#paulsroof — Public Fediverse posts

TL;DR #PaulsRoof new room is now 80% done. We started last fall replacing the flat roof over the kitchen and the mess it was, and the existing 60 year old metal carport with a pitched wood and shingle roof. Now we save for the finish work and hopefully have it done by the mid-November, one year after this project started.

What is left to do in the new room, which will be music, arts and crafts, sitting and wellness room with Penny's cardiac rehab exercise equipment, is the finish work and that will have to wait as we have to save for materials and labor.

In the meantime, Penny threw some accent paint on one wall and the music stuff is going in, including piano, my lift chair and her recliner, a small tv, etc. Carpet is down.

It will take us around 3 to 4 months to save up with the high cost of everything. She will keep going to Habitat for Humanity ReStore for materials like we did with the windows, doors, electrical outlets and wire, etc. They nearly give the stuff away.

Interesting to note, no visitor will go beyond this room and enter the main house, thus reducing germs and the risk to our health. We plan on adding a 1/4th bath, which is a handwashing vanity, which we reclaimed during the bathroom handicap accessible remodel in 2021, if you ever wondered what a 1/4th bath is.

Up on the right, by the door with the windows, is the garage. As a bonus, our home now has an attached garage. I guess that helps the resale value if we ever decide to sell

We will live with the unfinished trim, ceiling, etc for a few months until we get it done and know we are doing it without a mortgage and if either of us should meet our demise, the other will be left a home without a mortgage.

recap post: https://oldfriends.live/@paul/116978434310404858

First coat of paint in the new room on the accent wall. All the painting has to get done before that roll of carpet goes down. #PaulsRoof

That white door is keeping the cats out of that area until some work gets done there. That is the landing for the door that goes to the basement

Even with the datacenter induced higher electricity rates here in #Ohio, all the work to the house this past year, including the heating and cooling system, new roof, insulation, etc, our July electric bill was 42% less than it was last year and our cooling was more even and home more comfortable even with el nino heatwave.

Making sure every room had an air return made a difference, not to mention the weatherization and insulating we did, esp with #PaulsRoof and the converted carport room.

A story of an unwanted carport in 4 images... #PaulsRoof The new room is near completion.

The new room is 13.5 feet by 36 feet.

We save for material and then save for labor. It's been going on since November 2025 in phases. First, the roof. Then the walls. Then the siding and windows, then the wood floor, then the ceiling and now the rough drywall, electrical and wiring. Hopefully, soon, enough saved to finish the inside with final drywall work, trim and flooring by November 2026. https://oldfriends.live/@paul/115602713323747862

Hope everyone has a great day. We are taking it easy today. So far, the weather is nice so might tinker in the raised garden beds or around in #PaulsYard some. The #PaulsRoof converted carport new room is almost complete, so, hopefully today the cats can get in there and see what all the fuss and commotion is about. They are going to love the full length glass door to look out of.

#SissyCat is doing better with #MillieCat but not 100% there yet. Still separating them when we leave the house for more than an hour or so.

tl;dr Just a general update about me with 8 subjects for #FediBusyBodies... lol🤭

1) #PaulsYard and #PaulsGarden is coming along. As far as production goes, this year will probably be a bust. Fall planting and early 2027 spring planting will hopefully result in a very productive year next year. Still have some work to do, like irrigation, but it will come in the fall and winter. (If we save $$)

2/ Still haven't got the place feeling like "my space" after we had to clear most of the house out for the floor replacement.

3/ Penny is doing fine from her Widow maker heart attack. Still has limitations but she survived it and is making the best out of the limitations. August will be two years already. The #Fediverse helped me greatly to get through it. The time she was in the hospital I was never alone because of you folks and Hashtag game players.❤️

4/ My recent Spinal Baclofen Pump replacement surgery went smoothly, pain minimum, and no sign of infection a week in. My overall health is stable but there has been some progression in my Parkinson's plus, Multiple System Atrophy, but not at the speed that is average. My progression is way slower and they are trying to figure out why to see if they can replicate it for other people with it.

5/ Taking care remotely of an 85-year-old aunt is a hard thing to do and we are preparing for her now to move in here at some point. We are finishing the new room from #PaulsRoof into a suite for her. Two 180 miles round trips per week in the summer is taking its toll on me.

