That's the ZIP code for Tecumseh, Missouri.
"Yeh, so what?" you ask.
Tecumseh happens to be the community closest to East Wind, an intentional community in the Ozarks that was started in 1973 and has 75 residents today.
"And?"
And East Wind is the subject of an article starting on page 114 of the new August 2005 National Geographic magazine.
"OK, so why are you telling us?"
I mention it in an attempt to preempt someone from walking up to me to with a smirk to say, "I saw your 'commune' in National Geographic." Though Raccoon Creek Community will have some property owned in common, it is not a commune, and we will not be shared clothing, nor partners.
See "Eco-village?", "How's your commune coming?", and "A community by any other name - definitions" for a brief explanation of community terms as I understand and use them in this blog.
The article is brief but interesting. The nice folks at East Wind are doing their thing, their community has evolved over 32 years into what they have decided it should be, and it appears to be an interesting place to visit.
The article describes some of the rules and methods they use to manage their community and run their successful nut butter business. I'm sure there are things we can learn from them, and probably some things we can't.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Monday, July 25, 2005
Class fee set for Permaculture course
We have worked up our budget and determined the fee for the 8-day Permaculture Fundamentals course from October 21 through 29 to be $650, including lodging for eight nights and 24 organic meals. Those who wish to camp would save $50 off the fee. Campers would still have access to the showers, and the Solsberry Hill property will be beautiful in late October.
Remember, this is the first of a two-part program that earns one a Certificate in Permaculture. With that, one may advertise themselves as a Permaculturist. The second 8-day class will be held in the spring.
Soon we will publish details of the course, including directions and a course outline. The instructors will be Peter Bane and Keith Johnson, co-editors of "The Permaculture Activist." Peter and Keith have been the instructors for the Permaculture course that has been taught in the summer for the last few years as an Indiana University elective course. That course is scheduled for two full weeks and a weekend in a row.
This is the Raccoon Creek Community's first major public class. The budget is tight, but if we have a good enrollment, we may be able to afford to reduce the cost of the spring class for those who attend both.
Please tell anyone you think might be interested about the class.
Remember, this is the first of a two-part program that earns one a Certificate in Permaculture. With that, one may advertise themselves as a Permaculturist. The second 8-day class will be held in the spring.
Soon we will publish details of the course, including directions and a course outline. The instructors will be Peter Bane and Keith Johnson, co-editors of "The Permaculture Activist." Peter and Keith have been the instructors for the Permaculture course that has been taught in the summer for the last few years as an Indiana University elective course. That course is scheduled for two full weeks and a weekend in a row.
This is the Raccoon Creek Community's first major public class. The budget is tight, but if we have a good enrollment, we may be able to afford to reduce the cost of the spring class for those who attend both.
Please tell anyone you think might be interested about the class.
97, 98, 99...
Another week of barn dismantling is over. The temperature on Sunday reached 99 degrees, and the humidity was high enough that the barn floor was still wet Sunday evening after Thursday's rain. Despite that we made good progress last week. A friend who has recently moved to New Mexico was visiting Indianapolis and volunteered to put in two weekdays (what a guy!) and two other members helped through the weekend. See the weekend crew picture below taken by a grandson of one of the barns early owners who told of all the fun he had as a kid in the barn with Dolly, an old white horse.
Work has been done on eight days out of the last ten, so we'll soon run out of things that can be done on the ground. None of the roof work can proceed until at least two people who can be on the roof are on site at the same time. Not surprisingly, not everyone wants to get up there.
On Wednesday, an entire loft collapsed while we were removing wood from it, and Mother Nature pitched in by dropping about a third of the north end of the barn in a large storm on Thursday night when we weren't at the site. The same storm lifted a very heavy oak joist that was attached to a tarp for rain and sun protection now that the roof is off, and threw it about 15 feet further into the barn.
The other picture below shows the wood that was brought down "for free."
This coming weekend we'll have another go at it, probably from Friday through Sunday.
Aside from cleaning up little things, there are three major aspects left: finishing the roof - three pitches of purlins and all the rafters; taking down the headers, posts and beams; and moving the disassembled barn to Raccoon Creek.
The roof...
Our hope is to lower each rafter with two ropes managed from the ground as the people on the roof disconnect rafters from each other and tie them onto the ropes.
