Here's the storm damage call that came in today, Saturday. Roger's truck is directly under the Hemlock top, which is lying horizontal on the roof.
We walk thru a foot and a half of snow around the back of the house to the see the skinny hemlock broke off about a third of the way up. It's about 25' feet away from the deck, and the top is lying up on the 3rd floor roof. It spans most of the length of the 5,000 sq ft house, well balanced across the spine of the roof. A minor gable over the 2nd floor windows cradles the base of the top securely. 2 skylights are precariously located just down slope of the log.
Icicles are draped over the rain gutters, with high 30's temperatures warming the snow, causing drips from the eaves.
Looks like it landed flat, which probly saved the peak of the roof from some of the impact.
Roger starts the ball rolling by setting a line with the throwball about 50 feet up a large adjacent cedar. I climb the stub and hang a pulley. We are able to lasso the stub with the lowering line and cinch it down with a porta-wrap as a stabilization measure. The log on the roof is stable, but it doesn't hurt to make sure.
On the traverse over to the Cedar where Roger has hung my spare climbing line, I am able to reach over and snip off 2, four foot long logs from the butt of the foot in diameter Hemlock top. They easily miss the deck, falling clear. This leaves about 15 feet of the top hanging off the roof.
We proceed to hang a block about 75' up in the cedar. A lowering line runs thru it to the GRCS. The other end is tied to the top, 5 feet from the edge of the roof, about where Roger can reach it from the ladder.
Before coming down, I hang another line in the Cedar about roof height and Roger ties it to hold down the piece that will remain on the roof. When I hit the ground, an additional line is tossed from the front yard, over the roof, ant out to a tree on the opposite side of the house. Just for safety.
Roger climbed up on the roof, then up onto the log, and tied in. He reached over the edge of the roof and made the cut. We lowered the log that extended off the roof in one piece, held by two ropes. One rope was in the porty, the other was in the GRCS. Piece of cake! No problem with that deck at all. A lot of weight was relieved off the roof.
We replaced the lowering lines on the log on the roof. We cranked up the winch to the max, but nothing moved. The hoisting line was stretched tight, too tight. The fairlead route from the winch to the neighboring cedar was not quite straight, causing binding on the pigtails.
Rog has a plan, however. The next step is to substitute the Hobbs Lowering device for the Port-a-wrap, so we can pull from two directions.
Since it was now pitch dark, we decided to call it a night. Never mind the half-mile driveway with the rollercoaster blanket to get out to the road. Tomorrows another day.
Here's the video, taken with the Sony GC1 Net Sharing Cam. Handy little gadget.
Snowless in Seattle video clip, Day One].
We walk thru a foot and a half of snow around the back of the house to the see the skinny hemlock broke off about a third of the way up. It's about 25' feet away from the deck, and the top is lying up on the 3rd floor roof. It spans most of the length of the 5,000 sq ft house, well balanced across the spine of the roof. A minor gable over the 2nd floor windows cradles the base of the top securely. 2 skylights are precariously located just down slope of the log.
Icicles are draped over the rain gutters, with high 30's temperatures warming the snow, causing drips from the eaves.
Looks like it landed flat, which probly saved the peak of the roof from some of the impact.
Roger starts the ball rolling by setting a line with the throwball about 50 feet up a large adjacent cedar. I climb the stub and hang a pulley. We are able to lasso the stub with the lowering line and cinch it down with a porta-wrap as a stabilization measure. The log on the roof is stable, but it doesn't hurt to make sure.
On the traverse over to the Cedar where Roger has hung my spare climbing line, I am able to reach over and snip off 2, four foot long logs from the butt of the foot in diameter Hemlock top. They easily miss the deck, falling clear. This leaves about 15 feet of the top hanging off the roof.
We proceed to hang a block about 75' up in the cedar. A lowering line runs thru it to the GRCS. The other end is tied to the top, 5 feet from the edge of the roof, about where Roger can reach it from the ladder.
Before coming down, I hang another line in the Cedar about roof height and Roger ties it to hold down the piece that will remain on the roof. When I hit the ground, an additional line is tossed from the front yard, over the roof, ant out to a tree on the opposite side of the house. Just for safety.
Roger climbed up on the roof, then up onto the log, and tied in. He reached over the edge of the roof and made the cut. We lowered the log that extended off the roof in one piece, held by two ropes. One rope was in the porty, the other was in the GRCS. Piece of cake! No problem with that deck at all. A lot of weight was relieved off the roof.
We replaced the lowering lines on the log on the roof. We cranked up the winch to the max, but nothing moved. The hoisting line was stretched tight, too tight. The fairlead route from the winch to the neighboring cedar was not quite straight, causing binding on the pigtails.
Rog has a plan, however. The next step is to substitute the Hobbs Lowering device for the Port-a-wrap, so we can pull from two directions.
Since it was now pitch dark, we decided to call it a night. Never mind the half-mile driveway with the rollercoaster blanket to get out to the road. Tomorrows another day.
Here's the video, taken with the Sony GC1 Net Sharing Cam. Handy little gadget.
Snowless in Seattle video clip, Day One].
