HAIL!.....help!

[TxGypsy]

You'd think that it wouldn't rain very often in the desert. Seems like all it's done is rain since I moved here. Now normally I wouldn't complain but there seems to be an unwritten law that every time we receive rain we get hail. In the last 2 weeks we've had baseball to softball(!!!!) size hail twice. My RV looks like someone took a sledgehammer to it. My new toyota is ruined. Those are covered by insurance thank goodness. Everything floods here with even a half inch of rain. We're talking rivers form in a matter of moments.

My problem is......a house. I've determined what won't work here. Now I need to figure out what will work. Now I see why lots of folks that live in the flats(like me) build on pier and beam. During the monsoon season I'm betting that folks that didn't build pier and beam are kicking themselves. The hail is so large and severe here that I'm sure it would beat the stucco off of cob or strawbale. It would also remove the paint from wood and break vinyl siding to pieces. This is 'the hand of God' hail....you can't imagine what it's like to be in a storm here. Soooo.....any suggestions? Keep in mind frequent flooding, routine hail the size of your fist, and oh yeah.....115 degrees or so in the summer.

[logbuilder]

On your RV with hail damage, that happened to me once. The agent came out and said he would write me a check for $2000 to cover the 'cosmetic' damage. That was way low in my opinion. I told him I wanted him to pay me what it would cost to get it fixed back to the same condition before the hail. With a little bit more back and forth, he finally wrote me a check for $6000.

[texican]

Txgypsy,
I've spent months out in the Big Bend area. Aren't most of the old ruins adobe type structures? Of course the one's I've seen appear to be pretty 'whooped' over time.

Do you have access to rock? (I know, just kidding... nothing 'but' rock out there in lots of places.) I like cob and strawbale, but if I was out there in the Chihuahua, I'd probably go with very thick stone walls, to get some of the tempering effects between daytime and nightime temps. And I sorta doubt the hail would bother rock much.

And if I was in a low area, subject to flash floods, I'd try and build on any type of rise possible, or build the area up, or have my stone walls a couple feet higher, and fill in the first couple of feet with rock, clay, gravel whatever, and then have an earthen floor. Heavy footers of course.

Of course what I'm talking about is *hard work*.

good luck (I dearly love the Big Bend region)

[Farmerwilly2]

Concrete on piers, tip up walls are what I'm thinking. Steel frame.

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by logbuilder

On your RV with hail damage, that happened to me once. The agent came out and said he would write me a check for $2000 to cover the 'cosmetic' damage. That was way low in my opinion. I told him I wanted him to pay me what it would cost to get it fixed back to the same condition before the hail. With a little bit more back and forth, he finally wrote me a check for $6000.

Yeah that's about what I expect to happen with this. Had the RV guy out to replace the skylight last week....talk about getting taken to the cleaners.....$200 trip fee after splitting it with another fella with a damaged RV right next to me! Anyhow, even the crook was impressed at the amount of damage done to the trailer.

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by texican

Txgypsy,
I've spent months out in the Big Bend area. Aren't most of the old ruins adobe type structures? Of course the one's I've seen appear to be pretty 'whooped' over time.

Do you have access to rock? (I know, just kidding... nothing 'but' rock out there in lots of places.) I like cob and strawbale, but if I was out there in the Chihuahua, I'd probably go with very thick stone walls, to get some of the tempering effects between daytime and nightime temps. And I sorta doubt the hail would bother rock much.

And if I was in a low area, subject to flash floods, I'd try and build on any type of rise possible, or build the area up, or have my stone walls a couple feet higher, and fill in the first couple of feet with rock, clay, gravel whatever, and then have an earthen floor. Heavy footers of course.

Of course what I'm talking about is *hard work*.

good luck (I dearly love the Big Bend region)

LOL....yep I couldn't figure out why the adobe buildings here seem to be in such lousy condition....until I saw the hail. Folks here tell me that bigger hail than I saw the other day happens on a semi regular basis The rebound once it hits the ground is pretty danged bad too.

Believe it or not....I think I have the only 40 acres in the whole county without ANY rock on it. Folks get a bit miffed when you 'harvest' their rock. So now I tootle down the road on my 4 wheeler and pick up rocks that 'in the way' on the dirt roads Solid rock is a good idea. It would take me forever to collect that much rock but it would be a lot of fun. Running up and down the roads looking at some of the most breathtaking scenery in America....sure, I can do that. However I normally get so caught up in scenery, greenery and critter watching that I forget about picking up rocks. I'm also thinking about using metal siding. Not what I'd like but it might stand up to most of the hail.

