Time seems to be flying by. I thought I'd recently posted, but then I noticed that it's been almost 3 weeks! Ooops!
Our first big project of 2012 was our back patio cover. This is where we started on demo day~
When we first looked at our house (almost 3 years ago), it was one of those moments when we just thought, "Wow! A covered patio. Awesome!" and didn't really look at the detail of it. The first time it rained, though, we realized it leaked all of the way through. Some choice words may have been uttered at that moment...
Then we realized it seemed to be done differently than other awnings. It was basically rigged together by people who didn't really know what they were doing. Last spring when we had the bad hail damage, we had all of the roofing contractors give us their opinion on it. It was confirmed. It was crap. And it wasn't something we could fix (professionally or DIY). It would have to be replaced. New large patio roofs are not cheap.
Then this became noticable~
Yep. It was falling in on us. After we simmered on all of that info for a few months, we started the estimate process and got things going.
Always talk to multiple contractors and get bids when doing a project. Check sources like the Better Business Bureau website and Angie's List. We chose the third contractor we interviewed. The company had great reviews and a great book of work. It's worth sharing, though, that our first contractor's bid was 100% higher than our end cost and our second contractor's bid was over 50% higher than our end cost. That's why it's good to get multiple bids, folks!
The old roof came down and the new roof went up in a matter of about 6 hours. It turned out that those old ugly white prom columns weren't bolted to the ground or the roof. One big blow to one of them and the whole thing would have caved in...
Here is where we ended up~
Much better! I'm toying with having them restain it a darker brown. I think that would look better with our house. What do you think?
We also still have to have the electric rehung. I haven't decided if I want lights or fans. I would love to do some hanging pendant lights, but the wind in Texas is fierce so I'm not sure that would work.
Next up we had to relandscape the back flower bed...it sort of got fried last summer. Hopefully, I can get pictures of it up early next week.
Happy Weekend!
Our first big project of 2012 was our back patio cover. This is where we started on demo day~
When we first looked at our house (almost 3 years ago), it was one of those moments when we just thought, "Wow! A covered patio. Awesome!" and didn't really look at the detail of it. The first time it rained, though, we realized it leaked all of the way through. Some choice words may have been uttered at that moment...
Then we realized it seemed to be done differently than other awnings. It was basically rigged together by people who didn't really know what they were doing. Last spring when we had the bad hail damage, we had all of the roofing contractors give us their opinion on it. It was confirmed. It was crap. And it wasn't something we could fix (professionally or DIY). It would have to be replaced. New large patio roofs are not cheap.
Then this became noticable~
Always talk to multiple contractors and get bids when doing a project. Check sources like the Better Business Bureau website and Angie's List. We chose the third contractor we interviewed. The company had great reviews and a great book of work. It's worth sharing, though, that our first contractor's bid was 100% higher than our end cost and our second contractor's bid was over 50% higher than our end cost. That's why it's good to get multiple bids, folks!
The old roof came down and the new roof went up in a matter of about 6 hours. It turned out that those old ugly white prom columns weren't bolted to the ground or the roof. One big blow to one of them and the whole thing would have caved in...
Here is where we ended up~
Much better! I'm toying with having them restain it a darker brown. I think that would look better with our house. What do you think?
We also still have to have the electric rehung. I haven't decided if I want lights or fans. I would love to do some hanging pendant lights, but the wind in Texas is fierce so I'm not sure that would work.
Next up we had to relandscape the back flower bed...it sort of got fried last summer. Hopefully, I can get pictures of it up early next week.
Happy Weekend!
