Tear the Metal Down

I had to enjoy several years of putting it off until tomorrow, joyously spend many nights of lost sleep anquishing about problems that might or might not happen, and wasting months on end generally screwing the pooch before I buckled down the other day and  grudgingly began to open my roof and deal with whatever demons I just knew were lurking under the sub roof and in the framing of the house my family has called Home for over 45 years.  Visions of rotten rafters, spongy joists and algae encrusted insulation floated through my mind.  Bee hives, bird nests, and mouse hotels were all considered as not something I might find when I ripped the metal roof off, they were a sure thing.  Several winters spent with a 5 gallon bucket under a certain spot to catch the occasional, sometimes more than occasional drip that would find it's way in from the frozen cold if I wasn't quick to remove any snow fall over six inches or so.

Well you see I figured it was a damn sight easier to put a bucket under the leak than rip the roof off for a little snow.  It was only one leak after all.  Half the year the bucket stayed in the garage.  A seasonal adjustment to exterior conditions that only necessitated the proper placement of a moisture receptacle seemed a more efficient use of my highly honed Life skill sets.  Time wasted fixing my roof  would only eat into my time busily considering more important and crucial matters like contemplating my naval, opening emails, blogging, watching the Pats,...........Jeez there were so many things more important than replacing my roof.  I told myself as soon as a second leak cropped up, I would jump on it, get right to it, not waste any time and fix it ASAP.

If I was single, this plan might have worked........... at least for a few more years anyway. 

So, a few days ago, Bike Shop Jim and I tore into my roof.  Both of us have more than a casual knowledge of  home construction, home destruction, home re-construction.  Jim made money during the boom years building houses and I made less doing the same thing.  But both of us got out of the building business for a reason.  Ripping into my roof reminded us why.

I didn't use to mind roof work when I was younger, number, and dumber.  Bike Shop Jim, well he claims he'd rather paint than climb up on a roof.  Not the height he says, although he is no fan of being up high.  It's the humping shingles, standing for hours on a downhill surface that can be slippery and  will dump you in a heartbeat if you numb it at the wrong time.  He has learned to hate any chore relating to roofing.  I had to agree.  I guess he's right.  Roof work does indeed suck.  But so does a stick in the eye.

And the battle begins.....................................