0% Doesn't Mean 0%
 

Yes, it's Tuesday evening and my weekend is just now drawing to a close...

I decided to re-roof my house.

I bought all of the materials.

Saturday was to be the tear-off, but bad weather prevented that.

Sunday was the day. I called in every favor owed. I got everyone I could to show up and help with the tear-off. There was a 0% chance of rain Sunday and for the next four days. We started at 7:00 a.m. By 3:00 p.m. we had the roof cleared. Two layers of shingles, roughly 10,000 pounds of material removed from my 2,600 sq. ft. roof. (I find it somewhat funny that I have a 2,600 sq. ft. roof on a 1,600 sq. ft. house. And no, it's not steep, I have a 1,200 sq. ft. garage.) By 8:00 p.m. we had most of the ice dam down and most of the complicated flashing installed.

The roof has six planes and two valleys. There are some complicated areas where the garage was extended on the back of the house. Just as I was about to call it quits for the night--we'd already gone an hour later than I intended--I heard thunder off from the north.

We scrambled, but it still took us two more hours to nail down the tarps. We had most of the roof covered except for an area over the garage. Looking over the tarps yesterday morning, you could tell the areas that were nicely stretched and laid out and the areas where we were scrambling. The thunder and lightning got ominously closer the whole time.

We had skipped dinner and had imbibed large quantities of caffeine to keep moving. My hands were blistered, my back sore. My brand new work gloves had holes worn in them in the same spots as my blisters. I was better off than most of my friends. We all kept going. I learned that night who my real friends, are, and I am forever indebted to them. Everyone went above and beyond what can reasonably be expected of another human.

I nearly had a nervous breakdown. I've never been so on edge in my life. I was about to lose everything I'd worked my whole life for. I started shouldering 80 lb. bundles of shingles to get them on the roof. The wind was quickly exposing any gaps or loose spots in our tarp-work.

At 10:00, almost exactly, the sky let loose. "EVERYONE OFF THE ROOF! NOW!", I screamed, and everyone obliged. The tarps were getting slick as the rain came down in surreal inch-sized drops.

It rained hard for 30 minutes. The rain ran between the gutters and the house as we hadn't gotten any drip-edges installed. Then as suddenly as it began, it stopped. Then the wind came.

I ran around the house for hours checking for leaks. For wet spots. Everything seemed dry.

I went to bed. I barely slept. I caught a few minutes of sleep here an there, but I was on edge all night.

Monday was decision day. Should I file a claim? Was there damage I didn't know about? Everything seemed fine. I went straight to my agent's office. I was was given a list of contractors that could file a claim on my behalf. This way, I could have them check for damage and not file a claim if not necessary.

My wife called all of the contractors we were referred to, plus all in the phone book. Three agreed to come. None found permanent damage. I asked each to provide an estimate on finishing the job. I could get 2-3 of my friends to show up in the evenings the rest of the week, and it seemed to me that it would take three weeks to finish the roof at that pace. We are supposed to get rain all weekend...

With three estimates in hand, two were within $50 of each other, and the third was double the other two. The guy with the bid in the middle could start the next day (today), the other two might be able to start Wednesday. I went with the middle bid.

Having spent a small fortune on materials, I'm finding myself essentially exhausting all of my liquid savings to pay for the completion of this job. I'm going to be broke until my next paycheck. Still, it is worth my sanity. I also couldn't bear to ask my friends to put in the kind of day they did on Sunday again.

The crew showed up this morning at 9:30. By noon, they had papered the whole roof, installed the remaining ice dam, and shingled the largest of the six planes. By 5:00, they had three of the six planes shingled. They are (I am as well) confident that they will finish tomorrow.

I finally had the courage to check the weather tonight. 0% chance of rain tomorrow. 20% Thursday, 40% Wednesday.

I think I will finally be able to sleep tonight.

Oh man, I feel for you Chris.

