Betcha been wondering where I’ve been. What, no one noticed I hadn’t posted anything in the last three weeks? Please say that’s not so!
It’s been a wild ride.
First, there was the horrendous windstorm – we had gusts to 69 mph. I didn’t think much of it until the next morning when I took Cody out and found shingles all over our backyard:
Those couldn’t possibly be our shingles, could they? Surely not.
Then I looked up:
Then, eventually, I walked around to the front of the house:
Yep. The roof the last owner put on in 2013 had been partially blown off by the wind.
First I called our insurance company. The good news was that wind damage is covered; the bad news was that we have a $3,000 deductible. I had agreed to the high deductible to keep the premium down in order to qualify for the mortgage when we bought the house, and then I forgot to change it. *sigh* The insurance adjustor sent a roofing consultant out, and it was determined repair would cost just under $3,500. They would gladly send me a check for $500. We were free to use whatever contractor we wished. Meanwhile, the insurance company’s consultant had tarped that section of the roof that was damaged, which took some of the pressure off when lining up our own contractor.
The prior owner had used a fly-by-night contractor, and even if we could have found him, we were reluctant to use someone who had already done a crappy job.
So, we called the roofing company we had used for our prior house, Wm. C. Rott & Son, and had them come out to assess the damage. Yes, the damaged section could be repaired, but they couldn’t guarantee the rest of the roof wouldn’t fail. Since that coincided with our own opinion, and since we already had doubts about the work that had previously been done and didn’t want to worry about that old roof for the rest of our stay in the house, we decided to just have the whole thing torn off and redone. At the same time, we would have the crumbly old chimney removed – it was no longer of use because the furnace and hot water tank both vent out the back of the house. Repointing, capping off, and re-flashing would cost almost has much as having the darn thing removed. And really, those birds could find somewhere else to build their nest, right?
The additional good news is that my credit union gladly gave me a loan in an amount sufficient to cover the new roof and at the same time pay off two existing debts so as to keep the monthly payments the same. The additional bad news is that I still had to cough up the $2800 work deposit out of my steadily dwindling savings account.
Mother Nature, at least, cooperated. Snow this year has been light, and the weather warmed up sufficiently for the roofing work to be done. As I drove around town, I saw lots of contractors – roofers, window installers, electricians – taking advantage of the break to complete outside work.
We got the call from the scheduler – the work could be started tomorrow. Unfortunately, “tomorrow” was the very day my husband was returning home from the hospital after emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. We would have to wait.
But Mother Nature continued to be kind. A week later, hubby was well enough to tolerate the disruption and felt himself able to go outside occasionally to “supervise” (typical male). I called and asked to be put back on the schedule, thinking it probably would be several weeks. But it was only a matter of a few more days! Apparently we were rescheduled to the top of the list instead of the bottom, like most other companies would do.
Today, the work was completed, and we are very happy. The workers (Steve, Josh and Jeff) left everything clean and removed all debris – they even wiped down a few handprints that had been inadvertently left on the white siding, and when a scratch was discovered on the brown gutter, Steve got some paint from his truck and touched up that minor defect. I would recommend Wm. C. Rott & Son to anyone who’s looking for roofing work in the Western New York area. We’ve used them twice, and would definitely use them again.
Some additional good news: I got my very first order for a print of one of my photographs. Guess that makes me a “real” photographer after all!
May your home be solid and your weekend worry-free. Personally, I intend to just sit back and play videogames.
“Snowy Path Into Dark Woods”
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I love to hear from my readers. You may comment on this post, comment on my Facebook or Twitter pages, or email me at cordeliasmom2012@yahoo.com
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Images by Cordelia’s Mom/TeddyRosalie Studio, except as noted
Cordelia's Mom, Still 
Isn’t it fun owning your own home? It’s like having a bottomless pit to dump all your money in, and more.
It was easier in the old days when I could reroof or do literally anything that needed doing. Now …
Well I am SO glad we sold that rental. That leaves me only two bottomless pits to dump money into.
I can’t tell from the pictures exactly what was done wrong, but looking at how and where the damage is it could not have been done right. But you already figured that out.
