Leaky Roof

 My body is complaining this morning but it is one of those pains that make you feel good. There has been a leak in Sarah’s bedroom (or Kira’s if you go back far enough) for years and I have been making attempts to patch it for years. We have recently had some rather major rainstorms and since Yuchen keeps complaining about having to sleep with a bucket, I decided to fix it once and for all.

When Lisa realized what I had planned she panicked and promptly had three guys come out and give me quotes for fixing it. Two of them were quite sure the leak was coming from the fireplace but the cheapest quote was $1,350 to fix it. All three of them told me I needed to think about redoing the entire roof. They estimated that to be around $30,000.

The whole area was pretty bad but I fixed up the chimney and hoped for the best. Sure enough, another rainstorm hit and the leak was as strong as ever. I then took a deep breath and climbed into the attic to see where the leak was coming from. The problem is that the leak is in a portion of the attic that is extremely difficult to get to and I hate going up there. Better now in February than in August when it can get well over 120° up there.

I saw where the leak was, bought the supplies I needed to fix it and spent all day yesterday (February 18) on the roof until I was forced down by darkness.

If I don’t count the time spent finding all my tools, running to Home Depot and visiting with Jeff Andrew then I figure I made about $200/h. I lost a Saturday but I’m pretty sure the roof is fixed. I also realized that this work is so easy that I will just wait for another leak and then fix that portion of the roof. Eventually I’ll have replaced the entire roof for a whole lot less than $30,000.