“Refusal to accept the death of a dream would seem a historical imperative in realizing it.” (Referring to Abraham Lincoln’s long held conviction that he would someday be president.)
–Chris DeRose, Congressman Lincoln
Holy Mackeral! It’s time to prepare the roof for summer.
We can ignore it no longer. It’s time to get up on that roof and get the cooler in working condition (for those of us in the southwest), and to re-coat the entire roof in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season.
the water cooler (a.k.a. “swamp” cooler)
We will eventually turn the home into a rental house, so we must keep the roof in top condition. Later, we need to fix one of our rental house’s roof too.
Water Cooler Issues
This year, the copper tubing broke on my cooler due to cold weather. I used to drain the tubing every year before winter. Then, a friend told me that was a waste of time because it never got cold enough to break the pipes. Now I have one additional broken pipe, and one less friend.
Just kidding. Actually my friend is only serving time in the penalty box — for the next 2 years!
valve attached to new tube
copper tube
Fortunately, it’s an easy fix to change the tubing. Here are the steps:
1.) At Ace Hardware, I bought 8 feet of copper tube at $1.29 per foot,
2.) I cut off the old tube, and
3.) I attached the new tube using couplers, also from the aforementioned Ace Hardware Store.
copper tube cutter
Applying Rubberized Roof Coating
Last weekend we tackled this job at our house.
We used 4-5 gallon buckets of Tucson Rubberized Roof Coating. Each 5 gallons covers about 400 sq. ft.
The procedure was:
1.) One day before, wash off the roof with a high powered water spray,
2.) Stir up the paint with electric drill and large paddle stirring attachment,
3.) Place my two sons on roof with rollers and paint, and stand back as they lather it on like shaving cream.
“chips off the old block” lathering it on
making steady progress
Blog recommendations:
6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)
How I Evicted A Problem Tenant in 4 Steps
When to Hire a House Inspector – Radio Interview with Rich Peterson
Getting Rid of Bad Tenants
“Turn your home into a rental” on Mark Wayne Show
7 Reasons to Live in a Fixer-Upper House While You Repair It
6 Steps to Roof Maintenance (for the Home that will Turn Into a Rental House)
Our First Rental House Plunge
10 Most Frequent Problems Found by House Inspectors
5 Steps to Get Your House Ready to Rent by Terry Sprouse
5 Steps to take if your house is flooded
Some perfectly legal ways to maximize your rental profits
Add “Start a Rental House Business” to Your Bucket List
The 5 Rules on How to Lose Money and Get Your Rental Property Trashed by Tenants
Window Repair with #2 Son
Required Roof Maintenance for Fixer Upper Houses
Learn to Repair Your Fixer Upper Houses
How I Got Started In Fixer-Upper Houses
How to learn to operate a fixer upper house business
The Peaceful Warrior and Fixer-Upper Houses
Tags: Abraham Lincoln, roof maintenance, roof repair, rubberized roof coating appliacation, swamp cooler repair, Terry Sprouse, turn your home into a rental house
We just did our entire roof. It took quite awhile but it will last for ages. We did it ourselves to save some cash because J is a carpenter and it worked out great!
Daisy,
That’s what we try to do too.
Any big projects like landscaping, roof maintenance, clogged pipes, etc., we always do it ourselves. That way we save money and learn new skills.
Congrats on finishing the new roof!
Great post Terry and great idea; get the boys up on the roof. Boys like to be in “high places” like roof tops.
Friends; you’ve gotta love them.
Sharon
Sharon,
We let our boys do a lot of the work on our rental houses too. We try to channel that high voltage teenage energy into positive channels.
Oh that looks like fun on the roof… I wouldn’t mind it as long as a case of beer was included with the chore lol…. You know when my mates tell me to do something or not to do something… I always ask a professional… Not that I don’t trust them but if they aren’t a professional in a certain field I want to know. Hope he enjoys the penalty box.. 2 years.. that’s a long time Cheers mate… 🙂
I like your approach to roof work!
Fortunately for me, my boys have a lot of experience coating roofs. They have been on the roof coating team since we got our first rental house in 2002. I just have to point at the roof and gesture to the coating buckets and paint rollers, and they automatically start to set up their ladders.
I am very glad I no longer have to take care of things like this. I downsized to a townhouse 16 years ago.
Thanks for the links, I am in good company
My wife and I plan to follow in your footsteps and get a nice, low-maintenance, townhouse once our boys are out of the house and on their own.
Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about the roof right now. We already have to replace all the windows in our new home. Not in the budget to do both. Roofers get all my respect it is hot as you know what down here in south florida.
That would be a budget buster to both replace windows and fix the roof the same year.
In South Florida you have the heat, and you have to dodge hurricanes too, right?
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Thanks for including me. It seems our cooler on my office building has something broken every spring when we go to get it started. Luckily, my optician can fix just about anything and he works really cheap!
It’s nice that coolers are relatively easy to repair, with few moving parts.
Sounds like you should hang on to your optician!
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Wow nice job doing all of that yourself and lucky you having your sons to help out. I’ve done small DIY projects but not anything as big as that. Thanks for the mention!
Yes, it’s great to have those boys around, and it’s a win-win situation. They earn some spending money and I get a new roof without having to sprain my back lifting those 5 gallon rubberized paint buckets to the roof.