Up on the Housetop

Depending on how you get to this site, you may recognize this picture. It serves as the backdrop for the This D*mn House blog feed banner on Houseblogs.net. At first, I couldn’t figure out how to create the banner. Then, I was unhappy with the first one or two I was finally able to put up.

So, I walked around the house and started taking random shots of the roofline, the door, the porch, the vent grate. But finally, it was the cupola above the carport which faces one of the gable vents that won out. (I’m also sharing a picture of the cupola from last summer with some lightning above it.)

The cupola is over 20 years old now. It requires annual painting and cleaning. Twice I’ve cut patterned boards to replace the ones that crumbled around its base. I usually do the painting and cleaning towards the end of the season and in the very early morning at that because, well, it’s a roof. They get cook-your-butt hot.

But maybe, just maybe, it’s an activity that I’ve done for the last time. It just might be time to replace it.

I know, I know, I already have more than a dozen projects in progress and am struggling with how they’re going to get wrapped up in little more than two months. Yet, this is a project that could potentially keep me from crawling up on the rooftop anytime soon. While logging onto Houseblogs earlier this week, I spied an ad for Pacific Columns. Simple little ad that reads more like a short list, the last word of which got my attention: cupolas.

While checking out the site, I spied one very close to our existing one. It is available in both wood and vinyl. Hmmmm. Vinyl. You wouldn’t have to paint vinyl. Just aim the hose up there a few times a year. Doesn’t sound like a bad idea. The mother is practically sold on it though the verdict is still out on how much we like the vinyl fence. I guess we’ll just see what happens.

But it’s certainly something to think about.