It always turns into a bigger job

When friends host us, we (Craig) always try to help them out when we can with handyman tasks ( they are willing to trust us). In DC, my friend had a short list which included a 2 areas of possible roof leaks. Her duplex neighbor spotted one issue which was on the small roof that contained a skylight to her kitchen. Through her second floor window over the skylight roof, she noted some rotted wood in the corner of the skylight roof adjacent to my friends. There also was a water ring around a ceiling light on my friend’s second floor.

In order for Craig to investigate and repair if possible, we needed an extension ladder and had to access the roof through the neighbor’s property. Home Depots and Lowes are not that accessible in DC. We found a Home Depot that had an appropriate length ladder and we drove across town Saturday afternoon to rent a ladder. We got a 3 section extension ladder 6 feet long that fit in the back of Craig’s car. We got supplies for a roof repair. The ladder worked great for getting him from the neighbor’s deck to the skylight roof. However pulling the ladder up to the skylight roof so he could inspect the second floor roof was more challenging. It was tricky positioning the ladder around the skylight. My friend had used her skylight roof area for a walk-in closet/master bathroom during a renovation over a decade ago.

The rotted wood was at the junction of the “new build” with neighbors wall. It was easy to identify and it looked like it could be fixed. Inspection of the second floor roof revealed at best shoddy work or at worst NO work by a roofing contractor 6 years ago. It is possible that new sealant was placed over old sealant but the old sealant. Without scraping off the deteriorated sealant, new sealant would be less effective. While Craig did not identify anything that was an active leak, the area around the air-conditioning unit was concerning. Once this shoddy work was seen by Craig, it could not be unseen. He hates trusting others to do good work and my friend had NOT gotten good work 6 years ago so he decided he wanted to take care of it.

He worked 8 hours Saturday (until dark) and 4 hours on Sunday and felt he had likely corrected the problems. I was ground support making another trip to Home Depot and three trips to Ace Hardware to get everything he needed. Once he was on the roof, it was too difficult to move the ladder between levels so he just stayed on the roof. We used a long outdoor extension cord to move supplies, food and hydration from ground to the skylight roof. He sweat enough on Saturday that his bladder did not become an issue. We communicated by text as I waited indoors. He did not appreciate my comments or concerns about his safety while he was working.

I continue to be amazed by what Craig can figure out how to do even in difficult situations. He does not take on tasks he does not feel he can do safely. I do everything I can do to support him. It has taken me a while to learn to leave him alone while he is working and trust that he will let me know when he needs something. Truthfully I am not all that comfortable with it but my worry does not help him at all.

We both felt GREAT about what we were able to accomplish. Doing good deeds is a helpful distraction from the gloom and doom of our descent into Fascism.