We will get the first solar array up and running. The columns are poured and ready to go.
Our focus will remain on stucco for Tumbleweed; however, spare moments will likely go into solar power.
brad
...now browsing by category
Time permitting…
Sunday, December 20th, 2009What a difference a year makes
Saturday, December 19th, 2009When we first bought the ranch, I spent a lot of time looking at various maps, etc. of the area around our place. One day on Google maps I noticed that P.D.’s property is greener that the rest of the property around here. Just being greener isn’t too strange, but it’s also square–green and square. Talking to P.D., he said it was likely due to his place being fenced for twenty or more years. It is open range out here. There are not a lot of cattle, but I guess it doesn’t take a lot to change the landscape.
I never expected to see a change in such a short time, but it’s only been a year and already there’s a big difference inside our property from the outside.
Looking at this picture, you would think cows graze around our fence all the time just looking for a way in. It’s not the case. Once in a great while, we see them near the fence. Still, you can see that when they do come by, they eat up most everything.
Solar panels
Saturday, December 5th, 2009We have so many things to do at the moment that getting the solar equipment running is on the back burner. I have managed to make a little progress on installing the solar panels.
I searched the web and believe I have found the ideal angles for the solar panels for winter and not winter (the proper angle is entirely a function of latitude, ours is 31° 50′ 7″ N, and the angle of the sun). You could, I imagine, adjust the angle of your solar panels constantly. Most people just pick a angle somewhere in between the summer and winter ideals. Some people adjust their angles four times a year. I’ve settle on two angles, winter (57°) and spring, summer, fall (28°). My thinking on this is that adjusting the angles will be a pain, and I won’t want to adjust them very often. There are fewer hours of daylight in the winter so the angle during the winter months will be most important. During the summer months we get lots of hours of sun so having the perfect angle is not really that important. Therefore, winter and not winter angles.
You might wonder about the solar panel mounts that track the sun automatically. Unless the price drops dramatically, they are not practical. They provide very little additional power; it’s a better value to buy extra solar panels. Also, they are a moving part, and moving parts break.
In order to make adjusting the panels easy and to make sure I remember the proper angles, I cut two pieces of OSB each to one angle. Here is the winter angle propped up and facing south.
We ended up getting twelve 210 watt panels. They will be mounted in two rows of six, one in front of the other. You never want shadows on your solar panels (enormous decrease in power output) so I need to position the front row accordingly. I could just compute the proper distance, but it’s close enough to the solstice that I’m just waiting until then to measure the proper placement. I’m thinking about ten feet should do it, but will find out for sure on December 21st.
Solar Power Revisited
Thursday, November 5th, 2009It’s been awhile since I last looked at solar power (with difficulty, I’m not calling these solar systems). With the battery house coming along and the house getting electrical, we decided to recheck my energy/solar calculations and place an order. One bright note is that prices have dropped since I last looked.
Part of the learning curve here is learning to think in things like watts and kilowatts and amps (still working on amps). And a difficulty is that people you talk to may think in amps when you’re thinking in watts. Ugh. Not to mention that some people are on the grid which means they have solar panels, but don’t need batteries.
One thing I did was redo the calculation (guess) of our requirements. This is an odd thing to do because your current requirements don’t really apply. They could, but I’m leaving computers on all the time and not all the lights have been switched to CF. Also, the refrigerator here is old… we’ll need to buy new appliances as we sold all ours when we moved. All the new appliances will have the best energy star ratings that make sense; however, they are not here and I cannot measure them. For all I know, in another month or two they will be even more energy efficient.
I did all the calculations from scratch. When I did, I used my handy-dandy Kill A Watt to determine the actual energy we use for certain devices. These were mostly networking and computers. For the rest I used charts and energy star ratings from possible appliances. Anyway, my estimate closely matched my previous estimate of 8 to 9 kilowatt hours a day. (Try figuring how much power you need a week to run the vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, etc.)
