A New Roof

Last June there was a CRAZY hail storm. I have never experienced anything like it. It was so LOUD and it sounded like the windows and roof were going to break. This lead to a crazy summer and fall of new roofs for everyone we know. Having home insurance was a great thing for everyone around here.

We put our claim in, they came back with not enough money to cover even just the roof (there were other things the money was supposed to covered too- damage to the fence etc), and at that point we were in the middle of our craziness with the new floors, having no kitchen & banisters ordeal so it sat on our back burner. Fall came and the roofing company that we wanted to use (they did our new roof on our old house) said they would do the roof for less (off-season pricing I think). So we did all the back ground work and then waited for better weather and an opening in their schedule.

It snowed Monday February 25th.

Tuesday February 26th they dropped the roof tiles. Not the ideal weather for getting a new roof? But what do I know?

Wednesday February 27th the sun was out and some guys came over and scooped the snow off of the roof so the sun could dry out the rest. 

Thursday February 28th they put our new roof on. It took less than a day (7:30-4:30). Truly amazing how fast it can be done. We also had them blow a ton of insulation into our attic. There were many areas were completely bare and rooms in our house that were FREEZING. We could feel the difference immediately  Totally worth it. Can't wait to see how it changes our heating/cooling bills. 

The boys watched them after school. The roofing guys played a little game of soccer before taking off. (Hard to see, but the ones in the back are kicking a ball around).

Yay! Next up, fixing the front gutter. This is the one I blogged about when we first moved in and I painted to match the brick so it wouldn't stand out. It is the only gutter on the front of the house and it was too small to handle to amount of water that would drain off, SO.... new gutter. 

They took off the parts near the roof when they did the roof and we waited for the gutter guy to come.

When the gutter would fill up, water would run off of the edge of the gutter, onto the driveway in front of our walkway and then freeze, creating a layer of ice that wouldn't melt (with us being south facing).

Just a little dangerous???

The gutter guy put on a wider gutter, sloped it right and did a bunch of other stuff that I couldn't catch as he rambled off how he was going to fix the problem.

I also decided to have him put the drain down the side of the column rather than on the front.

Not looking great at first. 

Wasn't so sure I made the right decision when I saw the crazy white drains and all of the angles. 

Nothing a little sanding, chalk and paint won't fix :)

 Much better.

That one little curve between the brick and the column still bugged me, so I painted the brown a little higher.

 I think that is better. Once we get some bushes in there, no one will notice it and I am happy the brick stands out more and the front of the column or brick isn't covered.

Wider gutters :)

 So far so good, no sheet of ice or water dripping over the edge. Excited to see it in action/not have a problem anymore!