Storm Damage


2004-12-07

     Last night we really got pounded by wind and rain, and around midnightish I had to fix up an awning which was supposed to be protecting my wife's rat breeding cages from getting wet.  This morning I ventured out to inspect the state of things in daylight, and on a whim grabbed my camera, and snapped some pix of the property.
 
     My wife and I have been meaning to put up some images of our home for a while, so this might as well be a start to it.
 
 
 

 
Please click on a thumbnail to view larger image.

 

Our humble abode. It actually used to be the laundry outbuilding for a larger property, but the landlord split the property into three parts, built up the outbuildings into houses, and rented them out as three separate properties. So the house is tiny (a cottage, really) but the back yard is the largest I've ever had, and rent is quite inexpensive for the area. ThePlan[tm] is to put up with cramped quarters and save money long enough to put a down-payment on a house of our own. The yard is a bit cluttered right now, which is embarrassing, so I'll probably put up a new picture after I've cleaned it up.

In preparation for the storms, I reinforced the rats' protective awning as best I could, but to be safe we also covered the rat cages themselves with a polypropylene tarp. It turned out to be a good idea.

I peeled back one corner of the tarp and checked on them. This particular bunch were huddled in one corner of their cage, but their cage seemed quite dry.
    

This is the awning that covers the rat zone. It looks pretty good from this angle. It is basically thin aluminum tubes stuck into PVC joints, with a polyethylene tarp stretched over it and lashed down.

The tarp came free from the aluminum tube over the house roof, and water is collecting inside it. I'll need to fix that, or the water will eventually force a leak. The added weight is also unnecessarily stressing the entire structure.

As you can see, the aluminum tubes didn't fare too well in the storm. This is the tube supporting the edge closest to the yard. It is supposed to be straight.
    

This one held up a little better, but is visibly bent where the rope is holding it in place over the house. The knot is a clove hitch, and I added a few winds of duct tape to keep it in place, else it would scoot down the tube.

The other side was held by some steel cable, but the gusty winds fatigued and broke it. I had to replace it with polyethylene rope in the middle of the night. Again, duct tape is keeping the rope from sliding down the tube. The tube itself bent so much that it worked its way out of the PVC joint (beyond the right edge of this image), so I un-bent it and tied the second rope to the joint itself so that even if the tube comes free again, the joint will not stray too far.

The tarp itself is showing some signs of strain and delamination, but has not yet sprung any leaks. I'm a bit surprised; it's a very cheap, thin tarp.
    

We converted one corner of the generous yard into a chicken run, by fencing it off, installing a gate, laying down straw, and putting up a coop and secondary shelter. The chickens put themselves away at night, and the coop doors close and latch. The shelter to the right of it keeps the rain off their food. When it rains during the day, the chickens will often take shelter under it too.

Very chicken-like, isn't she? It has some fancy name too, but I'd have to ask cobalt. She likes the exotic species.

Believe it or not, this one is full-grown. The species just looks that way.
    

There's a funny story for this gate. I measured everything out very precisely, dug my post-holes, set my posts, then attached the gate -- and of course since I set the poles exactly the gate's width apart, the gate was stuck between them and would not open! I had to dig up the right-hand post and re-set it.

This is where the old chicken run used to be. When the new neighbors moved in, they tore down the fence lining their property and put up a new one. Kudos to them, it was sorely needing replacement!

To the left is the old fence, to the right is the new one the neighbors put up. The old fence here is actually in better shape than the fence that the neighbors tore down.
    


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