6/ #SissyCat still won't accept #MillieCat into the family and a few months in, we are at our wits end. Sissy's overall demeanor has change.

7/ Got my self-hosting home lab setup with some #FediFriends help. Got a lot of work to do still but I already migrated MS OneDrive and Google Drive over to it. So the degoogling will be done

8/ Knock on wood, but there seems to be a truce in effect in #PAulsRaccoonWar. For whatever reason, they walk on the edge of my property, but are getting into two neighbors home. I am thinking our place is not worth the aggravation.

That's about it.

@stinerman We plan on doing something next year re swimming, if we can save up. I will need a pool Hoyer like lift to put me in and out. My insurance will pay for a pool lift but not any pool.

But yeah, I get my best rehab to my muscles in aqua therapy.

The people that did #PaulsRoof has eyed a place out the side of the living room where a deck can go if we swap a window for a door and the elevation is perfect for a generic above ground pool with it built around it...

We already got the door at Habitat for Humanity ReStore. It will be a spring project if we save around $3K

@ai6yr do you have access to recent US images? I've been searching for a recent birdseye of my house since we did #PaulsRoof last fall and some of #PaulsYard since Spring and still learning how to grab recent ones either free or low cost

2/ We finally saved up enough money to get the siding on the back converted #PaulsRoof carport that is going to be the health and fitness hobby room installed. We already had everything, just saved for labor. They did that today and put up the rafters for the ceiling inside. Now, we have to wait a few more months to save up enough to get the drywall to finish the ceiling and walls. Hoping Habitat for Humanity Restore gets a pallet in cheap! Those windows and doors came from there.

If you are doing any yard work, work on your home or apartment, need decent furniture, all at a decent price and live near a Habitat for Humanity Restore, check it out before going to a big box retailer... I can testify that they have saved us a lot of money. They are open to the public also and their profits goes for a good purpose. Many retailers donate old stock to them. #PaulsYard #PaulsRoof

https://www.habitat.org/restores

They are in #Canada, also https://habitat.ca/en/restore/find-a-restore

My neighbor is selling their house and had a new Birdseye view taken. As a result, #PaulsYard is in the pic.

It looks awesome!

If you zoom into the raised beds you can see the plants growing. #gardening

The new #PaulsRoof looks good too. That back portion is three years old. I wished we had been able to match the new darker black with the back grey. The white old tin is on the agenda to be replaced this fall when we save enough money. It is probably 60 years old and thin as heck in places

2/ The contractor came out and repaired the issue with #PaulsRoof's framing. They ended up ripping some things out and doing a small portion over and the issue should be resolved. They didn't just do a Band-Aid on a problem. I'm so glad they stand by their work.

Welp, a #PaulsRoof story. There was one decision my roofer/framer made that made me uneasy. I talked several times with them about it but they assured me it was ok.

The storms and heavy rain proved me right the other day and I called them, unsure what their warranty and response would be.

They stand by their work and will be here in the morning to address it. That's a relief.

Wheelchair ramp has been moved from the front porch to the converted carport room. It's still unfinished inside but is the primary entrance to the home.

We have to save up for materials and labor to get that room done.
#PaulsRoof #PaulsYard

We have to get two rooms in our house totally empty by 8AM Monday morning and both Penny and I are whooped. I just put stuff in bins but both of us are dragging.

They are coming to pull up the subfloor of the last two rooms that need new plywood in our old house and do some floor joist repair and posts and beams. Then, all it will be new in the house.

Even though these floor repairs are covered under Medicaid's home chore and maintenance, the finish flooring isn't so we will have to save up for the finished flooring. This will burn my yearly home chore and maintenance allotment. The program pays for safety issues, basically.

They are also moving my wheelchair deck and ramp to the new doorway by the former carport, now an emerging room.

Note, the stuff we did with #PaulsRoof is not done with the Medicaid program that keeps me out of the nursing home. They don't do anything with roofs or elective remodeling.

Before I entered the program, I was in the hospital several times per year, usually one being critical. In the decade I have been in the program I haven't had an unplanned hospital stay and only 2 ER visits.