Once you get this number, you can plan what you’ll need to support it. The price on solar panels dropped since I last looked; and the watts produced went up. We’re getting a dozen 210 watt panels, which (warning: math to come) means in one hour of sun, you can generate 2520 watts of energy. We get between 6 and 7 hours of sun here from a solar calculation standpoint. So, we are looking at 15120 to 17640 watts of energy generated per day or 15 to 17.5 kilowatts hours. This is best-best case. The panels likely will not produce this much energy and there are other places you lose power. Still, I believe it should easily provide what we need each day plus enough extra to get us through the cloudy days.
Now comes the battery calculation. Standard thinking is that you want enough battery reserve for three days without sun. For us, this means about 27 kilowatts hours of batteries. But, wait… there’s a catch. Depleting a battery below fifty percent is a big no-no. The two things that most determine the life of your batteries are temperature and charge. So you need to double the 27kwh to 54kwh to get your three days.
There’s another important issue with batteries. They say never to add new batteries into a functioning system. The issue has to do with charging the batteries as a group. Let’s say a group of batteries put into a system the same day and never separated are called a flock. They say the individuals in a flock all need about the same amount of charging each day. This means that when you charge the flock, none will be undercharged or overcharged (both are bad for battery life). If you were to add a new battery into a flock it would need less charging than the rest, ergo, either it gets overcharged or all the rest get undercharged.
One last thing on batteries is that you can get them sealed or unsealed. Unsealed seems the norm, but there are a couple of issues using unsealed batteries. When they are charging, the batteries give off a dangerous gas (hydrogen gas). It’s explosive for sure and probably not good to inhale. You need to install an exhaust system for when the batteries are charging. This is not too hard (the inverter has a power-out line that comes on when the batteries are charging), but an added expense. Also, I think the room temperature will be more stable without this. The other issue is that water in the batteries has to be maintained. Letting them get low hurts battery life. (Of course it does…) Filling the batteries is an opportunity to spill the battery acid. There are special battery caps to aid in the process, but again an added cost. And, it’s one more thing that needs attention. We decided to go with the sealed batteries and ignore all these issues.
Obviously, you need to be pretty confident about your battery purchase. Solar panels on the other hand, can be added as needed… or one could add wind generators or hydro power (if they lived somewhere else that is). Ho hum. So I gave the battery requirement a bump up somewhere in the 70kwh range.
Plus, you really need a generator. This is too bad, but it seems unavoidable. There will be times when there are four or more days without sun; it’s entirely possible that when it’s not sunny you’ll spend more time indoors, use more electricity, you get the picture. The power center, (inverter, charger, etc.) will also turn a generator on and off as needed to charge the batteries and to provide extra power assuming you need to run the arc welder, while you’re building a time lapse movie, and… running the washing machine. OK, it’s unlikely. Anyway, it’s not a big deal. We’re getting a propane powered generator because we can and it does not need fuel carried to it. I’m getting a smaller generator than I planned on because I don’t think we will need it that much.
There are nifty controls to prevent the generator from coming on while you’re trying to sleep and to run the generator at scheduled intervals for maintenance reasons. (so it can charge its battery, etc.)
All this concern about battery life? Yes, they are the most expensive single item in the system.
The power center we decided on is the Xantex XW System. The main reason for getting it is that Xantrex has a great reputation and everything fits together. We’ve visited a lot of systems around here and most are made from different parts from different companies. They seem complicated and sometimes a little wacky.
If you’re wondering, we’re going with a 48 volt system. I’m not sure this matters much in our case, but the trend in solar equipment is toward higher voltages. As far as I can tell, the biggest reason for larger voltages is that they can travel (over wire) farther with less loss of energy. We aren’t planning on long runs of DC… but we could. The only real downside to a higher voltage (like 48 volts) is that you have to buy batteries in blocks of 48 volts. Which is to say, in our case, (we are using 12 volt batteries) we have to get batteries in multiples of 4. Four batteries at 12 volts equals 48 volts… assuming the four are wired in series, but that’s a whole new can of worms – ask if you really want to know.
