Canvas Cover
The weekend of 7/4, some medium weight painters dropcloths were hung on the frame.
How waterproof is this cloth? If it works well, it can stay up all summer. It will be refitted following the plans below. If it leaks, a heavier cloth is needed. Or if it just leaks on the top (the flattest surface), then heavier cloth is needed there, but the medium weight cloth can stay on the sides.
Fitting the Cover
The weekend of 9/1, the frame was completely covered with medium and heavy weight dropcloths. The smokehole was left open.
The cover started at the left side of the door (looking from the inside), ran around the frame, and ended at the right side of the door. So it overlapped itself on the door frame. These two layers, opening on different sides, pretty much kept the door shut. It was easy to make your way through them to get in or out though.
The smoke from the fire went right out the smoke hole! This was a big question – whether the house would fill with smoke, or would fill down to a certain level. For the most part, it was possible to breathe easily up to about 5′. It will be interesting to see how this changes under windy and other weather conditions.
These pictures were all taken at night — I didn’t get it together enough to take them during the day…
A fire going on the inside can be seen through the cover.
The fire on the inside …
The door from the inside.
The smoke hole.
Over labor day weekend, Eli, his cousin Glennon, and I slept out. Fortunately sister mosquito woke me up around 3:45 to get some more tinder and start the fire up. The rain started 1/2 hour later. Without the light and heat from the fire, we probably would have stumbled back to the house. As it was, I was able to see that they stayed dry, and move myself to a dry spot. They woke up well rested around 6:15. That fire stayed hot even with rain pouring in on it through the smoke hole. The logs on top kept the coals dry underneath.
Is there a way to cover the smokehole when it rains? So the smoke gets out but the rain doesn’t get in? Well, that still needs to be figured out.