SOME Deep Cove preschoolers have a brand new roof over their heads courtesy of two community-minded builders.
Deep Cove Parent Participation Preschool has endured some tough years after vandals flooded its building in November of 2009. Restoration crews revealed a host of other problems with the structure, leaving the nonprofit preschool with bills of more than $70,000.
"My little guy goes to school there," said Ryan Elliott, owner of Cast Sustainable Construction, "(teacher) Chris Eldon is a really incredible woman. She's been running it for 20 years and she asked if I could help. She didn't expect us to donate it, but I knew they didn't have any money so I thought my company could just donate the roof."
Elliott said he isn't sure if the sorry state of the old roof was connected to the original vandalism or simply due to "fly-bynight" work by a previous contractor.
"We got into it and noticed that all the insulation was mouldly and the sheeting underneath was too," he said. "There was a lot of water damage. (The work) definitely grew, and it turned out to be about a $16,000 roof, but I never had any second thoughts. I'm grateful to be in a position where I can help."
Elliott in turn got an assist from his friend Rob Smith of R.A. Smith Roofing.
"I asked if he would give me a hand," he said. "He came in and oversaw all the installation, which was really fantastic. He's got a little guy in the area but he doesn't go to that school. He's involved with the community as much as possible too. I've done a lot of work with Rob over the years and he's really a good guy. I think he had a pretty good workout hauling all the gravel up to the roof. It was about 500 trips with a five-gallon bucket. He was pretty sore the next day."
Overall, seven people volunteered for three days to give the preschool what Elliott describes as "a really high-end roof, like you would see on a skyscraper."
balldritt@nsnews.com
