Woo-Hoo! I’m A Happy Camper This Morning

So we had that whole thang with the roof and the siding after that Big-Ass Hail Storm that we missed ‘coz we were in Austin, right? And the insurance guy said they’d do everything but the front of the house because it, of course, is protected by the porch. But the front of the house is what looks the worst because they dinged it up some when they put on the porch—plus the siding is all so old it’s fragile. Plus the new siding wouldn’t exactly match the old siding. So I’ve been nagging—ever so gently!—State Farm about this. And bright and early this morning their Siding Specialist from St. Louis showed up to meet with the contractor, and he took one look at the siding and said it’s so old they can’t match it and he’s going to authorize them to “wrap the house.” So all new siding, all the way around! Yay!
And then there was the bad news about the roof:  there are several parts—all the “new” parts, meaning everything added on since 1945 or so (this studio, the carport, the two porches) are flat and have rolled roofing, which is what State Farm will replace. But the roofing company we wanted to use doesn’t do rolled roofing—they do something better. Most companies do these days. But that means it will cost more. Which means either 1) finding another roofing company (and that’s so iffy around here, when new companies are springing up every day and pick-up trucks with ladders are driving up and down residential streets, offering to give estimates) or 2) pay out of pocket for the better roof from the company we want to use.
Long story:  the siding company does metal roofing—which is, I guess, like siding for your roof. And The EGE has long been wistfully admiring metal roofing, esp. since you get insurance breaks and energy-saving tax credits and stuff. And so I was talking to the guy, and it looks like it might be only a couple thousand dollars more to get a metal roof AND just a little more than that to get what The EGE REALLY loves:  a copper roof. We saw one on a building somewhere, when we were traveling, and the sun was setting and hitting that sucker and it just glowed. It was gorgeous. I had forgotten all about it until this morning. A copper roof and the purple porch = yowza!
So since the siding is going to be covered, I’m going to try to figure out a way to swing the copper roof—provided, that is, that the estimate is as reasonable as the guy’s guessing it will be.
As my mother would say, “We’ll see.”
As I would say, “Hot damn.”