Roofing on Tinian

As a life-long roofer by trade I could not pass up the opportunity to talk to two roofers that were working on homes in the Broadway Estates. All of these homes have concrete roofs, so I was interested to see how they repaired these roofs when they developed leaks (as all roofs eventually do!).

I introduced myself to Victor, who, with his partner, was busy using a hammer and chisel to widen the cracks found in the concrete roof.

On the mainland, we would have simply put some kind of patch over the cracks. The cheap way would be to put a couple of layers sealant of some kind, with mesh to stabilize and strengthen the patch. If we went further, we would use a saw and cut along the cracks to deepen and widen the crack so that we could fill it with caulk before we installed the sealant over the top. Of course, all of this would simply be a temporary repair that would eventually fail and have to be repaired again--perhaps in 2-5 years.

These men were making permanent repairs to the roof. After finding and marking the cracks in the concrete roof, they chiseled-out the area along the crack (taking care to miss the rebar and the electrical lines that are buried in the concrete!)

Since the cracks do not seem to follow a straight line, their work looks almost like Op-Art when they are done!

Once the crack has been opened, they then make a permanent repair. Quite a lot of work! And they seem to be doing a great job (I should know!). Almost makes me miss my days as a roofer... well, almost.

Even the trees that have fallen over here seem to continue to produce flowers!

I met several friends alone my walk today

My daughter Liz is always trying to get me to see colors and patterns instead of just regular pictures. This is my attempt at photo art...