With the help of friends, I did the largest section of my roof 2 years ago. There is NOTHING as nerve wracking as hearing thunder and seeing dark skies when your roof looks like this:

http://www.jakepalmeristheman.com/up...hed-739174.JPG

It was the first time I had ever done a roof, and I had *really* underestimated the effor needed for tearoff. We got that done the first night, and it was some of the hardest work I have ever done. When I woke up the next morning, I was sore from head to toe... and we STILL had to lay a new roof.

One thing I am really glad we did was to pay an extra few bucks to have a boom truck set the bundles of shingles on the roof. I watched my neighbor run his up a ladder, and it wore him out pretty quick.

I know what you mean about learning who your TRUE friends are!

Anyway, glad you didn't end up with any water damage, that must have been spooky

One nice thing about California, is you can start a roofing job in May and you don't need to finish until October.

Wow. Respect to you and your friends for tackling that job. I'm all about writing a check for that sort of work. Had you done a roof before?Doing it for the first time on your own house seems like a stretch. Who's to say you wouldn't have woken up in a month with water running down your walls? I guess it is not rocket science but doesn't mean you won't make mistakes the first time out.

Checkbooks are great. You can pay for stuff like 'asbestos removal' and 'roofing'.

Once the roof is on, you get to spend part of your next pay check on a pig roast / keg party for all your friends with their family! ;)

George

Great story- and smart move hiring someone to finish it. At least you have the satisfaction of doing part of the roof yourself. I like doing most things myself, but roofing is not one of them.

I had exactly the same experience.

Here where I live the winters are extremely dry, especially aound June/July (southern hemisphere). Two years ago my cousin who lives two blocks away from me took down his roof in winter knowing that he would not have to contend with rain. Ended up having his house completely flooded by unseasonal torrential rain.

A year later I am in a position where my roof needs replacing, so based on the law of averages I recon that there is absolutely no chance that we can have rain in June/July two years in a row, so off comes my roof.

I mean what are the odds right?:rolleyes:

Had to open the house doors to prevent the water from damming up too high in the livingroom by midnight...

i feel for ya. i did 43 squares.....BY MYSELF! that was after i removed 60 feet of tin in 16ft sections, scabbed on rafters to raise the pitch, then put up some 60 sheets of plywood (my brother did help with that, but almost all of that had to be custom cut because the rafters that were up there were not all 24 inch centers. i dont think it rained twice in the year before i did it, it must have rained once a week while i did this.

And to add to the joy, my wife's car needs a new steering rack.

Didn't someone else have a wife that seemed oblivious to potholes?

Jake, I think. He got that Land Cruiser for her, right?

Chris, your man card is now permanent.

It doesn't matter what you do...you can wear a pink tutu next time you go for beers with the guys.

It's irrevocable now. :)

Roof is done. I just wrote a large check.

Glad you got it done. I had a similar experience with my garage roof. I pulled everything off down to the bare rafters, placed new plywood, felt and roll on roofing. It started raining as I was climbing down the ladder. I could see the dark clouds rolling in from the distance as I was finishing up.

For a guy like you 80lbs of shingles on your shoulders probably wasn't a big deal. Heck you could of stacked 3 bundles on a shoulder and climbed the ladder.

Speedy:)

"One thing I am really glad we did was to pay an extra few bucks to have a boom truck set the bundles of shingles on the roof. "

Jake, when you get that tractor, make sure it has a loader.

The wife and I did the north slope of our house last fall and the New Holland got the bundles up to the eave for me. I used to hate lifting them stage by stage up to the roof.

The wifes a trooper. I placed the shingles and trimmed the edges and she went back and forth with the nail gun.

No trouble wearing out gloves on a roof.

Glad to hear you're snug and dry again, Legion

Les

For $100, can anyone guess what leaks?

Anyone?

The roof?

Your wife's rack?

Bathroom vent fan outlet?

But concrete slab removal, you always want to do yourself.

Two leaks, both in the middle of the ceiling on the first floor in different places. The discolored drywall was the hint.

Uh oh, time to get the roofer back out pronto.