About the program:

The Ohio Home Care Waiver (OHCW) is a home- and community- based services (HCBS) waiver operated by the #Ohio Department of #Medicaid (Ohio Medicaid) and is designed for individuals with physical disabilities and unstable medical conditions to receive care in their homes and communities instead of nursing facilities, hospitals, or rehabilitation facilities. OHCW allows individuals to have more control of their lives, remain active participants in their communities, and make important choices about the care they receive.

The following services are covered by OHCW, as defined in OAC Rule 5160-46-04.
Adult day health center services.
Community integration.
Community transition.
Home care attendant.
Home delivered meals.
Home maintenance and chore.
Home modification.
Home medical equipment and supplies (supplemental adaptive and assistive devices).
Out‐of‐home respite.
Personal care aide.
Personal emergency response system.
Supplemental transportation.
Waiver nursing.

https://medicaid.ohio.gov/families-and-individuals/citizen-programs-and-initiatives/hcbs/ohio-home-care-waiver

On the work we have done to fix #PaulsRoof, esp the biggest expense of pitching the flat roofs, we have paid 15% to sometimes 25% more for materials because we won't buy materials from unethical companies like Home Depot. We could have saved a lot of money by shopping at Home Depot.

Oh crud. Where we live in #AppalachianOhio you don't have to get "building permits. #Ohio

Yesterday, I found out that you are supposed to self-report to the county auditor (tax dept) any "improvements" over $2000 within 60 days of starting or they hit you hard when they do the property reevaluations or, if they find out about it, and our Republican county is big on hitting people hard.

I am self-reporting today to reduce any penalties, if any.

"Upon the discovery of a building or improvement that has been constructed but of which the county auditor has not been notified as required by this section, the county auditor shall appraise it and place it upon the tax list and duplicate at its taxable value, together with a penalty equal to fifty per cent of the amount of taxes that would have been charged against the building or improvement from the date of construction to the date of discovery had the county auditor been notified of its construction as required by this section."

If we end up in tax court, everybody on the fediverse knows we started our improvements with the intent of replacing the flat roof, #PaulsRoof, (which should be exempt from reporting) then at some point, decided to turn the carport into a health room after the bad winter prevented Penny from going to elective cardiac rehab like she did three times per week for over a year after her heart attack.

:ohio2: Section 5713.17 | Duty to notify county auditor of improvement costing over $2,000 - penalty - examination of buildings.
Ohio Revised Code/Title 57 Taxation/Chapter 5713 Assessing Real Estate

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-5713.17

If you are following #PaulsYard, so far so good. Lots of work left but we have some help plus we still have the garden club that is going to do a weekend soon, helping with the raised beds, etc.

If you are wondering about the center dirt, it is seeded with 3-season bloom wildflowers. #NoMow

The old through-the-wall AC on the porch will be getting yanked out soon and when we did #PaulsRoof, we reclaimed enough siding to patch it.

We have a good helper. He only wanted $8 per hour but we couldn't pay that morally and pay him $15 an hour, or depending on the job, we do it flat rate for the job so he can work around the heat and sun, etc, with just a deadline, like two or three days. #Gardening

The doctor who has been coming to my house for years passed our house today during our visit because of all the #PaulsRoof changes and recent delawning and getting rid of non-native items in the yard. They finally looked for the blackberry bushes by the driveway to find us. He joked he was about to turn GPS on. lol.

@uastronomer Here's me worrying about #PaulsRoof last year. Shows the mess better than the previous reply

https://oldfriends.live/@paul/115500521749793669

@uastronomer We recently got rid of two flat roof that joined at different pitches out of fear of leaks, and literally the day before they started building up the roof, it started leaking, nearly 6 years after we moved here and I started obsessively worrying about it. #PaulsRoof https://oldfriends.live/@paul/115640059887143072

Sat outside while Penny painted the repurposed new front door. People stopped and told us we are doing a wonderful job on the house. Many were surprised we have lived here for almost 7 years. lol. They aren't used to seeing me outside, at least in the front. #PaulsRoof

The carport conversion to the cardiac fitness, music and rec room is coming along nicely. The window and door out to the future garden "patio" is in.

Tomorrow, the siding goes up on the outside front then we will have a two week layover until we get the crew out again to finish the siding and do some interior work. #PaulsRoof

What started as getting rid of a couple flat roofs turned into this.