We are getting ground mounts for the solar panels. People keep wanting us to mount these on the roof. If you have lots of land, mounting on the roof isn’t that good an idea. For one, it’s windy up there. (A friend had all his panels blow off his roof — he was lucky most were undamaged.) For two, I don’t want the batteries near the house so I would have to run wire some distance to a battery house – easier to put the panels near the battery house. Also, I can more easily adjust the angle of the panels, when they are on the ground. (The sun here, in the entire northern hemisphere really, is more to the south in the winter and more overhead in the summer.)
This will all get real soon. How close will my estimates be… stay tuned…
brad
Foundations and a battery house
Thursday, September 24th, 2009There were a few hiccups getting through the inspections for the foundations, however; things got worked out and we made our first pour today. We poured all the foundations for the main house and we did everything for the battery house. I took quite a lot of pictures… unfortunately, I was completely out of sync with my camera and 80 percent of the pictures were of my feet. What little there are you can see below. I also made a video of cement drying-sounds exciting! It was a dry run for when we pour the main house.
If you wonder about the Styrofoam around the perimeter, it’s there to turn the floor into thermal mass. It does get cold here and the Styrofoam separates the floor from the cold ground. Our windows are designed to warm the floors and the adobe walls in the winter and radiate the heat back in the night.
Just starting out
The cement truck
Scott and company
Foundations poured, waiting for the slab
Starting the battery house
Finished
That big loop of rebar is to chain down our generator. The pipes are for water and electricity to the houses.
Get the Flash Player to see this content.
Status update
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009I hated status reports when I worked at Toshiba and Canon, but this seems like fun.
Progress has been made on the slab for the main house. (I wish we’d give it a name. Perhaps a contest?) Scott (the guy doing our concrete work) put up the forms and dug the footings. Then he walked me through the rough plumbing. We didn’t pass the first inspection because I (Scott too) was unaware that the sewer needed a pressure test. You have to clamp all the pipes but one closed. The one gets a pipe ten feet tall attached to it and you fill to the top with water. We passed once this was done. There was lots of digging and burying involved in this.
Scott has started adding the rebar, wire mesh, Styrofoam and other miscellaneous items into the mix in preparation for the last inspection before we pour. We’re thinking we’ll call for inspection on Thursday.
As for Tumbleweed, we started putting up the interior walls. Today we put up a wall 26 feet long by 8 feet tall at one end and 9 feet at the other end, made from 2×6 lumber. Whew! I wasn’t sure we could lift it, but we could. :) It was a little tall and didn’t quite fit under the I-joist. I used a floor jack to make it fit. :) Karen said that she will write about this later. (Stay tuned.)
We planted a few things in and around the green house. I planted mint and rosemary outside the green house. Neither seems to taste good to the local wildlife. The rosemary looks great and has been undisturbed. The day after I planted, I went to check on things and discovered the mint ripped out of its hole and about two feet away. There was a hole dug where the mint had been. Clearly, something (a deer I suspect) dug the hole to get at the water. I replanted the mint and added a watering hole for the locals. So far, so good. Karen and I also planted a few things in the greenhouse. I planted green onions. Karen planted lettuce. Little green spouts abound. We’re starting small.
A great thing happened today. Karen found us a supplier of formaldehyde-free fiberglass insulation. The search for this product has been crazy. Johns Manville makes it but no one seems to carry it. You can find it on the Home Depot and the Lowes web sites, but nowhere in Arizona or New Mexico has it, and no, they will not order it for you. We’ve emailed people and we’ve called people. We’ve visited web sites… Finally Karen called Johns Manville and told them that none of the places on their web site carried their product. They came up with a new name… in Tucson. I called and they have it and it’s reasonably price. We were getting ready to give up on this. It’s going in the ceiling of Tumbleweed. Mainly it’s to keep down the noise rain makes on the metal roof, however; another R-13 brings the roof insulation value to R-54. :)
One last thing… I don’t think we ever put this up, but we made a movie of the walls going up on Tumbleweed. You can see it here: The walls go up
Oh… We still need knobs.
