Tampa/Sarasota area and Irma
- Thread starter fletch09
- Start date
I would lean towards choosing another destination.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/05/hurricane-irmas-storm-path-what-should-know.html
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/0...urricane-irma-could-be-worse-than-harvey.html
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/05/hurricane-irmas-storm-path-what-should-know.html
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/09/0...urricane-irma-could-be-worse-than-harvey.html
Blckshdw
Moderator
Right now it's still a lot of hurry up and wait, to see how the storm track is going to shift over the next few days. Of course, with what just happened in Houston, they are advising everyone to have their preparations done early, and be ready to evacuate if the order is given. I just stocked up on non perishables this evening. Plywood and concrete screws for tomorrow.
It's gonna be bad, no matter where it makes landfall, I agree with @DAlastDON , if you can change your vacation plans at all, that would be in your best interest.
It's gonna be bad, no matter where it makes landfall, I agree with @DAlastDON , if you can change your vacation plans at all, that would be in your best interest.
- Jul 22, 2015
- 2,724
Latest models indicate landfall on the east (Atlantic) side of FL; even if the eye doesn't make landfall, FL is screwed - the state is ~ 150mi 'wide' (not counting the panhandle), and Irma is > 400mi wide - so there will be wind / surge on both coasts.
Miami looks very vulnerable - they have 'sunny day floods' now during king tides, so they'll probably get a ton of flooding. Thankfully, they have some of the strictest building codes in the country, although I wouldn't want to be in one of the coastal high rises.
Worse, it looks like Irma will 'bounce' off FL and make further landfalls up the coast - GA, the Carolinas and perhaps VA look to take a big hit, depending on the track, and how much time the eye spends over water.
Tomorrow morning will probably have the track fairly locked in, I think.
Miami looks very vulnerable - they have 'sunny day floods' now during king tides, so they'll probably get a ton of flooding. Thankfully, they have some of the strictest building codes in the country, although I wouldn't want to be in one of the coastal high rises.
Worse, it looks like Irma will 'bounce' off FL and make further landfalls up the coast - GA, the Carolinas and perhaps VA look to take a big hit, depending on the track, and how much time the eye spends over water.
Tomorrow morning will probably have the track fairly locked in, I think.
Mooseman
Moderator
Blckshdw
Moderator
Since the storm (if it stays on the Atlantic coast) would be far east of us on the Gulf coast, we wouldn't have the storm surge issue, as the winds would be blowing out into the gulf, instead of inward like it would if it was gulf side. It will effectively lower the water levels in Tampa Bay, and for the folks down in Cape Coral/Ft Myers, giving the rain runoff more room to drain which is best case scenario for us, outside of no storm at all.
Current estimates for rain fall here in the bay area is only a few inches at the moment. The most intense rain is near the center of the storm, so given the reach of the rain bands at the storm's current size, if it stays on track as predicted, only the outer most bands will reach us over here.
The distance also helps mitigate wind strength, so it's quite possible that we'll only experience tropical storm force winds, compared to the Cat 3 strength winds that Orlando may see in a few days.
We've still got a lot more hurry up and wait, but that's the name of the game. My phone is finally quiet from everybody out of state blowing me up between last night and this morning telling me I need to drive to (insert state name here) It's always nice to know people care
Current estimates for rain fall here in the bay area is only a few inches at the moment. The most intense rain is near the center of the storm, so given the reach of the rain bands at the storm's current size, if it stays on track as predicted, only the outer most bands will reach us over here.
The distance also helps mitigate wind strength, so it's quite possible that we'll only experience tropical storm force winds, compared to the Cat 3 strength winds that Orlando may see in a few days.
We've still got a lot more hurry up and wait, but that's the name of the game. My phone is finally quiet from everybody out of state blowing me up between last night and this morning telling me I need to drive to (insert state name here) It's always nice to know people care
- Nov 20, 2011
- 1,982
Well, thought I posted earlier, but may have been during update, post may have been lost.
Decided to postpone for now. Dealt with condo rental and airline earlier today. Airline says I can change at no charge, because of conditions. Problem may be w/ condo rental. All was paid in advance, talked with them this AM. Told them that we are unable to make our reservation. Asked them my options, they said if i don't have travel insurance, nothing is refundable. Since they are fine there, and they are not under a state of emergency. I do have the option to rebook till the end of Nov. not sure restrictions on that, until I call tomorrow. Read earlier tonight ,(abcnews.go.com) that Gov. Of FL
Did declare state of emergency for entire state yesterday or Mon. Can anyone confirm?
@Blckshdw how is weather in late October/early Nov.
Decided to postpone for now. Dealt with condo rental and airline earlier today. Airline says I can change at no charge, because of conditions. Problem may be w/ condo rental. All was paid in advance, talked with them this AM. Told them that we are unable to make our reservation. Asked them my options, they said if i don't have travel insurance, nothing is refundable. Since they are fine there, and they are not under a state of emergency. I do have the option to rebook till the end of Nov. not sure restrictions on that, until I call tomorrow. Read earlier tonight ,(abcnews.go.com) that Gov. Of FL
Did declare state of emergency for entire state yesterday or Mon. Can anyone confirm?
@Blckshdw how is weather in late October/early Nov.
Blckshdw
Moderator
Yes the Gov did declare a state of emergency statewide, as a precaution to get things mobilized for preparations. Trying to minimize any issues when/where 
hits the fan.
Weather in late October, early November is pretty nice. Mid to upper 70's I wanna say, which is why we liked having our fall meets at that time of year, so we could hang out outside with our trucks and not sweat to death
hits the fan.Weather in late October, early November is pretty nice. Mid to upper 70's I wanna say, which is why we liked having our fall meets at that time of year, so we could hang out outside with our trucks and not sweat to death
Matt
Member
- Dec 2, 2011
- 4,022
Sparky
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 12,927
And please don't let Tampa and Clearwater get wiped out, ok?
