73-year-old gets free roof after replacing shingles on her own

RIDGEWAY, Va. (WDBJ) - A 73-year-old woman from Ridgeway recently repaired her own roof. She is now getting a brand new one for free.

Last month, Harris felt water dripping on her arm while sitting in her living room.

“I said, ‘Oh, my God, there’s rain dripping on my arm,’” said Sharon Harris. “Every night, I would be thinking, what am I going to do?”

Unable to afford to replace the roof, she decided to replace a section of the shingles all by herself - something she and her husband used to do together when he was able.

“I said, ‘I’m going to do it myself,’ and he kept telling me, ‘no, don’t get up there.’ I said, ‘Well, I’m gonna do it,” added Harris.

A local roofing company heard about her story and offered to give her a new roof at no charge – saving Harris a total of $9,700.

“If anything happened over here, we might not be able to do it. So, I’m so happy. I couldn’t believe it. When I heard it, I thought it was a scam. I thought they’re not really coming, but it’s real,” explained Harris.

“Sharon did a fantastic job,” said Collin Murphy, General Manager for Cenvar Roofing. “She had everything installed properly. She said it took her days of going up there, throwing up two shingles at a time, and then walking herself up the ladder with her hammer going for it. It’s just an inspirational story of someone who went for it on her own and put on her own roof, which is incredible.”

Harris says her determination comes from her mother, who lived to be 102.

“She was the one who really showed me how to do everything. So, now I can do it myself. Thank goodness you’ve got me,” said Harris.

“I know,” said Fred Harris, husband to Sharon Harris. “Thank God for her.”

Wednesday, she got to pick out the color and style of the new roof, though it wouldn’t make a shingle difference to her.

“To tell you the truth, it doesn’t even matter, just so it’s done and we don’t have to worry about it, because we won’t be able to do it. So, I don’t care what color they put. If they put it orange, I wouldn’t care,” added Harris.

The new estate gray roof will be installed and completed Monday.

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