Monday, October 11, 2010

Roof Repair

We live in an old historic home from the 1850's which sits on a lot of beautiful pristine land.  We bought the property for the land, certainly not for the old tired house.  The house still needs a lot of work to be done to bring it up to my standards (i.e., no leaks when it rains, insulated interior walls that don't freeze in winter, AC and heat throughout house, grounded 3 prong electric plugs in house, floors without weak spots, etc, etc.)  This work is going much slower than I had hoped when we bought the place, but I guess I thought I could just snap my fingers and have it all done for me.  Darn, I was wrong!  But we are making do with the house, making repairs and renovations as possible. 

The main portion of our old home was built in the 1850's, but the kitchen and a downstairs bath was added on in the 1950's.  Not only does this add-on not match the rest of the house's style, but it isn't connected to the house's air conditioning/heating ducts, and therefore, isn't cooled or heated.  In addition, the roof in the kitchen leaked very bad, sending a deluge of water onto the refrigerator below every time it rained.  The kitchen roof was shingled, but the rest of the house has the original silver tin roof.

Since the kitchen has a large fireplace, last winter we put in a wood stove with a blower, and it keeps the kitchen and bath pretty cozy in the winter.  The next step was to fix the roof leak.  Upon inspection, it was noted the roof had a change in slope pitch which was shingled over with tar paper and plain black shingles.  In the past 60+ years since the roof was built, the tar paper crumbled and the rain water started pooling at the change in slope, running through the shingles, through the roof boards, and into the kitchen.

Old shingles removed, rotten boards at end of roof removed

Change in roof slope/pitch can be seen here
now that the old roofing is removed

Last weekend we tackled the roof repair project.
Once all the old shingles and tar paper were removed we could see the change in pitch of the roof. We also could see some boards at the end of the roof were rotten and needed replaced.  We put down metal flashing over the change in roof slope and replaced the rotten boards.  Then we put down fresh tar paper and new shingles.  It sounds like a simple project, but it took all day.  Now that it's done, it's so nice to have a dry kitchen!  It rained the day after we finished, and there were no leaks in the kitchen!

One more project has been checked off the list.  Many more to come in the future.




Change in roof slope from different angle

Roof repair in process can be seen in bottom left, old tin roof is above. 
You can see some of the fireplaces with lightning rods, and the front
weather vane lightning rod in this picture, too. 

New shingles


New roof shingles over flashing on change of roof pitch

18 comments:

AJ-OAKS said...

Oh my goodness what a project! And how very cool the old tin roof is still there on the old part of the house and is still going strong.
If you ever find the secret to snapping your fingers and getting projects done, please don't keep the secret to yourself....share! :)

Gail said...

I admire that you are saving history.

This is a beautiful home and seems like you are getting things done. Looks great.

Farm Girl said...

Oh how nice, it looks wonderful but what a ton of work. I like that you are in restoring mode. My grandmothers house was just like yours, When you were describing it I remembered that was how her house was, but when I was a teenager she was sick of being cold in the winter and hot in the summer and she tore it down, and built a new one. I miss that house. It would of been lovely restored. I am so glad you are doing it bit by bit. When my husband and I got married we lived in a old house like that and we fixed it up but it took 12 years, then we moved. If it ever comes up for sale again, I am going to buy it back.:) (My husband doesn't know this.)
I think it so nice it didn't rain on your fridge.
Thanks for sharing all of those great pictures.

Country Girl said...

What a project! Glad to hear and see you are done! You two are amazing! You helped too? Let me know if and when you decide to venture up this way. Look at my blog about the wedding! It was pretty cool.

John Going Gently said...

I just LOVE your wooden houses...........perfect and so "american"
more photos please

Verde Farm said...

I admire your get-er done attitude. I can't even imagine where to begin with a roof but you all did a fabulous job. It looks so nice! I am so happy you are saving your wonderful house as it sounds like a historical place worth saving. Love it!
Amy

Terry said...

