What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

And here I was sure you would say coffee, not cigars!

 

Well snow apocalypse is upon us here as of a couple hours ago. They are saying it could snow 3" an hour at it's heaviest. Yay.

 

Lol. I'm not a fan of either!

 

Don't have any softwoods?

 

Did the driveway this morning with the little single stage snowblower, 4" at the time and 6f. Had a medical appointment and was told no snowblowers or driving for the rest of the day. Ended up pulling the JD Hydra 185 with blower and did a few more driveways now at over 10" and 3f. I sure love how well that thing runs. Drifting and snowplows will have me out working on them tomorrow as well, with warm ups in-between.
Been awhile since we've had a real winter storm.

 

Daughter got in small car accident.. car in front of her slid and she swerved hit a curb.. blew tire probably rim and need a front end alignment…

She’s an emotional wreck;
And mad at me

Liz Dammit R U OK?
oh the car, I screwed up, blah blah boo hoo
Her first words need to be I am OK

she worried about a flippin car

I couldn’t care less about dang vehicle, if she not hurt it’s just a nuisance not a problem…

problem with teenagers; haven’t experienced enough to know that … The real challenges in life cannot be resolved with a few hundred dollars..

 

You got that right.

 

Reminder to anyone who wears contacts - check for rebates.

I used to get my CL thru my eye doctor and they would always hand me the rebate form when I picked up my yearly allotment of lenses. But the eye doctor recently discontinued use of my insurance for buying contacts so I just ordered them thru where I get my glasses (cheap chain store). The contacts came in the mail yesterday and when I got online this morning I Googled the brand with "rebate" Sure enough, there was a $50 rebate.

Is it a PITA? Sure, but much easier online than it used to be by mail. By they time I PDF'd the documents I needed to upload and took pics of the boxes (as proof of receipt), and got the online form filled out, it took about 20 minutes - it would have been less but Spot and Rainey were "helping" me immensely. I figure being reimbursed $50 for 20 minutes of my time is way more than I make per hour at work, so definitely worth it. Plus, that $50 is 35% of what I had to pay out of pocket after insurance (VSP Premier) kicked in its standard amount.

I've heard for 40 years how some people don't bother with rebates because either they or someone they know didn't get one. I have never, even when it was all done by snail mail, had an issue receiving rebates I've applied for. You just have to be meticulous in following directions.

 

As long as they can handle the weight, I see what they are saying. Well, there are many such houses still intact after 100 years. Our winter climate is not near as severe as many people assume, especially in my area, and I can't say I tend to hear of massive avalanches falling off roofs.

No doubt probably like many regions, by the mid 1900s basic ranch style houses became common, a (usually one storey) rectangle with something like a 4:12 roof, which is fairly effective at shedding precipitation and does have the advantage of still being easily walkable while working on the roof. That's what my grandparents built in the 1960s. Nowadays, you see a huge amount of variation in styles, and some just plain look like someone tried way too hard to be different and are a nightmare to do siding or roofing on.

I'm a simple man in some respects, and my favorite house is a basic cape cod/strawberry box. A little boxy place, not too much longer than it is wide, with a 45 degree roof. Pretty easy to heat (as long as the cathedral ceilings for the upper half story are insulated right), easy to do siding on, and the roof, while not walkable, is a basic rectangle and sheds water very rapidly, and usually seems to shed snow well, especially with metal roofing. Doors, decks, etc on the gable ends greatly reduce the chance of having large amounts of snow fall on you if it did happen. Dormers are nice if done right, and protected from leaks properly. Siding, and especially roofing, isn't something I want to take on a massive challenge for the sake of showing off what skills I might have; a basic rectangle just offers less chance to screw up, and the more you reduce or eliminate valleys, protrusions, etc, the easier it is for water to just keep on flowing downward and on over the edge.

I also prefer a steep roof for looks, and I think a 1.5 storey makes an efficient use of space and provides a cozy home without an overbearing attitude or a huge footprint that you might get with a full 2 storey or a single storey for the same square footage. And then, if you're going to have an attic instead of finished living space, a steep roof certainly makes it much easier to get in there and do repairs or any other work, especially near the eaves, as I've found out first hand with my house having 3 sections with different roof pitches.

 

My old place (cottage) had a 1/12 pitch.......

Built in 1958; snow shoveled off many times over the decades. Not even any sagging. Neighbor's roof (built in same year) with same pitch......not so lucky. Major sagging but no one on it during the winter months.....

 

She did well if all that was needed is a tire/ rim and alignment.

 

Rims ok, tire ordered

 

Even better

 

My last house was 4:12 and if we had a lot of snow build up the ex would get on the roof and shovel. That is, until we replaced shingles with a standing seam so the snow would slide off before it became a structural hazard.

My present home, built in 1960, has a roof that is probably 3:12. It is also has a hip-type roof (eaves on all 4 sides). The roof is supported by so many struts (or whatever they are called) that literally the only place you can crawl is along the middle beam with open space about 1.5' on either side of the beam. Makes it a PITA as I can't put up plywood to make a "floor" for supporting a human body - gotta crawl beams everywhere My assumption is that all those struts make it stronger for snow loads. But, WTFDIK?

Roof had been asphalt shingles for 53 years when I bought this place in late 2013. The 2013/2014 winter was really snowy and I was roof raking to ensure no issues (lets see, 2x40' = 80' plus 2x24' = 48", for a grand total of 128' of roof I was raking, several times that winter - Ugh). I replaced the aging shingles (there were two layers) the summer of 2014 with standing seam roof.