August 13, 2005

• Roof Done

  Not
  quite three years ago, as winter was closing in, Doug and I finished
  our previous roofing job.  For a couple of years before that we
  had tried doing it the way Mark, our predecessor here, had done it,
  using roof sealer to plug the holes.  It hadn’t done much good, so
  we covered the whole roof with green plastic tarps.

  We
  had procrastinated, and we paid for it by having to work in chill, wet
  weather.  From start to finish, the job took more than a
  month.  I documented it all in about six installments here in
  September, 2002.  By the time the last tarp was laid at the far
  end and the new stovepipe was installed, dead leaves covered the first
  tarps we’d laid.

  The tarps did their job through two winters.  We probably should have
  replaced them last year.  Last winter whenever the weather warmed up
  enough for the ice up there to melt, we had drips in here.  When spring
  came, it was more like waterfalls than drips.  The wet spring we had
  this year convinced us that we had to bite the bullet and do it again.

  One
  day around the first of June, Doug and I went up to survey the damage
  and get started on fixing it.  We were without a computer and knew
  that the insurance claim and comp repair would take a while. 
  Thinking that it would be a good time to work up there without
  distractions,  I said I wanted the roof done by the end of June.

  We had already had the tarps for a few months, since before the snow
  had melted.  The Anchorage Daily News had added a new Mat-Su
  section once a week, covering news in our valley, and inaugurated it
  with a promotional contest.  To enter, you had to look through the
  section and find the picture of the cartoon bear, then send in your
  entry with the page number, or something like that.  I’m not sure
  exactly how it worked. 

  Greyfox entered and won a $100 gift card from Builder’s Bargains, a
  closeout warehouse place with lots of space and a very narrow selection
  of merchandise.  We got their last 3 large (16′ X 20′) tarps for the
  roof, a smaller one for the woodpile, and two more little ones for
  Greyfox, plus enough nails and bungees to add up to $99.97.  Greyfox
  expressed some surprise that I had kept the running tally in my head
  and had come out so close.  Silly man.

  Doug wasn’t in a working mood.  He was clowning, and offered to
  pose for the camera, doing his, “best Vanna White,” to demonstrate the
  degree of damage done by the snowshovel through three winters.  We
  unfolded one of the tarps and ascertained that it was indeed the full
  dimensions it claimed to be and would cover our roof.  We started
  untying the ropes holding down the edges of the old tarps to reuse
  them.  We didn’t get any farther than that on that day. 
  While Doug was on the ground untying the bottom ends of the ropes, he
  was mobbed by mosquitoes.  We decided to wait for a less buggy day.

  Such a day didn’t come before we got our new computer online.  My
  plan to be done by the end of June was deferred by more wet weather,
  new mosquito hatches, and by Doug’s and my sleep schedules being out of
  phase.  When he sleeps all day, it is convenient for me in that it
  gives me more uncontested time on the computer.  It is not,
  however, conducive to our getting any work done that requires both of
  our efforts.   I was watching time pass and thinking about
  the last time, working in the cold rain and fearing the first snowfall.

  Finally,
  late in July we had a perfect day when it was comfortably cool, and
  cloudy so there was no danger of sunburn.  There was enough breeze
  to discourage mosquitoes but it wasn’t so windy that the tarps would
  blow away and take us with them.  Two such days close together got
  the first two tarps laid and tied down.

  Those days went so easy. 
  Our previous experience had taught us what not to do, and having only
  three big tarps this time instead of five smaller ones simplified the
  job.  I found a more efficient way to measure and cut the holes
  for vents and stovepipe.  The tarps overlapped instead of having
  their edges laced together.  That not only took a lot less time,
  but used much less of the nauseous black goo we used for sealer. 
  There was enough left in the bottom of the bucket from last time to do
  the whole job.

  Hey,
  check out my “new” shoes here.  This ties in with my mongo blog
  from earlier this week.  They had been discarded.  Greyfox
  salvaged them.  The first time I put them on, I noticed that the
  laces were different.  Then I looked more closely and saw that the
  shoes were different.  One is a Reebok and the other is a Nike
  Air.  They’re two of the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn,
  even if they’re not a pair.

  Once Doug got used to the idea that the job had to be done and realized
  that it would be both shorter and easier this time than last time, he
  got serious and was a lot of help.  But after those first two
  tarps went up other things intervened and it was a couple of weeks
  before we got any more work done.

  This
  Thursday, we cleaned the stovepipe.  Neither of us was feeling
  well enough to go ahead and lay that last tarp in the heat. 
  Yesterday, we did it.   Yesterday set records for high
  temperatures in this part of Alaska.  The sun felt as if it was
  taking my skin off,  and we both took frequent breaks to
  rehydrate.  Still, it was better than waiting until snow
  threatened and the autumn rains set in.  It’s done.

   

  • 10:04 pm
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