Like many other near east siders, Cheryl Balazs sustained a lot of hail damage to her property during April 14’s unprecedented hailstorm. The roof to her home, a three-flat on Sherman Avenue, needs to be replaced, as do the roof’s solar panels. The third floor deck needs repair. A vintage camper that was parked outside that day is currently in the shop. And then there’s Balazs’ detached garage in the rear of the building, which happens to be a roughly 100-year-old Trachte shed.

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” says Balazs of the garage, a three-unit, that takes up most of her backyard.

Trachte buildings, if you are new to town, are the Madison-made prefabricated steel outbuildings that began to be manufactured in 1919 as garages for the then-newfangled automobile. The company branched out to make more of the steel buildings in different configurations, used for everything from diners to airplane hangars.

The roof to Balazs’ garage sustained considerable hail damage, dents that poked all the way through the steel creating tiny holes. Her insurance has approved replacing the roof. The question is, how?

The original Trachte roof is a distinctive barrel-vaulted shape, with side-to-side ribs that also feature horizontal ridges between them. While Trachte Building Systems, now in Sun Prairie, still makes prefabricated metal buildings, they haven’t looked like this in many years.

From inside one of the three garage bays, Balazs points up to the many tiny holes punched in the roof. “Those are going to rust out really fast,” she says. She doesn’t think leaving the roof as-is is an option.

Balazs has been messaging everyone she can think of who has “some familiarity with Trachtes. We're trying to build a dream team who could maybe bring this back from the dead.”

The garage, like most aging Trachtes, has other problems. It’s sinking — the original hinges for the garage doors are partially buried in the driveway’s gravel. There’s rust. And, Balazs notes, “these truly are built for Model-Ts.” Even a modest-sized contemporary car is a tight fit. “We park strategically at an angle, and as close as possible [to one side of the garage]. The passenger has to get out before the driver pulls in. And the driver still has to squeeze out the door.” Backing out involves a precise K-turn. “I tell people not to come back here unless they're very confident drivers,” Balazs says, admitting that even she still has problems. “Sometimes I have to adjust so I don't hit the porch.” (On the bright side, the garage did save two cars from hail damage on the 14th.)

Why not tear it down and build a new garage? The current garage is placed right on the side and back lot lines; current ordinances would dictate a new structure would need to be farther away from the edge of the property, leaving even less room to maneuver. Balazs is doubtful the city would okay a new garage if the current one comes down. “All the more reason to embrace this bit of Madison history,” she jokes.

Some possible options may include rubberizing the current roof, as the event space, The Tinsmith, did during the renovation of its building at 828 E. Main St., or working with similar-looking corrugated metal roofing, if someone knows how to, or is willing to, bend the material and attach it. Balazs is even contemplating “finding some metal fabricator who could replicate the panels. And then maybe there's a template for other people to fabricate it in the future.”

The previous owner gave Balazs a scrapbook filled with items pertaining to the history of the house. That book notes that a Robert Trachte used to live in the second floor unit and was responsible for building the garage, to house his own car.

Balazs is interested in keeping the roof as much like the current one as possible to avoid issues “like side panels not meeting up” and other problems yet to be determined: “It's just like any old structure. Once you start picking at it, you run into more and more problems down the line,” says Balazs. “The metal roof contractor that I spoke with initially said that they would not touch it.”

That said, she’s in the early stages of looking for options. “Right now, I have more questions than answers. There must be a solution.”

The tap-tap-tap of roofs being replaced echoes throughout the neighborhood. “This is the sound of Tenney-Lapham this summer,” Balazs says, marveling at the fact that “this garage stood here for 100-plus years and never sustained this kind of damage before.”

If you have a possible solution for Balazs or a spare Trachte roof lying around, you can contact her at cherylbalazs@gmail.com.