The Sound Of NOT Silence Thanks To A Water Drip In The Chimney, Again

/ Ally Bean

Photo of light reflected through paperweight then filtered to look snazzy so that I have an image to include on this post. Think of it as water dripping or my mind frazzling. The choice is yours.

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I LOVE OWNING a house in this suburb.  I’m not being facetious here.  Really, I do.

We are extremely lucky to live in a home built for us by a builder who was a pain in the ass to work with, but in the end he built a good solid house.

Comfortable and inviting. Most of the time.

However, last week after a huge spring thunderstorm our chimney started leaking water… again.

It’s been twenty years since we had this house built and this is not the first time this has happened. Nor is the first time I’ve been DISPLEASED about the drip… drip… drip… sound coming from rainwater as it runs down the inside of the chimney and drops onto the top of the metal chimney insert in the fireplace in the family room.

Drip… drip… drip…

MOST IRRITATING.

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WE HAD THE chimney cap replaced about ten years ago and that took care of the drippy sounds back then.  But there was large hail during this recent thunderstorm and I’m guessing that it damaged the chimney cap in such a way as to allow the water to drip… drip… drip… as water is wont to do.

In two weeks we’ll be meeting with a representative from the company that made the chimney cap and he’ll take a look at it.  And also he’s going to give us an estimate about how much it’ll cost to have the roof replaced on the house because it’s getting close to the time to do that, too.

Oh joy.

THAT BEING SAID FACETIOUSLY.

~ ~ 🏡 ~ ~

NOW YOU ARE in the loop about what’s going on here in Chez Bean.  As a loyal and true personal blogger I had to tell you, my gentle readers, because like they say, write about what you know.

And I know that you’re EITHER thinking to yourself thank goodness we don’t own a house OR you’re thinking to yourself about that sad time in your life when you had to shell out the big bucks for roofing repair &/or replacement.

Thus I shall end this post in which I’ve talked about the realities of life by telling you that when it is raining outside and I’m at home, I’m hiding in the rooms farthest away from the family room wherein the drip… drip… drip… is the loudest.

Because woman on the edge here.

NOT ALTOGETHER HAPPY.

106 thoughts on “The Sound Of NOT Silence Thanks To A Water Drip In The Chimney, Again”

  2. Are you sure you’re not secretly living in our house? This has been our problem ever since we moved in 17 years ago. We replaced the roof, we replaced the chimney cap… and still during certain storms (not all, which is beyond frustrating) we have a leak. Not a big one, but enough to discolor the ceiling which I have bleached within an inch of its life over the years. It drives me crazy!
    (And btw, if you are living in the basement? Come on up for a cuppa!)

    Liked by 2 people

    • river, yes your problem sounds [no pun intended] like ours. When we replaced the chimney cap 10 years ago all was well, but now the drip… drip… drip… is back. I’m blaming it on the hail, but that doesn’t mean that I’m liking it. That noise is annoying, so I’m hiding upstairs in a guest bedroom until it’s resolved.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I’ll trade your chimney for our leaking bay window, A. Bean. Over the years, we’ve had the window “repaired” by several roofers. Whenever we have a wind-driven rain for 12-24 hrs from a Nor’Easter, it continues to leak. Last fall, during one of the hurricanes, the leak became a waterfall and eventually the ceiling collapsed. Once again, we’ve had it repaired so we’re holding our breath until the next storm. Oh, the joys of being a homeowner. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    • Jill, that is an awful problem. I’d go bonkers with that kind of leaky mess. And the ceiling collapsed? Oy vey.

      We used to have one window that leaked when it stormed because a woodpecker loved to peck on the wood around the outside frame of the window. We replaced the window + frame with a vinyl one and it solved the problem because the Woody Woodpecker doesn’t like to peck on manmade substances.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. Love your photo! Very artsy! Owning a home is not cheap. It seems everything can and does go wrong. But it’s still all worth it. I hope the chimney cap can be fixed/replaced and you don’t have to listen to the incessant dripping. Happy spring!

