We spent the weekend helping David put a new roof on his garage. Dave bought a 1920's era house a year ago which is need of renovations. The garage roof has been leaking for some time, so he decided to tackle this job first.
Saturday was a rainy day, perfect for shopping for roofing materials since we couldn't get any work done around here anyway. Carl and Dave worked up a list of what supplies they would need and we purchased everything and left the trailer load at Dave's house.
Though getting an early morning start would be ideal, my mother needs her medication every morning around 9AM. We decided to eat an early dinner on Sunday morning and then head into town. By noon we were up on Dave's roof removing the old, warped shingles.
I climbed the ladder and carefully assessed the roof pitch and my current state of balance; it's always comically painful how I have to figure out what foot to put where before I can commit to actually getting off or on a ladder. Back in the day I never had to give it that much thought, alas, my age is catching up to me.
I've helped with roofing jobs all my life, starting at the age of ten with my father and our old machine shed; my parent's garage in my teens; then construction of our garage when we were married in my twenties; my father's shed in my thirties; new shingles on our house and garage and my mother's house in my forties; and helping a neighbor with a garage in my early fifties.
The weird thing about being up on a roof is getting used to the pitch and the height. Luckily, Dave's garage has a nice, easy slant to it; I only slid down the roof on some loose gravel from the old shingles once but caught myself in plenty of time. Our house roof here is downright nasty, once you start sliding, you're a goner.
After today I can tell my roof climbing is more uncertain now; we will definitely need scaffolding the next time we put a new roof on. (I'll be in my sixties then.)
Dave bought a shovel with teeth on it for removing the old shingles. Carl and Dave worked out a system for tearing them off working together, Dave pried and Carl rolled them up and tossed them off.
While they were making huge strides, I worked on the roof cap with a wrecking bar,
prying up the old shingles and tar paper a little slower. Once they had
all the shingles off, I worked on pulling all the leftover nails out of
the roof while they were working on applying new tar paper.
There, one side all stripped of the old shingles, waiting to be swept clean.
Side Two, here we come:
In two hours we were ready to start applying tar paper.
Dave, up on the roof.
I must say he has a really nice, sturdy ladder; it wasn't shaky at all.
Dave decided to use tin instead of shingles and I think he made a good choice. Tin is much better than it used to be and will add some strength to the construction, too.
We made pretty good time with the roof, but the days are getting shorter. I don't know how many times Dave went up and down the ladder today. I do know we'll all be feeling muscles we forgot we owned in the morning.
Out of focus because it was getting dark, but one side is done, now working on the other half.
We finished up with the tar paper application in the dark with me holding a light on a cord trying not to blind the menfolk. I'm glad there's no video of me trying to figure out how to get down from the roof in the dark; talk about uncertainty. The garage isn't very high, but as we all know from past history with me, I don't bounce very well.
After putting all the tools away, we tossed some frozen pizza in the oven and sat down and enjoyed a root beer. Then it was time to get a big hug from David and head home to give Mom her nighttime medications.
Carl's in bed already, and I should be, too. He never fails to amaze me with his knowledge of everything from A to Z, though he is often stressed out making decisions. I just heard him talking in his sleep; he's probably already back on the roof in his dreams. He was really tired today, even he had to admit our age is catching up to us.
All in all, we had a very productive day. I have always liked 'man-jobs' such as roofing, construction, concrete pouring, etc. because those type of jobs stay done for much longer than washing dishes, scrubbing floors and dusting. The work is hard, but the results are usually good for a few decades.
Can't say that about housework, now can I?
Saturday was a rainy day, perfect for shopping for roofing materials since we couldn't get any work done around here anyway. Carl and Dave worked up a list of what supplies they would need and we purchased everything and left the trailer load at Dave's house.
Though getting an early morning start would be ideal, my mother needs her medication every morning around 9AM. We decided to eat an early dinner on Sunday morning and then head into town. By noon we were up on Dave's roof removing the old, warped shingles.
I climbed the ladder and carefully assessed the roof pitch and my current state of balance; it's always comically painful how I have to figure out what foot to put where before I can commit to actually getting off or on a ladder. Back in the day I never had to give it that much thought, alas, my age is catching up to me.
I've helped with roofing jobs all my life, starting at the age of ten with my father and our old machine shed; my parent's garage in my teens; then construction of our garage when we were married in my twenties; my father's shed in my thirties; new shingles on our house and garage and my mother's house in my forties; and helping a neighbor with a garage in my early fifties.
The weird thing about being up on a roof is getting used to the pitch and the height. Luckily, Dave's garage has a nice, easy slant to it; I only slid down the roof on some loose gravel from the old shingles once but caught myself in plenty of time. Our house roof here is downright nasty, once you start sliding, you're a goner.
After today I can tell my roof climbing is more uncertain now; we will definitely need scaffolding the next time we put a new roof on. (I'll be in my sixties then.)
Dave bought a shovel with teeth on it for removing the old shingles. Carl and Dave worked out a system for tearing them off working together, Dave pried and Carl rolled them up and tossed them off.
Side Two, here we come:
After putting all the tools away, we tossed some frozen pizza in the oven and sat down and enjoyed a root beer. Then it was time to get a big hug from David and head home to give Mom her nighttime medications.
Carl's in bed already, and I should be, too. He never fails to amaze me with his knowledge of everything from A to Z, though he is often stressed out making decisions. I just heard him talking in his sleep; he's probably already back on the roof in his dreams. He was really tired today, even he had to admit our age is catching up to us.
All in all, we had a very productive day. I have always liked 'man-jobs' such as roofing, construction, concrete pouring, etc. because those type of jobs stay done for much longer than washing dishes, scrubbing floors and dusting. The work is hard, but the results are usually good for a few decades.
Can't say that about housework, now can I?
5 comments:
I really enjoyed this post! I am scared poopless with being on a roof. Taking that first step off the ladder onto the roof FREAKS me out. I've cried when on the ladder procrastinating in taking that first step, while DH gently kept telling me I could do it. On the workshop roof and on the big shed's roof out back and I think on the house too.
I always loved helping him with whatever project he was working on, we were a team, the roof jobs were the pits though. Even taking that first step off the roof coming back down was bad, but not as bad as the first step onto the roof. :-)
In our minds we think we can still do things, but our bodies tell us differently.
May you all safely get this job finished. Those shingles look great.
Have a wonderful week dear Karen. Love and hugs to you and Carl - FlowerLady
What a work out but, so satisfying when job is done! It has turn Fall here with a few rain showers. I'm glad my roof doesn't leak since it is only 2 years old. I hired it done, no roof hiking for me! Enjoy your week!!
Hello Dear Rainey, I think of you daily as Carl and I work on projects big and small. I know you and Mark were an unstoppable team. Carl always says the same thing whenever I'm doubtful about getting a big project done, "Don't worry, we're a team, we'll work together." We arrived home late tonight, the roof is almost done. :-) But I agree, the first step off and onto the ladder are the worst, getting your body to figure out the balance and slant angles, phew!
June, good to hear from you! With a two year old roof, you will have no worries, bring on the rain, you have nothing to fear. :-)
We have remodeled several houses over the years and we ended up pretty good at removing and replacing an old roof. The worst part is taking off the old one, our current home had up to seven layers in some places! Now, just the thought of climbing up on a roof, let alone all the work, makes me tired. I guess I am getting old too.
Post a Comment