Hey, maybe you’ll sell a lot more prints and pay for the reroofing!
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We knew going in we’d need certain repairs/improvements because we bought an old house from an estate. At that time, we were comforted by the fact that the furnace, hot water tank and roof were all fairly new. Unfortunately, the prior owner cheaped out on everything, and every one of those items has had to be replaced, along with the improvements we had already budgeted for.
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Great you got the roof fixed. The winds we have here make us twitchy and when we had the boiler replaced, our fitter discovered a damaged roof tile, went to see his mate in the builder’s yard and came back with a replacement. Good workmen are hard to come by and if we have a good job for a fair price, we pass it on. Result is our neighbour one side has a new boiler and reliable plumber, and the neighbour the other side had a repair job done on their boiler and roof by the same guy.
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Our new roof is guaranteed for sustained winds up to Hurricane 1 force, and our experience with this particular roofer leads us to believe they will honor that warranty as they have in the past. As you say, once you have a good contractor, stick with that company and refer it to people you know. Sometimes it’s worth paying a wee bit more to get quality you can depend on so you can sleep better at night.
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Exactly. We don’t mind paying that little bit extra for quality and reliability. Our neighbour’s boiler packed up when we were abut to go away to sort Dick out. It was cold weather and she had no hot water or heating. Rather than keep her waiting until he could do it on a weekday, he ordered the boiler and did her job over the weekend. He doesn’t work weekends, and he didn’t charge her the earth.
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Sorry to hear about the damage, CM. Hopefully, this job was well done and you don’t have to worry about a roof for a good long time.
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We use top-of-the-line contractors, Dan, so hopefully all is well now.
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We just replaced a toilet that was supported by NOTHING. No joists, no underpinnings except a 1/2″ board and a slab of linoleum. Both of our upstairs bathrooms were without support. if the bowl hadn’t cracked, we’d never have known and soon enough, one of us would have taken a long drop to the basement through the floor. Our builder did SUCH a crappy job, it’s indescribable. I could go on and on, but so could you. That’s why we’ve been busy and it ain’t over yet. I think it will NEVER be over.
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omg, I have enough bathroom problems without worrying about falling through the floor! I can’t even imagine someone doing that crappy (pardon the pun) a job.
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Oh my, always something! Good to see you
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Thank you. At least the break was a short one.
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Eek! At least you know this is a good roof over your head now. Done right and all.
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Yes, that’s a comfort. It’s also a comfort knowing that now we have pretty much done every mechanical/structural upgrade that anyone would ever need to do for a house.
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I surely did miss you, CM. I’m glad this adventure ended up with two happy endings. Hubby well from his appendix op and house all better with a new roof!
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Thank, Mark. We’re looking forward to getting back to normal.
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I was wondering if everything was ok… You were indeed missed CM
So glad hubby and the roof are now both in better condition!!
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Thank you. I wondered if anyone would even notice the lag in posts. Glad that you did.
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I noticed your absence, glad you are back 💜
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Thanks, Willow. It wasn’t a long break, but I’m comforted that people noticed.
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I certainly did and it was all I could do to stop Vlad heading over to check you and Cody out 💜
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Vlad is welcome here any time.
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He seems to know that 😁😁😁
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First of all I am SO happy for you about your very first photograph being sold. How glorious!! You go, CM!!! As for the winds …. our way we had a huge electrical surge that blew up part of our circuit board and killed our neighbor’s refrigerator. We saw electrical trucks all over the place. Transformers down from us also blew. The noise was so loud accompanied by a clap of thunder directly overhead (we think the school across the street got hit by lightning) that Rusty who had been sleeping on the bed, poor baby, jumped out of skin. He shot straight up into the air and in midair pooped. Looking back it was funny. Then it was not. He was terrified and from the shock became almost instantly ill. I’m glad that wind storm is history. That was awful!!
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I guess I’d rather have the roof blow off than a transformer explode. Ugh. Cody didn’t enjoy the two days of roofing work, but it’s done now. I’m glad for that considering today’s ice.
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