We're Covered

Not long ago, my husband and I were told that it was time to replace our roof. We aren't sure how old it was, but the advice came from people who know what they're talking about, so we decided we'd better listen to it.

My husband then took on the job of having various roofers come and give estimates. That went pretty well, but then came the hard part: we had to pick one.

This whole process was made scarier by the fact that there was a lot riding on it. The roof of your house is a pretty important thing and you don't want to find out in a rainstorm that you made a bad choice! So we were a little overwhelmed by trying to make a decision. We counted ourselves lucky that the roofers we'd seen all seemed like they knew what they were doing, but it also made the decision harder. We stayed up late into the night discussing it. In the end, it all came down to the details of the estimate and who would be supervising the work.

We were told it would be several weeks before they got to us, but this past Monday they called to say they had a cancellation and we were next! Suddenly we found a big green Dumpster parked in front of our house and then we had a group of roofers ascend onto our house.

The very first day, they discovered an electrical problem, which could easily have caused a house fire if they hadn't found it, so we were lucky there. After that, things seemed to progress normally, although I had to get used to scenes like this in our yard:

The forecasters had called for clear, sunny weather all week, so we felt lucky about that. However, at about 6:20 a.m. on the third day, a sudden thunderstorm blew in ... and our roof had no shingles on it! Just as my sleepy brain realized the enormity of the problem, the roofers appeared and rushed to cover the roof. They finished just in time because we had a torrential downpour! There were a few minor leaks but it could have been much worse.

They were able to finish the roof that same day and now the process is complete! I'm a little surprised when I look out and our yard isn't covered with old shingles, but the roofers did a great job of cleaning up. We've found a few nails and pieces of shingle, but nothing big.

So we have a new roof. We're both very glad that's over. We'll see what happens the next time it rains (not in the forecast for a week), but we're reasonably confident all will be well.

Cross off one more item from the list of Things to Do for the House. I think that only leaves about two hundred or so items!