In between the purchase of the property, creating the permit set, getting approval to start, and interviewing various contractors to ultimately do the renovation, there has been period of time where very limited work has occurred on the property. This is what I call the bridge. We have been primarily restricted to minor demolition and chimney work during the last few months as we have waited for approvals and mulled over the various traits of our pool of potential contractors. Waiting to find the right contractor is a bit of a bummer to be honest. It all just takes time no matter how diligent and motivated you are.

In that time however we have unfortunately developed a few leaks in the roof. Much to my surprise I came into the house the other day only to realize that it had been raining on the beautiful parquet floors in our kitchen that we have been so eager to refinish and bring back to their original luster. Yikes.

After speaking with a few roofing contractors, we were advised that to just patch the roof was about $3,500 to $5,000 and that it would be better to just to do the entire roof completely for about $15,000. While I am generally in agreement with this fact, the bigger issue we face is that we are entering the colder months and the ability of rubberized bitumen to properly seal in the cold is limited. Roofing is best done in the Spring, heading into the warm months of the summer, where the heat of the sun welds the roof together.

Looking to save a few bucks, I have recently convinced myself that I do have the ability to patch the roof and save the floor of my wife’s future kitchen. See for yourself:

The truth is, roofing is a relatively simple job and if it is not too involved you can save yourself a lot of fabulous moolah if your willing to take on the challenge yourself. So far so good. The storm clouds in the kitchen have been abated and the buckling has been held to a minimum. The roof is no longer leaking and we are hoping that she holds through the long winter! Sometimes in the process of a renovation there are those unexpected moments when you don’t have a trusty contractor on which to rely, the timing is off, and you may just have to do it yourself.