Love Our New Roof

When the home inspector told us the roof was in need of replacement, we contacted Sebastian Builders. Not only did they have a great website, but they were recommended by a local homeschooling mom.

http://www.sebastianbuilders.com/

The information that Sebastian provided on the day of the estimate was hard to stomach. Because there were two layers of old, crumbling asphalt shingles on top of wood shakes; the majority of the roof had to ripped down to the rafters. The biggest issue was the old wood shakes, which are a fire hazard and not up to current building codes (basically, we had no choice). To make matters worse, home homeowners insurance agencies were going to require that we replace the roof within 1 month of closing. And still worse, we had to budget twice as much as originally expected for the roof replacement. Ouch. Fortunately, we were able to negotiate with the seller who provided some monies toward the roof replacement at settlement. We were also able to tweak the amount of our down payment to make sure the roofing could be done immediately.

But, no. It did not happen immediately. We were originally hoping to have it done sometime in the 1st half of December, but the weather would not cooperate. Stephanie from Sebastian kept in good contact and apologized for the delays. What we needed were at least two days with a zero percent chance of precipitation and some warmer days after that for the roof to cure. Finally, we got our window of opportunity on January 4th and 5th.

They rolled up at 7:15am on January 4th with a large crew of guys. They quickly staked out the house, put tarps all around the perimeter of the house and began ripping off the roof. They told us we could be here during the process, and let me tell you it was WILD. The house vibrated, debris cascading off the roof like a waterfall. After the majority of the upper roof was ripped off, I ventured outside, through the war zone to take some pictures.



After almost two full days, it’s almost all done. They'll be back tomorrow morning to put the gutters and downspouts on. We are very pleased and commend Sebastian Builders for their superior work. They were the more expensive of the two estimates we had, but definitely the better company. When we were faced with the two estimates, with Sebastian coming in at almost $5000 more than the unknown company that wasn't even including gutters and downspouts, I asked myself a very important question, which was "What would Norm do"? Norm is my very wonderful father in law.....and when I asked myself that question it was clear that Sebastian Builders were our people. I broke the news to Ted and he agreed.

A gentle reminder to folks in the fixer upper boat. When you have to get major structural repairs done, go with the best, most reputable company. Even if it blows 50% of your renovation budget. Even if you have to stretch more than you thought possible. You'll be glad you did!