Porch Mishaps

[Eric Johnson]

Here's a good reason not to try DIY tree removal near buildings that you value.

 

[Eric Johnson]

Here's a reason to shovel your porch roof during periods of heavy snowfall. It's also a reason not to design a porch roof that catches snow shedding from a higher roof.

 

[velvetfoot]

That second house looks like ours. It's nervewracking when the snow lands on the lower porch. It has a tendency to stay there as well because the pitch isn't as great as the house's.

 

[titan]

Were any dogs killed when that porch collapsed?

 

[Eric Johnson]

I had a house with a porch oriented like that, once, up in the Adirondack snowbelt. The house had a standing seam roof, so the snow and ice regularly slid off there and onto the conventional shingle porch roof. After 80 some-odd years of steady pounding, it was about ready to come down. Rebuilding it with 2x8s was one of the first of many investments I put into that place, but it was a beautiful porch and definitely worth saving. Looks like this one kind of folded in on itself. My guess is they're going to try to hoist it back up, but we'll see.

 

[velvetfoot]

Our porch roof is also metal, but the less slope makes the snow somewhat more reluctant to slide off.

Last year we got 4 of those white rockers from Cracker Barrell and several hanging flowers. Quite a mellow place in the summer. I guess those days will come eventually.

 

[snowfreak]

Here's a good reason not to try DIY tree removal near buildings that you value.

Is the trunk of wood on the ground the one which hit the porch? Are these pictures from the storm this past Sunday? Ended up with 12" here, my back feels like how that porch looks. This is a bit off topic but it fits in with your pics. A few years back I bought a DIY 10 x 13 storage shed. The framing was light metal and the panels were plastic. We got one our classic Nor'Easters that dumped 30 inches of the white stuff. It absolutely crushed the storage shed but I was able to jack the center back up and framed the inside of the shed with 2x4's. Worked like a champ but I should have known that cheesy framing was not going to hold up, live and learn. I can joke about it now but it wasn't so funny the day it happened.

 

[Robbie]

How awful !! Eric, I sent you mail............. ;-)



Robbie

 

[Eric Johnson]

I assume the trunk laying on the ground belonged to the tree that hit the porch, but that's just my assumption based on the forensic evidence. The other porch roof came down during the heavy snow we got here in Central New York in February--the one that hit the western part of the state with over 11 feet in 9 days. Both are within five miles of my house.

 

[keyman512us]

Yeah...Good point Eric.
...All the more reason (to mention) with recent weather...if there are any trees around the homestead that are "cause for concern" people might want to think about calling "The experts" for a consult.
Funny subject...I just got a call an hour ago from an "old co-worker (electrician)" that had a tree from the neighbors property snap off and crash into his barn and plow truck. Asked me to swing by tommorow and take a look and shoot a price...I might have to snap a few extra pics...lol
I got a funny feeling "Clean-ups" are going to be keeping tree guys busy this spring around here. Although it isn't a ton of work and it isn't the greatest return on investment...After getting many requests to "Just come out and chip brush" I do "Hire out to DIY'ers for brush service(which lands a few jobs in and of itself)" Thinking of doing a little advertising "springtime cleanup-Have truck and chipper will travel..."lol

On a serious note though...If anyone has "Spring cleaning" to do...and they intend on "Hiring out the chipping"....a word to the wise: Pile the brush at the curb as neatly as you would a pile of firewood (All the brush going in the same direction, butt end out neatly stacked). I get calls all the time for brush chipping (Which most tree guys will laugh at...but money is money). When I go out to look at the job I make the potential customer laugh: "You want the price if it is neatly stacked liked firewood by the road...or the price for me and the army I'm gonna bring to pull apart that beaver lodge?"...I can hear fellow tree men laughing...cause they know exactly what I'm talking about!