Roofing Tales Of Madness...

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Wally J. Corpse
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Roofing Tales Of Madness...

Post by Wally J. Corpse »

Greetings, Legion Of Fan-

Here, to follow, is another excerpt from the hysterical archives, this episode is titled- "Photo Op".
There I Was, one fine spring day, circa 1995, commencing a re-roofing project on one of SF's most noteworthy buildings, one of the famous "Painted Ladies" houses. Facing the row of ladies, mine was the one on the far right, adjacent to the multi storied white apartment building.
Our task involved tear off of the existing roofs, re-sheathing deck with plywood, then installing mine own special creation, a "Dutch gutter" system consisting of 2x6"s secured to framing with steel angle irons, then lines with a fiberglass base sheet, a fiberglass ply sheet, and an SBS cap sheet, all set in hot asphalt, then installation of new shingles.
Anyways, AS usual, I had secured official SF tow away zone in front of the site, for the dump truck, hot truck, and kettle.
On a side note, the building's owner had told me that Kodak told him that the "Painted Ladies" was the most frequently taken photos shot in the US, which was evidenced by the steady stream of tourist busses disgorging mostly Asian tourists for their camera frenzies. A large percentage of whom were delighted to see a roofing project underway, and posed en masse around my trucks and kettle. This became a mild concern of mine for their safety, and I directed my ground man to fan the broilingly hot kettle lid to envelope the unawares in the hot tar cloud of smoke, which, unfortuneatly had the opposite effect, and many of the little rascals were apparently overjoyed at their photo op within the caustic vapors. Another feeble and transparent plan evolved wherein I had my crew foreman bring his large Rotweiller beast to work, and made him comfortably in charge of the sidewalk, which effectively stemmed the flow of tourista.
On another side note, I got a frantic call from the owner who had gotten a frantic call from his housekeeper who said that something had fallen off the roof and went through a window. The building was fully scaffolded in the front, and one of mine semi Einsteins had dropped a roofing bracket offa the front rake edge, which bounced off the framework and went through a window. The owner stated that one of the front windows was an irreplaceable hand made stained glass unit that was rescued from Europe just ahead of Nazi invasion in WWII. AS it turned out, the bracket went through a neighboring regular glass window, and eye was duly relieved, we covered the other window with plywood protection, and all involved breathed many sighs of relief, except for the culprit, who had to pay for the damages. This was the same goofball that allowed mine kettle to flash out and self immolate in front of the SF icon, the I-Beam, on Haight street.
Just goes to show ya, if it ain't something, it's something else..

AS ever,
Your ol' pal,
Wally j. Corpse
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sammy the blade
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Re: Roofing Tales Of Madness...

Post by sammy the blade »

It's always something. Onliest time I had a day where something didn't go wrong was when I stayed home.
2024 candidate for president
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natcherly
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Re: Roofing Tales Of Madness...

Post by natcherly »

Another great story with interesting side notes. Half of those houses, which were built in the 1890's in the Victorian Stick style, had art glass bands on the top of the front bay windows, both floors. Yes the windows were hand made, but the attribution to having been saved from just before WWII is highly suspect. Probably off by 40 years!
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Wally J. Corpse
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Re: Roofing Tales Of Madness...

Post by Wally J. Corpse »

Greetings, Mr. Natcherly-

The owner had informed me that that particular stained glass piece was a family treasure, and window opening was re-fitted to accept same, he had the one that was originally installed in his basement.

AS ever,
Your ol' pal,
Wally J. Corpse
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