Roof stuff

As I mentioned on Oct 30 my roof leaks. Mostly in one particular spot but there's little spots all over. I called my handymen over and we went up on the roof last Thursday to have a look. Their conclusion was much the same as mine. The pea gravel, which they say should never have been put on this roof, makes it impossible to see where the leaks are and rule out just slapping on a new surface. So the surface is going to get torn off, insulation installed, new surface, rubber, tar, and then silvering on top to reflect the sunlight. It should have an insulating value of 25R even before I start putting on my multi-ceramic paint on the underside.

I suppose I should tell you about the multi-ceramic paint. I'm no expert. I've just discovered it myself. Even a Google search comes up pretty empty. It looks and acts like white latex paint. The difference is that it has a pretty high K value.

OK, K value. R value is a deceptive way to measure the insulating value of something. See R value was created as a marketing tool of OwensCorning. They define what it means so that their stuff always meets the guidelines. It typically assumes no wind or humidity at all so that the insulation can get shot to hell when there's any moisture in the air or a breeze. But it's what we know so it's what we use.

K value is a scientific definition for the thermal conductivity of a substance. The higher the number the more it resists transfer of heat.
More at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_conductivity

That said, I have no idea what the K value of the multi-ceramic paint is. It's about 20R, however. So a simple coat of paint under the new roof should bring me to 45R. More if I stick with my plan to attach a face to the roof joists and paint one or both sides of that.

The downside is that the stuff costs $100 per gallon.

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I also picked up my bamboo flooring the other day. When I finish the wall, which should be done between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I'm gonna rip up the carpet in that room and put down bamboo flooring.

Some of you are gonna protest. This is because you probably picked yours from Home Depot. I almost made that mistake, too. I only dodged that bullet because they stopped selling bamboo flooring.

See, there's soft bamboo, hard bamboo, and a medium bamboo. Home Depot was selling the soft stuff because it's cheap. People would get home, install the soft stuff, bring in their furniture, roll across the room in their desk chair, and leave grooves. Then they'd scream and yell at Home Depot for selling them crap. Home Depot had to offer lots of refunds and make lots of replacements. They lost money by selling that stuff so they stopped offering soft or hard. I got the hardest stuff available. It can be dented, but you'll need a 300lb woman in stiletto heels to do it.

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In other news, I had to reprogram my digital thermostat. I went all summer without AC and went without heat as long as possible. But I did finally break down about a week ago. But last winter I had it topping out at 60°F when I was at home and awake. This winter I've had to reprogram it to top out at 65°.