Before any of this can begin, we need to reinforce, and, in one case, supplement, three of the main posts along the north wall. We had known for some time that some of the posts would need to have their bottom foot to three feet replaced with sound wood when we reconstruct the barn, but the extend of damage to these three main posts was unknown until all the stalls, mangers, and loft floors and joists were removed. I think we can nail some of very solid (and very heavy) oak joists at multiple points to the bottoms of the bad posts to keep them stable while the rafters and remaining purlins are removed above them. This added support can remain on the posts until each is lowered to the ground and stacked for transport.
Major posts and beams...
We have discussed various methods of lowering the posts and beams. Hiring a large crane would be the quickest, but also the most expensive. Since we are trying to save the mortise and tenon connections between posts and beams and knee braces, a crane would be idle more than it was running to allow us time to pound (or drill) out the pins holding the connections. If we sacrific the pinned joints we could cut the connections with a saw and speed the rwmoval.
We discussed renting a cherry picker or a man-lift to get us up to each connection while we knock out the pins and tie the beams for lowering, and then using the same device to help lower them. The problem with this approach is that the beams may be too heavy to be lowered by the device which would also be supporting the weight of the operator.
We are considering starting from a corner and disconnecting each post from the beams connecting it, then lowering it, disconnecting the other end of each beam, and lowering each of them. The process would continue from post to post, always working on an outside corner post. We'll be discussing this approach with our advisor to see if it is feasible. It would take longer, but the cost would be very low, just lots of rope and pullies.
Moving the disassembled barn to Raccoon Creek...
We are trying to develop an inexpensive plan for loading, moving and storing the barn until next spring. That might employ a flat-bed trailer, or a covered trailer. The covered trailer, if kept over the winter would serve the added purpose of storing the lumber, and maybe other things, on the site. A flat-bed, on the other hand would be easier to load but the lumber would need to be covered in some other way.
If you know of anyone who might be able to help with this transportation and storage problem, please let us know at rcc@netdirect.net. If we don't solve it inexpensively, it could become the most costly aspect of the entire project.
Work has been done on eight days out of the last ten, so we'll soon run out of things that can be done on the ground. None of the roof work can proceed until at least two people who can be on the roof are on site at the same time. Not surprisingly, not everyone wants to get up there.
On Wednesday, an entire loft collapsed while we were removing wood from it, and Mother Nature pitched in by dropping about a third of the north end of the barn in a large storm on Thursday night when we weren't at the site. The same storm lifted a very heavy oak joist that was attached to a tarp for rain and sun protection now that the roof is off, and threw it about 15 feet further into the barn.
The other picture below shows the wood that was brought down "for free."
This coming weekend we'll have another go at it, probably from Friday through Sunday.
Aside from cleaning up little things, there are three major aspects left: finishing the roof - three pitches of purlins and all the rafters; taking down the headers, posts and beams; and moving the disassembled barn to Raccoon Creek.
The roof...
Our hope is to lower each rafter with two ropes managed from the ground as the people on the roof disconnect rafters from each other and tie them onto the ropes.
Before any of this can begin, we need to reinforce, and, in one case, supplement, three of the main posts along the north wall. We had known for some time that some of the posts would need to have their bottom foot to three feet replaced with sound wood when we reconstruct the barn, but the extend of damage to these three main posts was unknown until all the stalls, mangers, and loft floors and joists were removed. I think we can nail some of very solid (and very heavy) oak joists at multiple points to the bottoms of the bad posts to keep them stable while the rafters and remaining purlins are removed above them. This added support can remain on the posts until each is lowered to the ground and stacked for transport.
Major posts and beams...
We have discussed various methods of lowering the posts and beams. Hiring a large crane would be the quickest, but also the most expensive. Since we are trying to save the mortise and tenon connections between posts and beams and knee braces, a crane would be idle more than it was running to allow us time to pound (or drill) out the pins holding the connections. If we sacrific the pinned joints we could cut the connections with a saw and speed the rwmoval.
We discussed renting a cherry picker or a man-lift to get us up to each connection while we knock out the pins and tie the beams for lowering, and then using the same device to help lower them. The problem with this approach is that the beams may be too heavy to be lowered by the device which would also be supporting the weight of the operator.
We are considering starting from a corner and disconnecting each post from the beams connecting it, then lowering it, disconnecting the other end of each beam, and lowering each of them. The process would continue from post to post, always working on an outside corner post. We'll be discussing this approach with our advisor to see if it is feasible. It would take longer, but the cost would be very low, just lots of rope and pullies.
