O’Neill: Putting on a new roof (column)

Casey O’Neill is a farmer and owner of Happy Day Farms in Laytonville, Calif. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. If you’d like to write your own column for The Mendocino Voice, send your idea to info@mendovoice.com.

The trouble with putting on a new roof is that you never know what you’re going to find when you get into it, and it’s often worse than you expect. Like a lot of hill houses, our place was built one box at a time as money and needs required. The original cabin went up in 2006, a shared family effort that was me and Pops working together along with help from my brothers when they were home from their work as firefighters. My uncle provided crucial know-how and the project came together like a dream. It was the first time we had ever used the cement board siding that has become so ubiquitous. The job took us most of the summer and finished out as a beautiful 16×20 cabin with stairs up to a loft.