New Roof: The Good, the Bad, the Quibbling

The good was in yesterday's post. The roofers were nice people to
work with and seem to have done a good job, finishing in one day.
(Sort of makes me nervous, though, that I was originally told they'd
take 2 1/2 days!) At one point, I saw 6 people on the roof. The
weather held and the roof is all done before the house is repainted
next week but I still have some reservations.

One issue is solved at least:

I was really bummed yesterday to see the beautiful new roof with
ugly, dented, tar-smeared stacks poking up out of it. I DON'T think
the stacks were dented before but who knows. On the old roof, the
bases of the vents were covered with roofing tar and roofing granules.

Today spouse woke me up at 7:30 am to tell me the roofers were here -
again! When I staggered outside, they asked if I wanted the bases of
the roof vents painted white or silver to hide the sticky tar and
dents. I chose silver and they returned shortly and spray painted
the bottom of the vents and wood stove chimney. Now instead of
standing out like sore thumbs, the vents blend in nicely. You can
only see the dents with binoculars.

I'm still not completely happy about the ridge vent:

The impetus for the ventilation came entirely from me. A week or so
ago when I read that the Dupont roof liner is a vapor barrier and the
attic space underneath would need ventilating to prevent moisture
problems, I put in a question to the roofer about that but heard
nothing back. The morning of the reroof, I asked again and now he's
agreeing to the need for more ventilation on our over 50 year old,
government built home to protect the warranty on the roofing
materials. He suggests gable vents but I tell him how difficult it
is to get contractors out in Los Alamos and then he suggests a ridge
vent.

Naturally, the idea of cutting a slot on each side of the roof ridge
made me want to throw up then and there. Roofs aren't supposed to
have holes in them and we knew beans about the technology behind the
ridge vent he was proposing. Late last night, the roofer's wife sent
us a link to the product used - Owens Corning VentSure Rigid Roll
Ridge Vents with Moisture Protector Barrier. This helped a lot in
our understanding because spouse really wanted to know how the ridge
vent would keep out driving rain and snow.

There are some minor issues with the installation of the ridge vent
that I'm trying to understand, though:

On the north side of the house, the ridge vent appears to stop
(viewed from the ground) about a foot short of the wood stove chimney
(chimney is NOT on the ridge). In addition, the end of the ridge
vent looks to be more than a yard back from the eave overhang. When
I look in the attic space, though, it looks like the actual slot was
cut up to only 4 or so inches from the chimney but since the ridge
vent stops a foot or so behind the chimney, that means a foot or less
section of the ridge vent slot-cut is only protected by the roofing
liner and ridge shingles, sans the VentSure Ridge Vent.

Then, the other odd thing is that on the south side, the ridge vent
abruptly stops about 4-6" from the edge of the eave overhang. There
is no room for transition of the ridge shingles to blend it in so it
looks like there is a missing shingle. This doesn't seem important
since the "missing shingle" is on top of the eave overhang.

Lastly, it irks me that the roofing owner did not check in on the
crew more often yesterday and didn't even stop by at the end of the
day to take a final look at the roof. Today he came out and I paid
him big bucks for the final payment but he only inspected the roof
from the ground. He seems loath to walk on it. Maybe it's because
he is a big man and in the warm afternoon with heating of the
shingles, he's afraid he would damage it. It seems to me that if you
are a roofer, you should be willing and able to go up on the roof!

He offered to fix the ridge vent on the north end but I need to
research it more and get back to him. I don't want the cut extended
any further but extending the VentSure ridge vent to the end of the
cut seems prudent. He'll be out of town next week. The labor
warranty on the roof is 7 years. I guess I can put a pan in the
attic underneath the unprotected ridge vent slot and check it after a
big rain! I need to have someone unbiased look in the attic to tell
me if I need to have him extend the ridge vent cover - maybe the
county building inspector? Maybe I can ask him to send his crew out
again and he could come too to take a look? But not tomorrow - I
want to sleep until 8 am!

