The Roof

So Bob's dad and uncle came to help with the roof. They arrived Saturday afternoon, and we got right to work. That morning we had a 20 cubic yard dumpster delivered for the huge amount of trash we were about to generate. Redoing the roof involved several steps. First, we laid a tarp on the ground to catch nails so they don’t end up in the lawn mower. Then, we’d clear the old shingles off a section (with a shovel; there are special shovels, but why make it easy on ourselves?) and toss them down onto the tarp. This step was primarily done by Bob's dad and uncle. Then we had to lower the edge of the roof 3/4 of an inch. See, the edge is supposed to stick out a bit to prevent water from just going down the side of the house, but some previous owner had done it wrong. Additionally, most of the plywood along the edge was water damaged. So we had to take it all off anyway. We decided to take this opportunity to put in the insulation along the edge (with vents, which also weren’t in the original roof), since that would be a lot easier to do from the outside once the plywood is off. Orsi’s dad and Bob ended up running all over town to find the right insulation and get plywood. We're still suffering from sticker shock. During the plywood phase, Orsi’s dad put his foot through the ceiling in the corner bedroom. This started a trend with Bob's uncle that would continue the rest of the week :) So we finished the shortest edge of the roof that evening. Bob's dad and uncle had never been so tired. At least, not until the next day :)

Sunday called for rain starting in the afternoon turning to snow overnight, but we pushed ahead. We cleared off the entire back of the house, and replaced the plywood in the long center section. The plywood over the garage part of the house (including the room behind the garage) was too thin (technically legal, but not stable). The internal support beams weren’t done right, either, so we had to reinforce them. Bob's dad and uncle also tried to haul the shingles up to the roof: they each got one up (of 120) and called it quits :) Throughout the day, Orsi and Bob took wheelbarrow loads of shingles to the dumpster. And Bob's uncle went through the roof in two more places. Long story short, when it started raining too hard, that part of the roof was just completely open, and the gap from the lowering the plywood on the center section hadn’t been filled yet. The center section we were less worried about – what’s a little more water damage in the house? The open part we covered with tarps and hoped for the best. If they thought they were tired the day before, they were pretty much dead now. And they had an entire week to go :)

The next day it was still snowing, and it was much too slippery to be up on the roof. We thought this might be good; it should be a lighter work day indoors, so they’d have a chance to recover. The best part (for Bob) was that he had to go on a business trip the whole week – see ya suckers! Apparently, it was not a lighter day. They ripped the remaining tile out of the bathroom, moved the remaining garbage in the garage to the dumpster (Orsi and Bob had done some of that Saturday morning already). They also ripped out the shelving unit in the family room, and ripped finishing nails out of old baseboards we intended to reuse (apparently those are expensive to buy new). All said and done, Monday was harder than Sunday (but maybe that’s partly because Monday came after Sunday).

On Tuesday, they were back on the roof. It was slippery, so they were tethered to avoid falling. They shoveled the roof off, but the center section still leaked a bit. The tarped section, on the other hand, had no problems at all. They put new plywood up over the open section, and they tried to bring up more shingles. Bob's dad and uncle had devised plans involving ladders and ropes, but Orsi’s dad said it wasn’t worth it. Between the three of them, they got four more bundles up, and decided that we needed to hire some help. Orsi had already looked into getting a friend of a friend who had been laid off to help, so she gave him a call. He gave a very good price, and it turns out he had a lot of roofing experience (it’s how he put himself through college). So not only did he carry up the shingles over the next few days, but he shingled half the roof, too. Orsi’s dad said it was the best investment we ever made. By the time Bob got home on Friday night, half the roof was completely finished, and the front center section was cleared and had the paper down and shingle bundles evenly distributed over it. The only part that hasn’t been touched is over the garage, which will need all the plywood replaced as well. But this is lower priority since a leak in the garage is not a big deal.

During the week, Bob's uncle went through the roof in two more places. And Bob's dad introduced himself to the neighbors, telling them he didn’t want them to think he was just a construction worker. Orsi said she didn’t think anyone would make that mistake :)

On Saturday, Bob's dad and uncle decided they couldn’t really work anymore. But we pulled out some bushes with Bob's dad’s SUV. We had to stop when we tried to pull out a small tree and broke the strap (but the tree did come out!).

Over the next week, Orsi's dad managed to pretty much finish the rest of the roof except for the garage (saving that for the fall), and that the toilet and shower/tub will get put in the guest bathroom this week. We’re starting to run out of time to get that house in livable condition (we have to move in less than two weeks). By then we’ll need a working bathroom and kitchen, and a laundry room would be nice (we’ve had the washer and dryer for a couple weeks now). It should be interesting.