The upshot of it all

I'm writing this on Thursday, but scheduling for early Friday morning, because no one needs a second post in one day.

The repair company guy, J., came out to take a look at both my window and the sub-floor.

The upshot:

Yes, the entire window will be replaced, he said all three panes are gone, not just the one. It'll be a month or so, as I've said here already.

With regard to the water-stained sub-floor: He said that after Sunday's rain (and it was absolutely torrential, off and on all day) there's no way the floor would be completely dry (as it is) if it were a current leak. He thinks it's old damage and while we were talking I did recall that the original window had been replaced 13 - 14 years ago with this one, because of water leakage. I remember the then-property manager (who lived next door to me) coming up to take a look, because I was having a problem with the drywall right under the window. And I do remember that at the time the window was replaced (poorly), I had drywall under the window cut out and replaced too. I had completely forgotten that part, it was so long ago.

J. also said if it were his house he'd go ahead with the new carpet, that the wood is only stained, not rotted, and doesn't need replacing. (The window sub-contractor echoed that.) He said of course it was up to me, but given his level of expertise (more on that in a sec), I'm going to trust his judgment and proceed.

As for this man's expertise: He mentioned something regarding water damage and I told him yes, I knew that because I watch a lot of HGTV (thinking Holmes Inspection and Holmes on Homes in particular). It turns out that HGTV contacted J. to do an episode of Castle Hunters last year (which I've never seen), because of his expertise in the field of restoration of old (very old!) homes. He downplayed it, but said it was on YouTube. I watched it a bit earlier and all I could think was OMG, this man (who with his wife was in France, pretending to hunt for a castle), was standing in my little sh*t box townhouse in sock feet! Cripes, his socks probably run more than half my monthly income. It just boggled my mind! (And also made me wonder if any of those House Hunter programs is real!)

He also asked if I run a humidifier and so I confessed I'd had that whole-house one installed in the fall, but that it was sitting at 30%. He told me to shut it off and explained why, etc. He's also written government documents on indoor air quality.

Okay, so I shut it off! I don't quite believe him on this one, but I'm willing to see if keeping it off for a while helps. We've been having a damp winter anyway this year. 

So barring unforeseen circumstances, all systems will be a go for the carpet next week, and the window should be replaced in the latter part of February or perhaps early March.

I admit I've had enough of house issues and repair for the moment!

Peace.