Gimme Shelter II
Well, as it turns out, the original Green Room only lasted one season in the hot California sun. The plastic tarp began to deteriorate, and the PVC grid that the roof structure was composed with began to weaken. Time for Plan B!
The new roof needed to be durable in the sun and rain, lightweight, and strong, since the storage structure would be moved around the yard several times as construction progresses. Because of these requirements, Bill and major helper and neighbor Scott decided that the roof should be constructed from copper pipes and a extremely large cloth canvas. After waiting for the canvas to arrive via mail order, the work on the copper structure began.
Bill and Scott began by soldering the supports together. They quickly realized that the complex structure was a good design, but time-consuming to assemble. Reinforcements were needed to get the structure up before the fall rains, so Annette quickly learned how to cut copper pipe.
While they were constructing the new roof, Bill designed and build a workspace that folds down out of the side wall. This surface has proved to be very useful for saws and other tools. Bonus!
So far, our fall and winter rains have been very light, so the canvas and copper roof has not had a real test. The old green roof had a tendency to puddle, which created a fair amount of stress on the supports. We are hoping that the strength of the copper piping will maintain the peak of the roof, and all of the rain will run off rather than create puddles.
One of the oddities of the original Green Room was the alien-ish green cast that the green tarp gave to the entire work space and storage area. It became difficult to work under the cover in the strange green light, and the tan canvas roof offers a much more pleasant hue in which to work. Now we don't feel nauseated after working under the canvas cover. Life is good.
