off with the old...

While we're on the subject of new change ups, we got a new roof last week!!

We had Lowe's come out to look at our siding (which we will eventually replace- more on that later). They basically said they don't do wood siding anymore and that we would have to go the vinyl route (which we're not interested in). But in passing Josh asked about the roof and we all made the decision that it needed work.

Here is a before. During some windstorms we've had a few shingles blow off (which we tried to patch with matching shingles). Although we did the best we could it still didn't look right. Also there was some warping of the plywood underneath the roof that made a few places weak. I think it was caused from all that snow we had in Jan of 2011. 5 inches of snow sat on the roof for a week... that can't be good for plywood!
So we were excited about the change!

Since I try to keep it real on here I'm going to talk prices. Just like anything else, we wanted a good deal, but we also wanted quality work. We contemplated opening a Lowe's credit card to get the 5% discount and the 0% financing. BUT we realized that we actually got a better deal with the 10% military discount. (and they wouldn't combine military with the Lowe's deal) We had another offer (through an already opened credit card) of 0% for 13 months. So that 0% combined with 10% off knocked $450 off the price! That $450 off allowed us to upgrade the shingles to the higher end, making it a better roof all around. We spent around $4,500 for everything (materials and labor).

They even brought the dumpster (and cleaned up EVERYTHING!):


So back to the actual work- because of the warping, we knew we needed the experts. Our roof actually only had 1 layer of shingles, so it would have been ideal to just cover it in another layer (which would have been cheaper), but the plywood needed to be fixed. So off with the shingles!

And on with the new!!
I'm in LOVE. I like a REALLY dark roof (black preferably), but we figured that the lighter we went the more energy we'd save. This was 1 shade lighter than black black- this color is called Weathered wood. Because of saving 10% we were able to upgrade to the architectural shingles which gives it a staggered look and hides any imperfections. Also these babies say they stand up to 110MPH winds! Regular shingles stand up to 60MPH. So since wind had been our issue we figured the higher we went the better. We have no trees (besides 2 small ones in the front by the road) on our lot. All the trees behind our house are actually past the back of our fence, so we really have no defense when it is super windy. Having no trees actually is great for the roof (no leaves, no tree marks, and no threat of a falling tree!). I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too. It does have a lifetime warranty which actually isn't a lifetime, but more like 50 years. Considering our home will be pushing 100 years old at that point it was a pretty great deal!

Here is a quick before and after side by side:
Since we will be getting new siding ASAP, we also plan to paint it gray. We have started the carport and back (since we'll only get 2 sides of the house replaced). I think the roof color will look even better with a gray house!!

Horray for change!

oh and I had a dumpster diving escapade... I mean everyone does that at 8am on a Saturday morning right?? (at least since it was early I'm hoping no neighbors saw me!)

So when I say they cleaned up everything, I meant EVERYTHING. Including a barely opened pack of shingles. I saw them sitting in the driveway as they finished... and assumed they'd stay right where I saw them. WRONG. They disappeared. It didn't hit me until Saturday morning (and they were suppose to pick up the dumpster Saturday morning) so I jumped out of bed to look in the dumpster. They were right on top, so I hopped in! Josh was already gone cutting lawns, so I had a laughing fit with myself as I tried to climb out. It was thrilling. :) They were a little bent, but nothing the sun didn't flatten out.
Here's about where I jumped... those things are deep once you get in!
We also have 2 complete packs leftover that we will be returning for some money back!
And I got 2 pallets out of the deal!

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