Ice and a stinky house.
A few weeks ago we had some furnace problems because an ice dam had formed atop the chimney. The wind was blowing a down draft in it and shutting the furnace off and blowing some carbon monoxide inside the house. After attempting to get some workers to come chip it off, Mario decided to get a ladder and do it ourselves. No one seemed interested in helping us. I spoke with the fire chief and he was very helpful in lending us one of the fire truck’s ladder as we didn’t have one tall enough to reach the chimney. Long story short, Mario went up there chipped the ice off and everything went back to normal, until today that is….
Today was another ice accumulation that caused us to go back out. The plumbing vents were blocked which caused to house to fill with the sweet smell of sewer. We have seen the ice chunks on the vents grow all winter long but they never completely blocked the vents until today. Oh by the way, it’s -20C with 50km/h winds… not a very nice day. This time we had to physically go on the roof because the vents are farther up than the chimney. Everyone that knows me knows that I’m not too fond of heights. Once again, Mario had to go up there. We called the fire chief, borrowed his ladder again, tied a rope to the front deck and Mario climbed up there. After a little scare or two the house smells fine once again. Scroll down for some photos of Mario’s adventure.
Mario going up hoping he won't need to cash in his life insurance on this Good Friday!
Testing the thin rope...
Giving the first ice chunk a good shove.
Aiming it straight for the ladder! (Mario doesn't need it to come back down apparently)
Hopefully he doesn't because it's coming down!
Next! That one was HUGE!
No damage from this one falling.
"How do I get down again? Oh yeah the lad..... uh oh...."
The culprits for our stinky house
The big one!
This entry was posted on Friday, April 22nd, 2011 at 16:49 and is filed under The Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
5 Responses to “Ice and a stinky house.”
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Us
The above photo is me and her. You probably had it all figured out anyways. We are about to live a once in a lifetime experience, The Great White Canadian Arctic. We have decided to create this blog to keep our friends, families and curious strangers abreast of our adventures. I'm sure a few misadventures as well. All while living in Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut. Read on to see what it's all about!
If you don't feel too comfortable with writing a public comment, you can also drop us a line via email at blog(at)thearcticpost(dot)ca
Oh! And by the way, this is Cisco, our dog. Even though she likes to puke a lot, she's still part of the family and will partake in our adventure to the North. She'll be sure to keep us on our toes and keep the polar bears at bay! She's also good for a few laughs in between leg humping sessions. We still haven't figured out how to stop that...
Thank you for a great year (or half year in our case) of blogging.
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April 22nd, 2011 at 17:23
OMG that is crazy! When you said “Ice Chunks”, I didn’t think you meant icebergs!! It was +20 today at my house!! Just sayin’.
April 22nd, 2011 at 21:17
Spring is on the way???
April 22nd, 2011 at 21:41
Ahhhh the old stink pipe! I have to say we’ve been super lucky that we’ve never had ours freeze, here or while we were in Dorset. Those are HUGE!!!!
Amazing shots.
April 22nd, 2011 at 22:03
We saw the ladder out there and thought… should we have the phone ready to call the health centre???? Glad you don’t stink anymore… at least your house, anyway:P
April 23rd, 2011 at 21:00
See that hammer? I’d take that to my own head if I had to do what Mario did!!! I really wouldn’t be able to deal with all that ice and snow this late in the year… (Not that I can manage it any other time).
Yay for cleared house now! Stay safe…and warm.