Here's an update = and a wish for great blessings on my friend for sharing his knowledge and time to come and check out my roof. As well as great blessings to all of you wonderful virtual friends, who I am sure would have done the same in real time as you have done here in responding to my questions.

I asked around for recommendations and called another roofer. He never showed up. I'm guessing he drove by the house, saw the peeleing paint and rust on the roof, the gardens surrounding the house that are going to get slammed when work is done on the roof, and decided he didn't want to touch it.

My friend, Carl, drove by the same day I talked to him. Looking at it from outside and the ground, he also was thinking I needed a new roof, but said he needed to both get up on the roof and in the attic before he could offer a good opinion. He came by a few days later and did both. Then said that maybe the picture wasn't as grim as he thought, but he would have to wait for a good rain before he was willing to say more. In the meantime, my sister, the engineer, came for Memorial day weekend and climbed up in the attic. She opined that a new roof would be good, but not necessary. She, too, said it was gonna take being up there when it was leaking to really know what was going on. Over the almost 100 years the house has stood, there have been leaks many times, and it was not possible to tell what was old stains from prior leaks that had been repaired, and what was new.

It rained last night and today. Carl came over, found the leak, and is going to come back tomorrow and caulk around a vent pipe. He says more extensive work needs done sooner rather than later, but he can stop the water. He says if I keep the house and expect to live in it a long time, I may want to consider a new roof simply because the new metal roofs are so durable and I would probably not have to worry about the roof for the rest of my life. Otherwise, he thinks a good scraping, caulking and replacing of some fasteners, replacement of some wood, new soffits, new gutters, and having the roof painted will be sufficient to return the house to decent repair and prevent further problems for a while. This is really good news. Our affectionate nickname for Carl is Eyore, because he is so pessimistic. If he says I don't need a new roof right now, I can believe it.

I am sure there are many good, honest roofers and handymen around who would have told me the same - if I had been lucky enough to have called the right one. When one is as ignorant as am I about these things, there is absolutely no substitute for a knowledgable friend in whom you can trust.

Thanks again to all of you, my virtual knowledgable friends who I can also trust for an honest opinion.

Janie