Leaky Garage Roof...gotta fix it ASAP

Got a day to fix a roof!!!

It's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Having never ever in my life ever really thought about roofing, I've not got a day and a half to stop our garage roof from leaking.

First, I had to determine where exactly it was leaking from. From inside the garage I closed the doors and went looking for sunlight showing through the underside of the roof....well, I found it. There appear to be three main spots where the roof is leaking, though having been up there and seen the condition of the roof I'm surprised it's not leaking in many more places. I stuck yellow pipe cleaners up through the holes so I could see them from above.

One of the main leaks and most light showing is this disintegrated cap shingle.

I don't think that there is a lot of water coming in through here but it has the most light.

From underneath

Doesn't it look all spooky with the real spiderwebs?

I found two other leaks, interestingly enough, where the roof sheathing has a joint.

I believe these leaks are where most of the water is coming in. It gets through the shingles and runs down the underside of the roof where it drips off in various places. See that horizontal crack in all those shingles? That coincides with the roof sheathing joint...coincidence? Those shingles are cracked totally in half and you can see right through into the garage...

Underside view

This, I believe, is the main leaking spot. Look at that fungus damaged sheathing...it's pretty spongy...as in, I don't think it'll take a nail...

Other Side

This leak looks more recent and the sheathing is still pretty solid.

The Plan:

I don't have one. Help...I need to stop this roof from leaking and have the patch hold through this wet season and probably one other...

I've been looking at the roofing isle in Home Despot and hey, you can buy shingles in singles! But you can not buy cap shingles that way...?

I guess my plan is to attach some solid plywood to the underside of the rotted out stuff and then use REALLY long nails to attach the shingles to the roof? How do I do that correctly?

The cap shingle...how do I plug that hole if I can't get a cap shingle to replace the rotted out one?

Any useful advice would be greatly appreciated.

Halloween Time!!! Phase Two!!

Okay, finally got the phase two decorations done this past weekend...if by weekend you mean that it took me till Tues....

Now, of course these are going to be slightly less dramatic than going from phase zero to phase one...

Halloween Phase Two

Daytime Shots

Sorta overall shot...

Scare Crow and Sign

Big Spider

Demon Guy

Gargoyles

Graveyard

Sign-Bob's Web

Dork Caught in the Act

Super Spooky Night Time Shots

Overall Shot

Scare Crow

Scare Crow with Sign

Demon Guy

Grave Yard Shots

Victoria!!

Victoria is back haunting our house for the first time in many years! She is a VERY particular Victorian lady who will only deign to appear if the conditions are right...I guess she approves of the new digs...

Closer up shot of Victoria

So hard to get a camera shot of her...

I'm stuck...

Check out this shot of the yard from above.

I've got all that space to fill and I am stumped on how best to do it!!!

I'm literally drawing a blank here...first time that's happened in years!

Its not like I don't have enough stuff to fill that space two times over I just can't figure out how to do it exactly....

What we do in haunt nerd terms is called a 'walk-thru yard haunt'. For good flow of the patrons (trick or treaters or TOT'ers) I need to have an entrance, an exit and a well defined path to walk in...just can't figure it out though....arrgh...

Plan was to have everything up and debugged by the end of this coming weekend....

Alamedeans Haunt Your House!!!!!!!!!!!

Its That Time Of Year Again!!!

Time To Haunt Your House!

Once again we are part of the group of crazies who are putting on the 'Alameda Haunt Your House' contest and canned food drive.

For all the details on the contest please go to the contest website alamedahauntyourhouse.org.

This year we are doing things a little differently. Voting to win will be by popular vote! No official judges this time!

The Alameda Bicycle Coalition will be doing a night time ride to see all the houses in the contest on the night of the contest Sunday Oct 30th. You are encouraged to decorate your bike and come in costume.

Last year we raised a pretty good haul of food for the Alameda food bank.

Over 500 pounds and we're hoping to do better this year!

So, Alamedeans, Haunt Your Houses!!!!

Got a friend or neighbor who likes to decorate for Halloween? Please send them the link to the contest website.

Tell a friend, tell a neighbor, help us get the word out!!

Help us help those in need over the holidays!

Halloween Time!!!

We've had to discuss with baby madscientist that its 'Halloween Time' not Halloween proper....she kept thinking it was time to get out and get some candy from the neighbors...

But who can blame her really, when her house looks like this!

We are calling this phase 1

Daytime Shots

Overall Shot

Front walk

Front Steps

Fence Pumpkins

Up High

Scary Face in the Bushes

Spooky Night time Shots

Overall Shot

The Front Walk

Up High

Closer-Up Shots

Fence Posts

Scary Face in the Bushes

Close-up Faces

The last two we carved ourselves...you can tell can't you....

That's it for phase one...wait till you see phase two!!!