B is for...

Blue Tarp Roofs

This is my brother's garage.  Note the blue tarp roof.  It has been this way since I can remember (note: I am almost fifty four years old - I don't remember as much as I used to).  To be fair to my brother, he has had a lot on his plate the past few years.  And you know what? A blue tarp makes a damned good roof. At least it lasts the rainy season.  And a blue tarp (hell, multitudes of blue tarps) is way cheaper than replacing the roof and takes lots less time to install. About October every year, the blue tarp roof disintegrates and shreds of blue tarp litter the back yard. That's when my brother knows it's time to put up a new blue tarp roof.  Just in time for the rainy season.

Now take a look at this:

This is my garage.  Note the blue tarp roof.  We have been planning on a new garage roof for three years now.  But the garage needs seismic retrofitting first. And we also plan to shingle and paint the outside, too. Mr. Celia and our friend Mr. Handyman put up a ridge beam this fall, which took a lot of time and energy for a guy who works full time outside the home. A lot of time and energy. There was no time or energy left to do the roof, or even get someone else to do it.  And the roof was leaky, really leaky in more than one place.  And this is the manly space, where tools are kept and men do manly things.  So over the holidays, just before the rain began in earnest this year, Mr. Celia went up on a ladder and put a blue tarp roof on our garage. By himself, with tools. We are very proud of him. And the blue tarp roof will hold until later this year when we can hire someone to put a new roof, a real roof, on the garage. Because all that work takes time that could be spent, say, practicing the mandolin and guitar in the basement, which is much easier on the body than all the lifting and pounding effort that a new roof would take.  And we'd rather all that work takes its toll on someone else who is younger and more resilient than us.

Now take a look at this:

That's my brother's blue tarp roof in front and my blue tarp roof in back.  Yup, they are right next door to each other. We are the blue tarp roof enclave in the Land of Unraveling.

Now, there is a real advantage to having a blue tarp on your garage  roof:

Makes it really easy to spot from w-a-a-a-a-y up high.

Today's post brought to you by Anne's ABC Along.

Comments

[Jeni]

LOL. You crack me up, Celia! Is that a satallite photo?

[Chris]

I love the aerial shot! So funny. And that's my perspective on home improvements - there are so many other things I'd rather be doing (knitting, reading, getting dental work) than doing home improvements that I'm more than willing to hire it done.

[Daphne]

Ah! Thanks for a morning smile.

[sedie]

LOL, thanks for the blue tarp roof story.

[Vicki]

Love it. ; ) Just love it!

[Janine]

Hey--I thought only Pacific Northwesterners did the blue tarp thing!

[NessieNoodle]

Blue tarp= dry "Manlandia" = happy Man = happy woman.
That is a great story- I love the ortho-photo too! perfect.

[kimberli]

Celia -- Fantastic story. Thanks for the SMILE! I wonder...could you blue-tarp the beat-up non-running "extra" cars in the yard? Piles of general man-junk that are too important to chuck?
Hmmm...if this thing caught on, the birds eye view of our planet would certainly change...perhaps more in some areas than others...
just a thought...
Not having a garage, car or extra piles of junk on my front lawn (no lawn in NYC)...what about laundry...could I blue tarp my laundry?...probably not huh. I wouldn't want to open it a year later -- that's for sure.

[Mary in Boston]

What an awesome idea!!! Wonder if I could blue tape my living room ceiling? heh.

So Celia, are you joining in the Harlot Olympics, er, I mean the Yarn Harlots Olympic challenge?

[Leslie]

Hey, if it works! LOL.