Tarp or cover for long term open RV park

[stude]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Well Peter I'm not going to argue with you and that wasn't my point for my response. Just pointing out that when all you have to block the wind is a few cactus' and such you've got to think differently about what you build. Glad your anchors work for you. I've been in the desert for 30 years and the OP's destination is about 100 miles north of me. There have been a few new folks that moved in here that did the same thing as you say. Those covers ended up in the next county, the frame not so far. A neighbors patio roof with a lot more than 25lbs of concrete in the footings ended up on their tile roof with a lot of broken tiles...along with the concrete footings. Local codes here call for 2'x2'x2' footings for patio uprights, I did 3'x3'x2' just cuz and my patio is still here . There may be ways for the OP to have a cover but it's going to have to be something that lets the wind go through it like military camo netting and not with standard bungies as they only last about two months in the deserts UV.

I was lucky in the 60mph winds we get in the winter our worst weather a few years back was the snow but with the warming weather patterns we have not had any snow for a bit. I believe u when u say about them travelling through the air as I have seen just that.
So I got lucky and bought a steel upright model 3"x3" by 12' uprights with base of same metal and roof trusses same material with all the angle braces and under each upright I have concrete into the ground 4' with a 2' J-hook into the concrete the the base plate is bolted to the J-hook 26' long with one section on the down side just below the roof to stop the snow, water, ice from blowing in onto the MH. The roof is all heavy gauge steel sloped downwards and not lenghtways like most are. No gutters I just let it all run off or slip off. Open all around with some tarping at the stern to protect it from the weather. Bow is out and open so we can get in or out for a little winter camping. This outfit will not travel anywhere as there is 10 J-hooks on either side and it also attached to one side where retaining wall is built.
We have had some 100mph winds and it is still standing.
Stude

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by stude

so u don't think we get those kinds of breeezes up here, were smart we anchor the costco garage by putting each foot into a bucket of 25 pound cement or gravel in case one wants to use the bucket again. The cover might move around a bit but it aint about to take off to your neighbors down the street or in the next county.
Stude

Gotta say, 25 lb buckets won't do the trick in desert winds. We had one over our Lil Bigfoot and, with high winds in a residential area in So Cal our canopy was picked up, along with six full 5 gallon water containers (40 lbs each) and threw the whole mess onto a tile roof doing almost $1000 in damage to the roof, but none to the lil' Bigfoot. The 10' x 20' we had stated, "Not suitable for use in areas with winds over 50 MPH", something almost never seen where it was at.

[RogerDat]

Evaporation pulls large amounts of heat out of the air. Even in the Midwest it is used to provide large volume heat removal in roof top chiller units because it uses much less energy than AC compressor. Sweat both pumps heat & cools by evaporation. When the humidity gets too high for the evaporation to happen you hear a lot of "it's not the heat it's the humidity" around this state.


Why on earth it ended up getting called a "swamp cooler" I have no idea. A swamp would seem like one of the least effective places to use it.

[Bob Miller]

If you look inside of a rooftop Evaporative Cooler that hasn't been cleaned out for a few years, you will know whey they are called a "Swamp Cooler" The insides can get pretty swampy looking. That and the wet pad, often growing all kinds of green stuff on it, adds to the image I guess.

[Jon in AZ]

Not to mention the smell in the house when you use one in that condition...

Clean it thoroughly at least once a season and change the pads, and it shouldn't earn its nickname.

[Gennaver]

Coincidentally I have access to some cammo mesh and rope netting that Ibought for a friend in North Dakota, for a family event that was outdoors and there was trong winds on the plains. There are suprluss resale supply stores near where I'm at tnow. I can get some to bring with me. AFter spending the week in North Dakota with wind storms, I am very glad how that netting worked out.

Thank you again everyone, I agree to play it safe for me since there isn't any way I'd want to be responsible for damage to my neighbors RV if anything happened while I was away at work.

Jen

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Well Peter I'm not going to argue with you and that wasn't my point for my response. Just pointing out that when all you have to block the wind is a few cactus' and such you've got to think differently about what you build. Glad your anchors work for you. I've been in the desert for 30 years and the OP's destination is about 100 miles north of me. There have been a few new folks that moved in here that did the same thing as you say. Those covers ended up in the next county, the frame not so far. A neighbors patio roof with a lot more than 25lbs of concrete in the footings ended up on their tile roof with a lot of broken tiles...along with the concrete footings. Local codes here call for 2'x2'x2' footings for patio uprights, I did 3'x3'x2' just cuz and my patio is still here . There may be ways for the OP to have a cover but it's going to have to be something that lets the wind go through it like military camo netting and not with standard bungies as they only last about two months in the deserts UV.

[Gennaver]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

Not to mention the smell in the house when you use one in that condition...

Clean it thoroughly at least once a season and change the pads, and it shouldn't earn its nickname.

Good to know!

Also, thank you too everyone, it looks like Felix's style is the way I should plan to try. I'll see if he can share any picture.

Felix, any pictures available, for here or pm?

Thank you,
Jen

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Gennaver

Coincidentally I have access to some cammo mesh and rope netting that Ibought for a friend in North Dakota, for a family event that was outdoors and there was trong winds on the plains. There are suprluss resale supply stores near where I'm at tnow. I can get some to bring with me. AFter spending the week in North Dakota with wind storms, I am very glad how that netting worked out. Jen

Well Jen, if the netting does get away it won't really damage anything down wind

[Gennaver]

Originally Posted by Borrego Dave

Well Jen, if the netting does get away it won't really damage anything down wind

I don't know why I didn't think about it until he mentioned it!

I gave my North Dakota family of friends lots of camo mesh netting for shades for an outdoor event. each was about a 50lb bundle and plenty of tarp!

So glad to read here. I'm also hoping to get some swamp cooler rigged to the window advice too before the heat starts! Glad I'll be there by mid feb!

Jen