A couple of months ago, the Ridge Cap – a material, usually tin or metal, that is installed along the ridge line of a sloped roof, the apex of the roof, also known as a ridge line, blew off in a windstorm.
Our barn is at least 200 years old, and if too much moisture spilled in through the ridge of the roof, it would have been prohibitively expensive or impossible for us to fix.
Our friend and carpenter and savior Jay Bridge came over and said he would do the work – several other work people we contacted said they didn’t climb up on roofs. Jay, a trained engineer has saved us from many catastrophes – when the pipes in my study burst one winter, when our well point blew out two days before the coldest weather in years, when water from the roof was leaking into the living room, when leaks in the porch were causing water to pour into the roof and the front of the house.
There is no better person than Jay to call in an emergency that requires thought and skill to repair. It is not easy to find people who are so comfortable crawling on 200 year old barn roofs.
No plumber we called would come to fix our old point well, no carpenter wanted to climb up on our roof. Jay bring’s an engineer’s thoughtfulness and skill to his work.
He sets his ladders up and climbs all over roofs, prowls through basements. Jay came today with a new Ridge Cap and spent hours crawling over the roof, replacing slate, hammering and measuring. Looks like we got our barn fixed, he said the roof was in great shape. It cost $900. It could have been worse.
We appreciate Jay, life would be very different without him.
Jon How HOW does he do this? I am queasy just looking at those ladders. I can see getting him but HOW does he get down???
Same way he gets up, the ladder..
Jon, this is my husband, a Journeyman Electrician, my son a structural engineer and my father, a mechanical engineer. Their brains are wired so very differently from mine to e able to assess a situation and to repair it. Having lived only on farms, except for my stint in Philadelphia (ugh) for nursing school and being in our old farm house (not as old as yours) for 53 years, I have learned a lot. From your photo, I would urge you to get gutters and down spouts for your roof to protect the wooden sides and door from drainage water that is causing the wood to deteriorate. It’s a lot less expensive todo that than to replace the side and the door of your barn.
I wish I had a Jay Bridge here. I’ve been trying for a year to get someone to just come and give me a bid on making this house more livable. However, I am grateful I am dry. I am warm in winter and cool in summer and the stove is working.