In my old neighborhood I used to climb up on the roof late at night so I could look up at the stars.
This was before I could drive, so my options for getting out of the house were quite limited. Getting on the roof, and laying back for a while as I relaxed, was very peaceful. I had to be careful moving around, because I didn’t want my parents to hear me up there. That all came to a crashing end when I took a wrong step, fell through the roof into the attic, and caused a few thousand dollars worth of roof repair. Later I would be informed by the roofing contractor that it wasn’t my fault because the repairs were long overdue. In fact, he said that thanks to my accident the house was finally getting the roof service it had needed for several years. No matter how strong or well-designed a roof is, nothing lasts forever and roof replacement is inevitable for every home and business. In this case my parents had not had roof repairs done in over a decade. That meant the roofing was beyond repair, it needed to be completely replaced. For a full roof replacement first the shingles need to be scraped off, then the rotten or damaged plywood needs to be pulled up and replaced. Our roof replacement was so intense the contractor had to even remove and replace a few rafters and support beams! In another year or two, the entire roof might have collapsed, so my accident came at just the right time.