Lynn man floored by a free roof

LYNN – Clyde Cross uses a plastic bag to channel water leaking from his bathroom ceiling into the tub, but the Seymour Avenue resident can say goodbye to that hassle and a few other headaches on Oct. 17 when a Beverly firm puts a new roof on his home – for free.Coastal Windows and Exteriors owner Stephanie Vanderbilt broke the good news to Cross on Monday morning and Cross wasted no time calling his wife.?I?m thrilled,” said Karen Cross.Vanderbilt said Cross and her husband received 1,300 online votes out of 3,000 cast during the summer to pick one of four finalists to receive one of Coastal?s new roofs.Beverly-based Coastal launched its “No Roof Left Behind” campaign in May with the goal of giving a needy North Shore household a new roof with free materials and labor included.?We invited the public to vote,” Vanderbilt said.Vanderbilt brought a large sign prominently displaying her company?s name on her visit to the Cross home, but she said “No Roof Left Behind” grew out of the sympathy she felt for deaf children she taught in Lynn before starting Coastal with her husband, David.?The best part of the job I loved was listening to people?s needs and figuring out what helps and what doesn?t,” she said.The Cross roof will cost about $15,000, and Vanderbilt said the work will come with a 25-year labor warranty and lifetime roofing material warranty. Work will start on Oct. 17, and Vanderbilt said Coastal will highlight the project with a neighborhood barbecue on Saturday, Oct. 18.?The community really supported this,” she said.Clyde Cross and Karen Cross have lived in their home across from Kiley Playground for 20 years, and Clyde Cross said the home?s roof started leaking about eight years ago.?The ceiling started coming down about five to six months ago,” he said.The husband and wife work for Aggregate Industries, but the Cross household includes their children and grandchildren – leaving little leftover money to pay for major home improvements. Cross said he responded skeptically to his wife when she told him she had signed up for “No Roof Left Behind.”His attitude changed when Karen Cross announced they were finalists for the free work.Vanderbilt is not surprised online voters nominated the Cross family for a new roof. She said the couple?s devotion to their extended family and stories about their grandchildren being afraid to use the leaky bathroom caught voters? attention.?Their story is an emotional one,” she said.Vanderbilt and her husband started Coastal in 2010 after he lost his job. They expanded from window installations into siding, door and roof contracts working with national manufacturer GAF Corporation.