Of Skylight Roofing…….What’s the Most Expensive Thing on the Menu????

Yes Free Folk of Middle Earth. I’m back. Well not 100% back but back for the second week in a row! That’s got to be some sort of record this year the way this construction blog is going.

It is supposed to be about construction right Jim?

Not much of that going on these days. At least for the last while anyway. I did get a few things done this weekend  so that was encouraging. And I’m supposed to meet with a well guy this Thursday to try and get my water hooked up. That would be a milestone.

The bad news is next weekend I have to put a crane up on 61st street and Broadway. New job starting. It’s good to be busy but it’s not helping on the Hobbit House home front.

So I opened my pool last week. It was the Editor’s idea and it was a good one as usual. Good for morale. Let’s back up a bit.  I don’t know if you remember what happened to my pool opening last year. Remember?

Okay I get. Nobody remembers. It’s okay though we’re all living in our own little bubble world so I get it. The point is is that it was the worst ever. The pool was completely green and I couldn’t fix it. Bottom line was I needed a new filter. But I also went for the salt water conversion option too.

So do you remember the scene in the Wizard of Oz after the house flies through the air in the tornado? You know when it lands in Oz? Remember? Yeah, the house hits the ground with a thud and then Dorthy and Toto go and open the door to see what the heck just happened. So the movie is being filmed in black and white up to that point but when they open the door everything in the land of Oz is in color!!! It’s beautiful. I mean the first time you saw that on Tv when you were a kid in the 60’s it like blew your mind. (The witch is still scaring me to this day believe it or not. Not really sure why that’s relevant.)

That was my pool this year. I’ve never opened my pool in 21 some odd years and seen it basically crystal clear when the cover comes off. It was like I was in the land of Oz. It was beautiful.

Boy Jim that was a lot of writing for not much in the delivery department.

Well it means a lot to me…..but yeah I guess you’re right.

It was kind of like walking into Oz though. Kind of mesmerizing if you will. For the whole family I might add!

Pool temperature 47 degrees.  Munchkins like cold water though. But I  digress.

Turning back towards Hobbit house construction. Yeah, so I finished up the first skylight. The flashing kit that came with it was a little tricky but the flashing concept is all the same. Water travels downhill so work from the bottom up. I don’t really have the time to explain the finer points but I’ll give you a quick rundown with the pictures.

Trim out the sides first.

So this part of the job actually took a lot longer than anticipated. Why you say? Because nothing in the world of concrete is perfect that’s why. I mean if you’re doing architectural concrete or a concrete counter top you can get things pretty close. But it really is hard to get something like this on the money. Especially if you’re not there to oversee the job as it was in this case.

So what does that mean? It means that every piece has to be cut to fit. I was also working by myself doing this which made it ten times harder.(Terence helped me trim out the next one and we did it in less than an hour. Here he is securing the pieces.)

Terence securing the trim.

So here’s roofing 101 in a nutshell.

Install drip edge.
Get started
Get your step flashing going
Finish it off

To be honest I didn’t really show you the hardest parts. Well not hard but the most critical. The flashing details are super important or your skylight is going to leak. And we don’t want that to happen. I’ll try and remember to take some pictures of the next one I do.

That’s one down three to go.

Oh yeah I got a price on a blower door test. About $200. Not bad. Hope to be doing that in a month or so.

One other thing.

Went to brunch this morning and had to bring my Mother-in -Law along. Why does it always seem like there’s some special occasion that has to include her? Like it’s this perpetual Mother’s Day for the little old lady crowd. I don’t get it. She order’s the streak and eggs with a side order of just about everything. There was so much food in front of her we couldn’t even see her….and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing either mind you. Only problem was I had to go out to the atm machine because the bill exceeded my line of credit on my Visa card! Turns out you know who set a record at McKinney and Doyle for largest brunch bill ever recorded for a single patron. We didn’t leave with a doggy bag. We left with a doggy wagon!

I forgot exactly how she said it. “It’s all good. At least I don’t have to go food shopping this week!”

Grrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See you next week!

Jim

4 thoughts on “Of Skylight Roofing…….What’s the Most Expensive Thing on the Menu????”

  1. My husband is also not a fan of The Wizard of Oz, but it is the flying monkeys he especially dislikes. Yes, even now.

    Sally

    Reply
    • Hi Sally. Yes, even now. But tell your husband he’s not alone. The flying monkeys never bothered me. But I’ve heard from more than a few that they are troubled be them.

      Hope all is well and thanks for writing!
      Jim

      Reply
  2. Thank you my dear son-in law,that was the best brunch ever,the only thing I forgot was some danish for my coffee,well I guess, I owe you a.
    big pot of gravy with meatballs and sausage,well not now I’m still full from brunch,oh and don” forget mothers day is May 14th, lets try another place I think I had everything on the menue at McKinney.

    Love ya
    Mother-in-law

    Reply
    • Forgot about Mother’s day. Terence can’t go to college on account of that brunch bill. Poor guy. You’ll have to explain that to him yourself.

      Talk to you later.

      Love ya,
      Jim

      Reply

Leave a Comment