We were in the line of fire and although our house is not in a flood plain, I took precautionary measures due to our neighbor's huge maple tree that looms over the back half of my house and my entire workshop.
The impending 60 mph winds had me a tad bit concerned that the tree, with its full canopy of leaves, would topple in our direction.
At times like this, what would you save? (Aside from the obvious—family and pets.)
My number one priority was my workbench because 1) I love it and 2) I sure as heck don't want to build another one. Ever.
So, I disassembled all the parts and brought them to the front of the house.
Second priority was all the hand tools I had made, followed by any projects-in-the-making. After that, I brought in all the modern hand tools I had purchased.
I was satisfied with that, thinking that insurance would replace any of the machinery and small power tools, but I decided to cover them with heavy plastic tarps anyhow. It wouldn't prevent the tree from crushing the contents of my shop, but if it only damaged the roof, the tarp would keep the rain off my tools.
Two bedrooms were also in the path of the maple tree, but I perused their contents and thought, "meh."Sandy has passed, we did not lose power, the maple didn't budge, and it's time to put my shop back together.
But while looking at my workbench's legs (that were lying on the floor in my office) and the tools I had laid on top of them, an idea popped into my head of where to stow my saws when I take my bench on the road.
I hope that if Sandy roared through your neighborhood, you fared as well as we did.
Glad to hear you, and your partner are OK!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the tools. :)
Good to see you giving Greta the care and attention she deserves. :)
ReplyDeleteLike you, the tools I've made would be the tools I would protect first.
Glad you all made it through the storm ok.
Close call for us. We're in NJ near the shore. Gas rationing right now. Lost 3 large locust trees but didn't hit the house thankfully. I too moved my hand saws and current projects to a safe place.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brander. :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jamie. Hope to see you at SAPFM next month!
J Contract, you guys had it rough last night. Online photos make the NJ shore look like it's been demolished. Glad to hear you, your family, and your tools made it through unscathed.
Your bench is solid enough that you could have used it as a storm shelter
ReplyDeletePictures are beginning to surface of NYC.
ReplyDeleteYikes.
Have a friend out in Westchester County and haven't heard how things are there.
The "kids" back home were hunkered down. Parking the car at the bottom of the driveway was about all they could do to avoid having it potentially crushed. We've removed a couple trees from the property over the last few years to try and mitigate that whole "wind swept" scenario.
Nice to see you've come through unscathed.
Oh, and that's some neat stuff in that second photo. But then, you knew that.
FC, it's possible. ; )
ReplyDeleteBob, we cut down a 90' tulip poplar when we built my shop and planted a Red Bud and Japanese Maple in its place. Neither tree will be larger than 30' and both are far enough away from the house to never cause damage. Mother Nature sure packs a wallop.