    Liked by 2 people

  6. Been there done all that as well Ally Bean. Now I live in an apartment where the laundry room roof leaks but at least I don’t have to hear the drip, drip, drip…yet I wait for the day that the leak comes across to my side of the dividing wall.
    While it’s nice not to have the financial responsibility of projects like these, I am so used to handling them and just doing things that need doing life is an ongoing adjustment in pretending that I can ignore simple chores that need to be done. I’m not always good at that.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Deb, I hear you. I’d be the same way even if the financial burden wasn’t mine. I’m a problem solver so when house stuff goes wonky I want to SOLVE IT NOW. I cannot in good faith put it off, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to whine about it a bit. This post, case in point.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. The thing about water leaks inside the house is that they are not melodious like the ones outside. I love the pitter-patter of a soft spring rain…outside. Inside not so much. My hearing isn’t so good anymore but dang I can hear a faucet leaking. We are in our home 16 years. Does that mean we will need a new roof in 4? Yikes!

    Liked by 4 people

    • Kate, you’ve explained this problem perfectly. Outside the sound of rain is a delight. But inside the house the sound of rainwater is anxiety-producing and I take it as a problem to be handled stat. We have a 25 year roof on this house and were told when we built it that we could expect in reality for the roof to last 20-25 years. So, you know, it’s time to perhaps buy a new one. 😑

      Liked by 2 people

    • Betsy, roof shingles come with stated life spans. That is, the ones we have are for 25 years, but we were warned that in our humid climate we might need to replace them earlier, like at 20 years. At this point the roof looks awful, but if it’s still doing its job, then I can live with some ugly.

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      • Our roof was replaced sometime before we bought the house. The previous owners said they did it, and they were here for six years. I guess we’ll use that as our guide. I suppose if it starts leaking or shingles start popping off, we’ll know it’s time. I hope you get your situation sorted and fixed soon!

        Liked by 1 person

  9. We were really pleased last year to get an awful hailstorm that damaged our roof. It was 20 years old and we got a new one for the cost of the deductible! It sure beat paying for it all out of pocket. Here’s to hoping you get the perfect storm!

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Once upon a time, we had a wonky roof that wept tears when it rained and sprouted waterfalls with heavier storms. We fixed it, we thought. It disagreed. We fixed it again, we thought. It proved us wrong. During a spring gully-washer, with rain pouring down in buckets outside, BFF raced around putting buckets under the new waterfalls springing forth inside.

    Moral of the story:
    “You can never have too many buckets!”

    Good luck!

    Liked by 3 people

    • nancy, your story is a sad one with a good moral. We’ll see what’s up with the roof soon enough. In the meantime I’ve taken a great liking to the upstairs part of house. Very quiet.

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  11. Oh this would kill me…an aural version of ‘the princess and the pea’. Our rental has a few periodic ‘drip-drips’ from the hot water heater in our bedroom clothes closet and not only keeps me up at night with the ‘drip-drip’ noise but with the fear of impending hot water heater bursting doom! (landlord sends repair guys, who assure us it’s old, rusty but with a patch here and there it’ll be just fine – yeah right.)
    Anyway – maybe get outta the house for a fun day someplace you enjoy until you have to be there to supervise the roof repairs.
    😦

    Liked by 3 people

    • laura, I like your summation: an aural version of ‘the princess and the pea’. That’s exactly what’s happening here. I would not like having a hot water heater drip in my bedroom closet. I am sorry for your situation.

      And yes, you are onto a good plan there with me getting outta the house to have some non-drippy fun. Thankfully spring weather is here so being outside, walking, is my plan of action.

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    • marian, oh dear, that’d be a problem. To not hear those alarms I’d have to be completely deaf. I hear every little sound it seems. I don’t like getting on ladders anymore either. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, huh?