DIY guide for a standing-seam steel roof with a parapet – part 3
Monday, September 7th, 2009I have put it off long enough, it’s time for the last panel. Our last piece needs to be cut to 10 inches wide… the entire length. (Before we did this, we went to the roof and measured and remeasured. We even cut a sample piece and tried it. You really don’t want to do this wrong.) We considered all possible ways to do this. Using a skillsaw (with the blade in backwards) was a way recommended to us. The sound was unbearable (Yes, we tested it.) and more importantly, I didn’t feel I could keep a straight line. We thought about using our sawzall, but again I was not sure I could get a clean cut. In the end we just used our trusty tin snips. There was a lot of sweat involved, but we ended up with a nice clean edge.
Prepping the last panel
We had to do this without the tools from Mastercraft Metals because this piece was too narrow for them to fit. To be clear, we still had the tools, and we used them, but not in the ways they were intended. I put on my MacGyver thinking cap and I came up with a good way to build the box end.
When I finally got going fast, I noticed I was leaving large-ish waves in the metal
It's done, we need to straighten out those waves next
Karen hammered out the waves with a deadfall hammer
Now things get tricky. The entire length of this piece needs to have the cut edge bent up at ninety degrees much like the pre-fabbed pieces did. We used the tool for forming the box edge all along this edge to do this. Note that you can’t just bend it up to ninety all at once. You have to do it a little at a time down the entire length and then go back again. This was very hard work. Karen would pound the tool with a hammer toward the next position while I pulled as hard as I could. Then we would reseat the tool and bend… repeat, repeat, repeat.
You can see that part of length is showing some bend
We are getting there
It's done! Frustrating, difficult and tiring
On to the next problem. How to build the box end without the handy-dandy tool for making box ends? Our neighbour Bill lent me two clamps and a piece of steel that he said was ok to cut. I cut it such that two pieces would fit inside our custom panel. I clamped them to the panel and folded it just like the tool would have done. Karen was even able to hammer the corners flat against it.
There's a piece of steel on the other side of the panel that you can't see
It worked like a charm, but note that we used the tool to strengthen the new edge while we made the bend
Finishing touches to the box end
I don’t have a picture of it, but we were able to use the standard tool on the front edge. It fit fine once we made the normal half-inch cuts.
Wow, we never thought this last panel would come out so good.
Installing the last panel
There were a few tricky things about this, but nothing too bad. You can’t use the 1×2 boards for obvious reasons. We kind of hooked it on the previous panel and flipped it in place. We were lucky that our panel was wide enough that we could use the crimping tool just the way we did on the other panels.
We're ready to drop in the last panel
It's in and fits perfectly
We were warned that this last piece could rattle in the wind. Without the edge the panels normally have, the trim won’t really hold that edge down tight. Instead, we customized the clips a little and screwed them to the parapet and that held the panel down very securely.
Our custom made clips made the last piece as tight as the first
Installing the trim
It had already been a long day, but we decided to push on through and finish the job. The trim went on easily, but like everything on this roof, it took time and it made us tired.
The trim is divided into two parts, the parallel and the perpendicular. The first runs parallel to the panel seams and the other runs perpendicular. As with all things roof related, you start at the bottom and go up. Therefore, the parallel trim goes first; the perpendicular is last.
There was little customizing required to install the parallel trim. It came in 10 foot pieces. Where they joined, you make a little cut so they can overlap three or four inches.
(One thing to check before starting this is whether the trim is covered with a film of protective covering. Ours were — but we didn’t see it until later after it was installed. This stuff would have been a lot easier to strip off before it was screwed down.)
