And the snow zinged off of the roof and piled against the Airstream…..

[darlingbooks]

And the snow zinged off of the roof and piled against the Airstream…..

I was in the shop readjusting the snow thrower, this seems to be the norm, as after two hours of use equals one hour of repair. The snow on the up-hill side of the shop had been hanging from the roof like a big white blanket, perhaps 4 to 5 feet down from the edge with big graceful curves, and the downhill side had not started to move at all (the Airstream side).

The shop has been in place for five winters, and the snow has always curved over the bottom edge, broke off, and fell at the side of the building. Even last year when we had three feet of snow on the roof, a new foot of snow every couple of days for three weeks, the snow always crept over the edge curling and would break off and drop to the ground next to the building.

As I was just finished with reassembling the snow blower, and zing, the snow slipped off the up-hill side of the shop. This was a horrendous noise and shook the whole building. The snow had zinged off and landed 10 to 12 feet away from the building.

I was shocked and terrified that the snow would slip on the downhill side and hit the Airstream. I immediately started work on freeing the van from the snow with the plan of creating a path to the Airstream, to pull it ahead several feet out of harms way. I dashed into the house to get the key to the van, and told my wife about the snow hazard. We walked out to survey what the perceived hazard was, and we were too late, the snow had zinged off of the roof and piled against the Airstream.

The Airstream was parked eight feet from the building, and the snow is piled against it four and five feet high in areas of the bathroom, and back to the rear bumper. I can’t tell if I have any dents yet. The snow is very dense and packed quite hard. Tomorrow I will try to free the trailer and survey the damage.

Pictures tomorrow.

Steve

[darlingbooks]

Yesterdays pictures 12/25/2008

[Airslide]

I guess theres no movin her now? The picture begs me to question why she cant slide inside that shop door? Will she fit in there or is that designed for something else. I just cant believe how much snow you recieved already. Stay warm!

Vinnie

[darlingbooks]

The building is 30x36 and the trailer is 34’10”, but the building has my wood shop on the right side and the open bay has 12 pallets of boxed books awaiting shipping, weather permitting. We are selling out our book inventory, and the shop has been the staging area. The plan was to move the trailer into the shop until spring, and then start traveling full time in March or April. We are going to rent the house for one or two years, while we look for a milder climate to settle at.

The book project took longer than expected, and the snow came earlier and deeper.

Steve

[Airslide]

Got it.. That makes sense. I wish it was protected from the elements especially with the show up against the slide out. Is it a powder snow or icy and wet?

[darlingbooks]

These pictures are how things looked yesterday. I’ll take some pictures tomorrow in the daylight. The snow slipped off of the roof today.

The snow was three feet deep. The snow is denser on top; it packs into a hard snowball. The snow in the middle is powder and fluffy. The snow at the bottom, next to the roof was ice one to two inches of ice or slush. I had the pellet stove running for two weeks, and even at that, the snow never slipped because the outside temp was too low, around low twenties and down to 0. Today the temp got up to 35 and that is when the snow on the roof slipped.

Steve

[Airslide]

Look forward to seeing the new pictures. Do you worry about the weight on the roof of the airstream? Did you prepare the water system for winter? Drain or antifreeze?

[darlingbooks]

The snow came over several days and should not hurt anything on top. The water has been drained and water system antifreezed.

You can see that the side picture places the trailer so that the slide missed the snow slipping from the roof of the shop.

Steve

[Airslide]

Sounds great. Come down south. The rains stopped and the sun was out today. 65*F and sunny today..

[darlingbooks]

Today’s pictures don’t show much or any damage yet. The close up pictures show some dimpling between or on the ribs, but we had that when the temp got down to the low twenties last month. The refrigerator and hot water vent covers may be the most concern. From the rear, the trailer seems to have some pressure against it as it has a slight lean to the down hill side, or this may be because the trailer just wasn’t parked level

We have lost a foot of snow on the flat, the temp is 46 and has rained some last night. The snow piled against the trailer was covering all of the aluminum siding, and it too has receded to expose 18 inches of siding.

I am starting to dig out the trailer today.

Steve

[darlingbooks]

pictures

[darlingbooks]

I’m lucky.

The only damage is the dented refrigerator access door, and slight dimple directly above the door, all else seems to be ok.

[Sixty3TW4US]

The damage could have been alot worse. Do you get that much snow every year? I complain here in San Diego if the temp gets down to 45. Of coarse it doesn't snow here but 40-45 is cold for us. I believe the temp today is in the low 60s. Good Luck.

[Airslide]

Thanks for the pictures. Thats amazing. I have a better understanding of just how much snow you got. Keep shoveling..

[happycamper2]

That's alot of snow!!!! Glad there wasn't more damage.

[jerrypeterma]

i didn't know they made that much snow. good luck with all that and i'm glade i'm in NC

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by darlingbooks

I’m lucky.

The only damage is the dented refrigerator access door, and slight dimple directly above the door, all else seems to be ok.

Hi, replace the refrigerator access door and try a suction cup on the dimple. Or maybe when it gets warm, it will pop out on it's own.

[darlingbooks]

I thought that I would leave the dimple alone, as I have to be looking down the side to see it, and the normal expansion movement of the metal may resolve it. I will most likely replace the door.

For five years the snow has always acted like this picture of last years snow. Four feet on the ground. The snow is lower at the door because I cleaned it out untill it became too tall.

Steve

[Aria]

Sorry to read about your SNOW Adventure. We had one too. We have a
Home Depot purchased cover for our Globetrotter. Every year my husband took the snow off and the Airstream rested in comfort.

This year the snow arrived and arrived and he was unable to get most of the heavy stuff off in time. It bent the poles on the cover. Fortunately he was able to order new poles. They are expected to arrive soon. He is now keeping snow off. Snow does present problems. Aria

[VIKING]

I saw a picture of an AS for sale in Tahoe a few months back that the roof had caved in on due to snow buildup on the roof. I think they said it was four feet high on the roof. Has anyone else had this happen? I would be very concerned about it if I lived in a snow area. Those folks had a hard time unloading the remains for $500.00. What a awful thing to find in your driveway some morning...
Happy Sunday, Rich