Yep, I'm in a flat area. Think tortilla flat here! I've tried to garden in rock before...no thanks! I bought my place because of it's great gardening potential. I need to put in some terracing to direct the water where I want it to go.

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by Farmerwilly2

Concrete on piers, tip up walls are what I'm thinking. Steel frame.

Definately a possiblility.

[thechickenladyx]

have you thought about moving?

jesse

[TxGypsy]

Nope.....never considered moving. I restrained myself from posting any of my several hundred flower pics

[RoseGarden]

TxGypsy, is the second photo Boquillas (sp?) canyon? Hiked all through it back in 1983. It was awesome.

You definitely have beautiful surroundings.

I'm going to start on a rock house in north central Tx, hope to start later in the fall. Figure to build directly on the bedrock. I have no money and have to do it in rock, no alternatives are possible if i ever want to actually live there. I think I'm going to be asking Texican for all the tips and advice I can get from him, because he has a rock house under construction now.

Please, do post some flower photos, I'd love to see some. I haven't been out your way in a long time. I remember when we went in 1983, we were there when the bluebonnets were blooming, and I remember being amazed at how much taller they were in Big Bend than other parts of the state. Seems there is a strain of them adapted to that area and they are indeed a lot taller. They lined the road from Marathon down into the park.

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by RoseGarden

TxGypsy, is the second photo Boquillas (sp?) canyon? Hiked all through it back in 1983. It was awesome.

You definitely have beautiful surroundings.

I'm going to start on a rock house in north central Tx, hope to start later in the fall. Figure to build directly on the bedrock. I have no money and have to do it in rock, no alternatives are possible if i ever want to actually live there. I think I'm going to be asking Texican for all the tips and advice I can get from him, because he has a rock house under construction now.

Please, do post some flower photos, I'd love to see some. I haven't been out your way in a long time. I remember when we went in 1983, we were there when the bluebonnets were blooming, and I remember being amazed at how much taller they were in Big Bend than other parts of the state. Seems there is a strain of them adapted to that area and they are indeed a lot taller. They lined the road from Marathon down into the park.

That is a picture of the Santa Elena canyon in the Escondido rim while the Rio Grande was in flood. When I drive into Study Butte you get the most gorgeous view of it when you top Bee mountain. Especially if it is about an hour before sunset. I haven't hiked to the boquillas canyon yet because they don't allow dogs on that trail.....my little walking buddy would never forgive me if I went without him. I just posted a desert flower thread in the gardening forum...and yes it has some of the giant bluebonnets in it

[thechickenladyx]

Originally Posted by TxGypsy

Nope.....never considered moving. I restrained myself from posting any of my several hundred flower pics

i fully understand now. what's a little hail, if you see that.

jesse

[suburbanite]

See? There's nothing in the desert, just wasted land.



(If you can't tell this is sarcasm then it is time to trade in your brain for a new one. )

[fishhead]

What about an earth sheltered home built into a constructed mound? That would take care of hail and flooding at the same time plus give you a cooler home in the summer.

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

See? There's nothing in the desert, just wasted land.



(If you can't tell this is sarcasm then it is time to trade in your brain for a new one. )

Yep that's it. Nothing to see here.....move along people...that's it....move along now. I have got to quit posting pictures and bragging! Folks will want to move here They will fill up all my gorgeous empty spaces. Tying fingers together so I will quit slipping up

Ok just one more....sat outside star gazing and watching shooting stars this evening for about an hour and a half. This is the best area in north America to star gaze because of the clear skies and lack of light polution. My camera can't capture that type of incredible majesty.

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by fishhead

What about an earth sheltered home built into a constructed mound? That would take care of hail and flooding at the same time plus give you a cooler home in the summer.

That's not a bad idea. I love Mike Oehlers method. I've got his book around here somewhere. Hmmmm....I was wanting to dig a pond anyhow....and I have that pretty new shiny bright orange tractor Thanks for the idea!

[fishhead]

Originally Posted by TxGypsy

That's not a bad idea. I love Mike Oehlers method. I've got his book around here somewhere. Hmmmm....I was wanting to dig a pond anyhow....and I have that pretty new shiny bright orange tractor Thanks for the idea!

Now you're talking. Use the dirt from the pond to make the mound so you only move it once. Be sure to put a berm around the pond or the first flood you have will take most of your fish and maybe add some you don't.