IF you build the top two stories to your home as an A-Frame and then build the bottom floor as a rectangle or square then you still have all the advantages of an A-Frame regarding Shedding snow AND you also have the added space of your Living room and Kitchen as a huge rectangle or square at the base. Why?
Because the A-Frame roof is still going to completely shed all snow whether you are there are not no matter how much snow comes down.
note: However, if you are somewhere that regularly gets 20 feet of snow or 40 feet of snow then you might have to rethink what you are doing.
For example, Horse Camp Sierra club lodge at Tree line on Mt. Shasta wasn't always built with metal roof rafters like now. Originally it had 3 feet through tree logs as roof rafters that could literally hold up 25 to 50 feet of snow on top of them all winter long. I have been there when all you could see was the very top of the chimney there in 1973 in April when it had then 20 to 25 feet of snow and I had to dig down with a snow shovel to even be able to open the front door then. So, think about what can occur wherever you are going to build your home or cabin on extreme snow years before you build something. This way you won't come home to a destroyed home or cabin somewhere where the roof has collapsed from too much snow load.
For example, Mt. Shasta receives on average 500 inches of snow a year which is a little over 41 feet.
But, you likely aren't going to see this much snow below maybe 8,000 to 10,000 feet. and remember snow also melts off some every time the sun comes out or the temperatures rise.
Also, even with spring snow this deep I have been above tree line skiing by myself with metal Edged Cross Country mountaineering skis and wound up in an avalanche the size of a city block with me at the center. I struggled to stay on top of the moving mass of snow which I did but I was actually more worried about being slammed into trees at a high rate of speed than going under the snow. When the avalanche stopped (because of hitting the trees) I was chest deep in the snow and had to struggle to get up and out of the snow and on top of it. But, at least I could breathe so I could do this. This happened during the 1980s when I was in my 30s.
But, what I learned from that was: "Don't ski alone above tree line in the spring because of potential avalanches!"
So, after almost dying in an avalanche I wasn't about to repeat my mistake again.
People who don't learn from their mistakes often aren't around much longer.
No comments:
Post a Comment