Cosmic Kitty

Damn. As I write this, our roof is being removed by the shovelful. The raining debris and house-shaking noise evokes the excitement/terror of a natural disaster — I don’t know whether to weep or yell, yee-haw! (I’m inclined toward the latter.) The crew seems to be a conscientious bunch. They thoughfully moved items they knew would be in the way (a task that was our responsibility), though the hedge which flanks our house has been dinged by falling debris (that debris is now being redirected). It turns out that we have 4 layers on our roof. 4. That means that the weight of the debris is 30% more than anticipated. No small thing. Oh, and by the way:

Re-Roofing – FHA will accept a maximum of 3 layers of existing roofing. If more than 2 layers exist and repair is necessary, then all old roofing must be removed as part of the re-roofing. (4905.1 REV-1, 2-12)

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/ref/sfhp1-24.cfm

I’m sure more house secrets will be revealed as the work progresses.

I made this little quicktime movie of some of the debris falling action. I apologize that, without thinking, I shot it at a 90 degree angle and I don’t think one can rotate movie clips (at least not in my software). Ah, well — it just adds to the the tension.

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Mr. Slakethirst and I met with a color consultant on Wednesday and picked a new roof color for the house. It sounds much less exciting than it is. We chose “Heather Blend” — a subtly shaded, warm-hued shingle, predominantly golden but with flecks of cool green. Exterior paint color consulting won’t happen until next spring. By that time, the new roof will be installed and the weather will hopefully be good enough to practically consider painting. I’m a little sad that the fun part — the paint choosing part — has been put off for a few months but oh, well.

I have had one minor issue with the roofing company, so far. Our house color consultant required shingle samples so we could look at the different color choices in our particular exterior environment. When I requested samples from the roofers, I got the sense that my request was highly unusual, above and beyond. Not only would they not supply samples, but they didn’t even suggest that such a thing was a possibility. I was told again about their display out in Gresham, which I had already seen — it was helpful at the time, but their open parking lot did not exactly mimic the more sylvan setting of our house. I called Mary McMurray, the color consultant, in a panic and she suggested some roofing supply places that I could check out. I did some running around and gathered shingle swatches from a couple places and found that there are whole sample boards put together by the roofing company for precisely this purpose — ABC Supply happily handed over numerous sample boards (even though they were running low) and Dealers Supply handed over whole shingles as if it was the most usual thing in the world. Needless to say, I’m a little annoyed by our roofers. I completely intend on telling them that this is a need they need to accommodate in some way, but I’ll save that for the end-of-project evaluation. Maybe their usual customers don’t request this? Hm hm hm.

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So, we did it. We finally decided on a roofer: Robert’s Roofing — “Gresham’s Finest!” I can’t keep track of all the initials I devised for the many contractors I have met, so screw it – I’m now naming names. We are slated to have our roof completely removed and rebuilt on October 21st, I’ll report on that when the time comes. As for why I chose Robert — “ he seemed the most eager for my business; the most upfront about his insurance and whatnot; he was reasonably priced (without being suspiciously cheap); he included gutters in his bid; and he had one of his employees chauffeur me out to the Gresham showroom when I said I didn’t have a car. All in all, he seems to really care about customer service and he promises to be the best balance of quality and economy. I have high hopes but am, frankly, afraid to be too optimistic. I have heard too many contracting horror stories. Happily, for what it’s worth, they have only good reports on Angie’s List.

But now that that is over with, Mr. Slakethirst and I can indulge in some fun stuff. A decision about roof color is imminent, so we have scheduled an appointment with Mary McMurray, a color consultant. We want to coordinate our roof and the new exterior paint (which probably won’t be applied until late spring, but we can dream). I can’t wait to see an artist’s rendering of our house in new snazzy colors.

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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.

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I fear that I have become a really boring conversationalist as of late due to my being so fully immersed in this topic. This will be of little/no interest to many folks – but if you are faced with painting you might glean something of use. If nothing else, this seems a good way to keep track of the project. Actual names have been omitted, but recommendations can be solicited from me.

The story so far:
Summer 2005 — The paint is falling off of our house in chunks. The gutters are sagging horribly because the wood to which they are attached is probably rotten. Mr. Guy and I reasonably suppose that we need to have the house repainted. We figure that when we have the house repainted we will have the gutters fixed simultaneously, some rotten window sills replaced and all will be dandy.

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