This Old House, I should write a book….but wait, there’s already a tv show called that, so I can’t.  My house was built in 1918 and I love it.  It is old, it has character, and quirks,  but  there is still a lot of the original quality to it. 

There was an outhouse out back at first.  A lady I used to work with told me her grandparents had built the house, and during Prohibition, old Grannie Ocker would take her moonshine bottles out and throw them down the outhouse hole when she heard that the revenuers were a comin’.  That’s a neat story but I’m very thankful for running water and a flushie!

Anyway, evidently original standing seam tin roofs last about 91 years, and mine is 92 years old.  In a terrible 3 day rain we had a couple of months ago, I had water dripping, slowly, from a bedroom ceiling.  Slowly, but any unexpected water is……….OH WATER! 

Up to the attic, to find several places with water dripping in.  Get the bucket and a pot and a dish pan and a tarp! 

So, there is a lady I work with who always talks about her husband, who has his own roofing business, and has said so much about his work ethic.  Time to have a sit down talk with him!

Shawn Kriner is everything you want in a contractor to do work on your house.  He’s a nice man, honest, great work ethics, employs well-trained people who work as a team.  And he does what he said he would do, and for a fair price!

He said we could repair, and repair again next year and, well you get the picture.  The tin is finally starting to rust through. Knowing next year at the first big spring rain, I would be wondering if I should have called him already to do this year’s repair, I changed thought processes.   I held on to the edge of the table with both hands and asked him to give me a ball park price on a new roof.

The price was understandably a lot, but not nearly as much as I had expected.  A new tin roof would cost 3x as much, and tin today is not as energy-efficient, so we started out talking about shingles.  He said that shingles would improve the insulation value of the roof surface and should lower my heating costs.  Oh, I liked that!

So, we made a deal to have a new roof, an unexpected big expense, but one that would end future problems, improve the value of my house, and maybe save some heating money.  And in the end, it looks great too!

Shawn has various choices as to shingles and we chose a good grade with a 30 year warranty.  And a color that goes well with the siding on the house. He brings samples of shingles and explains well about the differences in types, etc. His work is fully guaranteed for 10 years on his craftsmanship. He is well insured and very professional in the way he operates his business.  He also uses only the best quality of under treatment and other materials to prepare the roof for shingles. 

It’s easy to complain when something isn’t done right, and it’s just as easy to tell people when you’ve had a great job done, and I like to do that!  Shawn and his team did a wonderful job for me with this roof.  I asked a lot of questions cos I like to know what’s going on with my house, and he explained everything to me so I would understand.  They tarped the area around the house and protected things when they were dropping pieces of  tin down from the roof.  Then they went around the house afterward to make sure all debris was picked up. 

If you need roof repairs, or a new roof, or a free estimate for any of that, I’d recommend Shawn Kriner.  He has a web site: http://krinersqualityroofing.com/