| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| B112 |
Posted - 11/09/2020 : 16:03:39
So I'm going to start a post on how I am repairing my cover-it. I limped along for a number of years after a 33" of snow collapsed the roof (looked like 4' in some drifts). The rest of the unit held up, but 13 ribs failed. More pictures to come and the design to be documented.
https://www.geofffox.com/MT/archives/2013/02/09/2013-blizzard-snow-totals-for-connecticut.php
The original unit looked like this in 2003:
Tractors around the boat:
Then we had a snow which as you can see all the roads were covered and not plowed. There was no way to get to Cover-It to remove snow:
This is the unit after the snow was removed from the cover, the boat pulled out and the roof jacketed back up. From 2013 until 2018 (five years), I limped along with metal stressed roof ribs:
The unit was assembled in approximately 2003 to house my boat and it became the tractor cover-it also. I'd sneak those little buggers next to my 27' boat and behind it because I was planning to get a bigger boat (never happened.. got married and had kids).
So I purchased this pipe bender from Harbor Freight and bent one tube so far (Electrical EMT pipe - I am looking to replace with schedule 40 with the swedge 3" ends when I can get a fair price for purchase and shipping).
The cover-it bent all of the upper ribs, the all but one of the straight pipes were straight:
This is a picture of one of the ribs repaired. Generation one of the repair.
I am straightening the frame using 2x4 wood and EMT pipe clamps screwed to the boards. To fit my boat back into this unit, I will need to make trusses and I am still pondering that design. So far I plan to firm up the unit with select areas of wood and restore the ribs, but I am planning to add wooden rafters which will hold the walls up firmer and I may be able to mount ladders and other equipment on the walls.
(I'll edit the first post as I go... so far above is what I got.)
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| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Cvans |
Posted - 11/27/2020 : 13:25:01
quote:
The dump will be another part of the solution.
I did what your doing 2 summers ago. It was hard hauling some of the stuff off but once it was gone and the place looked good again I realized I should have done it a long time ago. Surprisingly none of the stuff has been missed.
Good luck with your project. |
| B112 |
Posted - 11/26/2020 : 10:43:30
quote:
Originally posted by lilypad
Hope the pictures I posted help. If you have any questions PM me and I will answer them. (Or I can do it in a post)
Definitely helps. My project on the cover-it is delayed (but not too long) until the garage bays are freed for winter work. Amazingly, I can now walk in all bays. The completion of the wood dual tractor shed helped free up space. The dump will be another part of the solution. |
| lilypad |
Posted - 11/25/2020 : 02:38:59
quote:
Originally posted by B112
lilypad- I see a lot of good ideas there. first the cantilevering the wood purlins over the front is good for preventing the weather from coming in. I am not sure what you are using to attach the purlins (are those the EMT straps?) I attached them with C Clamps
Did you put in the inner roof as a shelf? I was thinking about something the same at the backend of the cover-it as an area which would not crush from the snow load. If I want to use this as a bay, I will always be concerned with snow load and I'll never enter the unit with snow on it. I am also not thinking of parking my boat in the unit as if I build wood trusses, if the snow load is too much, the potential damage to the boat will be much greater. The inner roof is a loft to store stuff as i don't need the height. I will take some pictures of the completed outside. It is covered entirely with the metal roofing. Since the frame is make of pipe and is bolted together it was not very stable or square. It had lots of gaps where the roof intersected the ends so I overlapped the siding and used a hammer to bend it over and then foam insulated it to seal the gaps. Crude but it works and fairly represents my building knowledge and skils.
I also like to see that your cover-it has the collar ties which I may add to my unit.
I have many problems with the design to solve, but the biggest is that I may not be near the cover-it in a big snow and it may just fail. I was paying a plow guy to clear it, but he couldn't get to the house in that one storm.
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| lilypad |
Posted - 11/24/2020 : 01:29:17
quote:
Originally posted by B10Dave
Chris; I believe Michael stated 4ft. of snow.
Roger please post the pics of your metal replacement cover.
