The Roof
... the roof, the roof is on fire leaking.
Yes, as sad as it is to admit, we've experienced some issues with our roof.
It all started when we made a list of things we wanted to take care of around the house this summer. We knew from our home inspection a year ago that our gutters, soffits, and fascias needed some work. They weren't connected properly and therefore weren't doing the job they're supposed to do (keep water away from the house), and they were made of wood and not well cared for. So we scheduled a few estimates to gather information which is where things started going south. The first two people we had out came to the same conclusion: we could to all the work we wanted on our gutters, soffits and fascias but a large reason why this part of our house wasn't working properly was actually from our improperly installed roof. total bummer We waited a while and tried to figure out what to do and while we did this, we experienced a few good storms and realized water was actually coming into our house by the sliding door in our dining room. awesome It got to the point where we would just cringe with fear every time rain was in the forecast which is not a great feeling.
So we scheduled a few more estimates. We learned the bottom foot of our roof had no vapor barrier which meant any water hitting this area was going straight through into our soffits which weren't working properly to begin with. We also discovered we had newer plywood in small areas of our roof and much older, damaged plywood in other areas. We looked back in the paperwork from when we bought the house and saw a roof was installed in 2008 but when we contacted the previous owners we learned it wasn't installed by a company and there was no existing warranty. This matches what we learned from the various roofers who came to look at our roof; the only explanation they could come up with for what they were seeing was that someone attempted a DIY repair job on the roof. After several estimates we realized we had two options; we could repair areas of the roof but we wouldn't actually know what this would include until the roofers started their work or we could replace everything. In the end, we decided to replace everything. Not gonna lie, this was not the cheapest option but it was the option that made us feel the most comfortable. Replacing everything took care of two huge issues for us: a) we now know everything we need to know about our roof and have peace of mind that we no longer need to worry about anything and b) when we do sell this home we can provide the next owners with a warranty for the roof therefore giving them peace of mind too.
So, there she be; our new roof. This was definitely not in our plans at all and it does disappoint me that this takes all other house projects off the table for a while. However, nothing good can come from a leaky, improper roof right?
And here's the start of our new non-wood soffits. Believe it or not I actually am super excited about these. Like I said, our previous soffits were wood and looked awful and remained damp for days after rain which never made me feel very good about having them on our house. I never thought I'd love the sight of aluminum so much!
To recap, in 14 days we'll have owned our home for exactly one year and in that year we: gutted the kitchen and replaced the roof. Here's hoping year two is a bit calmer, but I do have to say, we really, really love this house and it certainly feels like our home now.
PS- Friday was Mike's last day of school, welcome summer!
Yes, as sad as it is to admit, we've experienced some issues with our roof.
It all started when we made a list of things we wanted to take care of around the house this summer. We knew from our home inspection a year ago that our gutters, soffits, and fascias needed some work. They weren't connected properly and therefore weren't doing the job they're supposed to do (keep water away from the house), and they were made of wood and not well cared for. So we scheduled a few estimates to gather information which is where things started going south. The first two people we had out came to the same conclusion: we could to all the work we wanted on our gutters, soffits and fascias but a large reason why this part of our house wasn't working properly was actually from our improperly installed roof. total bummer We waited a while and tried to figure out what to do and while we did this, we experienced a few good storms and realized water was actually coming into our house by the sliding door in our dining room. awesome It got to the point where we would just cringe with fear every time rain was in the forecast which is not a great feeling.
So we scheduled a few more estimates. We learned the bottom foot of our roof had no vapor barrier which meant any water hitting this area was going straight through into our soffits which weren't working properly to begin with. We also discovered we had newer plywood in small areas of our roof and much older, damaged plywood in other areas. We looked back in the paperwork from when we bought the house and saw a roof was installed in 2008 but when we contacted the previous owners we learned it wasn't installed by a company and there was no existing warranty. This matches what we learned from the various roofers who came to look at our roof; the only explanation they could come up with for what they were seeing was that someone attempted a DIY repair job on the roof. After several estimates we realized we had two options; we could repair areas of the roof but we wouldn't actually know what this would include until the roofers started their work or we could replace everything. In the end, we decided to replace everything. Not gonna lie, this was not the cheapest option but it was the option that made us feel the most comfortable. Replacing everything took care of two huge issues for us: a) we now know everything we need to know about our roof and have peace of mind that we no longer need to worry about anything and b) when we do sell this home we can provide the next owners with a warranty for the roof therefore giving them peace of mind too.
So, there she be; our new roof. This was definitely not in our plans at all and it does disappoint me that this takes all other house projects off the table for a while. However, nothing good can come from a leaky, improper roof right?
And here's the start of our new non-wood soffits. Believe it or not I actually am super excited about these. Like I said, our previous soffits were wood and looked awful and remained damp for days after rain which never made me feel very good about having them on our house. I never thought I'd love the sight of aluminum so much!
To recap, in 14 days we'll have owned our home for exactly one year and in that year we: gutted the kitchen and replaced the roof. Here's hoping year two is a bit calmer, but I do have to say, we really, really love this house and it certainly feels like our home now.
PS- Friday was Mike's last day of school, welcome summer!
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