I spoke with a new guy, yesterday. A roofing guy… what letter am I on now? H? Anyhoo, Mr. H_ was a lovely, jolly man with a florid face who patted Butch when approached, openly admired the garden and giddily helped himself to Sungold 100s when invited. I suppose if I had been pressed for time, I might have been annoyed that he wasn’t all business, but after the string of all-business folks I have met I found the small talk about gardens and the appeal of older homes refreshing.
But, I digress. The purpose of this post is to mention that this fellow, Mr. H_, felt that our gutters looked fine and would not need replacing because the roofers could work around them fairly easily. Any extra time it would take to work around them would be less costly than the cost of new gutters. Hurrah! One less contractor I have to accomodate and research! I have a feeling that this roofer will be THE ONE, though I have requested bids from 3 others to be certain. Mr. H_ recommends Mr. I_ (see below) who, previously, recommended Mr. H_. There seems to be so much quid pro quo in the contracting business…
So, yes, I also met with Mr. I_, the day before last. He is a painter and also a remodeler who could potentially serve as a general contractor. I would be so happy to let someone else organize the elaborate dance that will need to happen between strippers and carpenters and painters. The current plan (have I mentioned this already?) is that we will get the roof taken care of this fall and then do the painting and stripping in the spring. There is usually a mysterious week or two in February when the temperature approaches 70° and confuses the flora and pdx populace. My hope is that a general contractor could strike while the iron is hot and coordinate the stripping, etc. during a time that is generally considered to be the off-season for exterior work (read: cheaper). By the way, Mr. I_ recommends Mr. C_ for stripping. 
