The Roofer

So yesterday morning, we met with a roofer to talk about the great volume of water that flows THROUGH our soffits when it rains. We had initially hoped to re-roof and re-gutter, but, alas, there's not enough money. (Well, I suppose there is enough money, we just don't have it.)

So the roofer said he'd be back around noon to begin work. At about 12:45, he arrived with an apology: his morning project had turned out to be worse than expected, and it would take all day. Could he come back tomorrow? Certainly! He arrived today at 11 and was done by 12:45. He cleaned out all the gutters (note to self, and to self's husband--clean gutters here about every three months) and removed TREES from the gutters and downspouts. This seems to be a trend here: the drain guy removed trees from our basement drains, as well.

The diagnosis: holes in the rubber gutters up on the top part, as well as some holes in the front porch roof. He patched all visible holes and recommended coating the front porch roof (which he said still has some life in it), as well as the front porch gutters. He said he pulled more than a foot-deep worth of gunk out of one of the downspouts. The water had nowhere to go. [I sometimes feel that way, myself.]

Here's a shot of the soffit under one of the disaster areas in the gutter:

And while we're at that side of the house, in the interest of full disclosure, here's a window pane that "got broken" that I've patched with Saran Wrap and clear packaging tape. Ingenius, huh? Until your two-year-old pokes her finger through it, thinking it's bubble wrap and will pop.

If you can't see the Saran Wrap, use your imagination. I promise it's there.

By the way, the window "got broken" while I was out of town and Bob accidentally locked himself out of the house. I've now bought a replacement window pane AND hidden a key. We just need to install the window pane. And by "we," I mean "Bob".