To put things in perspective - our 84 year old next door neighbor was
helicopter-ed to St. Vincent's today. Her spinal osteoporosis is
pinching a nerve. She's in terrible pain and may need surgery. Her
husband is very worried.

New Roof

Yesterday, while I was in Santa Fe for my car's first oil change (got
almost 7,700 miles before the maintenance minder got down to 20% oil
life and I could have waited as low as 15%) and shopping afterwards,
the roofer called to say they would be out today to put our new roof
on. They came this morning about 8 am and are just finishing up
now. Totally amazing! I've been here the whole day. As they tossed
the shingle packets on the roof, it was jarringly loud but getting a
new roof is necessarily a noisy process.

Yesterday, when we advised our next door neighbors that the roofers
would be here today to do a total tear-off of our old roof, the
neighbors on one side said we would get rained on. That's because it
looked for all the world yesterday like the New Mexico monsoonal
pattern was starting and we actually did get some rain yesterday.
I'm glad that our neighbor was wrong and that it's been sunny and dry
all day. Probably too sunny for the hard-working roofers. I gave
them some watermelon slices earlier (not enough) and I've put a
cooler out this afternoon with orange juice, watermelon slices and
trail mix. They are so busy finishing up that I'm not sure they'll
get to enjoy it.

I managed to get two loads of laundry down, choke down some food
(major house maintenance is a major appetite depressant!), make lots
of Monday morning phone calls (delayed from yesterday) and do a
little on the computer.

The new shingles are dimensional rather than plain flat shingles.
This will take some getting used to as it looks too fancy for our
humble abode. It's a pitched roof but the shingles stagger in such a
way as to create a dimensional appearance rather than all laying
uniformly flat.

Instead of using roofing felt, they used a Dupont roofliner which
acts as a vapor barrier. This morning, the roofer advised that we
cut a ridge vent in our roof to ventilate the space beneath the
roof. That and the addition of an ice guard is an upgrade to the roof.

Walked Route

Need to bring lopper and cut down NM locust growing in various places on Route. Obviously pulling it out by the roots last year didn't discourage it at all.

When I was walking on the section that's right below Camp May Road, a gray station wagon stopped and the teenaged passenger in back asked me what I was doing. I said I was walking. Then he asked about my attire and I told him it was for sun protection. My interrogator then wished me a good day and gave me the peace sign as the car drove off. Odd but neat!

Pink wild roses are appearing. DON'T want to cut those down. When I saw some in bloom, cascading down a hillside, I crooned to them about how pretty they were!

Almost back to my car, I saw a scraggly coyote but even odder, it was briskly walking away from a cow elk following close behind. The coyote disappeared and the elk crossed the Bypass Route into the woods, right across the street from the Camp May Road intersection.

As I got back to my car, I saw the elk cross back to where she had come when she was going after the coyote. I watched for a while but then lost her when she went into the drainage. As I drove away, I saw a unidentifiable, bloody piece of flesh in the middle of the road. The radio was playing a song about needing to get back home which was what I was needing to do but I wish I had stopped to investigate. Maybe the roadkill, coyote and cow elk were all connected.

What a Happening Today on Pajarito Mountain!

Today was Summerfest on Pajarito Mountain - microbrewery beer, a
band, the Aspen lift running and the Pajarito Mountain Café open.
Tons of people were up there enjoying the day and the townsite seemed
downright dead and boring when we drove back home. The ski hill was
the place to be today!

Our daughter gave me a real treat! My daughter had asked me what I
wanted for my birthday and I told her "Hike with me!" I already got
to enjoy doing that on a special trail with her and her son
recently. Today I got the rest of my gift - she walked up Pajarito
Mountain with me instead of taking the lift! Spouse has sore ribs
from falling on a hike yesterday so he waited for us down below along
with son-in-law who didn't care to hike up the mountain.

