The Saga Continues

Yesterday was a good day for our roof.  With the help of a friend of ours, we were able to put the water-proof barrier down over half of our roof.  We even got a little rain part of the way through putting it on, and were able to glory in how well the rain just rolled down the barrier.

That barrier stuff is AWESOME!

Because of hubby's work / sleep schedule today, we opted to finish the second half of the roof tomorrow afternoon so we left the tarps only on the half that was not complete.

This evening we were sitting in church and we heard thunder in the distance.  Hubby whipped out his phone and looked at his radar app.  After seeing all the red coming at us and our house, he went out to the lobby to see if there was a lot of wind with the storm.  He came back a couple minutes later and said there didn't appear to be much wind, so he didn't think we needed to worry that the tarps would blow off the roof.

Three and a half hours later (after church, small group, and dinner with our small group) we got home.  When we noticed small branches down on our driveway we were a little worried.  When we got out of the car hubby said he smelled wet wood.  After quickly changing, he went up on the roof.  I had something to do real quick inside, and when I went outside to see how things were, he yelled down that the tarps had come off.  Ugh!

Unfortunately, the tarps had slid down the roof about 1/3 of the way.  The roof has been re-tarped for the night just in case more rain comes.  The current plan is to take the tarps off as soon as I wake up tomorrow (provided no rain is coming) so that the wood can dry out before we are hopefully able to finish putting down the barrier before we get more rain.

I can't wait for this part to be done.  Aside from the barrier and some paperwork, the rest is being done by someone else. 

It's Raining Pavers

That was fun...

As we're wrapping up dinner before hubby leaves for work tonight we notice the wind picking up (obvious precursor to heavy rain).  Hubby decides to go onto the roof to make sure our tarps are holding up.  A couple minutes later Son and I go outside to check on him and watch a paving stone fall off our roof.  Son and I run into the house to get our tennis shoes on (we had on flip flops) so we can go and help him.  As I'm running back outside I get a text from hubby that he probably sent at the same time I was running into the house.  It said "Help watch falling stone."  That was an understatement.  I think we had 7 pavers fall off the roof and the tarps moved and uncovered close to 1/4 of our total roof.

It took us over 30 minutes to get the tarps back on in a semi-useful way.  Unfortunately, the pavers falling may have ripped some holes in the tarps so we're praying that we don't end up with a lot of wet wood from that (hubby finished replacing the bad wood yesterday).

In additional to putting the 7 fallen pavers back on the roof we added 18 other pavers that we had sitting next to the garage.  All those trips up and down the ladder with pavers... I had my leg workout for the day.

The good news... we talked to a roofer this morning and we've decided that we're going to do a little more prep work but we're going to have the roofer put on a metal roof.  By doing a bunch of the work ourselves we're going to get a metal roof for pretty much the same cost as having someone do all the work involved in installing a metal roof.

The bad news... we have at least 1 days work before we can have the inspector come to look at the roof.  After we pass that inspection we can put the stuff down that waterproofs the roof again.  The weather today called for a 20% chance of rain.  Friday and Saturday it's 40%, and Sunday it's 80%.  Did I mention hubby has off Sundays and Mondays so we were hoping he could work on the roof Sunday and get the inspection on Monday? 

Please pray for us... That no one will get hit by falling pavers, that the tarps won't leak, and that we can get this done soon.

The Clock is Ticking

A little over a month ago we were told by our homeowners insurance company that we needed to replace our roof or they were going to drop our insurance.  Finding insurance in Florida is hard enough as it is.  Add to that that our house was built in 1970 and it's even harder.

A week ago, we received the money from the home equity line we applied for.  We also got the permit to do the roof work ourself.  With the help of some wonderful friends and family we were able to get the old shingles and tar paper off in 2 days.  It was tough work, but from what I've been told it'll be the hardest part of the process.

Unfortunately, since then it's been raining every day so we haven't even been able to get our first inspection completed (there are 3 different inspections we need to pass).  Not only am I watching our deadline quickly approach, but we are constantly checking and adjusting the tarps to make sure they are covering the roof so we don't get any leaks.

With just over 3 weeks left till our deadline, I pray the rain stops long enough for us to get the roof done soon.

Ignore the Naysayers

I have a friend that I have known for many years.   I met her while working with my dad right after high school.  The business was expanding rapidly and she was hired to take over some of the work that I had been doing.  Being the only ladies there at the time, we tended to gravitate toward each other.  Even better, we got along quite well.  In fact, J was in my wedding.

Well, she did something she was told for years she would not be able to do.  She just completed her graduate degree (she still hasn't gotten her final grades, but knowing her it was just a matter of submitting her final paper on time - which she did)!  Unfortunately, years ago she had someone in her life who convinced her that she wasn't capable of getting her associates degree much less anything more complicated than that so for a time she had actually given up on college.

Luckily, she now has someone in her life (her husband) that has supported her through this process.  I am so proud of her for following her dream and for not giving up even though to so do would have made her life so much easier.

And for those of you out there who are listening to those voices (people) telling you that you aren't strong enough, smart enough, rich enough, or X enough to follow your dream... Go find a new voice!