Moving the disassembled barn to Raccoon Creek...
We are trying to develop an inexpensive plan for loading, moving and storing the barn until next spring. That might employ a flat-bed trailer, or a covered trailer. The covered trailer, if kept over the winter would serve the added purpose of storing the lumber, and maybe other things, on the site. A flat-bed, on the other hand would be easier to load but the lumber would need to be covered in some other way.
If you know of anyone who might be able to help with this transportation and storage problem, please let us know at rcc@netdirect.net. If we don't solve it inexpensively, it could become the most costly aspect of the entire project.
Birds
One of the least satisfying aspects of dismantling the barn is the loss of habitat for birds. When we first arrived at the barn there were dozens of swallows flying everywhere. We also found multiple robins' nests. Since we knew that later broods would not survive, we have been removing nests we find as soon as the babies leave to discourage reuse this season.
Most of the swallows have now left with only two nests lost with either eggs or babies in them. About a month ago a nest was lost because the joist on which it was built just fell over after the boards on top had been removed. The joist had either never been nailed to the beams or the nails had rusted away. In either case, the nest fell with three or four eggs in it. There was nothing we could do.
Last week, though, we were luckier. Even though I had recovered each active nest we found with boards after removing the floor over them, once the roof was removed, last weekend's rain weakened the last swallows' nest and it fell to the ground. This was probably the first water to touch that spot in 130-plus years.
Fortunately I found the nest soon after it dropped. We had plenty of scrap wood, and enough reuseable nails, so I built a quick and dirty nest box on a post high up under a beam and covered it with another wider board.
I put the remains of the nest on the ledge, mostly mud and feathers, and then put in the four babies, each with its first tiny feathers. It might have helped that I was wearing work gloves, so I never actually touched the babies. Happily, the parents found it and continued to feed them! In fact, about 10 swallows swarmed around the nest for the rest of the day, and occasionally over the next few days I was there. Swallows are very protective and constantly swooping and chirping at us as we work near their nests.
See "The three amigos" picture below.
Yesterday, as I was trying to get a closer picture of them in their makeshift roost, of the remaining three who had not yet flown, two of the babies took to the air for the first time. The first of the four had apparently already flown successfully. That left one, and when we left Sunday after 7 PM, he (or she, how would I know?) was still there, occasionally flapping his wings and trying to get the parents' attention. They had essentially abandoned him, but must have had a change of heart since they were again feeding him when we left. He should be gone before the next trip to the barn.
That leaves just one robins' nest to go. Both of those parents are feeding their four babies, at least that's how many eggs there were as seen from the roof last week. If all goes well, they'll be gone before we remove the purlins over their nest.
Most of the swallows have now left with only two nests lost with either eggs or babies in them. About a month ago a nest was lost because the joist on which it was built just fell over after the boards on top had been removed. The joist had either never been nailed to the beams or the nails had rusted away. In either case, the nest fell with three or four eggs in it. There was nothing we could do.
Last week, though, we were luckier. Even though I had recovered each active nest we found with boards after removing the floor over them, once the roof was removed, last weekend's rain weakened the last swallows' nest and it fell to the ground. This was probably the first water to touch that spot in 130-plus years.
Fortunately I found the nest soon after it dropped. We had plenty of scrap wood, and enough reuseable nails, so I built a quick and dirty nest box on a post high up under a beam and covered it with another wider board.
I put the remains of the nest on the ledge, mostly mud and feathers, and then put in the four babies, each with its first tiny feathers. It might have helped that I was wearing work gloves, so I never actually touched the babies. Happily, the parents found it and continued to feed them! In fact, about 10 swallows swarmed around the nest for the rest of the day, and occasionally over the next few days I was there. Swallows are very protective and constantly swooping and chirping at us as we work near their nests.
See "The three amigos" picture below.
Yesterday, as I was trying to get a closer picture of them in their makeshift roost, of the remaining three who had not yet flown, two of the babies took to the air for the first time. The first of the four had apparently already flown successfully. That left one, and when we left Sunday after 7 PM, he (or she, how would I know?) was still there, occasionally flapping his wings and trying to get the parents' attention. They had essentially abandoned him, but must have had a change of heart since they were again feeding him when we left. He should be gone before the next trip to the barn.
That leaves just one robins' nest to go. Both of those parents are feeding their four babies, at least that's how many eggs there were as seen from the roof last week. If all goes well, they'll be gone before we remove the purlins over their nest.
