The roofing crew showed up unexpectedly at 8:30 yesterday morning. We were told the day before that they had two other jobs and that we could expect them on Saturday.
We have two impediments to a simple roofing job: the header for the patio cover (lag screwed through the roof to the rafters) and the solar box (also affixed through the roof to internal bracing).
The header didn't prove to be too troublesome. One half was freed from the roof and lifted a couple inches for the work to be done (old material removed and new laid and nailed down). That complete, it was bolted back down and the other half lifted. Not overly time consuming, but it still took a while.
The solar box on the other hand was a bitch. The plan was to unbolt it and lift it in a fashion similar to the header. When I say unbolt it, I actually mean removal of the bolts so a complete and proper roofing job could be done as if it weren't there. There was the rub. The bolts are actually threaded rods with a nut/washer pair on each end. The upper nuts had rusted solid to the rods and there wasn't enough space to simply push them out -- the solar panel blocked the way. A couple of the crew had to run to the local Home Depot for a Sawzall and replacement nuts. They were gone nearly 90 minutes, returning with a hacksaw bladed hand jigsaw. The rods were cut just below the nuts and dropped into the attic space. The box, sans its plywood sheathing, was lifted and work progressed. Again, as with the header, it was done in two stages.
The straw boss was having trouble cleaning up the rust on the rods and asked for my help. We pulled out my cordless drill and a rotary scratch brush and went to work. After a couple minutes he was off talking on his cell about another job. I found then the easiest (best) way to get rid of the rust was to put the rod on a deck with the rusty end hanging over the edge and roll it as the brush was held against one side and followed its motion. Every trial rethreading of a nut was a struggle, but once started and WD-40ed and turned a short ways on with pliers, the nut would spin freely, almost like new. One rod was a problem; the threads at the end were damaged. Straw boss asked for a file. I did him one better -- a bench grinder. The last rod was done in a short time.
Due to the time spent on the obstructions the crew didn't finish the actual shingling job until after sunset, then spent another 20 minutes cleaning up. Fran noticed that the nails used to hold the shingles had punched through the roof deck and were irritatingly visible under the eaves. She complained and the straw boss said he'd get them clipped off and repaint those areas. He couldn't find the nips in his truck (and besides had no paint) so the crew is coming back tomorrow to do the eaves and mount new plywood sheathing on the solar box.
I have plans to put up some spare siding material from the house siding job a couple years ago on the box just to make it appear like it belongs up there. I also have a desire to be able to get into the box at some point (like in case the footers develop a leak) so I'm going to ask that the uphill side be left open (or at least loosely attached) so I can fabricate a hinged door there. That should be fun.
2 comments:
two things:
1) you could, y'know REPLACE the threaded bolts!
2) one potential problem with putting access in the "uphill side" is if water gets on it and gets in, it's trapped. If you do it make sure it's got good weather stripping!
1) They didn't think of that when they made the nuts and saw run. The cleaning of the rods was no big thing.
2)The box never was weather tight, and never will be. Thereis a 1-2" gap between it and the roof surface, and also open gaps between the panels. Water has always flowed under the box. I didn't actually see it happen, but the straw boss told me that a big dollop of silicone was put under each foot before it was set down and the rod driven back into place. One of the reasons I want access is to put some roofing compound around each foot just for insurance against leaks.
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