Laid out and waiting to be screwed to the parapet wall
The first screw
Where two pieces meet (Blow this up to see how these pieces fit together)
You can see that without an edge to hold up the trim on the customized last panel, you need to hold the trim even with the top edge while you screw it down
The perpendicular trim needed a little more customizing. It needed to be cut to fit over the parallel trim in each corner. It also needed to be cut to fit over each of the standing seams.
Preparing the corner to fit over the parallel
It's ready to fit over the parallel
Marking to cut around the standing seams
Cutting out for the standing seams
It's ready to install, but I seem to need a drink first
It gets screwed to the parapet wall and on the seams
A wider angle vew of things
I did mention it gets screwed on the seams...
Stucco Stop
Because we have parapet walls and we are going to stucco, we also have stucco stop. It’s just a piece of trim that we stucco up to. It’s designed so that if water gets behind the stucco, it will run down the underlayment and drip on the to roof. Cool.
We're extra careful and free with the caulking
Just screwing it down
We used a construction pencil to keep the height even all the way around
I guessed we skipped a few things… like, the way the stucco stop fits at the corners. I’m sure there were more. The main thing is that when I searched the web hoping to read about how to do this, I couldn’t find anything… at least nothing where parapet walls were involved. We’re just hoping this will be helpful to others. Since we have only worked with a roof from Mastercraft Metals, we really have no idea how generally applicable this guide is. As always, use your head.
Finished
It took us several long days, three I think, to install about 1200 square feet of roof. At the finish, we were ready for a break. We are very happy with the results. We have had a few rains since then and no leaking. Which is nice because the water that leaks through your roof is especially disgusting.
The end of a long day
DIY guide for a standing-seam steel roof with a parapet – part 2
Sunday, September 6th, 2009Assuming your underlayment is on, the first thing to installing a standing-seam roof is to install the panels. There are a few steps:
- decide which way the panels will be installed
- prepare the panels
- pull the panels up on to the roof
- position and attach the panels
Which way will the panels be installed?
The box end goes against the front parapet wall and the two seams overlap. Of those two, the side which goes on top, sits against your parapet side wall when you put the first panel up. The idea is that the second panel, must pop down on the first panel when its set beside it. I don’t have a picture, but think this over until you understand. You can’t make a mistake here.
Preparing the panels
In the case of a parapet roof, the panels need to have a box formed at one end and be bent down on the other. The box is made by folding the panel. What is cool about this is that without any cuts, there’s no place for the panel to leak. (Well, unless the water is so high at the top of your roof as to overflow the panels — let’s hope this doesn’t happen.)
Making the box end requires that you trim a little and then use a special tool to bend up the end of the panel such that the corners bend out. You then hammer the corners tight against the back of the panel.
Both sides need trimmed back 1 1/2 inches
one side trimmed
trimming the second side (note this still needs to be clipped off like the first side)
Once you have cut both sides of the panel back 1 and 1/2 inches, you need to put a little bend or crimp in the side to help it bend properly. A pair of thick needle nose pliers are ideal. Just grab at a 45 degree angle and bend out enough so when you start to bend the box, the metal bends out cleanly.
putting a crimp in the sides
Then, you use a special tool (in our case, supplied by the roofer) to bend up the end of then panel to make a box.
Fitting the tool on the end of the panel
Starting the bend
The bend is at 90 degrees, see how the corner folded
Hammer around the corners and make sure the box end is square to finish the box.
Hammer the corner against the back of the panel while the tools is still on
A properly folded corner
We used a block of wood to square up the end, probably not a requirement
The box end is done. On to the front edge, which will hang off the end of your house. It’s easier.
The front edge gets bent down, cut back 1/2 inch on both sides
Slip on the tool and prepare for a bend of 45 to 80 degrees
Bending the front edge down
Finished
One done, getting ready for the next step
Pull the panels up on to the roof
At this point, your panel is ready to be installed. (We tended to prep three or four panels at a time.) Note that these panels bend (in a bad way) easily. You can’t carry them straight up a ladder or they will bend and be wrecked. They need to stay even and parallel to the ground to avoid this.
