New Roof Pending Solar

The regulations for APS, which is one of the electrical stations in Arizona, are changing in summer of 2017 so that solar won't be worth it. So J really pushed for solar. I was a little reluctant. Our roof would need to be replaced, but it still had five years of life left. But I wasn't going to put on solar, then take it off to replace the roof and have it re-installed; it wouldn't be cost effective. So I was hoping to save up for five years and pay cash for the roof and solar. But with the changes, it wouldn't be worth it, so we were on a time crunch.

So we got our stinking roof replaced.

The before:

The company had about eight guys on the roof. They showed up around 7:00 and were done at 1:00. I was impressed, I thought it would take a few days.

The after:

We chose an energy efficient white tile. And they installed flashing, which hadn't been there before (even though it should have). Apparently it's important for gutters, which J really wants so he can capture rainwater for his garden.

I wanted to wait until February to replace the roof, when I get a bonus at work and the money J saves for taxes (since he's self employed) frees up (he always saves more than he has to pay, so it's like he gets a bonus too). But he was worried about the deadline. So we applied for a home equity line of credit.

It was actually pretty easy. We've owned our house since 2009 and it's appreciated a ridiculous amount. It makes me think there's another housing bubble; hopefully just a small one. But the rate we received was really good and we should be able to pay off the entire amount for the roof plus a chunk of the solar, so it's not too bad. I was just really excited about being so close to finally paying off J's student loans. I don't like debt. Even when it's "good" debt.

We signed the contract for the solar. The lady said the installation will be about March because they're so busy. I hope it saves me a ton of money. The ROI will be a few years, so I hope it's worth it in the long run. I told J he's never getting me out of this house now.