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Homeownership is both a bane and a blessing. We have about 3 years left on our roof, the expert says. A few weeks ago, our tree trimmer spotted some mold/mildew on the north end of the roof and warned us to spray it with Clorox and a detergent. Dawn? It sounds like a job for our son, high up on a ladder and all.

    Just popped into my mind: You could do a Dr. Seuss parody about homeowner hassles. Take it or leave it, Ally, no pressure! ;-/

    Liked by 2 people

    • marian, you said it! I feel blessed that we have this house and that we’re able to look after it, but that drip… drip… drip… is getting on last nerve. I’ve not heard of the Clorox/Dawn approach to roof maintenance, but if it works then *yay* to you.

      Cute idea about applying a Dr. Seuss pov to homeowner woes. Will think on that. Thanks for the idea.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Marian, I’ve been trying to leave a comment on your blog but the system won’t let me do so. I tell you this not because my comment is so profound you must read it, but because it seems like something I’d like to know if the situation was reversed. Anyhow, that’s the deal. I like your post about aging, btw.

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  14. The new roof I’ve been overdue to get for about five years is becoming more and more of a must do for me. I’m tired of looking at the discolored spots near the tops of the walls in all four corners of my house where you can tell water’s getting in… and they’re only getting bigger and uglier with all this rain and snow. I remember when I was a kid, our house had several places that leaked like a waterfall during the rain. It amused me as a kid. As a homeowner…… uh, no. I guess if there’s a bright spot, at least my water seepage doesn’t make a drip drip drip sound…

    Liked by 2 people

    • evil, buying a new roof is a drag. I understand your reluctance to face up to the problem. We bought one on a previous house and while it was necessary it was also the price of a great vacation– that we didn’t take. You are right though, if there’s no drip… drip… drip… sound bothering you then that is something to be thankful for.

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  15. I feel for you Ms. Bean. I loathe repetitive noises and I have been known to leap from my chair and run across the room and strangle pencil and toe tappers — in my imagination. I’ve never been around this chimney problem but it sounds like you can’t even mute it a bit like you would with a drip from a faucet.

    Shall I wish you hail damage from your recent storm? Mom and Dad always ended up with a virtually free roof from hail damage. Once it was softball sized hail that punched a hole right through the roof! I have pictures somewhere. It was odd but they would start to talk about how they should be considering a new roof and the next thing you knew there was a hailstorm.

    I could send you a handful of earplugs.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Zazzy, thank you. You understand my innate aversion to random repetitive noises that are beyond my control. Z-D just tunes them out, but I hear them all. Every drip… drip… drip…

      I know that hail storms can cause roof damage but I doubt that this recent one did that. The hail was too small. Your parents certainly knew the trick to getting a new roof. Now how do I go about manifesting a hail storm with large enough hail to damage the roof? As if I could. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  16. I can sympathize with you. In my case it’s not the chimney (knock on wood) but needing a replacement roof. We’ve had 4 major MAJOR wind storms in the past year and each time there has been damage to our roof. This last time a few weeks ago, Husband finally decided that a new roof was in order (Yay! – not said sarcastically. I’ve been lobbying for a new roof for a while).

    Then our appointment with the roofer last week was postponed when he came down with the flu. So now we are delayed until next week to find out the financial damage – and it won’t be pretty.

    Roofs are one of those critical necessities and yet there is no buyer satisfaction in getting a new one 😕

    Liked by 2 people

    • Joanne, I agree with you that there’s no buyer satisfaction in purchasing a roof. I want one, of course– but oh. so. boring. to buy. I hope your roofer gets to your house soon. For me there’s a kind of anxiety while waiting to find out how much a homeowner project is going to cost. And when it comes to roofs, if past experience proves true, it’s going to cost one heck of a nice vacation for you [and maybe us] to replace it. Honestly, if there could be a more boring way to spend $$$ I don’t know what it is… 🤨

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  20. You may remember that I wrote about a roof leak recently so I can definitely relate to this! We have met with a roofer guy and are now on his schedule for not only a new roof but two new skylights. Cha Ching! Although we aren’t quite ready for condo living (and are not sure we ever will be) issues like this sure make it tempting. Good luck to you and Mister Bean!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Janis, I do remember your roof problem. Let my just say *meh* about your problem and ours. I hadn’t thought about skylights, but they are a nice touch. No doubt expensive, but a resale feature? We’re like you not ready for a condo yet so a new roof is in our future, sometime in the next few years. Oh goody!

