The Dreaded List: Garage Roof

Lucy drew up the original Dreaded List. I'm not sure this item was on it, but the paper list has been largely replaced by a conceptual one. It's a bit difficult to see through the screen, but the garage roof was VERY rusty, and it has leaked for all of the 25 years we have lived here. Jo and I set to work, stripping off the old metal, replacing rotten boards, and laying down tarpaper on the first day; applying a plywood deck, a membrane, and edging on the second; and putting on the new metal on the third and final day. Estimates were good: we had enough plywood, just enough roof metal, and almost enough edging--we were 16 inches short! I ordered more from Gerald, plus some L-trim to connect the roof to the back of the house. The day after we finished--Tuesday--it began to rain. It was very strange: it has never been dry in the garage during rain before! After years of scheming about some form more in keeping with the style of the house, we settled on the old design: a single-pitch shed roof. We used a long ramp to draw the metal up onto the roof. Although we were careful to lift two sheets at a time to avoid buckling (they are 14 feet long), the metal is actually stiffer than the type we used earlier, and we had little trouble with it. The first day featured intermittent rain and strong gusts of wind; the air was calmer on the second day when we brought up the bulk of the plywood, and on the third day we actually had some sun.

Deckguard

I love having regular suppliers with whom I've worked for years. That way when I want to know about a product that may not even exist, I just ask: "Gerald, what can I put under a metal roof to ensure there are absolutely no leaks?" "Deckgard," says Gerald, and here it is (evening shot out the back window after a busy day):

Roofing Resumes

All winter the garage was packed with roofing materials: a great stack of  1/2 inch plywood and a pile of 14 foot roofing steel. I built a sort of drawbridge that served the dual purpose of allowing me to reach the toolbox and preventing the cars from crushing the metal. Miraculously, everything made it through the winter unscathed, and in the spring we resumed our interrupted labours. However, instead of continuing with the siding, we tackled the roof, and finished the job in three days. First, we had to strip off the old metal, creating a mound of twisted and rusty sheets to the northeast. Then we rolled down tarpaper (or as the snotty clerk insisted, roofing felt) and laid the 1/2 inch plywood over that.

I replaced only one board, and I hope I don't regret this. I'm relying rather heavily on the thickness of the wood imparting a certain strength even when it's quite, um, weathered. Anyway, here it is, almost complete.