Our roof

We love our house here in Pittsburgh.  It was built in 1961 and is showing some of its age however.  The air conditioner and furnace are limping along, and the back portion of the roof (over the addition) has been in need of TLC for a while now.  Last year on the day before Christmas we had a leak in Henry's room that went through his roof and into the computer room below.  Thankfully Ben and my Dad scaled our incredibly steep roof in the front (since this is the only portion of the roof accesible by our normal sized ladder) over the ridge and onto the back and repaired it. 

Over the summer my Dad asked if I had ever had a professional come look at it.  I blew it off, knowing that Ben and Dad had done a wonderful job.  However, I hadn't counted on 40-50 mile windgusts blowing an 8x8 foot section of my roof over onto itself...RATS!! 

Anyway, last Tuesday I got home from running errands and my neighbor told me that there had been someone from the township in my backyard.  So, I called the township, who transferred me to code enforcement, who called me back to let me know that part of my roof was missing.  So, some neighbor (and there are only 3-4 that can even see the top of my roof easily) called the township, instead of walking around and telling me.  So, the roof was in disrepair for a week before I knew it.  But, at least I found out.  So, I got one estimate before we left town last week ($5400..yikes), and then 2 more people came out today to give me estimates...one of whom did a patch job for me, so hopefully we can make it to the next set of sunny days when we can get the roof replaced.

Ah...the joys of home ownership.  This is our 4th house and 2nd new roof.