Slate Roof

Home improvements are finally on the horizon: my loan was approved last week. On Monday, the roofer came to the house to help me pick out the shingle color (slate) and the gutter color (charcoal). I spent most of Sunday afternoon in the suburbs, driving around to address after address provided by the roofing company to check out shingle colors. I thought I had it all planned out: a taupe-y color called Barkwood was my pick. When I told the roofer on Monday, he poo-poohed that idea and told me "shingle colors look totally different depending on the color of the house." So my trip to the burbs was a total waste of time. Still, I made him crawl up on the roof with a big swatch of Barkwood to prove to me that he was right. He was. It looked awful. He put his color pick up there--a shingle called Weathered Wood. Not bad. Then I remembered my friend Lisa and her advice. Lisa is an artist, architect, and designer, and I bug her all the time with questions about the house. I'd asked her to recommend a roof color, and she said, "soft, warm grey. Definitely." Really? On a red brick house? I doubted her. Still, I said to the roofer dude, do you have anything in a warm grey? He rooted around in the back of his truck and pulled out a grey swatch. "This one is my favorite," he said. "Slate." He climbed up, threw it on the roof, and Voila! Lisa was right...again! Tomorrow I have to call to set the roofing date. There's no turning back now.

Next week, I have a mason coming on Wednesday to look at my chimneys to see if they need any tuck pointing. Next Friday, the electrician comes to install the bathroom fan. It's going to be pretty crazy around here this year. I have a long list of things on my house to-do list, and it's getting longer. I came home from work the other day, and I couldn't open the front door. I went in another door, but I couldn't open the front door from the inside either. The old knob has finally given up. It was then that I really noticed how warped the 1935 door is. Looks like I might have to add that to the list. You know, I'm a little concerned that the house has realized that the loan was approved, and now it has just decided to stop trying to hold its old self together. Things could get ugly fast.

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