A legal decision
Many people have been asking when we would have or legal structure in place. At the Raccoon Creek Community meeting last week, after many discussions at many meetings, we decided to form a limited liability corporation (LLC). We recognize that we might want a different legal structure in the future, or even additional legal structures, but the LLC should serve us well for the time being.
Our newest member happens to be an attorney and will be doing the preliminary paperwork for us. We expect the Raccoon Creek Community to be "official" at least by the end of August.
Our newest member happens to be an attorney and will be doing the preliminary paperwork for us. We expect the Raccoon Creek Community to be "official" at least by the end of August.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Permaculture instruction comes to Raccoon Creek
The Raccoon Creek Community proudly announces its first Permaculture Fundamentals class to be held near our Raccoon Creek Community site from the 21st through the 29th of October, 2005. Successful completion of this class and the Permaculture Practicum class soon to be scheduled for next spring will earn those who complete both a Permaculture Design Certificate.
For those who haven't heard the term "permaculture" or are unsure of its meaning, here are a few definitions as written by others:
The course cost will include lodging, meals and a permaculture manual. More information on the course, including a course outline, the cost, instructor bios and other details will be posted here soon.
Please set these dates aside. If you would like to talk about the course before the next announcement, send an email to rcc@netdirect.net.
For those who haven't heard the term "permaculture" or are unsure of its meaning, here are a few definitions as written by others:
o The design of sustainable human habitats based on the observation of natural systems and uses ecological principles to increase diversity and productivity of local human ecosystems. Permaculture designs incorporate food, energy, and shelter for people and animals while linking the needs and outputs of each element of the system. The result is a dynamic yet stable system that sustains itself. Permaculture designs can be developed for any climate and on any scale, from balconies to entire villages.
o The conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.
o According to Bill Mollison, the creator of the Permaculture Design Concept, "Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter and material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. Permaculture design is a system of assembling conceptual, material and strategic components in a pattern which functions to benefit life in all it's forms."
The course cost will include lodging, meals and a permaculture manual. More information on the course, including a course outline, the cost, instructor bios and other details will be posted here soon.
Please set these dates aside. If you would like to talk about the course before the next announcement, send an email to rcc@netdirect.net.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Let it rain
What a weekend! We had five adults and a youngster working at the barn site.
Friday went pretty well. Two of us took off more than half of the west side roofing sheets while the others continued to move boards, pull nails, remove some of the lower nails on the roof from a ladder and pick up lots of wood pieces.
Saturday was another story. It started out pretty well, but then it rained, and rained, and rained. We had been to the site a half-dozen times without even a sprinkle, and the first rain waited until the roof was off to drench us. We were up and down the ladder again and again, removing roof panels, hiding from the rain, removing panels, hiding. Some trips to the roof netted only a panel or two before the next squall came through. (Did I mention it rained a lot?)
A tarp was nailed up to make at least one small space on the barn floor that wasn't being rained on, and folks continued dragging boards under the tarp to remove nails. Metal roofing sheets and newly nail-free boards were dragged to the storage area between the rain showers. Almost all of the straw that was piled in a few of the bays was spread around the barn where the rain and our foot traffic had made a muddy mess.
The afternoon forecast was for more of the same, so those who had not planned to stay overnight cleaned up as best they could and got an early start toward home. There were enough pauses in the rain to allow the last 10 roof panels to be taken down before dark with a bit of time left to remove the final ground floor siding from two of the corners.
Sunday, weather wise, was a repeat of Saturday, with just a bit more time before the heavy rains arrived. The sheetmetal was brought into the barn to be used to cover boards we wanted to save. All the purlins were removed from the top pitch of the west side and they were either tossed on the waste pile or brought in for nail removal depending on their quality. Instead of prying up each nail with a crowbar, it proved to be easy to pop them off with a five foot length of two-by-four.
Our "expert" arrived early Sunday morning to critique our work so far and to offer suggestions for the next steps to be taken. If possible we will take down the rafters by lowering them one at a time. If we can do this it will save hundreds of dollars of crane rental and operator time expense. We'll need a generator to saw through the nails that hold rafters together at the peak of the roof and where the two pitches come together on each side. They are held tightly by four large nails in each coupling, and they are nailed tightly to the headers. It is not possible to pry them apart, especially while standing on top of a roof, clipped onto a climbing rope. With a "saws-all" we should be able to both separate each pair from each other, and separate them from the headers on which they rest.