When you carry them, let one end hang down. Don’t stand too far toward the ends. If two people (a minimum) carry a panel, I suggest each be about one quarter from their end of the panel.
Getting the panels on the roof is pretty easy with a little planning. First, decide how the panels should go up and right into place without any bother. You don’t want to be walking in circles with these on the roof. Next, build a little ramp so you can slide the panels up. Lifting straight up may seem easy, but you’ll catch the panels on any obstructions. A ramp will keep you off any obstructions plus it’s a little easier on the back and arms. We just used a few 16 foot 2×6 boards as our ramp.
You will need clamps and rope to pull the panels up. We have pictures of how we did it, but you’ll need to work out the details yourself.
It's not pretty, but it was effective
I drilled a hole in our clamps to attach the rope
Pull evenly to keep the panels from tipping
Position and attach the panels
The first panel sets against the side parapet wall. It’s not attached to the wall, but there is a trim piece to come later that will hold it down. The side away from the wall will be attached to the roof decking with clips. After the first, each panel is attached to the previous on one side and attached to the roof with clips on the other. Additionally, the seam where two panel meet is crimped (weather-stripping may also be applied if the slope is low). We applied caulking to the clips as well. (I was a little fuzzy on these instructions from Floyd so I am not positive this is required.)
A clip in place
We caulked where the clip fits over the panel and where it sits on the underlayment
Screwing the clip to the roof decking
After the first panel is attached, you may need to apply weather-stripping to the seam–we did.
Getting started
Placing the weather-stripping on the panel
Once the weather-stripping is on, you’re ready for the next panel, which is set on a board to position is over previous panel. Place your 1×2 boards next to the attached panel and place the new panel on the 1×2 boards. Now push the new panel tight to the attached panel making sure it overlaps at the seam. Once it’s in position, you can pull out the 1×2 boards.
Once the weather-stripping is on, set the next panel on the 1x2 boards before attaching
I used my hands to clamp the seams together as we pulled out the 1x2 boards
After you are sure the seams fit together, it’s time to crimp the seams. This permanently bonds the panels and makes the seam waterproof. The crimping was pretty hard work.
You use this handy crimping tool
We worked from top to bottom moving the tool a little less than its length after each crimp
I've been told that you can't crimp too much
After this, it’s just repeat, repeat, repeat… until you reach the last piece.
I do believe there’s a concern that the panels could get crooked as you move across the roof. I measured as we went and we never had a problem. We kept each panel tight to the next and we stayed square. I have no idea what to do if you start to lose square.
You might have seen this coming. The last panel will undoubtably need to be cut to fit. Ugh. (Next time, Karen suggested that we design our house width to be an even multiple of the size of the panels.) This and more in part 3.
DIY guide for a standing-seam steel roof with a parapet – part 1
Friday, September 4th, 2009Karen and I finished our roof the other day. We’re really happy with it, but it was a lot of work. Nothing was too hard from a technical standpoint; I think it may have been all the trips up and down the ladder and the lifting, pulling, and carrying.
I think we took enough pictures to create a decent guide for others attempting a similar feat. We will see…
We originally planned on a membrane roof. We couldn’t find any installers willing to put one up for us… for a reasonable price. Seems odd. As it turns out, I think we were lucky.
On the way to the post office one day, I stopped in to introduce myself to a local artist – Roger McKasson. (Karen has emailed him before we moved here to see if he had a recommendation on an architect.) We got to talking and I mentioned the problem finding a roofer. He told me that he put on his own roof. He said he used an outfit from Silver City called Mastercraft Metals. He said they came out to his place and cut the roof to fit. He also said they told him how to install it and even lent him the tools to do the job. He said that he and his wife did the job themselves. It sounded too easy. I was intrigued.