That's a huge project! Thank goodness you had nice weather for it.

Toni aka irishlas said...

Sigh... I miss my old house. Yes, it was a huge pain in the ass because something always needed mending or updating. But, there's nothing like the soul of an old house.

Congrats on getting such a huge project done.

Chai Chai said...

Wow, I wish we had the talent to tackle a chore like this. Congratulations on a job well done.

Razzberry Corner said...

Cindy - I will definitely let you know if I find the secret to snapping my fingers and getting the work done magically! I think the secret involves many millions of spare dollars just laying around!

Gail - Thanks so much! We are ever so slowly getting things done. there is so much more to do.

Farm Girl - We sometimes think how nice it'd be to have a nice new house with no problems. It's tempting... Doesn't it always seem that when you finally fix up the place then you move? That's happened time and time again to us! Randy and I have told ourselves that we are never moving again, and we keep saying that to ourselves, so hopefully all the work we put into this place will be with us forever! So we'd better do it right!

Barb - I miss you! I need to plan a trip up your way, even if Randy can't make it (he's been busy with his work). I want to see Mom, anyway, I haven't seen her all summer!

John Gray - I love old stone houses. Always have. But I'm stuck with this old wooden house, complete with it's imperfections and it's suspected ghosts and it's never-ending stories and rich American history.

~Lynn

Razzberry Corner said...

Amy - We just do what we can. It's hard to know where to begin sometimes, this place needs so much work! but I think it's definitely worth saving!

Terry - Yes, the rain lifted for a day for us to do the roof. Then it didn't rain for a while. now today it's raining again. Such is autumn. I miss summer already!

Toni aka irishlas - You know, I'd miss this place if we ever got rid of it. You're right, there is something about the soul of an old house. If only the walls could talk. I've been told by many people that this house is haunted, but I guess the ghosts are shy around us. If only they could tell us more of the history of the place!

Chai Chai - Thanks! Randy is very talented, I don't know how he knows how to do everything, but he seems to! Or he figures it out with assistance! I'm glad I snagged him when I did! :)

~Lynn

Carla said...

I think most folks in America think that living in a 100+ year old house and renovating it would be charming---until they realize stuff is broken and outdated.
Your house is an amazing project and I'm sure it will be wonderful when you are done. The new roof looks great!

Genny said...

You guys did a great job on the roof. I hate home repairs. They really stress me out, probably because I don't know how to do any of them. May all your rainstorms be outside!

Knatolee said...

What a job! You must be so pleased to have it done. Our metal roof is about 60 years old but is fortuately doing very well, and we had it painted two years ago.

It's hard to get all the renovation work done in a timely fashion! I started stripping the wallpaper in our upstairs bathroom in April and had to abandon that project for the summer. The shame! I will get back on it soon. I love old houses but they need TLC at times. Great job on your roof.

Robin said...

Wow, you are doing the roof yourself! Lee is afraid of heights so it was a no go for us. That and the pitch was pretty steep so even I wasn't wanting to get on top of it. lol. My parents will need to do their roof soon so we will probably help with theirs. I so wish I could snap my fingers and all the stuff that needed done would be finished. That would be so incredibly awesome. It is nice to have talented husbands isn't it. :) Oh, and I tell Lee that I am NEVER moving into another old wreck. lol Famous last words huh.

Liquid Rood said...

You have done an awesome project, i just love your thoughts.

Royce Kupiel said...

Wow, it's amazing that you've cleared one the projects for your house. I wish my uncle could do something about his roof. He lives in Vancouver alone, so I think he should ask his friends there, or some roofers for help, just so I won't hear him complain about the leaks anymore.

Unknown said...

Seriously? Your house was built in the 1850's? Wow! It's so amazing that it stood still for more than a hundred years! Well, I guess it really needs repairs because of its age. Mostly, those old houses are prone to damages. Glad that you finally repaired it.

Karen Burgess