It happens to the best of us. We make mistakes. We step in the wrong place, hit the wrong nail, misjudge the sturdiness of a structure, and surprise — over it goes! Of course, it probably wasn’t quite as dramatic as some of these videos.
#5) Game Cancelled Due To Snow
If that location looks a little familiar to you football fans, there’s a reason. That would be the Metrodome in Minnesota, the home of the Minnesota Vikings and a place where you’d think roof structures, especially enormously expensive ones like indoor football stadiums hosting major Super Bowl teams, would not be designed to collapse under the weight of snow.
You may just think of gutters as unimaginative pieces of metal that hang on your house and collect rainwater. But you wouldn’t believe how many innovative, interesting tools and devices that are on the market to service such a nondescript product. Here are the top 5 gutter gadgets available today:
Gutter Pump
This angular-shaped PVC-housed gadget is designed to help move the rainwater that collects inside your gutters down through your downspouts. One end of this device is a cylindrical piece that fits into the top of your downspout. The other end is a pump which sits in the bottom of your gutter. The water flows through the slot in the pump and gets siphoned into the downspout.
We all remember Smokey the Bear. Since 1947, the mascot of the U.S. Forest Service has been telling us that forest fires can be prevented if we followed his trusted advice. However, unless we were camping, hiking, or driving through the countryside, his tips weren’t really relevant to us.
But for anyone who lives in an area of the country that is susceptible to wildfires, paying attention to fire-prevention recommendations can mean the difference between life and death.
We’ve all seen them: on warehouses, commercial buildings, and other industrial designs. We even occasionally see them on houses. You might be considering a flat roof to install a roof deck or perhaps a roof garden, or maybe you’ve got a new property with a flat roof and just need to learn hot to maintain it. One way or the other, there’s one vexing question: how do you drain a flat roof after it rains? It’s actually fairly interesting.
Imagine all the houses, condominiums, apartment buildings, duplexes, and other structures that are built each year in the U.S. Now think about all the guttering that needs to be installed on each of those buildings. That’s a lot of gutters.
Ever wonder where all those gutters come from?
There are some components of a house which require meticulous design, microscopically exact measurements, and hours of manufacturing time. Gutters, however, are not one of those components. In fact, here is a synopsis of how gutters are made.
If winter weather is a problem where you live, you undoubtedly know about the perils of snow and ice buildup in your gutters. Ignoring this accumulation can lead to gutter fatigue, roof damage, and even water leakage in your home’s interior.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could automatically melt the snow and ice before it damages your roof and gutters?
If you want to invest the money, there are several gutter heating systems on the market today. Here’s a look at some of the most popular options.
If you want to start a garden but are short on yard space, here’s some advice: put your mind in the gutter!
Numerous people have discovered the myriad benefits of gutter gardening. As it turns out, those long, skinny pieces of metal that funnel rainwater away from your house are just the right size for hosting rows of all kinds of plants, flowers, and produce. Gutter gardening is especially attractive for people who live in apartments, duplexes, or condos with small (or no) yards.
A gargoyle atop Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It gets to snarl at French people every day. (Photo credit: Jon Hurd)
If you are a fan of legends, then you might know a little about gargoyles. These mythical creatures were placed on buildings (especially churches) purportedly to ward off evil spirits and protect those inside the structure’s walls. But many people don’t know about the practical purposes of these stony statues, which can be found all over the world on edifices that were constructed during many different centuries.
The answer is surprisingly simple: gargoyles were the original gutters.
It happens all too often: a senior goes to clean the gutters, slips off the ladder, and suffers serious injury. The most recent report was in Australia, where an 87-year-old woman suffered a skull fracture after falling off her ladder. She fell only six feet, but it was enough to put her in the intensive care unit. In fact, falls are seen by doctors to be as dangerous as heart attacks or strokes in the elderly.
Why is a simple task like cleaning the gutter so dangerous for seniors? Several reasons.
It’s that time of the year: the flowers are blooming, the bunnies are hopping, and your house is smeared in all of the crud you couldn’t get off during the winter. Time to blast it off your house!
But before you go all wash-crazy, take a moment and consider a few Dos and Don’ts that will keep your house clean and everyone safe. Power washers may seem like big waterguns to the uninformed, but they’re serious tools, and like any serious tool, can do some serious damage when they’re used improperly.
