The Truth About the Roof
So as I mentioned, I had the roofer come out on Wednesday to give me an estimate for two different things.
The primary problem was that there was the eave at the front of my garage that was showing signs of water damage. This wasn't part of the actual garage roof, but still I figured I'd better get it fixed.
John from Meder Roofing came out, and said "the eave looks like it might fall off one day, and there's going to be water damage everywhere because I can see the leak standing here on the ground." Sure enough, when he got on a ladder he put one hand on the eave... and it rocked.
My options were either "tear it down and rebuild it" or "tear it down." Since the eave in question was strictly aesthetic, and the latter option being cheaper, I went with that. They came out and took the eave off today. As they expected, they found bare brick beneath it, but unexpectedly that brick was not properly mortared, so it's been capped off with a metal piece and sealed up. The only real wrinkle is that my driveway light was mounted on the eave, so I have to get my electrician out to remount the light. I have a very good electrician (he did all my minor electrical work at one go last November) so I don't expect that to be a problem.
The secondary problem was to get my main roof inspected. From the ground, there were a few points that looked problematic in terms of loose shingles. I also had no idea how old my roof was beyond "the previous owners did it." When John patched my porch in 2012 he had guesstimated my roof at being 12-15 years old, but that was based on a casual inspection since I didn't have any problems with the main roof at that time.
This time he got up on the roof. Based on a closer look at the condition of the roof, and because the singles are apparently a type that has since been recalled (great, right?), he thinks that the roof is probably about 15-16 years old and should have 4-5 more years left before it needs to be replaced. He used the shingles from the now removed eaves to patch up the couple of spots that needed it, and said that absent any problems, I'll probably need to call him in five years to get it replaced. So that's something, anyway.
The primary problem was that there was the eave at the front of my garage that was showing signs of water damage. This wasn't part of the actual garage roof, but still I figured I'd better get it fixed.
John from Meder Roofing came out, and said "the eave looks like it might fall off one day, and there's going to be water damage everywhere because I can see the leak standing here on the ground." Sure enough, when he got on a ladder he put one hand on the eave... and it rocked.
My options were either "tear it down and rebuild it" or "tear it down." Since the eave in question was strictly aesthetic, and the latter option being cheaper, I went with that. They came out and took the eave off today. As they expected, they found bare brick beneath it, but unexpectedly that brick was not properly mortared, so it's been capped off with a metal piece and sealed up. The only real wrinkle is that my driveway light was mounted on the eave, so I have to get my electrician out to remount the light. I have a very good electrician (he did all my minor electrical work at one go last November) so I don't expect that to be a problem.
The secondary problem was to get my main roof inspected. From the ground, there were a few points that looked problematic in terms of loose shingles. I also had no idea how old my roof was beyond "the previous owners did it." When John patched my porch in 2012 he had guesstimated my roof at being 12-15 years old, but that was based on a casual inspection since I didn't have any problems with the main roof at that time.
This time he got up on the roof. Based on a closer look at the condition of the roof, and because the singles are apparently a type that has since been recalled (great, right?), he thinks that the roof is probably about 15-16 years old and should have 4-5 more years left before it needs to be replaced. He used the shingles from the now removed eaves to patch up the couple of spots that needed it, and said that absent any problems, I'll probably need to call him in five years to get it replaced. So that's something, anyway.