.
But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter one bit whether they caused it or I did. The repair needs to be done and there’s no point feeling sorry for myself. I’ll just add it to the list of projects yet to do and check them off one at a time.
P.S. I’m aware that I’ve been a little negative around the van lately, and I promise I don’t share any of these struggles in order to receive sympathy. In fact that’s the last thing I want. It’s just that I’m hyper-aware that online and on social media, it’s so easy to only share the good times, the happy times and the times in which everything goes right, but I don’t want to participate in that deception. Life isn’t always that way, and my van project certainly hasn’t been. It’s been great and it’s also been extremely challenging. And I’ve decided to be transparent about both sides of that equation. If I’m going to document my experience at all, I can’t only share the good parts.
But even though I’m struggling at the moment doesn’t mean I’m anywhere close to giving up. I’ll eventually share my excitement of how I’ve overcome all of these adversities. I’m just not there yet. And I’m completely okay with that.
Thanks for taking this ride with me!
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger
