random thoughts – Day 2,273 (Sunday) – the roof

Sundays have a different flavor on weeks with no dance group. With the exception of a dress rehearsal on Friday, June 12 and a performance on Saturday, June 13, we are off for the summer.

Today was an even more different flavor of Sunday. A roofing crew arrived at 7:15 a.m. under a sunny sky to remove the old roof and put on the new one. The crew of three operated like a SWAT team as they piled out of the van and immediately began unloading equipment. 

A ladder was set up outside one of the living room windows. Materials were schlepped up to the roof. The roofers cast shadows on the back lawn.

Soon, tarps were lowered around the house to capture the debris. They created a strange lighting situation inside and an odd view of nothingness beyond the windows. 

Goodbye old roof.

The actual work was a little noisy, but not quite as loud as I expected. A generator hummed in the yard. The banging and ripping off of the old roof jiggled the living room ceiling fan and things in the kitchen cabinets rattled. The nailing seemed to come in bursts and had an interesting rhythm that I wish I had recorded. 

When I wasn't looking at the action out the windows, I read a book on the couch. Kiki sought refuge deep under the bed and stayed there until noon when the noise stopped for 20 minutes while the crew took a break. When the work resumed, she disappeared again.

The crew busted butt and by 3:30 p.m., as the clouds appeared to be graying and gathering and looking like they might be gearing up for rain, they were finished, the yard was cleaned, and they were pulling out of the driveway.

The new skylights have remote controlled shades, which will be a huge help with summer cooling and comfort in general and especially when working in the kitchen. The sun beats in full force for several hours around midday, and while the natural light is gorgeous, the sun can be brutal. I thought the shades would be more translucent like the honeycomb window shades, but they block a lot of light.

Tiny peek of new roof.

Next up is the siding. New exterior light fixtures are scheduled to deliver tomorrow. The hunt is on for new house numerals because the current ones are too small to be easily read from the street and the house numbers are at irregular intervals so there is potential for confusion. 

Later, I took a walk up the tiny hill to try and admire the new roof and get a picture. The roofs aren't steep, so it's hard to see most of them, including mine, but I did get a glimpse. It's so pretty. The shingles are black, but photographed more like gray. So weird.