Bigfoot Camper is Hurting Tonight!!

[Bigfootchevy]

Camper Damage
The first picture shows you what my Bigfoot Camper and Boat looked like when I put it away just before the winter.

The next 12 pictures show you what I found this morning.

At this point I have no idea what the extent of the damage is. People coming tomorrow to help clean up the mess.

Will keep you posted. Worst winter in 20 years.

Paul

[dakonthemountai]

I'm so sorry this happened to your camper!! I send positive thoughts that the damage will be minimal and you will be "re-built" and up to snuff in no time!

Dak

[covered_wagon]

X2 they are called collar ties or ceiling joist. Without them a roof is left precariously undone. They need to nail across from rafter to rafter with a minimum of 3-16d galv. box nails into ea. rafter.

New roof should be steeper to shed snow load. Steep roofs are stronger too

[Yeti_plus]

OUCH!! Paul, I hope you checked out the inside and did some damage control before today's white stuff from the sky hit.
My BF is in the backyard with at least a foot of snow on top and I can't get to it unless I take the snowblower to the side yard and back yard. I thought we were done with snowfall until we got hit with another 3 - 4 inches again today. And I hear it was hitting your area as well.
Brian

[Reddog1]

I don't think the OP is looking for "How to build a TC storage". Maybe another Thread?

Wayne
Moderator

[FreeLanceing]

Yes those Morton buildings are very well made, and they do stand behind there stuff. I was looking at your photos on a small tablet screen. I see now those are some super trusses, not the standard variety you normaly see. How do those attach to the post. Are they spliced or frenched in. I don't see a hanger in the photo. What happened around here, we had record snow fall. Then we had like a half inch of rain with some heavy winds. A lot of buildings that have been around for years lost there roof systems. The OP was just poor design, Morton didn't build that one.

[JumboJet]

Removed my post so as to not irritate others...............

[Fishnmagician]

FreeLanceing, You may be correct in saying I don't get the snow you do, but we do average over 125 inches a season. That is a Morton build building, and trust me, they do not cut any corners, they build one of the best, if not the best pole building in the business. They also warranty the structure and roof against wind and snow load for 50 years, I guarantee you will not find better warranty is the business. They have the best structural engineers designing there plans, so yes, they know how to build a pole building.

[dadwolf2]

Oooohh that hurts just looking at those pictures. Sorry Paul

[bigfootgrey]

Paul:
Sorry to see your Bigfoot like that. Hopefully the damage is limited to the luggage rack and vents.The fiberglass roof is very strong.Best of luck,
Bob & Cathy

[GMCPU53]

That really stinks ! Hopefully the damage is very minimal. keep us informed as to what the outcome is. Joe

[FreeLanceing]

Fishmag; Your roof system would not work here. Those trusses are way to far apart. I am bidding a P barn just like that, they were 4' OC and failed. Many of them did this year. Our trusses really need to be 2' OC nothing less. You may not get the snow we do by the lake. It really doesn't cost that much more to do it right. People always want to cut corners when building. I always tell folks cancel your HBO and put the money into your building project. You won't regret it. A well made designed structure should last many years or your life time if done correctly.

[Fishnmagician]

Paul, I hope it's not as bad as it looks. And your next roof should look similar to this.

[silversand]

....that is truly sad. Thank goodness in our district (in Quebec, a hand-full of miles from the Vermont line) we've had the lowest snowfall in living memory (not a record dry winter, but very close). We've only had 180 cms total up till this writing. Usually by this time, we're at 400 to 500+ centimeters. However, it has been record-breaking cold (consecutive record-breaking cold, month after month).

You can only hope for superficial damage on the roof of the Bigfoot (and, as mentioned earlier: check closely all your tie-down fastener points VERY carefully).

Because of the snow load up in the mountains here where we live (we often have 4~6 feet of snow on roofs before it avalanches off our 16/12 pitch), our roof pitches are at the minimum 12/12 (45 deg) to a usual 16/12 (53.1 deg). All our roofs on our property (the 3 buildings) are 16/12. Also (not to be too critical at this time of distress), I noticed that your roof was only supported by the (nonstructural) ridge board only (ie. you should look into purlins and collar ties when you contract out the re-build).

Anyhow, good luck with the insurance claim.

[MNtundraRet]

FreeLanceing wrote:
What you are missing is called the collar ties. In your (our) snow load region, you need collar ties every other rafter. You should really just put them on every rafter. We are talking maybe $100 extra. Another option would be a truss or sizzor truss if you want a little extra height in the center. I am guessing this was not a permited job. This would not pass code and should not be an insurable risk, at least in the US. This type of construction will fail for sure. The last shed I raftered like that I used 2x6 collar ties with a 12ft span just to be safe, every rafter. Sometimes people put stuff up there or hang things. I would guess the camper will be fine maybe some gel coat damage. Those glass unit are pretty durable. Might want to check the jacks and the mount for the jacks.

X2.

It's your shelter that sucks. An accident waiting to happen.

I hope you get lucky with the insurer.

[FreeLanceing]

What you are missing is called the collar ties. In your (our) snow load region, you need collar ties every other rafter. You should really just put them on every rafter. We are talking maybe $100 extra. Another option would be a truss or sizzor truss if you want a little extra height in the center. I am guessing this was not a permited job. This would not pass code and should not be an insurable risk, at least in the US. This type of construction will fail for sure. The last shed I raftered like that I used 2x6 collar ties with a 12ft span just to be safe, every rafter. Sometimes people put stuff up there or hang things. I would guess the camper will be fine maybe some gel coat damage. Those glass unit are pretty durable. Might want to check the jacks and the mount for the jacks.