Something happens

I thought Ida was gone... Isn't it gone?

We woke up this morning to learn that the storm had been downgraded to a depression. It was still cloudy around the house. However, there was no rain - the streets had dried out and our windows had stopped leaking. There wasn't any wind to speak of either...

Until a couple of hours ago, that is. Oddly enough we started getting some strong gusts this afternoon - some of which were the strongest yet from this whole tropical fiasco.

I was standing in the kitchen during a strong gust and heard a bang and a scrape which called my attention to the front kitchen windows...

(Yes - another video. Don't worry - it's short. OH and you can actually see something in this one.)



So with that I say with confidence: We will never live to see our house fully repaired.

A roof over our heads

Eep. The siding repair didn't blend as you can see in this picture.

It became pretty obvious as the months went on following Katrina that the roof patch-job was not enough and we needed the whole thing re-done. However, we admittedly put it off as long as we possibly could. Now that the leaks are threatening to destroy the work that we have actually completed inside -- the time has come to bite the bullet and tackle the roof.

Wind-damaged shingles.

First, we called all the numbers on the roofing estimates we have received over the last two-and-a-half years. Approximately 90% of those numbers were now disconnected. The messages we left with the other 10% went unanswered. (The same held true with numbers in the yellow pages, incidentally.) One exception was Shelter Roofing. In February of 2006, we hired this company to replace the missing siding and fascia on the house following Katrina. (It was another company that actually did the roof repairs -- one of the companies with the now-disconnected number... So much for warranties.)

Eep again! The shingle patches didn't blend either.

Shelter didn't actually show up as scheduled back in 2006 -- but then... No one showed up as scheduled back in 2006. And can we really blame them for just how bad the siding job looks today -- knowing that it would have been best (had we the money at the time) to replace ALL of the siding on the house? We don't have any particular love or loyalty for Shelter Roofing - but they did eventually show up and do the work in 2006. And they did return our phone call this time.

As you can see - our roof is huge. Plenty of places to leak. Lots of shingles to get torn off. Plenty of pitch to slide any roofer right off into the garden below.

They even sent someone out (We'll call him "Brian" - because that's his name... "Brian") to give us an estimate this afternoon. The damage: $16,000+. That's for 50-year architectural fiberglass shingles on 66.5 squares. Oh - and don't forget the 12/12 pitch that makes even the boldest of men a little squeamish.

Visual motivation

Now that I've walked around the house a few times this morning admiring what we have finished over the last couple of years.... It's time to get motivated to start the next project -- whatever that may be. For that purpose, I offer this handful of photos from the latest to-do list.

Upstairs bathroom

The garage. Not the most uplifting way to enter the house every day.

The infamous rusting french doors (set 1 of 2).

Proof of much-needed exterior paint.

One of eight porch columns in need of attention.

The hole in the wall in George's room.

So the question is - what next? If I were a reasonable and practical home improvement project type person I would immediately decide on exterior paint. However - I hate painting trim... I hate painting exterior trim even more. This weighs heavily on the decision-making process.