roof | Piss and Moan

Holiday decor

Posted on November 27, 2020 by backuphill

Call me Scrooge. Call me The Grinch. Call me grumpy. Call me whatever.

I hate holiday decor. Like, seriously.

If it were up to me, there would be very little done in the way of decorating for the holidays. It would be simple and wouldn’t take hours to set up, or tear down. It would be quick and easy and not require the rearranging of the entire house.

It would also not involve Christmas lights hung on the house. Talk about a waste of energy (literally and figuratively)!

No one enjoys putting the damn things up. No one relishes the idea of climbing a ladder over and over again. No one loves the idea of climbing around on the roof of the house with impending disaster just one slip away. No one likes untangling lights, running extention cords, replacing light bulbs, or being in the cold for long periods of time while putting them up and taking them down.

What a stupid tradition. Really. Who came up with this idea? Never mind that. I don’t really care.

I have the day off today. Guess what I have been tasked with? If you need me I’ll be outside, climbing ladders, dangling over the edge of the eaves, and cursing my existence for the next several hours.

Bah-humbug, I say!

Roofing

Posted on August 17, 2020 by backuphill

focused man building roof of wooden construction

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

The roof on the house finally got fixed about three weeks ago. It was a long wait, but I am glad I don’t have to worry about that now.

However, while all of the waiting was going on I decided it would be a good idea to build a lean-to off the side of the garage. It wasn’t at the stage where it could be roofed when the roofers where here, so…I have to do it.

Let me tell you, I am glad I don’t do that for a living. It is hard work!

I already knew this, but it reminded me while I worked on it (during one of the hottest weekends of the summer) Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

It’s not done and I am not looking forward to climbing back up there to finish it. This old, out of shape body, had to take a day off to let some of the stiffness and soreness subside a little.

Maybe that is why I am dreading it today. I know what is ahead of me…

Anyone wanna come finish this for me? It will only be about 84 this afternoon.

Roofers

Posted on June 19, 2020 by backuphill

architecture build building construction

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The sun is out.

It will be for (at least according to the fairly inaccurate Weather App) for the next two weeks. Of course, weatherpeople can be wrong 80% of the time and still people look to them to provide answers.

Anyway, the roof still hasn’t been done and, as of writing, I have no idea if I am on the schedule for anytime over the next two weeks. Supposedly, two weeks ago, my house was slated to be done the following week when I reached out to them, but that was weather dependent, of course. I understand that part.

Its rather tiresome that the tarp on the roof of the house has been there since mid to late November. In that time, I have contacted 12 roofing companies. Five have come out to give estimates. Two have had signed estimates returned to do the work. One ghosted me. The other is still pending…

I was hoping it would be done before the end of the month, but I guess what little optimist is in me (I am 94% pessimist) is growing tired of waiting.

Tired of the run around. Tired of climbing on the roof to check the tarp. Tired of worrying about water destroying the house. Tired of worrying about ants.

Tired.

Sometimes, not owning a home would be nice.

Windy

Posted on February 24, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Iurii Ivashchenko on Pexels.com

Roaring like a lion.

Two nights in a row I have been awakened in the middle of the night with wind that sounded like a freight train running through the house.

Two nights of laying in bed wondering if a tree will fall on the house, or the tarp covering the leak in the roof will blow off and end up somewhere else in the county.

Two nights of hearing the whistling of the wind as it flies past the corner of the house in swirling chaos.

Two nights of hearing pine cones and branches bouncing off the room. Two nights of listening to the rain. Two nights of staring at the ceiling as I listen to things go crash and bump in the night.

Two nights of not as much sleep as I would like.

My only solace?

Two more wake ups and I’ll be enjoying the sun in AZ and the popping of balls in gloves and the cracking of bats.

But for now, the stormy PNW will continue to keep me awake for portions of the night.

Tuckered

Posted on October 25, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

It’s Friday and I need it.

Anyone else feel like this week was extra long and extra trying? Me too.

Estimates are now coming in for the room replacement/repair and, boy, it ain’t pretty. They are about $5-8k more than I expected they would be. Now the challenge is having to find a way to pay for this thing.

Meanwhile, the rainy season continues and the hope that temporary bandaids on the roof are going to work for at least a month (as that is about how long, apparently, it takes to get a HELOC – even when the bank is the one that already owns your mortgage).

So, I will try to survive this day and hope that a couch and a beer will waiting at home will help let the week’s stress go.

How bad do you need this Friday and weekend?

Sprung

Posted on October 22, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Drip.

What is that? That sound doesn’t sound like it should.

Drip.

Nope, that isn’t a normal sound. Yes, it is raining really freaking hard outside and, yes, there is the typical sound of rain going down inside the vent pipes. This drip is different.

And there it is. Inside the furnace. In the arch way of the back entry.

Damn.

There is a leak in the roof. It is in the most troublesome section of the roof. Somewhere between the ending of the sloped house roof and the beginning of the flat garage roof. This is the spot I have worried about since I moved in. This is the spot I was planning on having fixed in the next three years knowing it was only a matter of time before it causes an issue.

Now, the rainy season is in full force and the prospect of a quick fix is null.

Now, not only a roofing company has to be involved, but likely a contractor too since we might as well work on the structural issues at the same time and do it all in one fell swoop. Oh, and on top of that, now likely a bank will be involved with a home equity line of credit or something like that….

Awesome! **in the most sarcastic tone ever known to man**