Or, in this case, Grandma on a Hot Shingled Roof. I know you're wishing you were up there with me, aren't you, Dr. Dale? Actually, it wasn't particularly hot when I first started out because it was early but by the time I was ready to come down, it was quite toasty.
And why was I spending my Sunday morning on the roof? More storm preparations would be the easy answer but truth is it was something we would have been doing anyway. A forecast of 6"-12" of rainfall just accelerated the timetable. We found a damp spot on the carpet right at the baseboard when we moved some furniture recently and suspected a small leak around that vent pipe. Since it was pretty low on the roof, I volunteered to apply the sealer. Besides, my knees are much better suited to ladder climbing and roof crawling than the big guy's so up I went.
It wasn't a hard job and didn't take long. In fact, I sealed a second pipe in the same area while I was up there...just for good measure. It's funny...we had just seen our neighbor two doors down up on his roof a few days ago doing the same thing. His house was built at the same time as ours so it must be time.
Now getting on the roof isn't high on my list of favorite things to do. That whole getting from the ladder to the roof and back again thing is kind of tricky so when I finished with the vents, I figured I just as well do the other on-the-roof job that needed to be done: Clean out the gutter that runs between the house and the screen enclosure. It's the only gutter on the house where leaves seem to collect just because of how it's built and it's been a while since it was cleaned. Despite the beautiful blue sky overhead, all that rain was coming and the house would handle it better if the gutter were clear.
So I butt-scooted the width of the house while Wayne rigged up a bucket on a rope and we went to work. It needed it badly...there was a whole ecosystem up there! One handful at a time I pulled out clumps of wet leaves, the occasional plant attempting to grow and even a golf ball. And boy, did yoga come in handy as it was a lot of sitting (at the edge of the roof, no less) with the knees out and feet in for stability, then leaning way over to reach into the gutter. We do stretches like that in yoga so I had that move.
The other move wasn't exactly yoga-inspired but more my cowardly crawl moving back and forth to the end of the pool enclosure to lower the bucket down for Wayne to dump. Essentially, I butt-scooted the length of the house multiple times over the course of the morning. Between the rough surface and the building heat, my hands and backside took a beating even though I had on gloves and jeans. And those jeans? Well, they're in the trash barrel now. Not only were they black from scooting across the shingles but I wore a hole in the seat of them. It went well with the ones I already had in the knees so it's not like they were my good jeans.
Three hours and a very clean gutter later, I negotiated my descent and was happy to be back on the ground. And just like the last time, I said I wouldn't wait so long before doing that job again but it's hard to get excited about climbing up on the roof until you have to.
Mark a few more storm preparation jobs off our list. The latest predictions have shifted the storm track west of us for now but we're not out of the woods yet. We'll make the decision tomorrow how many more jobs on that list will need to be done before Isaac arrives but none of them require my feet to leave the ground.
What a woman! I'm scared of my roof, but I have a metal roof and it doesn't have the traction of shingles. It looks like Isaac may be heading more our way than yours at this point and on the anniversary of Katrina! At least it is not expected to be as strong as Katrina.
Posted by: Jan | August 27, 2012 at 06:38 AM
Isn't there a song like that? Butt-Scootin Boogie? Oh, wait -- that's Boot!
Posted by: Linda P | August 27, 2012 at 08:10 AM
You are awesome! I love Linda P's comment.
Posted by: Linda | August 27, 2012 at 08:15 PM
You're a brave woman! I wonder what your husband would do if he sees you doing his job. Heheh. Anyway, why don't you install your gutters on the other side of the roof? It could cause leaks inside your house if leaves obstruct your gutter's downspouts.
Posted by: Santo Caridine | August 29, 2012 at 08:00 AM
I definitely agree with Santo. You are one courageous woman! Some are having a hard time cleaning those gutters, but you did it in a breeze! But I guess, preparation is your strong suit. Prepping your home for the rainy season is definitely a good idea. A clean and debris-free gutter is a good start!
Posted by: Lilia Marchi | October 03, 2012 at 02:31 PM
It's a good decision to clean your gutters and remove those potential hindrances that may cost you trouble when the rainstorm comes. Gutters play an important role on your roofs. It doesn't only control the flow of water to keep away from your house, but it also serves as your protection from potential leaks.
Posted by: Lenore Rushford | October 17, 2012 at 08:58 AM
It must have been hard climbing all the way up. You should have just asked somebody to do the hard work for you. I am pretty sure there is a lot of helping hands who can offer you that. Right, Jan. I too have a metal roof. It does not give me headache when it comes to cleaning or maintaining it so far. Hence, I think I made a good investment there.
Posted by: Richard Boles | October 19, 2012 at 04:34 PM
Here's one of the perks of yoga. :) I applaud you for fixing your roof yourself. See, not every grandma can do that. Well, there's nothing worse than having a leaky roof in bad weather, right? :)
Posted by: Eugene Head | November 12, 2012 at 07:34 AM