Off with the ROOF!

It's 8:00pm as I write this and my ears are ringing with the pitter patter of staple guns over head. Yes, that's right, the roofing crew is STILL working on our house at this my-kids-should-already-be-sleeping hour. The roofing company is a cousin of our exterior contractor, so they are traveling in from Rochester each day. Their goal is to have the roof completely done by Friday, so they are burning the 8pm oil in order to do so. Here's our stunning landscape at this moment:


If you remember back to previous posts, we aren't just replacing the shingles on our roof. Prior to purchasing this house, it was disclosed to us that there had been substantial water damage in the house due to ice dams. And while this winter was the crown jewel of a ice dam producing winter, several insulators we had out to look at reinsulating our attic noted that we had some award winning ice build up. While it's always fun to win an award, this wasn't one I was proud to hang upon the mantle. In fact, it was one that was posing a serious threat to my imported Sanderson wallpaper in the upper hall bath as water poured in behind the walls and threatened to destroy my precious birds and butterflies. Here's an old shot from the bathroom where we first caught a glimpse of the tile soaking up the water. Houston, we had a problem...


So after having numerous insulators out to assess how we could alleviate the problem from their standpoint, we were literally turned away by all of them claiming that our funds were no good spent with them and that the problem could not be fixed by taking that route. You see, the problem lies in the fact that our attic is already stuffed to the brim with insulation. Read my lips, no more room. If our home was built today, the problem could be solved with a simple application of spray foam insulation. However, the eaves of our attic are so packed full of blown fiberglass insulation that there is A) no more room to put any additional insulation and B) no way of removing the insulation that's already there to replace it with a more efficient insulation because it is packed so tightly. So the question was, how the heck do we create an air space to cool the warm air that is escaping from our attic without removing the roof, pulling the insulation out, putting the roof back on and then properly insulating it?

Enter Jon Jorud of JYJ Construction. Jon proposed actually building our roof taller to create an air space. So essentially, what they have done is removed our existing shingles down to the sheeting, framed the entire roof with 2"x2" boards and placed a whole additional layer of sheeting on top of that. That sheeting will get the 'roof treatment' and when all is said and done, look like just a brand new application of shingles. But in reality, what we have created is a ventilated area over the entire roof that will be power vented and keep cool air flowing freely through it from all angles. This will allow ample space for the warm air that is escaping the attic to cool before hitting the actual moisture on the roof. Brilliant? We thought so.

Sooooooo, after that lengthy explanation, I'm here to tell you that it took them an entire day (literally, they are still here now and 20 more minutes has passed) to attack the first section of the roof.


Now that this front half is done, the fascia was able to go up and the rest of the siding can follow. Until those pieces were in place, the siding progress was stalled.


On the interior, the wood floors are looking gorgeous.


They were here until 6pm today sanding away and then gave the floors a good wipe down with water in order to 'pop' the grain. This is a process that prepares the wood to except a darker-than-usual stain in a more uniform matter. The floors will dry over night and be stained in the morning. We decided to spend the night here even though we couldn't be here all day with the sanding and roofing going on...but since the fumes are yet to penetrate our oh-so-humble abode up here, we are happy to have one more night in our own beds.

Other little diddies:
- Spoke with the cabinet maker and the cabinetry will begin installation one week from tomorrow beginning with the family room and dining room cabinets.
- My goal is to have the concrete work start Monday, May 16th (concrete has to be done prior to the exterior being painted).
- Goal is to have all painters (interior and exterior) begin work on Monday, May 23rd (the final step of BOTH projects).
- Working to schedule security system install for Thursday, June 2nd
- Working to schedule wallpaper install for Wednesday, June 1st
- Need to figure out appliance delivery date (Tuesday, May 31st???) and plumbing fixture installation (the 31st also???)

We are getting down to the wire and things are going to start falling into place quickly once the cabinetry goes in. I want to make sure we stay ahead of the curve vs not having things scheduled and being delayed because of it. The only wild card in my mind is the countertops...since they can't get underway until the lower kitchen cabinets are installed in order to get the most accurate measurement possible. No doubt, busy weeks ahead!

PS: I can hear the roofing crew packing up their ladders. FYI, it's 8:35pm!