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  21. Water and leaks=bane of my existence. They always seem to do damage which leads to lots of repair and $. I can see the temptation of having no indoor plumbing and an outhouse, sometimes. In your case though, that wouldn’t have helped. Rats.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Margaret, water is such a great thing when it’s where I want it to be. However this drip… drip… drip… is annoying as heck. You’re right that one thing leads to another when water damage starts happening. *growl*

      Liked by 1 person

  22. I’m of the latter group. Had a leak in our kitchen. Patched it for a few years and then bit the bullet and got roofing and siding. Now we’re set for 50 years (according to the contractor) by which time it will be the kid’s problem. After having not paid any attention to the outside (or really inside) of our little house for 21 years, we thought it was time. She’s been good to us.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Janet, I remember when my mother had siding put on her house. It was a burden off her mind. I don’t know for sure that we’re going to need a new roof right now, but the time is a’coming so might as well get an estimate of how much it’s going to cost. 😦

      Liked by 1 person

  23. I feel so sorry for you, needing to hide when it rains. We had a bad leak in the dining area of the kitchen. When the workman pulled out the window, the wall followed. What a mess! The house was much better after that repair!

    Liked by 2 people

  24. Hi, Ally – I love your filtered pic. Great impression of water dripping. (So far) I have never had water leakage, or need for a new roof at any of the houses where I have lived. Still, your post was very timely. I read it at 4 am because the “ping, ping, pinging” of a device (IPhone, Ipad, Laptop…I’m not sure which was the culprit) was DRIVING. ME. CRAZY. Being lazy, I kept trying to roll over and go back to sleep. Finally, at 4 am, I removed all devices from our bedroom, read your post, and went back to bed. First world problem, I know. But it did give me a small taste of your water dripping scenario!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Donna, oh I know how crazy those *pings* can make a person. Especially if you’re asleep, or tying to do so. That’s a good analogy to what is happening here with the drip… drip… drip… sound. Fortunately it is sunny today with no sign of rain, so the the dripping sound has quieted down. But it’s spring so rain is in the forecast for tomorrow– and the water will once again have the chance to drive me bonkers.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Jan, I know what you mean. I love this house and all, but couldn’t it hold it together for another decade without needing something replaced? Is that asking too much?

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  26. Great caption on the picture! Now, dripping will drive you insane, so invest in some good earplugs (cheap) or noise-canceling headphones (ridiculously expensive).

    We live in the country and critters invade and run around in the walls and ceilings. After spending a fortune on remodeling, including stuccoing the exterior, we had some quiet times. Now, 3 years later…they’re baaack! Trying to write while the scurrying skitters above my head. Aauugh!

    Liked by 3 people

    • Eilene, we lived in a house once that had critters in the walls. It flipped me out. Those odd noises were distracting. I don’t know that I could write while hearing those sounds. You’re a stronger woman than I am, but I’m sorry your critters are back and you have to put up with that.

      I like your idea of earplugs. Thanks for mentioning it.

      Liked by 1 person

  27. My neighbor was saying today she has a bird family in her atttic. They chirp and scratch above their bedroom. They had mesh installed in all the vents a couple of years ago, but those pesky birds took care of that. Now they have to hire someone to get the birds out.

    Home ownership is great. But it isn’t easy or cheap.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Behind the Story, ‘birds in your attic’ sounds like an updated version of ‘bats in your belfry’ to me. 🙃 I didn’t know that birds could wrangle their way through mesh, but I guess I’m not surprised. We have birds who nest outside the house, but inside? I feel sorry for your neighbor– and her bank account. That’ll cost to get those birds evicted.

