The Mossy Possy

8/25/2015  5:40 PM

Our Homestead needed a new roof.  We did the prudent thing and called around and had a few estimates done.  The estimates ranged from $4,500 to $17,000.  You may wonder how the same roof can vary so much.  The most expensive estimate was done by a quite reputable company and we in no way thought that they were trying to take advantage of us.  The representative did an absolutely great job explaining to us the different types of materials and the accessories that he recommended.  When I gave the company a review online, I gave them a 5 star rating.  The reason why we did not elect to have this company do the roof was that it simply was not in our budget.

The least expensive estimate was given by a friend of ours that works for a roofing company.  He had a few of his co-workers that were willing to do what is called a side-job.  The $4,500 did not include a dumpster, refuse fees, top of the line materials, or a guarantee.  They were not licensed, bonded and insured to do a side job.  Since we do not have home owners insurance on the Lake house yet, this was not going to work out for us.  The price was in our budget, but the risk was not in our best interest.  Bummer.

One of the estimates was done by a 'big box' store and was a couple thousand dollars less than the most expensive one but the gentleman who did the estimate was really not interested in our business or he would have been a bit more informative regarding materials needed and included.  His estimate was just a number that he generated without a detailed list of   materials.  It was too general.  It was out of our price range and his customer service was out of our comfort zone.

The company that we hired to do the job came in with an estimate somewhere in between the low and the high.  The price was right, the materials were picked by us from samples and the job was discussed with us with options provided.  The gentleman is a local businessman with excellent reviews for workmanship and customer service.  He is licensed, bonded, and insured.  Even though his estimate was a few thousand dollars higher than the lowest price, it was still within our budget and the workmanship was actually a value.  We have hired him to be our general contractor and we have already had his 'gutter guy' come out and replace the gutters.  We will also have him rebuild our carport and assist us with leveling the foundation.

When we had discussed what the contractor was going to do, he included removing an old chimney that was no longer in use, electrical pipes and wires that came out of the roof that were no longer in use and new ridge vents and exhaust vent for the bathroom.  He said that he would put a new fan in for us if we wished, but Chris and John put the new vent in and did a great job at that.

John and I took original pictures of the house and did a mock-up on Photoshop with the changes that were going to be done.  It is uncanny how close to the final result we were able to come.

We have nicknamed his roofing crew 'The Mossy Possy'.  They arrived at around 6am and were finished around noon.  The way they worked together was like a well oiled machine.  They had a young man working with them whom's only job was to clean up the mess along the way.  He did a pretty good job too.  Our after the job clean up was fairly minimal.  The debris was hauled away we were left with a pretty awesome looking roof.

Materials being loaded up on the roof.  (Chris & I too, lol)

Hard working group.

Checking and adding flashing as needed.

Our handy clean-up guy. 

You can see some of the new trim color here too. No more chimney, no more unused electrical pipes.

We are very happy with the results of the job and are looking forward to having the carport rebuilt. That is a project that I know you will enjoy with us.
Ta ta for now, Beth