The Lord be with you! I want to give a few updates about our church roof replacement. We have encountered a few issues, but the work is progressing fairly well.
Since last Friday Absolute Roofing has been removing and replacing sections of the dome roof. If you have been inside the church when they were working, you know how loud it can be. Drilling through the roof deck creates dust, and the roofers have been so active that a great deal of dust has fallen. A big thank you to everyone who has been pitching in to keep the church clean!
Although we started much later than expected, the work is proceeding along fairly well. Roofing is very weather dependent and even the threat of storms will keep them off the roof. Overall, it will be several more weeks of work before that work is finished.
Now, the first unexpected issue is the perimeter of the upper roof - the outer rim of what I have called the doughnut. So much water flowed over that edge that the wood all around it will need to be replaced. Discovering rotted wood can only happen when the roof membrane is removed, and I am very glad that we have found this out and are fixing it.
Related to the above change is getting the water off the upper roof deck so that it never overflows again. As the roofers measured out and investigated the drains on the doughnut, they found out that there might not be enough drainage to keep water from pooling. We are now considering a gutter around the upper roof edge to drain the water smoothly. If we do go with a gutter system, there will be downspouts.
Most importantly, the roofers discovered that the cupola* has been damaged. Somehow the entire cupola was raised six inches off its base and shifted clockwise about half a foot as well. This movement allowed the wooden base to be damaged. We are currently investigating whether the cupola - and its vents - need to be repaired or can simply be removed. Initially we thought that this work might affect the cross on top of the dome as well. The roofers are telling us that they think that no matter what happens to the cupola, the cross should be fine.
Big projects like this one rarely go as we expected. I want to thank everyone for their patience. Please keep praying for good weather!
In His Sacred Heart,
Fr. John
*Cupola is any mini-structure on top of a dome.
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