Our goal is to get it dried in, some electrical, get the outside done and setup Penny's cardiac equipment and stop.

We'll wait a few months to do the extensive interior finish.

Penny went with tan siding, white trim and going to paint the doors Hunter Green. If you recall, we found the siding for $2.22 per panel and purchased a bunch of it. That was like getting 7 panels for the price of 1.

Friendly possum checking out what is going on!

Update on #PaulsRoof. We decided to turn the carport into a cardio and physical therapy room, painting and music room.

Carport is roughed in. In a stroke of luck, Mernards had vinyl siding on sale for $2.22 per 12 foot panel. The cheapest we found was like $15 per panel and we need 66 panels. So hooray, it will be getting siding immediately.

Going to Habitat For Humanity Restore for a couple windows and doors.

The carport has now been extended and is a whopping 13.5 x 32 feet long (red box, first image). It's not shingled but does have the water barrier on it. They will be back tomorrow.

They had to contend with the new valleys from the new pitched, previously flat, roof and the elevation differences between the garage, the house and the new roof. Pretty ingenious they way the did it. They made an inverted curve valley to usher all the water away 5 feet wide from where the "old" new carport is and where the garage starts, giving it room to slosh around. Guess where a rain barrel for our plants is going. lol.

#PaulsRoof . edit, fixed red box on first image size

As I posted yesterday, phase one of the new roof, pitching of the flat roof, is complete. It is entirely pitched. First images shows all the pitches before they started.

They are now going to extend the roof over to the side door of the garage so we can enter and exit the garage in dry if it is raining or snowing (Denoted with red arrows), and do final trim work on all the new roof as well as start another phase of ripping out the old tin and sheathing and shingling it on the front, and remaining old roof.

We ended up with new attic space above the old flat roof.

Not the best images nor the latest in a more complete state, but something to at least see for now. Once it is all done, my brother is bringing his little hobby drone down to take overhead images. #PaulsRoof .

cc @Jason844

Roof, part one, is complete. They are coming back Monday to start #PaulsRoof part two.

Since we saved money with the Amish crew in labor, we will have enough to rip the 50 year old tin metal roofing off that is worn to the core, sheath it and shingle and still not go over what our original budget for the flat roof was before we found the Amish crew. Then, 100% of our roof will be new, right down to the sheathing.

We had the great room roof done a couple years ago due to the raccoon damage, the flat roof now and then the old tin.

Next, we will start saving for seamless gutters, etc.

I'll post pics of the flat roof remake tomorrow.

2/ They got two thirds of the roof shingled. The wind was so bad and cold. It was 50 when they started the day and in the mid-30s when they got done. They will be back Friday. #PaulsRoof

Their weatherproofing didn't let any of the rain in Tuesday so we are confident everything will be fine until they return Friday. We got more than an inch with a few hours and no issues. Looks like a couple more days left.

Friday, the crew comes to widen a doorway for my wheelchair and rip the subfloor down to the joists in two other rooms and install new in subfloor and install another beam support. After that, we'll only have one room left that needs done and we'll have to wait until we save up again to have that done.

They are wrapping up framing and putting the shingles on my roof today and we are going to have sustained winds of 15 to 30 mph with significant gusts up to 40mph.

Because of a cold front moving in, "...The strongest
gusts will be north of the Ohio River. These winds will last
through the daylight hours and peak in the early afternoon." That's US! #PaulsRoof

Between the house repairs, doctors appointments, and weather, Paul is whooped.

Still tinkered in the garage a little today. More of a tink than a full tinker. I fell asleep in my chair. lol

I'll post more photos of the roof on Monday. It's almost framed and plywood and water barrier goes up Monday, then a rain break Tuesday and shingles on Wednesday, they are taking Thanksgiving off and going to close it in and do the finish work Friday.

If you haven't been following, we are getting rid of a flat roof that is boxed in on three sides and a flat carport and pitching it. See #PaulsRoof

The upper portion isn't as pitched as I had hope, it's only 3/12, but still better than it was. It's being extra framed and braced to handle the weight of any ice load.

I'll be glad to get the outside pressure washed.

Friday, they are also coming to install some beams that needed replacing and ripping out another floor down to the joists and putting down new subfloor.