...and in conclusion...
When we bought the house, we knew the bay windows in the kitchen and
living room would need to be replaced sooner rather than later. We got estimates
and settled on a contractor. We were happy enough with the work that he did
during the summer 2001, that when we later decided to update the kitchen and
enclose a side porch to become a pantry, we used the same guy.
When they
were getting ready to add the roof of the new pantry to the existing house in
February 2002, the contractor called me over, "Um, Judi, do you realize that you
have four layers of roof?" "What?!?" I knew we had three layers, which wasn't
kosher, but I had never heard of four layers. We went up to the attic and we
were able to see the shingles from inside. The roof was beginning to separate
and the structure of the room was showing signs of near-collapse. We had been
fortunate with mild winters, but there was no guarantee that the roof would
survive even one more storm. They put in vertical beams to add some support,
clear that this was a temporary solution and something had to be done
immediately. Estimate for repair: $35-50,000.
Our choices: 1. Fix. If we did this, I would never be able to expand the house without wasting that $50,000. Also, there was no guarantee that fixing the roof wouldn't uncover other problems. And we were still living in a house too small for us. 2. Sell and move. Yeah right, who would buy a house with a roof that's about to collapse with pink-tiled bathrooms? We'd have to take such a hit on the price that we'd never be able to afford another house in Stamford, much less Westover that we love. I want my kids to stay in the elementary school they're in. 3. Fix the roof and do the expansion at the same time. Expensive, but seemed clear that it was the right choice. We knew that we'd get our money back in the long run as Fairfield County real estate is hot and will be for a long time. Our street has a wide variety of house sizes and styles, and we wouldn't be the first to do this in our neighborhood. Next...