So... it looks like at least one more full weekend before we're ready for a crane. It was suggested today that we might be able to take the beams and posts down using a "cherry picker" like those used to repare power lines and replace street lights. This would save even more money - it should be cheaper than a crane and not require an operator. We'll check into this possibility this week.
And for those of you following the barn project who would like me to get back to discussing Raccoon Creek, stand by. We hope to have a major announcement as early as tomorrow.
Friday went pretty well. Two of us took off more than half of the west side roofing sheets while the others continued to move boards, pull nails, remove some of the lower nails on the roof from a ladder and pick up lots of wood pieces.
Saturday was another story. It started out pretty well, but then it rained, and rained, and rained. We had been to the site a half-dozen times without even a sprinkle, and the first rain waited until the roof was off to drench us. We were up and down the ladder again and again, removing roof panels, hiding from the rain, removing panels, hiding. Some trips to the roof netted only a panel or two before the next squall came through. (Did I mention it rained a lot?)
A tarp was nailed up to make at least one small space on the barn floor that wasn't being rained on, and folks continued dragging boards under the tarp to remove nails. Metal roofing sheets and newly nail-free boards were dragged to the storage area between the rain showers. Almost all of the straw that was piled in a few of the bays was spread around the barn where the rain and our foot traffic had made a muddy mess.
The afternoon forecast was for more of the same, so those who had not planned to stay overnight cleaned up as best they could and got an early start toward home. There were enough pauses in the rain to allow the last 10 roof panels to be taken down before dark with a bit of time left to remove the final ground floor siding from two of the corners.
Sunday, weather wise, was a repeat of Saturday, with just a bit more time before the heavy rains arrived. The sheetmetal was brought into the barn to be used to cover boards we wanted to save. All the purlins were removed from the top pitch of the west side and they were either tossed on the waste pile or brought in for nail removal depending on their quality. Instead of prying up each nail with a crowbar, it proved to be easy to pop them off with a five foot length of two-by-four.
Our "expert" arrived early Sunday morning to critique our work so far and to offer suggestions for the next steps to be taken. If possible we will take down the rafters by lowering them one at a time. If we can do this it will save hundreds of dollars of crane rental and operator time expense. We'll need a generator to saw through the nails that hold rafters together at the peak of the roof and where the two pitches come together on each side. They are held tightly by four large nails in each coupling, and they are nailed tightly to the headers. It is not possible to pry them apart, especially while standing on top of a roof, clipped onto a climbing rope. With a "saws-all" we should be able to both separate each pair from each other, and separate them from the headers on which they rest.
So... it looks like at least one more full weekend before we're ready for a crane. It was suggested today that we might be able to take the beams and posts down using a "cherry picker" like those used to repare power lines and replace street lights. This would save even more money - it should be cheaper than a crane and not require an operator. We'll check into this possibility this week.
And for those of you following the barn project who would like me to get back to discussing Raccoon Creek, stand by. We hope to have a major announcement as early as tomorrow.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
It's slowly coming down
It's been nearly three weeks since my last posting. Funny how time flies when you're exhausted.
Since then we have made four more trips to the barn, each less than three full days. Most of the siding is now off the first level. Some has been left near the corners to provide stability for a while longer. About half of the higher levels of siding is off also. Some had to be left in place for now because some of it is holding some bad beams in place.
All of the flooring has been removed and almost all of the joists in the lofts. A few have been left in place in case we need to walk around up there when the frame is being taken down. One of the beams collapsed as I was removing flooring from it. It turns out about 4 feet of it had completely rotted away. The floor just dropped about a foot while I was ripping up the boards. Talk about a fright!
Wednesday we started working on the roof. On the fourth try, I was able to toss a weight over the top of the roof with a string tied to it. Then, after tying my 100-foot climbing rope to the string, it took just a minute to pull it over the top, tie it off, and walk back to the east side of the barn.
We were ready to remove the roof but I found it too steep to climb onto. After an evening to think about it, I devised a way to use our two large aluminum ladders to support a third ladder that reached almost to the second pitch of the roof. The picture below, "the ladder stack," shows what we did. With the two large ladders weighted down and slanted to be flat on the roof, we dragged a third ladder, nailed to a wide board, up onto the ladder jacks. It was easy then to climb the first ladder, clip into the rope with my "figure eight", and climb the wooden one.
