UKC

so have removed a greenhouse in the garden, leaving behind concrete base about 8ftx10ft, with two courses of bricks around the edge, plan to fill it with sand for kids playing area. at the moment have got a large bit of tarp to put over it to keep out neighbours cats and rain, but it will basically act like a bath tub in the rain.

so i want to construct something simple with a pitched roof to keep rain from building up, but i'm always one for over complicating things and anyway, some wooden construction for this size would be too heavy to move easily. any ideas for a roof for this size that keeps rain out?

not the most exciting thread i know, but hey there must be a few others out there facing a boring friday in the office!

In reply to d508934:

Maybe you could find a couple of old car roof racks at a breaker's yard? Just a thought.

In reply to d508934:

Why not keep the tarp concept bull allow for run off my raising the centre using a small pole or is there an option to suspend it?

In reply to d508934:

Your going to struggle a bit between something light enough to be manageable and heavy enough not to blow away. And the heavier it is the more over engineered it may all become.

I wonder if you could make a cover out of 3 sections of 4*8 sheet material cut to size. Create a 'socket' of some sort in the middle of each short side to allow you to drop a reasonably hefty 10 foot long joist in so that the sheets are supported on the edges and in the middle via the timber (or even 2 cross pieces if required). Fit some kind of trim (T profile metal, plastic or wood) so that there is something to stop most water running into gaps between sheets. You could also put a timber baton all the way round the perimeter to give something for the sheets to sit inside of... a 1" strip of something the same thickness as your sheet material.

Paint the sheets with preservatives, then outdoor paints. Then paint a load of roads, car parks, roundabouts, trees, bushes etc on the top surface.

What you end up with is a structure that's pretty waterproof (with a bit of care), easily taken to bits for summer play in the sand (fit some little webbing loops to make lifting the sheets easy perhaps) and you have 3 sheets to lift, one or two cross piece joists to lift and sandpits open for business. Put it back together again and you have a hard topped play area for driving cars on and assorted imaginative play. Done nicely it'll look better than a tarp, sheet of corrugated iron or plain wood.

In reply to d508934:

Pair of triangular a-frames, one at each end with a centre pole between and put tarp over this. Make simple sockets for ends, centre pole has holes which sit on pegs on the a-frames. Easy to put together, and being sectional, easy to take off for use. Weight the tarp with anything, bricks, old tyres etc.
Good luck, the bloody cats will find a way in and crap in the sand, they always do.

In reply to Ferret:

that sounds amazing but way way beyond my meagre DIY skills i'm afraid!

In reply to johncook:

this sounds more within my capacity, need to think of a way of making the a-frames so that they can stand independantly before the centre pole is added, otherwise I'll never be able to pout the cover on by myself.

also liking the KISS idea above of just sticking a pole/upright underneath the middle of the tarp!

In reply to d508934:


Screw them to the brick, they only need be a foot or so high and can stay in place. They actually want to be pentagons rather than triangles, you need a bit of a vertical stand-off or the tarp will sag and pond behind the brick at the eves.

jk

In reply to d508934:

a heavy duty sheet and a massive exercise ball in the middle to create the pitch. Weight the sheet with stone, or create a hem and slide in some wood or metal on each side.

In reply to summo:
would material would you use for the heavy duty sheet?

edit: just realised you are probably talking about heavy duty tarp, had thought you meant maybe metal

In reply to d508934:

You could use simple plastic corrugated sheets. There stiff enough due to their construction (ribbed)
and light enough to be man handled. Will need weighing down all the same.

In reply to d508934:

How about making a cover out of corrugated plastic sheeting? You'd be best building up one side by a foot or so to give it a pitch, then if you attach your sheets to a simple wooden frame you could hinge the whole thing so it's easy to lift and lower.

In reply to d508934:

I would make a fixed wooden frame, higher at one end (or metal if you have something suitable lying around) and just move the tarp on and off.

If I could be bothered I might also attach some clips to pull the tarp tight.

In reply to d508934:


yeah, tarp, the heavy stuff. The cheap thin stuff is usually wrecked by UV, wind, anything etc. within a year or two. The 500g/m2 stuff was what I was thinking about.

In reply to d508934:

My original thought was a bucket, stuck under the middle of the tarp. Or a kid's spade; you know, like they might use to play in the sand... You don't need much slope to allow the rain to run off.

You don't need an A-frame. Just bang a post in at either end, and rest the cross-pole on it. You might cut a shallow V in the top of each post to make the cross-pole more stable. Think about kids falling on it, though...

Or maybe a small pile of bricks at either end; more blunt, and will collapse if fallen on.

In reply to captain paranoia:

thanks all for the ideas. think i'm going for the most idiot proof options, either the tarp with something underneath holding it up, or getting some of the plastic corrugated sheets. even i can't stuff those up! frames/pillars sound good but would be nice if stuff could be completely removed when sand pit is full of kids.

In reply to d508934:

I have something similar for ours, safe enough to leave lying around when the kids play. Quick enough to refit at night so the cat doesn't use it as a giant litter tray.