Maintenance

Not my house, but not all that far off ...

Our roof, of cedar-shakes, was, like most everything outside here now, covered with a thick, furry green coat of moss. Plus the gutters were full, and some of the shakes had mostly rotted away. No leaks yet, but the roof is what they call a fifteen-year roof, and it's been more than twenty years since we had it installed, so we broke down and had a guy come to work on it. 


Eventually, we need to go to composite shingles, which will outlast us, but that requires ripping the shakes off, installing plywood, and then shingling over that, and for a house the size of ours, is half again spendier than replacing the shakes, which isn't cheap, either. Somewhere between twelve and fifteen grand. 


So, if we can patch the current top and get a few more years out of it, which the roof guy guarantees, and for a few hundred dollars, it's a deal.


Which we elected to do. But it was a wet, dirty, and noisy two-day process. DID I MENTION THAT IT WAS NOISY!?


This was because the compressor that ran the big water tank and pump and all was just outside my office. And also because two guys were power-washing, then tromping around on the roof in spikes, ripping out old shakes and nailing in new ones.


The dogs were real skittish. Me, too. 


When there is a high-decibel roar coming through the walls, it's harder to tune out than you expect, especially when you can feel it vibrating your chair ...


Um. Anyway, it's done. We can mop up the muddy dog footprints again and sleep better knowing the rain won't start dripping on our heads for a while.


It's always something.