Oh, Rain. What am I going to do with you?

Our plan has always been to install rain barrels to catch all of our roof runoff. Of course, we didn't plan on moving ahead with the rain barrel systems until we had replaced the roof and gutters. No use trying to catch water at the end of a downspout when most of the gutter is rusted through...

But, of course, this happened. Now we're preparing for a new roof, and we're suddenly in need of barrels.

I wanted these:

But I just got the quote and they're CRAZY expensive for some big hollow chunks of plastic! So we're on the hunt for new barrels. The problem is, we need a grouping in the back of the house to catch the water from the back porch roof and the south side of the main roof, and we need a grouping in the front of the house to catch water from the front porch and the north side of the main roof. We can line up the barrels along the side of the house in back, but the space between our house and our neighbor's is only 2'-5". (Yay, city living!)

It gets more complicated up front...

The north side of our house is right on the lot line. So, no room to put barrels on the side of the house up front. We're left with a space about 13" wide to the north of our front porch, or the area under our front porch steps. This is where the big money barrels I REALLY wanted would have worked wonderfully. They are only 7 1/2" deep! We could have stacked a few next to the porch and a few more under the steps and called it a day.

So, here are some others we're looking at:

This is pretty. Maybe a couple of these would be okay visible in the front yard, with some larger, uglier ones under the stairs... Like this:

This is a beast. It may not fit under the stairs...

But these are kind of cool:

They're big bags-o-rain! Rain bags. They hold just over 100 gallons and lay flat, perfect for under a porch. Not sure how multiples work, though...

Then we could just line a bunch of these up along the side of the house in back.

They aren't 7 1/2" deep. :(

But they are 14". Which is still good.

Anyone out there have any rain barrel experience? Suggestions? Comments on the wonderfulness of rain?

So... our roof fell off...

Well, part of our roof.

The wind gusts here in Chicago were major a few days ago... Our poor old house couldn't handle the pressure.

Looks like the new roof may be coming sooner than we anticipated.

The New Roof - a fundraiser

So this is far from as philanthropic as the title makes it sound...

As some of you may recall, our house came with a few pieces of abandoned furniture and a bunch of doodads and knickknacks. And we don't want 'em.

So over the next few weeks, I'm gonna try to sell it all. Craigslist, Ebay, Ebay Classifieds, Apartment Therapy Classifieds, Etsy. I'm calling it our New Roof Fundraiser... 'cause we need a new roof. And new roofs cost money.

We could also stand for a new sofa:

And a chandelier:

I'll keep y'all updated.

Urban Heat Island Effect

Sorry we haven’t posted for a little while, we’ve been busy getting estimates for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, plastering, and a new roof.

One of the biggest problems with traditional asphalt shingle roofs is they attract a lot of heat. This causes two problems.

1. Contributes to Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI)

2. An increase in annual utility bills

UHI occurs in metropolitan areas and is essentially a micro-climate version of global warming. Beyond the obvious problem of creating an increase in utilities during summer months, UHI causes modifications to wind patterns, an increase in precipitation in and downwind of cities, and even an increase in pollution. While I do not have any statistics on hand, I have seen numerous different statistics and documentation on these matters.

For those of you who believe Fox News over scientists and that global warming is fake, you can’t argue against saving money off your utilities. A lighter more reflective surface will drastically decrease your monthly payments compared to a traditional asphalt shingle roof.

We decided to go with a light-colored standing-seam metal roof. These roofs are economical, durable, and they will look good on our house. From snow to sun exposure to hail, standing-seam metal roofs hold up very well in extreme climates (such as Chicago). Additionally, they have an excellent SRI (solar reflective index). So as a result we will have a good looking roof that is durable, economical, and earth friendly.

House: 1 - Awnings: 0

YES!!

Awning #1.

DOWN.

(Thanks, B-Rad!!)