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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Blood, Sweat, and Metal Roofs


Huge sigh of relief, Chris and I have installed our first (and last, hopefully) metal roof. It took us four 12-14 hour days, but it is finished! And, I can now tell everyone that I helped put on a roof. We are pretty pleased with the outcome and the pleasure of knowing our roof has a 50 year warranty. For some strange reason, I assumed that you just nailed the metal into place, installed some trim and you are done with it; but no. For every piece that is placed on the roof, there are at least 4 steps before you've finished. I am the proud owner of new roofing vocabulary as well...ask me what an eave, a gable, a roof jack, a shear is; I can speak roof talk with the best of them. I am also physically exhausted. I've never worked so hard in my life. Bragging about one's accomplishments is obnoxiously boring, however, since I write this blog I will take certain liberties. Lifting 17 foot long pieces of metal, holding them steady on a slippery roof (I've never enjoyed being on a roof), getting burned to a crisp because it is HOT on top of the house, etc., these are all the experiences I gladly stumbled my way through. For some unfathomable reason I was gung-ho about helping Chris with this project. I decided not every woman can say she put on a roof with her husband (these are much smarter women than me, because I now know why they would not care to say this). It's good that I offered to help with so much gusto, because had I not been very willing to help, I would have given up the first day. Despite all my bravado, until the very end, I would not get within six inches of the end of the roof. I just knew I would tumble over and be paralyzed for the rest of my life. So, come check out our newly red-roofed house, I'll even give some free roofing advice: hire a roofer.

1 comment:

Galliena Gornet said...

With proper maintenance, it can be the first and the last metal roof that you're going to install. Some say that metal roofs last for a long time if they're taken care of properly. Congratulations on your first, and hopefully the last installation of your metal roof! Those 14 days are definitely going to be worth it.