Water Torture

There are many things I like about my house. It is cute as a button. I like that. It has period charm. I like that. It has fantastic crown molding and large baseboards. I like that. It has vibrant colors that pop against the stark white moldings. I like that. It has a beautiful kitchen with lovely counter tops and a pot rack. I like that.

There are a few things I'm not so crazy about, too. It has a small kitchen. I don't like that. It has an unfinished stairway/stairwell leading to the basement. I don't like that. The basement has low ceilings. I don't like that. The floors are kinda sloped in the basement. I don't like that.

There is one thing I hate about my house. And I mean h-a-t-e. Hate. The original 1927wood gutters. After 81 years of service they have seen better days. The downspouts were updated sometime in the previous century but they are still rusted out, rickety things that don't all connect with the gutters. The fascia board on the front of the house is rotted and it leaks. It looks like crap. But its appearance is the least of the things I hate about the gutters; it is the leak that makes me scowl and clench my jaws.

For 3 long years I have had an extra reason to hate winter (and spring and fall if I'm being honest). It is that cursed leak that is located right in front of the front door. Yep. You can't step inside or outside without getting dripped on. When it is a downpour you can't tell the difference between the drops from the gutter and the rain but when the rain is gone and the water from the ancient gutters has seeped in the fascia board and is pooled up there slowly emptying its reservoir drop by enormous drop you notice.

Long after the rain subsides you venture outside and *SPLAT* a big fat drop hits you on the forehead and splashes onto your glasses as you cross the threshold onto the front step. You turn around on the front step to lock the door and *SPLAT* a big fat wet drop hits your arm and goes through your wool sweater, creating a nice itchy spot. You come home with your arms full of groceries and *SPLAT* *SPLAT* *SPLAT* it gets your right arm as you unlock the door and then your left ear as you adjust the groceries on your hip and then on your forehead as you pass under it. And as the water drips down your face you seethe.

And then three years later you've both had enough of it and call someone to come out and give a quote on replacing the gutters.

Ding-dong the gutters are dead! A guy came out today and ripped them off along with some rotten fascia boards. Tomorrow he comes to put up new gutters and new fascia board.

This makes me so very, very happy. No more water falling on my head. No more water splashing my glasses. No more water torture!