Saturday, April 28, 2007

A (New) Roof Over Our Heads

Last Saturday we had our 23-year-old roof replaced. Some shingles had gotten slap-happy up there, others were ready to fly the coop, but most were just beaten down by the cares of life.

I can't say how relieved I was that Paul agreed to let professionals handle this job. Words can't describe the terror that grips me whenever he has been up there to clean out the gutters every fall. I mean autumn. I hate to use the word "fall" in this context. (Not to be dramatic, but my hands are shaking even as I type this.)

My typical response to his being on the roof is indescribable panic, manifested by a bossy but shaky voice, sweaty hands, a racing heart, and an irrational belief that if he really loved me, he would not get on the roof. I don't care what it costs, I don't care if other neighbors clean out their gutters themselves, you don't have anything to prove, I'd say. I will love you even if you break your neck, but I will never let you forget I told you so, and do you really want to live with that the rest of your life?

Since 1999 (when we moved here) Paul has been blocking his ears to my desperate pleas. But Mr, Rational, Mr. DIY, Mr. Get a Grip, finally relented this year.

We found an excellent roofing company, Lemus Roofing, recommended by Brian Y, whose advice we highly respect in the home improvement department. Jose Lemus and his team of about 7 or 8 guys showed up promptly at 8 and were completely finished and cleaned up by 4:30. I was so impressed. Twice I took chilled water out to them and asked, "Agua?" and they said, "Gracias." That's the extent of my Spanish, I'm afraid. Imagine if I were bilingual, I'd probably have been telling them to be careful, stay away from the edge, watch yourself on that ladder, yada-o-,yada-o.

They didn't use scaffolding, which scared me and surprised me. But I must give God the glory for calming my fears. When the hammering started, I said, "Paul, I'm outta here. I can't take this. My nerves are gonna be shot by 10. Give me a long to-do list, and everywhere you want me to go, I'll go." He told me there was plenty to do around here, he'd prefer I stick by. (Not what I wanted to hear, so I had to go to God and say, "Okay, I need to stay here. Help me. Help me not be afraid."

And I was amazed. I really didn't have any more panic. I closed the shades so there'd be no peeping Pablos. (Then I decided just to use the kids' bathroom which has no windows at all.)

Here are some shots during and after this not-so-harrowing-after-all project. We are rehabbing the whole exterior this year because it's in such bad shape. Siding has green growth on it, lots of dents, and the aluminum has faded to a dull beige. Downspouts are more like "down and outs"! Only half the windows work, so we get few cross-breezes. And before the new siding goes up, we're restaining the deck. Paul and the boys took turns pressure-washing/stripping it today. It's a 2-day, 3-man job that's now half-finished. We also hired real arborists, Manor Tree Service, owned and operated by Mike Connell and his son Alan, one of Ben's good buddies. Pictures below show Mike and Allan in action. That's why there's a woodpile on the lawn. They took down 4 trees that had outgrown their space and just become green shrouds for the house. If you click on any picture, you'll enlarge it. So the new roof color does show up, but so does the scariness of those amigos gettin' mighty close to the brink of ....well, at least an ER visit. More home improvement pictures coming!)








































10 comments:

Joe said...

"Home Improvement" was one of my all-time favorite TV shows.

This was even better.

Sacha said...

Looks great Zo! You kill be btw! I LOVE running around on the roof. It is really brilliant up there! I'm guessing heights really aren't your thing?! Ha ha! Love you!
47 days!

Leanne said...

Your post is timely - we recently discovered a roof leak in our sunroom that (I figure) we should get looked at sooner rather than later. Do you have contact info for your people?

Looks great, by the way!

Anonymous said...

Lemus and crew did the back of our roof too. The day Josh called Jose for an estimate, he got the low bid and materials were sitting on the roof! The next day it was done! It was 22 degrees outside at the time.

Zoanna said...

Joe, I loved Home Improvement, too. But I am no Jill, laughing at the buffoon DIY guy. I get seriously cranky whenever he pulls a rooftop number.

Leanne, I can get the number for you or just look up Lemus Roofing. He lives in the Laurel area.

Danielle, I think he was needing the business but still he was #13000 (yes 13 thousand) cheaper than the first bid we had.

Sacha, funny thing about heights, I love airplanes. LOVE the thrill of take-off, of being 30K miles up in the sky, love that feeling of knowing that I have absoolutely no control and that if the plane crashed, it woudl mean sudden death most likely. Roofs, however, somehow make me think I'm in control of life by staying off them and trying to forbid all loved ones from being on them, too. ANd that if they fell off when they could have hired someone (someone I don't love by nature) I would always have to swallow the "I told you so".

47 days? You're counting already? I am eager, but we're still 1300 dollars short of our goal, so I have not rested from fundraising long enough to look at the calendar. Trying to come up w/ grad plans for Sarah, too, and homecoming party for Trip (my soldier BIL(,

Anonymous said...

so, 7 Mexican men scare you more than say, 7 White Men at your bathroom window? HA! I know the answer to that and I know you aren't racist, but the way you used it...well, you may want to change the verbage. Someone who doesn't know you may think you have something against Mexican men, and we know that you don't :-)

Zoanna said...

Beth, you're so right. I didn't think about that, probably cuz I have nothing against Mexican men. It'd be disconcerting to have ANY men (or anyONE, for that matter) so close at shower time. I was only slightly more intimidated cuz I don't understand Spanish which heightened my fear of their being on my roof.
I'll go back and change the wording. Thanks for your sensitivity.

Briana Almengor said...

Those hispanics are sneaky..ya gotta watch out for them. :)
I should know since I'm married to one!!! :)

Hey, would you let me know how that sewing machine works out?!
thanks.

Zoanna said...

Bri, I am going to put it in the Pennysaver for next week (I have an ad in for this week for a stroller which I hope sells). If the sewing machine doesn't sell that way, I'll put it on the yard sale our community's having May 12th. Let me know what you want with it in case it doesn't sell, okay? Thanks again for offering it!

Anonymous said...

Just so you know, I was trying to be comical while at the same time letting you know how it read in the blog. We know that you have nothing against the Meh-hee-cahn-o's.