Yeah, it is. Our HO insurance is also relatively expensive (given how cheap most everything else is here) because of the frequent storm damage. Hail, tornadoes, and also straight-line wind with severe thunderstorms. It's not uncommon to have to 60-80 mph winds when a storm rolls through and gusts even higher.

There are a couple of things to consider when talking about "the roof". If the 2x4's that make up the structure of the house... the plywood that is laid on top of those... and the "covering" in whatever form that happens to be. Plus all the protrusions... vents, pipes, fans, etc...

I just don't understand why all roofs aren't made out of thin aluminum sheet and then covered with some sound-absorbing paint that you can just re-spray periodically if it gets thin. Never worry about water damage, infinitely repairable with JBWeld, bend all the shapes and corners by hand... why the fuck do we still make houses out of wood?

In any case, won't be my problem in 27 days.

ALSO... was offered a sweet job in Barking Sands (Range Officer) to finish off my Navy tour. How the hell do I turn down 2+ years on Kauai?

That shit is what caused our roof damage... the peak vent was too small for the pitch of the roof. Every time it rained with some solid wind, the WIND would blow the rain UP the roof and into the attic. We had a little Cat-1 hurricane roll through and it blew enough water in to stain the ceiling in the master closet, otherwise we never would have known.

Tip of the fucking year... if you own a home... GET UP IN THE ATTIC AND DOWN IN THE CRAWLSPACE ONCE A QUARTER. Do yourself a favor and suck it up. Just set your calendar alarm for the first Saturday of the quarter and spend 30 minutes on a solid inspection of each space. Practically nothing can happen in an attic or crawlspace in the span or 90 days that can't be fixed with minimal effort... but you let that shit go until you notice it from inside the house... FUCKED!

I grew up alternating between the gulf coast of Florida and San Juan, PR. All "decent" homes there have exterior walls constructed either from CMU or poured concrete, and finished with stucco. In PR, the roofs of nicer homes are also poured concrete. I remember Tio José describing to me 30 years ago about the process of watering the roof twice a day during the construction of his house in Río Piedras in the 70s. (They have since moved stateside. Man, I really miss that place. I am getting seriously emotional right now. First time I saw Back to the Future was on the top-loading Beta machine in the little den in the northeast corner of that house with several of my cousins, with hard-coded Spanish subs.)

When I first moved up to Ohio c. 2000 and saw that houses there were all made out of wood, it seriously freaked me the hell out. As in: I *literally* thought that they made that shit up in the Three Little Pigs story. Had no concept whatsoever that nailing sticks together was actually an accepted construction method in much of the world.

After Hurricane Charley in 2004, aluminum roofs really took off in a big way back in FL.

As someone who is seriously contemplating buying a home on the Atlantic coast of NC, I am troubled by the fact that they seem to still be stuck in the 12th century in terms of building materials and technology.






Protip: if you own an expensive, complex thing, inspect it from time to time.

Anybody know a moderator?

Seriously... us old (40+) guys should should have a thread full of nothing but "life lessons"... like basic rules for buying a house and shiz... absolutely nothing car-related unless it comes directly from Corky (he didn't die, did he?) or Emilio. Make it like a Twitter thing, 150 characters or less lessons on how not to fuck up simple shit.

I'll start with the first lesson:
"If you have a college degree and don't know what you want to do with your life, absolutely look into becoming a military officer."

Heh. Not sure I feel comfortable comparing myself to OlderGuy and Godless Commie in terms of "being a wise adult." Sometimes I wonder why people trust me with managerial responsibilities, multimillion-dollar budgets, and the sanctity of our FCC license, given that I still play videogames and drink like a frat boy. (Well a frat boy with money and good taste. Call it the Harvard chapter of ΣΦΕ.)

Serious question: are you actually comfortable being entrusted with nuclear weapons, billions of dollars worth of hardware, and other peoples' lives? Or do you sometimes ask yourself "Why the hell do they actually trust me to be around this thing unsupervised?"



^ Truth.

When I was in college in the mid 90s, I absolutely knew what I wanted to do with my life. I watched the dot-com bubble happen in real time, all the while thinking "What a bunch of retards. Good thing my industry is stable, mature, and will be totally unaffected by this whole world-wide-web thing."

Turns out that 20 year old me was a retard who couldn't see the future.

I mean, it's been a fun ride, and it's far from over. But in retrospect, it probably would have been an easier time, with far less fear, uncertainty and doubt, if I'd have actually had a conversation with one of the many Navy recruiters who started calling after I sent in the selective service card rather than just shrugging them off. The thought of me being able to "retire" in two years and start Life Chapter III while collecting a pension is something that's simultaneously very attractive also also basically impossible to visualize as a 20 year old.

It's not necessarily a valid option for some. I, for instance, am very disdainful of authority. I would not have done well in the military in my younger years.