Daughter is a very good, strong hiker. Instead of going down the
same way we went up, I took her down the Rim Run - very steep but
with fabulous views into the Valles Caldera National Preserve. She
has already posted the photo on Facebook that I took of her with the
Valles in the background! After Rim Run, we took a combination of
ski runs and bike trails to get down to the road back to the ski
lodge. She was very happy to finally get a burger and beer for
lunch! We stayed a while longer and I was the designated driver to
take everyone back home.

The Ryan McGarvey band that played was really good. I thought to
myself as we approached the Lodge that it sounded like we were at
Woodstock!

Obviously, Mamas Don't Let Their Sons Grow Up to Be Handymen!

Yesterday, under duress (namely that I need to get it done before the
house painter repaints on June 14) I repaired the damaged concrete
finish below the laundry room door.

I don't know how it got damaged but I have my suspicions that it
happened this winter when the washing machine drain flooded due to a
clog. When we swept the water out the back door, there was a crack
in the threshold and it must have let water get into the coating on
the cement block foundation. The coating then bulged out and was
loose. (I'm using concrete and cement interchangeably here which
shows I probably don't know the difference.)

Anyway, I bought a tube of concrete crack and sealant material at
Lowe's and smeared it in the crack and on the holes and also used it
to glue several pieces of cracked slip coat back on. I can see that
I really wasn't able to completely fill in the deepest defects so I
might top it off with more later. It doesn't look perfect and I
certainly didn't try to duplicate the finish but it's at least sealed
shut now.

Funny thing is that Dad's should really be teaching their girls
handyman skills because often boys are completely clueless. Spouse's
contribution was to nearly step on the newly repaired and still
sticky threshold (and me!) when he stepped on to the back porch to
admire my handy work!

Saved Yard Work for Another Day

Had hoped today to transplant some irises, rake some leaves, cut the
TV antenna wire and seal the hole in the siding and repair the
damaged cement on the foundation but will have to save that for
another day. Maybe I can get it done on Friday afternoon.
Roofer says that will probably reroof the week after the painter
comes. I'll have to hope that they don't damage new paint finish when
they throw down old roofing. Painter will later have to come back to
repaint area of fascia exposed by narrower drip edge. I so much
wanted to get it done before the painter - frustrating!!

Found out that PDR does more mitigation than restoration - mitigation
being drying out water damage as soon as possible after it happens
which prevents the need for restoration. One day when we move out of
this house, we'll have the closet repaired but it's dry now and that
can wait.

Turns out that spouse called about the 938 square feet senior condo
that's available but he says it's too small. I told him that I'd
take the large master suite with bathroom, we'd share the kitchen and
he could have the rest of the house. He's not buying that but at
least he called.

More Details on Cabra Loop-Beanfield Mesa Hike

TS led us on an awesome hike just like the old days before we all
became old farts. We took off from the Rendija Canyon Trail up a
small side canyon on a rough, uphill trail that led up the old
homestead road that DH once took me down and which I've never been
able to find since. Some of the group was very slow so grandson and I
went up the old road and waited for the group.

When some of them got up but more were still coming, grandson and I
took off to find the raptor trap. It turns out that the raptor trap
on Beanfield Mesa is very close to the top of that old road. He was
in disbelief that eagles could be caught that way. After a brief
look we circled around the area to try to find a skull but no luck.
We came back to the trap when the hikers got there.

After they all looked and took their photos, we walked back on
Beanfield Mesa to the site of the homestead cabin that was toasted in
the Cerro Grande fire in 2000. Then we headed to lunch with a view.
I tried to keep grandson's lunch box from him so he wouldn't eat
snacks first but his lunch included a Reese's peanut butter cup. He
ate that to keep it from melting but didn't finish his chicken and
cheese. Regardless, he seemed fueled enough because the hike was
long and after lunch, we still had to walk quite a distance back to
the cars on the eastern branch of the Cabra Loop Trail. Grandson
scored a Barq's Root Beer at the aprés hike refreshments but saved it
to take home.

