The roof is on fire, redux.

In the course of a weekend, I learned that roofers more than earn their keep. Tearing a roof off is really hard work, and it was only through the help of our friends and family that we actually got it done in time for the roofers to take over. (No, seriously. I was finishing up as they unloaded the truck on Saturday morning.) We still have little bits of debree all over the place and the singles aren't going on until tomorrow, but we're well on our way to a leak-proof roof.

As an unexpected bit, we did have to replace all of the decking on the roof. Most of it would make cracking sounds underfoot, and a few sections wouldn't even be able to support the weight of a small child. The section above the leak in our kitchen was so horribly rotted that at night you could see the kitchen light through it. Once I pulled the flashing off of the vent pipe above it, I could see that there had been a long-term leak there causing numerous problems. Instead of actually fixing it, the previous owners had instead chosen to tar over the trouble spot repeatedly while patching the kitchen cieling. Lucky us.

Next time I read about doing something yourself to save money, I think I'm going to get a more realistic feel for just how much work I'll REALLY be doing.