From its top, the second pitch was an easy crawl. Once on the top slope I could comfortably walk around, sit down, even occasionally set the crow bar and hammer on the surface without their sliding away. Those were the only tools needed for the roof.
It's possible to walk around on the roof on the steep slope, but without some mechanical advantage, it was not possible for me to walk up the slope. Climbing ascenders might have helped, but I don't own a pair, and it wasn't worth the cost to buy them for a single climb. Once the panels start to come off, the purlins make a great ladder, but one has to get that first sheet off.
The same picture below also shows the purlin grid that underlays the tin sheets. It is easy and safe to climb around on it once exposed, so the work was not particularly dangerous. I used a section of old hose to protect the climbing rope from most of the rubbing back and forth on the tin and the exposed purlins.
Since the sheets were put on from side to side, bottom to top, they must be taken off in the reverse order. It is possible to remove one from below another, but it means prying up a corner of the higher sheet to get to the nails that it covers in the lower ones. And even then one must hold up the covering sheet high enough to allow prying the nails underneath. It's not worth it.
On the steeper slope, since it is difficult to slide across the lower sheets as one could do on the top slope to reach the far line of nails, it was easier, despite having to lift a corner on two rows, to take off each "column" of sheeting from top to bottom. Also, the temperature was above 90 degrees. I don't want to guess what the roof temperature was in the full sun in mid-afternoon.
The good news is that in less than two full days, one person, gaining experience as he went, was able to remove a full half of the roof. Next trip the other half comes down. After that, the purlins will be taken off, and, while up there, I'll disconnect the top of the highest siding.
Stay tuned.
Since then we have made four more trips to the barn, each less than three full days. Most of the siding is now off the first level. Some has been left near the corners to provide stability for a while longer. About half of the higher levels of siding is off also. Some had to be left in place for now because some of it is holding some bad beams in place.
All of the flooring has been removed and almost all of the joists in the lofts. A few have been left in place in case we need to walk around up there when the frame is being taken down. One of the beams collapsed as I was removing flooring from it. It turns out about 4 feet of it had completely rotted away. The floor just dropped about a foot while I was ripping up the boards. Talk about a fright!
Wednesday we started working on the roof. On the fourth try, I was able to toss a weight over the top of the roof with a string tied to it. Then, after tying my 100-foot climbing rope to the string, it took just a minute to pull it over the top, tie it off, and walk back to the east side of the barn.
We were ready to remove the roof but I found it too steep to climb onto. After an evening to think about it, I devised a way to use our two large aluminum ladders to support a third ladder that reached almost to the second pitch of the roof. The picture below, "the ladder stack," shows what we did. With the two large ladders weighted down and slanted to be flat on the roof, we dragged a third ladder, nailed to a wide board, up onto the ladder jacks. It was easy then to climb the first ladder, clip into the rope with my "figure eight", and climb the wooden one.
From its top, the second pitch was an easy crawl. Once on the top slope I could comfortably walk around, sit down, even occasionally set the crow bar and hammer on the surface without their sliding away. Those were the only tools needed for the roof.
It's possible to walk around on the roof on the steep slope, but without some mechanical advantage, it was not possible for me to walk up the slope. Climbing ascenders might have helped, but I don't own a pair, and it wasn't worth the cost to buy them for a single climb. Once the panels start to come off, the purlins make a great ladder, but one has to get that first sheet off.
The same picture below also shows the purlin grid that underlays the tin sheets. It is easy and safe to climb around on it once exposed, so the work was not particularly dangerous. I used a section of old hose to protect the climbing rope from most of the rubbing back and forth on the tin and the exposed purlins.
Since the sheets were put on from side to side, bottom to top, they must be taken off in the reverse order. It is possible to remove one from below another, but it means prying up a corner of the higher sheet to get to the nails that it covers in the lower ones. And even then one must hold up the covering sheet high enough to allow prying the nails underneath. It's not worth it.
On the steeper slope, since it is difficult to slide across the lower sheets as one could do on the top slope to reach the far line of nails, it was easier, despite having to lift a corner on two rows, to take off each "column" of sheeting from top to bottom. Also, the temperature was above 90 degrees. I don't want to guess what the roof temperature was in the full sun in mid-afternoon.
The good news is that in less than two full days, one person, gaining experience as he went, was able to remove a full half of the roof. Next trip the other half comes down. After that, the purlins will be taken off, and, while up there, I'll disconnect the top of the highest siding.
Stay tuned.
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