Monday, July 31, 2023

Garage Roofed

I started this blog post last Friday, but I kept getting distracted and didn't post it. I wasted most of last Friday watching them put the new roof on the garage. 
The roof pieces really do all lock together and it was fascinating to watch them.  

I'm sort of torn about what I think of the crew. They appear to do good work, but they seem a little flaky. They work weird hours and took a four-day weekend. I'm ready for this to be finished.

This is a photo of the repair of the rotted roof tail up front. They actually replaced some of the wood because it was too far gone.
The foreman sent me some photos of the roofing in progress up on top of the house.


Hopefully they'll finish up sometime this week.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Interlock Roof Finally Started

Dealing with Interlock Roofing has been a bit ridiculous. We actually ordered the new roof late last summer and they told us they probably wouldn't get to our project until spring. They don't install roofs during rainy weather. Yeah, okay, I understood that. 

They finally called us in early May and said they were planning to put on our roof sometime in May or June. We had a discussion about the tongue & groove I said I would be providing, and I ordered it that week and it was delivered two days later and I told them it was here, waiting for them. And then it sat. 

There was no communication of any sort until June 28 (the Wednesday before the 4th of July). We were told they would probably be starting the next afternoon (Thursday) but if not then, they would certainly start on the Friday before the holiday weekend. Yeah, they didn't start then either. Again, no communication revising the start date. Finally, I called on late Friday afternoon and was told the crew showed up and decided not to start before the holiday. I was given the impression they just delayed the project until after the holiday and would start the first day after.

Well, no, not that either. Finally, last week⏤on July 11⏤they showed up unannounced at our door and said they wanted to deliver materials. That was the second day of the fence install. LOL They loaded up the driveway in front of the garage.

Again, you would think their start was imminent. But no. Finally, on Friday I called the company again. I told him how unimpressed I was with their communication. He promised they would start on Monday.

Well, Monday afternoon someone did show up; I think the project foreman. We reviewed the project with him and he figured out the additional supplies he would need and left again. Today, finally they started tear off. 

Since I don't have a drone, I can't post progress photos. They removed the shingles from the backside of the house and they laid new tongue & groove over our little back patio. I didn't take a before photo, it used to be a big plywood patch where the old chimney used to be and a mish mash of various sizes of tongue and groove; presumably whatever the prior owner had lying around. This looks much better.

We had an appointment to have the new gutters installed tomorrow. Yeah, I had to delay that one. 

Update, they sent me some photos:


Monday, July 17, 2023

Fence Half Finished



I have to be honest, I am not too pleased with Rick's right now. They did a fine job installing our fence, but their quote was for only half the fence and I didn't realize it. We had a long conversation about wanting both sides, along with the details about height and extras. I'd made a lot of compromises from the earlier quote, i.e. shorter overall height, skipping the post caps, trellis only in the section next to the house, so I wasn't surprised when the overall total was quite a bit lower. But, it turns out, they didn't quote out the whole fence. 

They finished this side of the fence then sent the final invoice and I was confused and asked when they'd be installing the rest....

Clearly, I should have looked a lot more closely at the bid and compared the total linear feet, but I was distracted and rushed to make a decision. Sigh.

Anyway, given that they only gave us a bid for half the fence, they were by far the most expensive of our quotes. So, when we do the other side after the roof and gutters are finished, we'll be going to one of the other companies.

At the last minute, we decided to dispose of the old fence ourselves. It saved us $250 and we got to pick through for the parts worth reusing.



Monday, July 10, 2023

New Fence Install Day 1

Rick's Custom Fencing and Decking started our project today. They are actually starting by doing one side this week because our neighbor was really anxious for it to be finished in time for a party, then they'll come back in a week to two to finish the other side of the yard. As a reminder, this is the style of fence we're getting for the most visible portions. 

They made short work of the old fence and had it removed in about an hour. They basically cut it into sections and then chopped the posts off at the dirt line if they didn't easily pull out.

Today they finished setting the posts in cement. Tomorrow, they'll be back to install the slats between.

We'll spend a couple hours digging through the wood pile tomorrow for portions we want to keep. I sort of like playing with salvaged wood. If we make another round of garden benches, we'll pass them onto friends.