Why don't we make a mess? The Aftermath continues

Unintended consequences ( see November blog) keep right on rolling in. If it hadn't been for that darned screen door I wanted so I could take a nap with the door open, we would never have become so aware of the condition of the roof after Ike or the tilt of the slab by the back door (not related to Ike, but probably related to the Texas drought).

The roofer said level the house before the new roof, not after. So, in February, we had the slab levelers come in. That is such profound joy. Dig up all the landscape, put big piles of mud on the drive, jackhammer the tile on the patio, and dig, baby dig. Three weeks later the crew came back to "level" the house. The walls groaned and popped when they jacked it. But now the patio door closes without a daily sanding, and someday I will replant all the shrubs, and maybe they will live. By Christmas I will have chiseled out the remaining broken tiles and retiled the patio. By then maybe the holes where the piers were poured will quit sinking in and I can put back the rest of the landscaping. Shouldn't take more than a year.

Now that the slab was leveled, the new Ike roof could be installed. That required taking off two layers of roof, which translates to a really big mess. Roof dust was coming through every house orifice....down through the light fixtures, the vents, the attic stairwell. We were lucky though. Our neighbors had a roof put on the same time we did. The guy who went through their ceiling in the closet (picture that mess on your clothes and in your shoes) restrained himself and only went through the ceiling in our garage. It had much less impact on me than a closet hole. Want to know the best part about a new roof? Aside from the fact that it was insured, nothing, really, except the claim that it will withstand 115 mph winds. With a $4,000 windstorm deductible, it wasn't cheap, and it looks about the same as the old one. I liked the old one just fine.

Just in case there was not enough fun going on with the slab and the roof, we replaced the three windows that have had water in between the double panes ever since Ike blew through. They gave the impression of rain on a daily basis. Carl wanted to do the labor himself, so it has also been a bonding experience for the two of us. He does the carpenter stuff, and I am the painter/caulker. The layers of dust all over the house from the project won't last more than a month, maybe two.

We are doing our part to stimulate the economy. The taco truck came by every day for a while during our construction. They left a business card. Think I'll order some. That will make me ready for that nap with the screen door open.

Oh, I forgot. No nap for me. Landscaping, tiling, dusting, and soon to come, fixing the plumbing leak under the kitchen that we discovered when the slab was leveled. Carl says he wants to DIY. Eyaiee!!! We're not done with mud yet!