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  29. A roof on a house is much like the car batteries – they never last as long as the guarantee promises….both manage to marginally work when most critical.
    Drips would drive me nuts! (Just for fun do get the insurance co to evaluate your roof if there has been bad storms or hail over the winter in the area – you might get some money out of them …smile at the adjuster…offer cookies!)
    Ear plugs are annoying, so hope a solution plugs in soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    • philmouse, great analogy to the car battery. Both are necessary but so boring to buy. Today is sunny outside so the drip… drip… drip… is gone. Tomorrow rain is predicted so the drip will be back again to bother me. I hadn’t thought of contacting the insurance company just in case they’d like to actually do something and chip in on this cost. Good idea.

      Liked by 1 person

  30. We’ve been here 30 years and we’ve had the roof replaced twice (and had many leaks repaired), the HVAC three times, the front porch and stairs twice, the deck once, and all kinds of other repairs since. I know how you feel…

    Liked by 2 people

    • John, thanks. You really do know how things go with a house. I don’t enjoy doing these sorts of repairs but I accept doing them. I’ll be especially happy when the chimney problem is resolved. That drip… drip… drip… bugs me. 😣

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  31. You’re being tortured by that sound of dripping water. Besides the frustration of that, when the chimney cap guy and the roofing guy tell you how much the replacements will cost you’ll be weighing it against the torture. That seems to be in their favor so maybe for the next two weeks you need to put your ear buds in with some nice soothing music. Then they won’t have the upper hand in negotiating a price. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Judy, you’re right that I am being tortured with this dripping sound. It bugs me and no doubt you’re right that I’ll be tortured when I see how much this is going to cost to fix it all. I like your ear buds idea. What is that saying: music tames the savage beast? I’m not quite savage yet, but a distraction with some tunes would be nice.

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  32. Ah yes, the joys and the headaches of home ownership. Our tale of woe occurred on the opposite level of yours, involving that system that city and suburb folk don’t have to think about: the septic. We inherited an old and uncertified system (meaning only that there was no paper file: it had been installed before Vermont began regulating such things) when we bought the house in 2007. For many years we didn’t think much of the fact that the toilets backed up whenever we had the combination of a heavy rain, company, and laundry. (The perfect storm). An idiosyncrasy of life in the country, we thought. It’s actually a fun story, now that two years have gone by. I think I’ll blog about it. Thanks for the suggestion, Ally. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Janet, yes there are many joys of homeownership, but the headaches do wear on me. I’m better when the home problem is a quiet one. I know nothing about septic tanks other than what they do. I’ll be looking for your septic system story about what, I take, was not a great experience in the countryside of Vermont.

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  33. It always seems you are spending money for upkeep or those emergencies that creep up when you own a house. My 2017 was a nightmare with contractors, all but one plumbing related, so I can relate Ally. During the Polar Vortex I kept the tap dripping to keep the pipes warm. Downstairs was a trickle, upstairs a small drip. I work from home and the sink is stainless steel – no matter how I directed the tap, it dripped … ping, ping, ping. I feel your pain.

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    • linda, it’s not that I don’t expect things to go wrong in the house, it’s that I’m forever surprised by what goes wrong. You’d think I’d like how it keeps life interesting, but I don’t. Water dripping on stainless steel is a difficult noise for me [and you] to ignore. Stupid chimney…

      Liked by 1 person

      • I had a plumbing catastrophe the end of January this year. Never mind that the pipes were all brand new in 2017. I was running water in the kitchen sink (a double sink) just like all the other sinks, or letting it drip, as it had been brutally cold so the pipes wouldn’t freeze. The entire double-sink PVC pipes fell apart in my hands … it wasn’t nice what I said or the names I called the original plumber. Called a plumber that someone had endorsed. At 10:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, snow coming down like crazy, the plumber shows up … a few grunts and groans while using the channel locks and the pipes were back together. This was not the first time they had come apart – I was washing some plums a month after the original install, and I heard a kerplunk and looked under the sink … I keep a dishpan under each sink. Pipes had come apart. I have no words for the things that happen in the house, and, by far, the water emergencies always trump other emergencies or issues.

