Long Term Maintenance Savings Plan on House Expenses

The Problem

Last week my wife and I awoke to notice a stain on the ceiling in our master bedroom. Either we had not noticed it sooner, or somehow it took a while to migrate down to the ceiling because it had not rained in our area in several days. As soon as we noticed the stain, our minds began to wonder.

Why didn’t the inspector notice a problem? Did the bank that owned the house cover up the area when they had the entire house repainted inside? How much was it going to cost to have repaired?

The house is only 5 years old, so it is not like we needed a new roof. It was a little suspicious how the house could sit vacant for over a year, and then all of a sudden there was a problem with the roof. So what to do?

On the way into work that morning, I just so happen to be behind a roof repair company. Coincident? So I gave them a call, and we scheduled a free estimate for the following day at lunch. Long term forecast called for no rain, so I had some play with getting it repaired.

Next day I rush home from being out in the field at work, and waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. So I call them up, and the woman said she would call me right back. Nothing. Seriously? Does no one want business? So I left and went back to work. Someone eventually called me back later that day apologizing and said to call back to set up another appointment. I figured they should be calling me at this point, but I called back and left a message about wanting to set up another appointment for the next business day.

Fast forward to the next day, and they call me up saying they are at our house and no one is home. Well no kidding, no one called to let us know we had an appointment. Me calling and requesting an appointment should be followed up with a call to confirm we actually have an appointment. I took these all as signs to not deal with them.

The Solution

What I have been wanting to do though is buy a ladder tall enough to clean the gutters on the house. Unfortunately, and fortunately, we needed a BIG ladder. Something that could help set me apart from the neighbors and solidify my manliness. It just so happens that we had the leak also, so I figured depending on what the roof leak estimate came in at, we might be better off buying the ladder and fixing the roof ourselves. Then, when the roofer never showed up, it solidified my decision to buy a 28-foot ladder and do the work myself.

Now keep in mind, the entire time my wife is telling me in my ear she does not want me up on the roof. More because she is a worrier and does not want me to get hurt. However, this is one thing I was going to prove to my wife I could take care of on my own. I tried hiring someone to come fix the roof, and they never showed. The only way I will learn is if it I throw myself into the fray and figure it out.

I consider myself above average when it comes to repair work. I can handle probably at least a good 50% of projects by myself, yet sometimes need to have my expert repairman dad or father-in-law to assist. However, even the 28-foot ladder was beyond my dad and in-law’s tool arsenal.

The biggest dilemma was actually trying to decide how I could maximize my returns for my BIG and expensive ladder purchase. I really wanted to use a shopping portal to gain some additional miles or cashback, but as my time was limited when our boys were napping, I had to head off to the local Home Depot and buy my ladder and other items the old fashion way…with credit and in-person.

My father-in-law works for Home Depot, so I was delighted to see him working, and have him help with my stockade of items. Ladder, gutter shields/screens, roof caulk, Kilz ceiling paint…check. Since we opened up a Home Depot credit line several months ago for my wife’s shiny red washer and dryer, my purchase over $299 qualified for 12 months of zero (0) percent financing, so it was good enough for me.

So I trekked home, and proceeded to climb up on the roofs, cleaning gutters, installing the gutter shields, and trying to locate the mysterious leak. It felt great to be up that high on the roofs. The view gives you a totally different perspective of things on the ground. Plus I had several other neighbor men comment about my bravery, as well as some of the neighborly woman giggled at my prospect of being the only man now with a 28-foot ladder so I could work on all of their houses (side note, none of the male neighbors seem to hands on when it comes to working).

So the way I look at it, to have the roof repaired, it would have cost me probably around $400-500 according to a friend’s dad who repairs roofs. Plus, cleaning the gutters would have run anywhere from $50-100 every year, maybe more with multiple cleanings and the amount of leaves we now get. Plus hiring a painter to repaint our ceiling would have probably run $300-400. Instead, I opted to purchase the ladder, $300, a bottle tube of caulk, $4, ceiling paint, $25, and a case and a half of gutter shields, $75, and do the work myself. So I estimate I saved us about $346 at the least, not counting annual cleaning of the gutters.

Now keep in mind, my wife is still not real happy with the prospect of me playing around at such high elevations, but she learned to look the other way, and I think was proud of her big, strong man at the end of the day.

The only downside I thought of later is that now that I own my big, manly ladder, and installed gutter shields, I probably will not have much need to go up on the roof anymore since hopefully nothing should be going into the gutters. However, for the roughly $350 in savings we had by doing the work myself, and now owning a really big ladder, maybe I will place a sign out in the yard proclaiming my accomplishments and to be the woo of all the neighbor woman. I feel accomplished that I was able to get some work done on the house, while saving some money, and plus I have the tools to complete some future tasks should they be needed.

Have ladder, will travel.