Now, I have a bit of experience with some things involving maintenance, but Jack suggested that he oversee the job from afar to make certain that my uncertainty about almost everything did not hinder the project. He assured me that it would not be a problem for him provided I sent him pictures and information so he could tell me what the correct way was to do the job. He even offered that he was dealing with a project where he lives that was quite similar to this particular garage roofing project.
When we compared pictures, the projects were, indeed, quite similar. My bit of experience involving maintenance, and Jack's oversight with his engineering degree, would be the best way to get the project done.
One of the similarities between the two projects was a large thicket of blackberries that hindered ingress and egress to one side of the garage. The other similarity was that there was an attached roof on the other side of the garage that served as a carport. When he asked me what I thought of the structure holding up the carport roof, my uncertainty about guaranteeing its integrity made it such that Jack wanted to inspect it himself before making a decision about whether or not to roof it or rebuild it.
It makes sense that if we were to reroof it, as I thought was probably okay, and his inspection turned out that the structure was unsound, that I will have wasted money. He assured me that he could make the calculations necessary to tell me what to do to get the project done with the certainty of an engineer.
As for that big thicket of blackberries, it actually came from the neighboring property. I was pretty sure that they wouldn't mind me cutting it back since the large bush was also a nuisance to them, but it, again, lacked the certainty that he needed. Besides, Jack told me he was faced with the same situation down there, and when he went to the neighbor and told him how much it would cost for his engineering knowledge to remove the berry bushes, he got the door slammed in his face. He had devised a plan for down there that I could use up here that would not require me to demand payment from the neighbors for doing us a favor.
If I were to build some scaffolding beside the carport roof and put a 2x12 board that went from the scaffolding to the roof of the garage, I could remove the existing roof by starting on the side with the blackberries and wheeling the destruction over the crown of the roof. Once I had that done, I could take the new sheeting and roofing over. By starting on the close side of the garage, I would be putting down new material that would then adequately support the materials that would need to go over the crest in order to rebuild the roof on the side of the garage with the blackberries.
I have to admit that I would never have thought of doing it that way, but that is probably why he gets the big jobs, plus all these smaller jobs in between those big ones.
I was able to recruit some help with the labor on the project. They also thought naively that it would be easier to cut back the berry bushes, but when I explained the complexities that the engineer in the family explained to me, they, too, were uncertain enough to follow the lead of the certainty that a degree in engineering brings to such things.
It actually worked really well. We were able to build the scaffold, span the carport with a makeshift bridge, and haul the roof waste off over the crest of the roof and down the scaffolding in only a couple of weeks. Rebuilding it was even easier. That only took another week. We completely reroofed the entire one-car garage in a mere three weeks, and we were able to deny our neighbors any benefit from our labor! It was masterful use of that college engineering degree!
Jack would undoubtedly be pleased when he came up to personally inspect the carport structure to make certain of that which I thought was probably fine. The timing was perfect, too. He had just finished up that one-car garage project down there. All he had to do was his final tests and then he would come up so he could do the final tests on the roof we constructed up here under his oversight.
Jack arrived the next day bandaged up a bit and looking tattered and scratched. He inspected the carport structure and was certain it could be reroofed instead of my uncertainty of merely thinking it could probably be reroofed. He asked me if I had spoken to the neighbors while working on the roof. I told him that I had, but that I didn't accuse them of taking advantage of a day of our labor when our only benefit would have been almost all of the three weeks it took to do the job.
I was puzzled. "Why," I asked, "would you want the berry bushes cleared now?"
Jack explained that when he tested the other roof, he lost his footing on the berry bush side, and landed on his back among the thorny mess. Unable to free himself, he had to call for help. The person who came to see what was going on was the neighbor who slammed his door in Jack's face. It seemed he took some particular delight in calling for help and described his situation as Jack "having a bunch of pricks in his bum."
He made it worse by laughing and telling Jack that the 911 operator told him to "relax and not fight it." Apparently, everyone in the chain of help for poor Jack had some personal fun with his unfortunate situation and at his expense.
I understood. I told him, "You go get some rest. I'll see you in a couple of days."
* * * * *
Other posts you might enjoy:
My Mom's Computer
Envisioning Infinity
Resolution Through Self Reflection
The Fishing Trip (A Final Version): Dedicated to Chas Henderson
A Depressing Tale of Empathy
Is Not Caring Anymore a Mental Health Issue?
