Roofing a House - it's way cool - You should try it!

Have you ever lived through the process of having a new roof put on a house?  I had not until June 3, 2015.  It was a very interesting experience which I am going to document here in photo and video form.

Our house ("Old House" for my loyal readers) was built in 1973.  We'd been told by inspectors that it had 2 layers of shingles on it.  At one point, a year or so ago, we lost some shingles in a storm, and the workers who came to repair it said that we should really think about getting a new roof - this one was on its last legs.  In March of this year, we began the process of getting estimates for a new roof.  We got quotes from 3 companies which all had good ratings with both the BBB and Angie's List - we do our homework!

We settled on a company called B&T Roofing and set the date for approximately June 1.  A week ahead of the big date, I called to see how their schedule looked.  They told me they thought they would be able to get to us on Wed, June 3, and indeed, they did!

The first workers arrived before 7:30 am to start removing the old shingles.  They parked an old pick-up truck in the driveway to receive the debris and laid large tarps on the ground all the way round the perimeter.  They spent several hours removing what was there.  At times, it was very loud (actually louder than the installation of the new shingles later).   They also found a few places where the decking needed to be replaced.  While they had the decking off, they got into the attic and vented the bathroom ceiling fan, which had never been vented outside.  That may have been code in 1973, but it isn't any more.
Here is a photo of the nakey roof:

We stayed safely inside during the removal process because we didn't want to end up with anything on our heads, but once they finished this phase and took a break, we ventured outside with the camera.

Next came the laying of the new deck pieces where needed, and then the vapor barrier and water/ice block.  

Here's what that looked like on the shed (which had not previously had any vapor barrier) and on the house:

In this last photo you will notice a crane.  That proved to be the most interesting part of the entire process.  Even though I have seen houses in the neighborhood getting new roofs, I had never before seen the truck that delivers the shingles with a crane on it.  When I saw this monstrosity arrive in the driveway, I grabbed the camera and started shooting. Here is what the truck looked like before the crane was opened up:

Here is the process of the crane opening up:  

Here is a video of the crane doing the business of lifting the shingles on to the roof:

After all the shingles were up on the roof and unloaded from their pallets, we got to listen to the rhythmic nail gun which hit each shingle 6 times.  Da - DaDa - DaDaDa.... over and over the same rhythm.  Fascinating!  Here is the finished roof!  

In the photo above you will notice something called a ridge-vent running along the peak.  That is new to us as well.  From our salesman, we learned all about the new regulations for venting attics.  Ours, with its 5 metal boxes along the back of the peak, was not adequately vented.  He recommended removing the boxes and cutting an opening along the entire peak ridge and putting in a vent that stands up about an inch or so.  After we learned about them, we started noticing them all over the neighborhood.  Evidently, we were the last to receive the memo!

The next step in our process will be to add attic insulation to increase the R-value to R-46.  More about that on another day!

Do you need a new roof?  Good luck with that!

:)Amy