Hope the pictures I posted help. If you have any questions PM me and I will answer them. (Or I can do it in a post) |
| B112 |
Posted - 11/23/2020 : 22:49:16
lilypad- I see a lot of good ideas there. first the cantilevering the wood purlins over the front is good for preventing the weather from coming in. I am not sure what you are using to attach the purlins (are those the EMT straps?)
Did you put in the inner roof as a shelf? I was thinking about something the same at the backend of the cover-it as an area which would not crush from the snow load. If I want to use this as a bay, I will always be concerned with snow load and I'll never enter the unit with snow on it. I am also not thinking of parking my boat in the unit as if I build wood trusses, if the snow load is too much, the potential damage to the boat will be much greater.
I also like to see that your cover-it has the collar ties which I may add to my unit.
I have many problems with the design to solve, but the biggest is that I may not be near the cover-it in a big snow and it may just fail. I was paying a plow guy to clear it, but he couldn't get to the house in that one storm.
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| B112 |
Posted - 11/19/2020 : 16:32:43
I lied (or misspoke-lol) 33" of Snow. It sure looked like 4', I'll say almost 3' of heavy snow.
https://www.geofffox.com/MT/archives/2013/02/09/2013-blizzard-snow-totals-for-connecticut.php |
| Cvans |
Posted - 11/19/2020 : 12:43:16
I sure blew it on the 4 feet of snow. That would definitely do a number on one of those covers. |
| B112 |
Posted - 11/17/2020 : 20:47:37
Hi Dave - Yes 4 feet of snow. I found a picture of a sidewalk which looks like 2.5' to 3' but it was a time in Feb 2013 when four towns were shut down because they could not plow the roads. They sent the plows home when the wind got into the 80s. I couldn't drive to the cover-it and it collapsed on the boat (fortunately it prevented a total failure.) So I have not found a picture of it back in 2003, but it was really nice. I only took the cover off in 2018 or 19. I may miss the first snow, but I have a strategy for repair. Right now, the tarps I used to cover the roof cover the tractors and that's worked for protection but you can't work in that. |
| B10Dave |
Posted - 11/17/2020 : 18:56:08
Chris; I believe Michael stated 4ft. of snow.
Roger please post the pics of your metal replacement cover. I will be doing that in the spring to my 20X12X8 domed roof style "garage in a box". The first cover rotted in the sun and the company provided a replacement. That one split along the very top ridge after three years. I had a 12X20 white picnic shelter tarp which I put over the top for this winter. Did you screw the metal directly to the frame? I plan to add 1X3 wood strips and screw the metal to those.
Michael, nice work so far. Hope you get it all enclosed again before too much snow flies. |
| Cvans |
Posted - 11/17/2020 : 16:18:03
4 inches of snow is not a lot. Amazing the roof collapsed.
The idea of using metal roofing with zip screws seems well worth considering. |
| lilypad |
Posted - 11/17/2020 : 02:18:45
I had a storage shed (garage-in-a-box) and when the provided cover top ripped out I was sent a replacement under warrenty (20x 13 x !2) I found some 20 foot plus used galvanized roofing that I put on it instead. It took me awhile (I'm slow) but it is now finished and is solid and strong. I will try to find my pictures and post some. Here is one pic that I was able to get off my phone. I'm trying to find more. Found them.
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| B112 |
Posted - 11/16/2020 : 01:14:23
I posted some pictures and explained so far what I am thinking. More to come... Thank you for the interest. I am learning a lot about schedule 40 pipes, bending, etc. I am thinking of covering this with shrink wrap before I put the original cover on the unit. I may add a tarp over the original cover to stop sun damage as the original tarp is very solid, but was flaking white particles on the inside making a mess. |
| B10Dave |
Posted - 11/12/2020 : 01:05:12
Happy repairing Michael. Waiting for the pics. |
| ByronC |
Posted - 11/11/2020 : 10:26:43
Got pics? |
| Cvans |
Posted - 11/10/2020 : 13:48:11
This ought to be interesting. |