I called Mastercraft and they confirmed Roger’s story. Then they quoted the job at a quarter the price of the membrane roof… assuming any one would install a membrane roof in Portal. Ha! (To be fair, in an apples to apples (installed) comparison, the price would have been half the price of a membrane roof.) Karen and I were pretty much on a path at this point.
The significant difference between the standing-seam steel roof (in my opinion) and a membrane roof is that the steel roof will not burn. The membrane roof people say it will not burn, but hot embers will burn holes through the material. Easily repaired I’m told, but better no holes at all. Another big difference for us is that you can install a standing-seam steel roof yourself – not the case with a membrane roof.
Picking a color… Karen and I did not spend a minute thinking about this. There’s been a lot of press regarding white roofs and global warming lately. Between the heat here, global warming and the solar tax credit for picking a white roof… well, you can guess what we did.
I’ve put up a few roofs before, and I always used tar paper under the roof. The people at Mastercraft Metals told me that these roofs last so long that a new kind of underlayment is needed. They recommended a product called Sharkskin-Ultra. I have to say I love the product. One big concern out here is the wind. I heard one apocryphal story about a guy who put tar paper on his roof four times before the roof was finished; each time a wind came up and ripped off the tar paper. It’s believable.
This Sharkskin stuff is tough. You can’t tear it. The wind never ripped so much as a single hole through a nail. Also, it claims not to change size when the temperature changes. I have to say my observations agree. (Doesn’t this violate some law of nature?) It was very easy to install. Basically, we chalked lines, rolled out a few feet at a time, nailed, repeat, repeat, repeat. The most difficult part for me turned out to be trivial for Karen. The last piece needed to be folded so as to go up the front and side parapet walls. I studied it; I cut pieces to try; nothing but a big angry mess. Karen got up to help me and in a few seconds she had made perfect corners. I still don’t know how she did it, but I quickly nailed them down.
Our underlayment installed
On the appointed day, Floyd from MasterCraft showed up in a big pickup truck pulling a trailer with the equipment to turn a roll of flat steel into the panels for a standing-seam roof. He also brought premanufactured trim pieces and an assortment of goodies to help complete the job.
Mastercarft Metals truck and trailer
A long table is needed to keep the panels from bending
A panel being formed
Look at those choppers!
Once Floyd had everything set up, he started making panels. As each one finished, we carried them into our house where we laid them in two piles.
Our temporary workshop
It turned out to be ideal working on these in the house. (Karen wasn’t thrilled with how dirty the floor got, but afterward, it all cleaned up like new.) There is a fair amount of preparation needed, and it’s hot outside. A table would have been nice. We worked on 2×6’s on their side. It worked fine, but there was a lot of crouching.
After all the panels were made and put away, Floyd gave us instructions on how to install the roof. He cut several small pieces of panel to help with the instruction as well as to be a concrete example for later when we would be on our own. Although everything seemed clear and easy when Floyd explained it, a few days later, things were a bit foggy. Between Karen and I, a few calls, and a little trial and error, all went well… quite well. We would encourage anyone to install their own metal roof. We hope this guide helps. Stay tuned for part 2 with more details.
More bobcat photos
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009A lot of animals this morning. There were cows all over the road this morning. It was a challenge getting past them. About ten minutes after I was on the property, they had a mini-stampede up the road and away. Curious, there were deer standing near the cows, but on our side of the fence. They ran way as soon as they saw me.
The bobcats were all on the property today. When I drove up, one was inside the wire protecting one of our trees. It quickly scampered up a small mesquite tree. The other kitten ran off into the brush looking just like a kid off to fetch mom… sure enough, mom and the kitten wandered back about five minutes later.
I noticed the kitten in the tree had a small animal in its mouth; a bunny I think. It was small enough that I believe it caught it itself. On thing that dawned on me is that the bunny escape holes probably keep mom out, but these not these kittens. -sigh- It’s a hard world.
-
- A rare family photo
-
- A bobkitten with breakfast
-
- A bobkitten and breakfast (again)
