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y project for summer 2004 initially was either to build a two car garage or have my septic system replaced. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to it since my roof started to get some leaking in my old master bedroom. Age, wear\tear and the trees from my removal project had taken their toll on the roof.

Remebering back to my home inspection in 1997 when I bought the house, the inspector said I could get 1 or 2 more years out it. In a way, I guess I was lucky since it could have needed replacement in the middle of another project when I might not have had to money to afford it. The roof was originally put on back in 1988 and has lasted 16 years so I'm guessing 15 year shingles were used. The approximate area was 20 squares. I called about a dozen different places for estimates. Some never called back, a few were booked for the whole season and one was longer in the roofing business. The following are the 4 companies that responded to my call with a description and their price:

Estimate 1 - $6800. Remove old tiles, put an ice\water membrane barrier on entire dormered back of the house and up 6 feet of the front. Tile entire roof with 30 year shingles and replace drip edge.

Estimate 2 - $6100. Same as Estimate 1 except cheaper.

Estimate 3 - $3400. Wanted to tile over existing roof with 30 year shingles and put 90 pound rolled roofing on dormered back of the house.

Estimate 4 - $12,300. Showed up, took measurements, sent me his estimate 2 1/2 weeks later (1 week late). Similar to Estimate 1 except he had extras like continuous soffit vents and vent ducting from the soffits to the ridge vent in the attic.

Estimate 4 was very pricey and the guy wasnt very timely in getting me his estimate. I was slightly skeptical about Estimate 3 since they were opposed to removing the old roof at first. I asked around and most people recommended it only as a last resort for multiple reasons including: increased load on roof, current rotting on roof boards would go unnoticed, and cause of future leaking's location could not be determined. I liked Estimate 2 since they weren't the highest nor the lowest. They got back to me with my questions quickly and when I inquired about rates for putting in skylights, they quoted me reasonable price. If I bought the skylights, they would installed them for $100. If they had to cut the rafters, it was an extra $50. If I wanted them to do the inside work, another $150. I decided on going with the $150\window charge since I knew I could handle the interior drywall and trim. This price would later changed because the roofer complained he wanted more money but I'll get to that later in the story.

For the skylights, I went to Home Depot and priced some Velux and Anderson skylights. What I found was that it's basically double the price if you want them to open up. In my case, this wasn't necessary since I only cared about light. The ones I liked the most were 30x46 and were around $240 a window.

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