An aside: the English fellow sat on a cactus and had to privately
bare his bum to his wife so she could pull the cactus spines out.
JS, back from the Ukraine, told JB to go home and put Elmer's Glue on
the wound site, let it dry and then pull the dried glue off and the
small cacti spines would come out too. Cool tip!! Guess he'll give
his wife quite a show while he's drying the glue on his rear end!!

Six Point Elk Shed Along Cabra Loop Trail

On Wednesday's LL hike, grandson was looking for bones - especially skulls. At one point, coming back on the Cabra Loop Trail, I spotted something even better than a skull - a recently shed, mint condition, 6 point elk antler but only one side. Grandson would like to sell it to get the money but we don't know any buyers.

His Dad thought I meant a storage shed when I said we found a shed on the hike! I had to carry it a little less than a mile back to the trailhead - heavy! All the other hikers had passed it by when I spotted it laying just off the trail.

I told grandson that this was a spectacular find! Eventually, if he hikes with me this summer, he'll also find his skull! We found some leg bones, part of a spine and part of either a pelvis or skull.

There were nearly 20 people, the weather was coolish except for one shadeless uphill section, the smoke from the Rio Fire was non-existent and we did 5 miles. Grandson is a very good hiker!

Beautiful Memorial Day in Northern NM

Hiked up Cerro Grande today. Must have seen at least 30 other hikers
but it was less crowded than any other place in Jemez Mountains would
be on Memorial Day. Bandelier National Monument Ranger's radio was
squawking that lower parking lot (at Bandelier Headquarters) was
full. Glad we didn't go there!

Spouse went as far as high pass and WRSC hiking friend went to top -
his first time! Spouse ate lunch at high pass while watching a
ginger-colored, dandelion-browsing black bear that other hikers had
pointed out. After lunch, spouse wrested himself from the high pass
and met us half way up the first false summit as we were coming down.

Bear was still there when we got back to the high pass. We all
watched it for a while. It seemed totally nonplussed by us. Friend
had binoculars and said he'd see the bear go up to a dandelion and
then the dandelion wouldn't be there any more. Imagine a lunch of
raw dandelion flowers! Spouse had earlier asked ranger is it was OK
for him to eat his lunch with the bear on the opposite slope and
ranger said it would be all right. I guess spouse was wondering if
perhaps hiker was on the bear's lunch menu!

Yesterday was another run to the county debris pile to dump the
chamisa bush, some ash leaves and spruce twigs. Still have more in
the back yard to dump this week. Maybe tomorrow?

Tomorrow morning, I get fasting blood tests for annual physical and
then have morning appointment with contractor to look at damaged
board and batten siding. Will call roofer to see when they will
come out. Would like to get the re-roof done before the monsoon
begins because even though the weather is beautiful now,
thunderstorms and hail are in store in July!

Thank you for this beautiful day!

More Pruning - I Need to Get a Life

Worked about 4 hours today, not counting time it took to haul another trunk full and two full garbage bags to the dump. Still lots more to haul away! Unfortunately, I can't fit a lot in the trunk of my measly family sedan.

Boy, the wind really blasted me at the dump. I parked on the pavement and had a little walk over to the brush pile, arms overloaded with trimmings. The wind was really whipping!!

Now all that remains to do is weed the rocks so I don't have tons of brush to haul away in the fall and prune some branches from the ash and spruce. Spouse will hold the ladder next weekend so I can do the branch trimming.

When the sun goes down, I'll take my walk. Never quite made it onto the trail today.

To me, all this pruning is a tremendous waste of my time but I did accomplish a lot. I see now why people hire someone to do yard work. It takes a lot of time and unless you have a pick up truck, you're kind of stuck when it comes to hauling away the debris!

Did 3 loads of laundry today. Briefly stopped at library.

Tomorrow is the trip to Albuquerque for spouse's dentist appointment.

Is this all there is to life? Feeling sorry for self. There will be some good times this week - the high point being the LL hike in Cañada Bonita on Wednesday.