Styrofoam on a hot clay roof….

Styrofoam…the stuff of can coolers. The package filler that leaves a mess everywhere when you unpack a box of treasures. Why wouldn’t someone think that squeaky garbage was perfect for ROOF TILE?!

When we purchased this house, they listed the roof material as Concrete Tile. That was partially true…. There was a VERY thin layer of concrete on the roofing tile. The rest was, unbelievably enough, Styrofoam. That’s right. Our roof was made of the same stuff as a Sonic cup, and we know how long those things last without getting punctured. Heck…if you stab a straw too vigorously in a Styrofoam cup it punctures.

Imagine our surprise when our inspector told us that it was not concrete (which lasts approximately 60 years) but the cheaper and much less-lasting Styrofoam. Oh Joy! We had a decision to make at this point: to keep the house or walk away. As you have clubbed on, we decided to keep it. It was worth more than we paid even without the improvements, so we decided that replacing the roof was something we were willing to do.

The next step in the roofing saga was to get bids and pick out the new roofing material. We went with an impact resistant shingle in black granite, and we LOVE it. The pitch of the roof is such that we needed it to look nice as it was a prominent feature on the front of the house. We chose Eaton Roofing as they had the best bid and we had worked with them before, so we knew they did excellent work. The roof went in last week, and we’re thrilled with how it turned out. They also replaced two skylights and put in a dryer vent for the future upstairs laundry room.  

Next to be tackled: feels like everything…