        Liked by 1 person

        • linda, how you tell a sad tale of home owner plumbing problems. I hate when things like that happen. It’s frustrating and inevitably expensive to repair. A person should be able to wash plums in her kitchen sink without worry. This is something I believe in wholeheartedly. I could probably get elected to public office on that platform alone.

          Liked by 1 person

          • Our plumber that we had for decades retired. He played football in high school and had bad knees from that game, plus 40 years of plumbing – he could no longer kneel to do his work. His son was/is a plumber, but he didn’t think he was worthy enough to take over his clientele, so he wrote a letter to every customer saying he was retiring and not turning over his book of business to anyone. I chose the first plumber because they had moved to the neighborhood and were open 24/7/365. They’d been in business several years, no issues with the BBB. They acted like hoodlums when I complained and demanded to know why my basement needed to be ripped up a second time for a clog. I asked my hair stylist who own a small shop and she/husband bought an old house with many plumbing quirks who they used – they endorsed this new plumber. He told me going forward to have those PVC pipes tightened professionally every two years, even though I don’t have a garbage disposal which jars the pipes. I asked him to put on plumbers putty, but this is not the norm anymore; they use seals which expand with hot water and seal immediately (right … just like mine did).

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  34. Oof. I’d like to think I’m good with drip drip drip, but I think it’s the drip drip drip linked to property damage that would make me swear swear swear. Like tinnitus of the chimney, I might lose my mind, too. I sure hope you get it sorted as favorably as you can.
    Roof’s good, plumbing’s sketchy. All I really care about right now is demossing the winter from my siding and putting up fencing that was supposed to be installed with all the money we spent on the plumbing as soon as we bought the house. HOWEVER, my house is legit 100 years old and so my complaints are… reasonable and expected.

    Liked by 2 people

    • joey, you’re right in that if this drip… drip… drip… was outside watering the flowers I’d be okay with it. But with it inside the chimney all I can think of is $$$… $$$… $$$… You just know this is going to be expensive to repair.

      I didn’t know your house was 100 y.o. That’s cool and unique. Part of the house in which I first lived with my parents was 100 y.o. It had no plumbing problems, but the furnace was wacko. Good luck with your fence. Projects like that provide immediate [I can see progress] enjoyment which is nice.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Oh, I may have misled you — no promise of fence yet, mere hope 😉
        Our furnace is also wacko, or you know, a diva, and he ain’t even old yet.
        *sigh*
        I love my house tho, truly ❤

        Liked by 1 person

    • krcc, yes it is. And it’s tiring to do the search, talk with the people, wait for the repair, live through the repair– and cross your fingers that it’s done right. So, oh joy– what fun we have in front of us.

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  37. I know exactly what you mean – we had a gutter with a drip once – and it was near my bedroom.
    I told my hubs that there was an old proverb that said “an angry nagging woman is like a continuous drip”
    I never “got” the true message there – until we had that gutter drip
    and dang… it was nag and as you said “drip, drip drip” (thankfully it was fixed)
    and I hope it is not a pricy fix.
    PS Love the photo – and I love when folks make their own images and do not use pixabay – although I guess there is a time for that – but I really like the creative juice with that (get it – creative juice had a liquid feel to go with drip and drop) – hahahh

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  38. Prior, I didn’t know about that proverb but I get it. This drip… drip… drip… is annoying. HAVE I MENTIONED THAT? I’m lucky in that I can hide in a part of the house where I cannot hear it. I’ll be *fascinated* to learn how much this is going to set me back. 🙄

    I’m happy to know that you like my photo. I use pixabay sometimes but when I can I use my own photos. They may not be as professional as pixabay, but they’re mine. Still there’s a place for both in personal blogging.

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