What home improvement work did you do today?

we also saw low 50's and high 40's for over a week. It's still holding up high for now, but that heat cycle was no joke. My driveway is halfway melted out as well.

 

That has to be a record. We saw 54 on Tuesday which set a record high for the date. Woke up to about 4" of snow this am though.

 

Must be nice lol. We are in the 80s with the AC on.

 

Going to start replacing the DHW and Cold mains and run a recirculation line back to the H20 tank.
I would like to get this done so come spring time I can replace the boiler and H20 tank with a 199K Takagi with a indirect 80 Gallon Super stor storage tank.

 

We've got bats. I was outside petting our feral tuxedo cat last week and heard some bats chirping. Looked up at the house and counted about 12 flying out from the roof.

The original part of the house was built in 1895. The roof is the original wood shake, 3 layers of shingles, and a layer of metal on top for good measure. The screws are ripping through the shingles and the metal is lifting. My thought was that the bats were in an area where there's a decent lift and my idea was to climb up on the middle part of the roof with a ladder, and then take a piece of window screen and a few rare earth magnets to put over where they are coming out. This way the little shits fly out, drop down under the screen and when they come back, they won't be able to get back in because they swoop up to land and will be blocked by the screen. I'm a genius.

The spot is above the window. Ignore the blue chair on the porch. Neighbors gave it to me and I need to fix it.



So I got all the stuff I needed and climbed up on the porch with my ladder. I got about 10 feet from the roof and the little fuckers started sounding off. I'm afraid they either had some sentries or there's a few rabid "day walkers" among them.

Notice the bat shit. Ignore the leaves. I will be getting rid of those after I get rid of the bats.



So I got on my other ladder, grabbed my flash light and shined it between the roof layers.



The picture doesn't show them but there's a row of bats about a foot back. They were flipping me off and shitting - it was a whole thing. I looked farther down the roof and where the roof has that little notch in it would be another bat all tucked in there. I have way more than a dozen of them.

So I'm shopping for a new roof and not too happy about it. Trying to look at it as an investment. I've had 3 roofers out to give me quotes, one more is coming out Friday.

 

Don’t lie, you’re just hoping one morphs into a hot vampire chick that’s into dudes that drink Miller Lite…

 

Damn. I'd look into pest control options first. Unless a new roof is necessary that is.

 

It’s been sub 32f here for about a week with lows around 10f. I stupidly thought my detached well house would be fine/didn’t think about it. I went out there the first very cold night with my temperature gun and realized changes were needed haha (ceiling was 21f, main 500g tank was 36, floor was upper 20s).
So installed a shop heater and insulated the ceiling with (2x6) rock wool. There was a preexisting double breaker labeled heater which I traced and discovered it was a cut line they just pushed back into the wall insulation, ooofta. I was able to reuse that line to make a new 240v outlet (6-20r) for the heater. Heater is nice since it has a thermostat. On low the shed is now 50f on the ceiling, upper 30s floor, tank and most pipes are mid 40s.

 

I like having bats around, they're great at consuming mosquitoes. But living and shitting under my roof is no bueno. Maybe some bat houses combined with bat proofing the roof?
And, no, sexy vampire chicks biting my neck and turning me into an undead isn't an option. No matter how good the sex.

 

This is a mess and I feel bad you are going through that. That said, that roof sounds like trouble as far as all the layers and now stuff peeling up. Ripping it all off, getting some insulation on there and a 50 year shingle or some new tin wouldn't be cheap, but you'd probably save quite a bit on heating. The old houses didn't leave space for insulation and a couple inches of foam board can make a huge difference.

Don't know if you have kids, but some new tin is a new roof for most their lives if its maintained as well. That plus heat savings might get you over the mental barrier. I had to redo an old cabin roof that was close to falling in, adding the new insulation cut our gas use in half probably if not more.

 

That was the first thing I did - the only person I could find to come out wanted $150 to check it out and then would take the $150 out of the total amount he was gonna charge. I’m pretty sure it would be over $1000.

If we ever go to sell this house we are most likely going to have to throw in a roof allowance so I’m thinking it’ll be an investment if we can afford it and we’ll recoup when we sell.

 

Yeah, I hung a bat house in one of the trees nearby. I’d like to have them around but not as renters.

I used to think the roof was from the late 1990’s but after one of the roofers took a drone shot, the roof on the main part of house looks older than the roof over the additions. It’s looking like a total tear off is what we need.

 

That’s something else we are looking at. 95% of the attic is finished out but the heat up there is unbearable in the summer. There’s insulation but between the metal, 3 layers of shingles and the shake, it seems to just absorb it rather than reflect. Plan is to have it torn off, decked (one quote was for a reflective decking), synthetic layer on top of that and then a colored seamless roof. Maybe a Patina Green, Almond, or Slate Grey.

 

We are putting the SL16 metal roof system on the chapel we are building right now. Supposedly pretty easy to put together if you know what you are doing. I just want a roof that I'll never have to replace and hoping that will do the trick. In our other main building with a metal roof, there is a huge attic area that isn't conditioned, then blown in cellulose on the "floor" of the attic that keeps whatever is happening up there out of the occupied and conditioned area. It works well, but only because its a non-used area.

https://www.abcmetalroofing.com/products/sl-16/ (I have no affiliation with these folks, and am actually buying it from a roofer friend who got an order they didn't want but can't return for a big discount.)

Good luck, and post some pics as it goes!

 

Just plasti-dip it

 

Looks like some good stuff - I’ll have to see if one of the roofers uses them. Thanks!

 

Don’t think I hadn’t thought about it.

 

You likely won't even need to replace the tracks unless there's an issue.. Just install the new unit and it should be good to go.

 

I've only dabbled in this area, but I'll say that anything above a tune-up or a minor repair (board or gears inside opener), I leave it to a professional. They're in/out faster and they know exactly what they are doing regardless of issues found. Garage doors are also something that is severely under rated and under appreciated in terms of usage and risk.

Just my .02

 

If you are getting into track replacement, you're likely into springs, but just be careful and methodical and you'll be fine. Worse case, you are without a garage door for a day or two while someone comes out. Best case you save yourself install fees. If you do get into track replacements, test the screws on the existing tracks beforehand and you'll know if you have any sort of dry rot or water damage that needs larger diameter bolts or even repair. Be safe, have fun!

 

That's a lot of roof. Looks expensive.

 

Yeah, I know. I’m thinking around $50k.