I have a modest 90yr. old Craftsman bungalow that I have owned for over
15 years. I recently bit the bullet and took the time (months!) and
money (you don't even want to know) to have the old composite shingle
siding removed to expose the original redwood clapboard. My
painter/restorer filled every nail hole, scraped every nook and cranny,
carefully and conservatively sanded off every layer, repaired every
corner of old window frame, etc. and finally completed a new coat of
paint that does my little place justice. It is constructed of solid old
growth redwood and feels like it will go another 90 years, no worries.

Until today. My roofers came out today. This is a company I have used
before - they re-roofed my detached garage a few yers back. I don't
have any leaks, but I'm trying to be proactive and not wait for
trouble, so I signed up for a new 30 year shingle. After about two
hours of banging I decided to go out and have a look at progress. I was
STUNNED to see two workers in the process of nailing up a dinky piece
of pine in the place where my front fascia used to be. This was a 12
ft. long 2x8 that completed 1/2 of my front roofline - nice and wide
with an angled rafter end tail. Gasping, I asked "What have you done
with my REDWOOD!?!" "Oh, there was some dry rot on the end" Well, I had
known about that - my painter had informed me and we felt that during
the re-roof would be the time to address it, repair and repaint. The
involved area was about 1-2" deep along about 6" of the rafter tail.
For this they removed the WHOLE thing. Just ripped it off - and were
nailing up a piece of typical modern day lumber - in other words, too
small in two dimensions. A 2x8 doesn't measure 2x8 these days, but my
old one DID. Can you imagine how inadequate that was? I felt like
someone had cut off my foot - being a preservationist is not easy. They
looked at me like I was cockeyed, I was trying not to shoot anyone.


My contract specifically notes that the owner is to be informed
*immediately* if any latent damage is discovered, requiring any wood
work. What happened!?! They acted as though they were doing me a favor
- "Oh, we thought you'd want to go with the lowest cost option" Ack!
Removing an irreplaceable lengtht of redwood is an OPTION!?! Gawd, if
they'd only asked me first.

I stopped them and called the co. owner. His crew leader had just
called, so he had a clue what had happened, but hoped it could be made
okay. He apologized for them not consulting me and said he'd call
around for replacement redwood. I reiterated that a full dimensional
peice of redwood was the only viable option. As expected, he called
back saying a 12ft. piece of REAL 2x8 was nowhere to be found and would
have to be custom-milled. No duh.

So - my board seems to have sustained 2 3-6" closed cracks from where
they ripped it off the nails at the peak, where it meets its twin (like
this /\), but otherwise seems intact. Of course there are a dozen old,
long, bent serious nails sticking out in various degrees of rippage.

What are my chances of getting this properly reattached/restored to my
house? Repairing the rafter tail is not the problem (never was!), but
undoing the wanton damage that occured to both the underlayers and this
board itself has me concerned. I am guessing re-glue the cracks and
clamp it for a while? Try to gingerly remove these nails? Anybody have
any advice? Please?