Roofing the roof over our heads

So we have this leak.  Several, actually.  We are blessed with a drip irrigation system in our living room for all our beloved plants.  And in the sunporch, during really big storms, our bunnies have a built-in shower.  And sometimes we even hear this erie sound in the kitchen of 'drip.  drop' over the fridge - but we don't see anything until it collects so much up there that it literally pours out onto the floor.

After a couple years of trying to find the culprit and some generous support, John and I have finally decided to throw in the towel and hire a roofer.  But to get to that place, John and his father tried many, many, many ways to fix this leak.

First, it was the hose and rain trials - you know - if it rains, look in the eaves and wait to see if the water comes in.  If it doesn't rain, get the hose and do the same thing.  I tried to collect all that wasted water, but it was no use.  Then there was the 'cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling and find where the blasted water comes in' experiment - John's father's idea.  Many days we arrived home to find his father's legs hanging from the ceiling as he tinkered around in there, looking for our problem.  Then there was the bandaid solution.  John and I got so tired of the problem, that we went up on the roof and painted the weak spots with roof tar.  Not able to reach the spots way up, the tar was...yes...*ahem* poured down the roof.  (sigh)

  

Now I have always loved the houses of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, don't get me wrong.  Gingerbread at Christmas is lovely.  But I think something's wrong to have it dripping down the back of our Watertown home.  

I can tell you how much fun it is to show prospective roofers this art as we round the back of the house.  They look up and shake their heads.  I tell John, "I'd like to see them write a sonata on their day off".

We have talked to at least 3 roofers so far.  One got the address wrong and looked at our neighbor's lovely slate roof, and called to ask why we wanted a change.  Another crawled through the eaves and gave us what is probably the most thorough estimate ever.  A third had seen our roof in the past and just updated his estimate to today's rates.  It's like a needle in the haystack - or like trying to find that elusive leak.  Will the roofer we hire take us to the cleaners?  Or will they just do the job and charge a decent price?

All this focus on the roof has made me care for this house all the more.  Many of you have heard me complain for years about how it doesn't suit us.  But get someone out here poking at all her weak spots, and I get kind of mother-y toward her.  This might be therapeutic after all!