New Roof

I finally broke down and talked to a roofing company guy who was going door to door through the neighborhood. I got the same spiel as I'd been given several times over the last few years: "Your T-locs are looking old, and they don't make them any more. You probably have some hail damage up there." Well, OK. I'd been on the roof many times over the years and hadn't noticed any hail damage, though I did look. The only thing I was aware of was a peak shingle which blew into the back yard, and I couldn't even find that when I walked the eave. So much for my powers of observation.

The guy went up and did indeed find hail damage, though I very much doubt that it came as a result of a storm date he named, June last year. It might have been bad further north, but not around here. He called my insurance and set up an appointment for an adjuster's inspection. To my surprise, he found even more damage than Mr. Roofing Guy. Don't ask me where I get my internal estimates from, but the adjuster's estimate was a couple thousand under what I was expecting, and the roofing company accepted it.

The work started today; the materials were delivered yesterday. A team of six Hispanics, only one with English capability, showed up at 11:30 and got to work. They were fast! The old shingles, two layers worth, were down from the high level by 1:15 pm. They then got started with the drip shields and starter strips around the edges. Then the new shingles, a 30-year warranty textured variety, started going on. They were done with that level of roof by 2pm. Absolutely amazing. The color is a pretty good match to what was taken off, but just a little darker. Fran says it looks green! Its name is "slate".

The crew is due back Monday to work the lower roof. It has a larger area and a couple obstacles to be overcome. The guy I talked to had no idea how they were going to handle the solar unit. One person I spoke with said they'd take it down and reinstall; I don't think that's going to happen with this crew. The best they could do is raise it about six inches and work underneath it. The patio cover is lag-screwed to the roof. That can easily be lifted by much more than a few inches. The solar though is a concern. Here's a picture, half way done.