As the winter weather continues to assault us, here at St. Michael’s the rectory has had several problems. On one section of the third floor, we have perennial ice dams that have been problematic over the years even before my arrival. A couple of weeks ago, in the middle of the night a section of wall collapsed and water flowed in. We were able to remove that ice once again and the water has stopped, at least for now.
Last week, I was on the first floor when I heard a loud thump and I thought snow had fallen from the roof…WRONG! I went up to the third floor and discovered a section of the ceiling in the hallway had collapsed. And again, water dripped down. This was new although I am sure it was leaking for some time. It seems that where the turret meets the main house is where the water gets in. This repair will be another project for the spring.
A couple of other minor leaks and a plumbing problem on the first floor complete the damage picture….so far!!
On another winter note, both the upstairs and downstairs churches have had a dearth of heat this winter. Early on, the lower church was freezing. I walked around to all the heaters and discovered that every one had been turned off by some mysterious person. It wasn’t me or the janitors. I turned them on and voila! We now have heat.
About ten days ago, I celebrated a funeral in the upper church and although the thermostat was set at 76 degrees, the church didn’t get above 59 degrees the whole time. I called our heating company and when they arrived, they discovered the same problem as downstairs. All the registers had been turned off by someone.
PLEASE do not touch the heat registers. The church has heat sensors throughout which determine how much heat is needed. If there is a problem with a certain register, please inform me or a janitor. But please, do not try to fix it yourself.