Money Pit

No, that title does not refer to one of Canada's reputed buried treasure sites, but rather to our home (unfortunately).  All of that rain that southern Alberta has had brought the fact that we have a leaky roof on our house to our attention. We were finally able to get some folks over to assess the damage and the cost of repairing it this week, and the news isn't that great. In addition to water entering the house in one of the valleys, there are a number of other things that were done improperly when the roof was re-shingled by the previous homeowners, and when the addition was put in. We have to get some new shingles, new vents of various kinds, re-install the electricitiy mast, install an ice and water shield, and seal up all the joints. Bah. It's about $2000. I know that we probably would not be able to sell this house anytime soon unless we have the work done, but it's still kind of a bummer to have this unexpectedly creep up!

Comments

[Erin]

Hi Laura,

I was wondering if you have investigated getting a energuide evaluation for your home? It cost about around $100 and makes you eligible for various home improvement grants when you increase the energy efficiency of your home. Which, I think fixing your roof would definitely do :)

Friends of mine did it and they were quite pleased to have the information and followed up on some of the ideas and recovered some costs for things they were going to do anyway.

Here are the websites best of luck.

Erin

http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/home-improvement/service/contact-advisors.cfm?attr=4

http://www.energyexperts.ca/eg4houses/costs.htm

[Ani]

Oh boy. Good luck with the repairs!

[laura]

We had an energy audit done in Jan 2004, and surprisingly, our roof scored high. I guess it's extra insulated. To qualify for the rebates, our house needs most of the windows replaced and a new furnace (the original one from 1969 is still running). We're not going to have all of the work done in time to take advantage of the rebates, but we're trying to replace a window a year, and maybe a new furnace this year or next - depends on whether ATCO will condemn it when we have them come out for an annual inspection.