The old outbuildings that came with our property are in fairly good shape but for their roofs. One of the buildings is a littler larger and barn like; 1 is chicken “coop-ish”; and, 1 is small workshop like. They are all corrugated metal buildings and have roofs made of the same; the roofs are quite rusty.
I’ve tried to find a solution to the roofs and preferably a cost-effective solution.
The first path I went down is that of having a rust inhibitor applied and then painting the roofs. In general terms, I confirmed that this would be a viable and long-lasting solution from the local town’s paint store owner. However, I could not for the life of me find a contractor (even though the paint store owner gave me a list of painters to call). I’ve tried craigslist and I’ve tried asking for referrals… I’ve even had a couple of people come out to the property and take a look (to no avail).
The second path has been to try and find a metal roofing contractor. In going down this road, I went to a place that I’ve noticed driving down the main highway (advertised as metal works / roofs). It turns out that the business is a local Amish owned business. I even worked it out with the owner to go and pick up his son and take him out to the property so as they could give me a quote, etc. He drew me a map one Saturday morning to his son’s house and off I went. When I arrived and talked with the son, he thought that a trip to his brother-in-law might make the more sense (because he had more availability and capability). He gave me directions and off I went again.
The brother-in-law was home and was able to come with me to our property. It was a 10-minute car ride both to our property and back again. He measured and I gave him a card with our phone #’s on it (he said that there was a communal phone that he could / would use to give me a call with a quote). No phone call received (and I do not have a way to call him); so, I do plan on stopping by at some point down the road to follow-up.
In the car ride, we made pleasant conversation each way. For example, I mentioned that the closest grocery store was 20 minutes from our property and he offered that his neighbor had a “scratch and dent” grocery store and his brother’s family had a bulk grain store; he gave directions to both.
Apparently, finding a contractor is a journey that I’m still on… even so…I try to always remember to enjoy the journey... After all, all we really have is time.
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