Well I got up this morning really excited because I thought it would be another beautiful day like yesterday and I could get lots done. So we decided to run in to Home Depot first and get 5 squares of shingles and other miscellaneous do-it-yourself stuff. The mornings are about 30 degrees so you can’t play outside when it’s that cold, so we go shopping. $516 bucks later we arrive home. Lynn is pooped and I want to get things done. He hasn’t been feeling too good lately and I know that standing or walking is pretty much out of the question in the afternoon.

So armed with a pry bar, hammer, gloves, tin snips and a bottle of water, I head to the back porch. Was pleasantly surprised that we wouldn’t have to replace the roof rafters, but needed to clean off a section and put up a 4X8 sheet of chip board. Optimistic I could get it done myself, I waded into the deep end so to speak. Cleaned off as much as I could reach on the ladder with a lot of reaching and stretching but not quite as far as I wanted to get. Don’t look forward to climbing on the roof, that’s when things get a little hairy.

Then the wind picks up and it starts to rain and I hear the fire siren which usually means a fire or flood or accident, or maybe a tornado. Turned out to be a fire, probably a field fire from the looks of the smoke at a distance. We have a wonderful volunteer fire department, hence the fire siren.

Oh, I hate tornadoes just a hair more than I hate heights and ladders. Oh, I forgot to mention that in this post, but mentioned it in posts from last year. So not feeling real comfortable on the ladder, I know that I need to get one of those for 4X8 sheets of chip board from the dream house to my back yard. About 300 feet, and Lynn just isn’t up to it. I don’t want the rain to drip all through the roof. Darned old weatherman, I would like to throttle him. Though I did expect rain tomorrow but the rest of the week is supposed to get better. In the high 50’s.

Called Troy my step-son who lives about 1,000 feet away to come help me with the 4X8 sheet. Really hate to as for help, as that is when I feel like a sissy girl. If it doesn’t require a lot of brawn, I can handle it, and I keep forgetting that I am a card carrying member of AARP and have been for a few years. That would be I’m ‘old’ for those too young to know what AARP stands for. Will work tomorrow, then may take a few days off to get more done. We’ll see how it goes and play it by ear.

Well there were wood shingles covered by at least two layers of asphalt shingles then on top of that about 3 inches of dirt and all the vines running through it. Good rich loam. Potting soil.

I have a vision of how I want to do the back porch and it is going to look great. I’m an optimist. Can’t wait to show it off when it is finished. I hope it will be finished within the month. Also, I have Home Depot searching to see if they can match some of the fascia trim around the roof as some of it has rotted through. Oh, and I found square nails when I was tearing the stuff off. This house was built in 1898 which is old for the west coast. This town was just settled in 1865.

Off to my real job tomorrow so probably won’t up date until next weekend unless I take a few days off.

Just thought I would add a photo of me finishing my first and only 10k. On St. Patrick’s day 2010, if I am remembering correctly. Since I don’t want to share any pictures of the porch until I finish it, you will have to settle for my backside.

Ann, the whimpy roofer.

Sidetracked with Maintenance

On March 10, 2013 By Ann Kidwell AuthorIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Oh, today in the Great Northwest it is absolutely beautiful. Sun shining and I am filled with energy and yearning to get outside and play in the flower beds and work on the dream house and get things done. The temperature is in the 50’s and I am loving it.

Unfortunately, I am tasked with rebuilding our back porch on the little house we are living in, which means I don’t get to do any of the above, until the porch is done. The little house we live in now has been completely redone on the inside and it is very comfortable. We purchased this house in 1999 when the elderly man that was living in it went into a nursing home. It was a disaster and in much need of repair. The first thing we did was put a new roof on it as it leaked, then put a foundation under the master bedroom. I learned to lay block. Then we proceeded to strip all the interior walls of the lathe and plaster, and redid some of the floor plan and added a master bathroom and eliminated a pantry. It was a lot of work, and we had already started on the dream house, so this was a little detour. Okay, a big detour.

Our plans were to fix it up and sell it. Best laid plans. We ended up moving into it instead. It is on an acre and we will probably sell it when we get closer to finishing the dream house. But it will not sell without fixing the back porch, so that is where we are now.

About 5 years ago, we tore off the front porch and put on a new redwood porch which looks very nice. The posts had to be stripped and sanded and repainted. Now it is time to do the same to the back porch. Ho hum. I will post some photos of the front porch before and after. The back porch photos will have to wait as I am ashamed to show you how it looks now without it being finished. Now it looks like Ma & Pa Kettle’s place. So some before and after pictures will come in a later post.

Roofing first. I hate roofing and swore I would never roof again after 1988, when my best friend and I roofed my house in Phoenix. Yep, went to the library and got a how-to book on roofing and Patti, my neighbor and best friend and I, proceeded to strip two layers of shingles off my ranch style house, and lay new shingles on it. In March in Phoenix. I guess it was a novelty to see women roofers at that time, and we were asked for our cards. This was out of necessity, as I didn’t have the money to hire it done. Then I married Lynn in July of that year, sold my house, and moved to Washington, where in August 1988 we roofed his 2 car garage. Then in 1989 we roofed his house and then his barn. At that point I told him I was out of the roofing business. Until now……

Today, I began tearing off the shingles and a vine of Clematis that has been growing out of control for the last 11 or 12 years. Actually there is so much overgrowth that it looks like a sod roof. Good news, it doesn’t look like we will have to replace the roof joists, they appear to be in good shape, so that is a relief. Before I started ripping off the vines and old wooden shakes and two layers of asphalt shingles, I would have said it was a complete tear down. So I am optimistic that we will be able to remove re-sheet and re-shingle. Then we will start on the deck. Probably redwood also. So stay tuned to the progress of our back porch project.

Oh, and I still have my ‘bread and butter job’ that I work through the week, to keep us in bread and butter.