HARDTRAILZ
Moderator
- Nov 18, 2011
- 49,665
- Nov 20, 2011
- 1,982
because of state of emergency was able to get full refund on condo. airline gave an extension on ticket till sept 30th so far. have to conclude travel by sept 30th. which sucks because we were not planning to go until late oct/ early nov. now.
may end up eating airfare. unless because of damage, they extend that date.
for all those in FL, good luck and stay safe !
may end up eating airfare. unless because of damage, they extend that date.
for all those in FL, good luck and stay safe !
- Jul 22, 2015
- 2,724
Maybe give the airline a second call. Technically, hurricane season lasts until (end of) November. See if they'll extend the 'travel by' date at least until end of year - since if (heaven forbid) another 'cane comes along, you go through this whole thing over again. That would give you time to sync the travel & lodging.
Mooseman
Moderator
Irma is gonna make landfall soon. Hope everybody that should evacuate did. Those that didn't, hunker down, stay safe and hope for the best.
Blckshdw
Moderator
I had a few evacuation options, was going to head north to the next county and crash at my boss' house. Had couch crashing with @jimmyjam as plan B, and at another friend's house east of here as plan C (longest drive).
Well my boss texted me this morning, she and her family bugged out of here last night.
If I hadn't setup multiple options, I woulda be mad as hell (and screwed) Jimmy's in-laws, and grandparents decided to go to his place, so that was out. So plan C it was. Loaded up the EXT with all my expensive electronics and went to my buddy's house. Some other friends in evac zones are here too, so we've got a house with 5 adults, a pre-teen, baby, and 3 dogs. Hurricane party anyone?
Thought I was gonna have to leave my big TV behind with prayers for its survival, couldn't fit it in the truck with everything else, but ended up making a second trip. So if my house ends up getting blown off the map, or turned into brand new waterfront property, that will make for fewer things that need to be replaced.
So now, there's more hurry up and wait. We've all agreed that none of us are gonna bother trying to sleep at all Sunday night... Good thing we all like each other, or you'd have a reality TV situation brewing.
Well my boss texted me this morning, she and her family bugged out of here last night.
If I hadn't setup multiple options, I woulda be mad as hell (and screwed) Jimmy's in-laws, and grandparents decided to go to his place, so that was out. So plan C it was. Loaded up the EXT with all my expensive electronics and went to my buddy's house. Some other friends in evac zones are here too, so we've got a house with 5 adults, a pre-teen, baby, and 3 dogs. Hurricane party anyone?Thought I was gonna have to leave my big TV behind with prayers for its survival, couldn't fit it in the truck with everything else, but ended up making a second trip. So if my house ends up getting blown off the map, or turned into brand new waterfront property, that will make for fewer things that need to be replaced.
So now, there's more hurry up and wait. We've all agreed that none of us are gonna bother trying to sleep at all Sunday night... Good thing we all like each other, or you'd have a reality TV situation brewing.
Blckshdw
Moderator
Welp, that was fun, wasn't it kids? After being hunkered down at my friend's house for a day, and the storm got closer, we lost power around 8:30 but only for about 15 minutes. Plenty of brownouts until we lost power for good at 11:30. Since the hurricane wandered back to the east, it didn't hit us as hard as expected and there wasn't any storm surge.
In the morning, there was the usual check of the neighborhood. Some tree branches down, lots of leaves and twigs everywhere. Low lying streets had standing water. After some of the gusty wind died down, I headed home with all my valuables to do a damage check on my place. Zero damage to any of the exterior or fences. Power and water were still on and good to go as well. Lot of neighbor's fences were knocked down, could see the posts weren't cemented in
I had a couple of minor issues to deal with though. A tree on the side of my house, which usually stood at 11 and 12 o'clock, as you can see, was standing at 1 and 2 o'clock, leaning towards my neighbor's house. Upon closer look, some of the roots were pulled up and exposed, and the tree was a little bit wobbly when I pushed on it.
So out came the ladder and Sawzall, and I got to work. Once it was time to get the higher sections, I ended up wrapping my recovery strap as high up as I could get, then applied tension on the upper branches by ratchet strapping the end of the recovery strap to my AC unit. Cut a notch in the trunk so the top toppled over between the houses, and then cut it down to size.
Left a few healthy branches at the top, so I'll see if the tree re-roots itself, and sprouts some new branches skyward. If not, and it kicks the bucket, then I'll cut it down. One less obstacle when mowing the yard or going through the gate which is right behind it.
Strolled through the back yard to check if anything needed to be addressed, or fixed up. Found a small bundle of a short tree that had been bent over. The thin trunks are pretty flexible, so I'll tie them to the fence post, and call em good.
The big surprise, is some of the overgrown brush in the back. Don't have any before pics, but you normally can't see the big retention pond from the house, because the brush is so high. Usually have to walk deep into the back yard. But the winds knocked a lot of it down, so it's at like half height now. At least I have a better visual of what it will look like when I finally get around to trimming it myself.
In the morning, there was the usual check of the neighborhood. Some tree branches down, lots of leaves and twigs everywhere. Low lying streets had standing water. After some of the gusty wind died down, I headed home with all my valuables to do a damage check on my place. Zero damage to any of the exterior or fences. Power and water were still on and good to go as well. Lot of neighbor's fences were knocked down, could see the posts weren't cemented in
I had a couple of minor issues to deal with though. A tree on the side of my house, which usually stood at 11 and 12 o'clock, as you can see, was standing at 1 and 2 o'clock, leaning towards my neighbor's house. Upon closer look, some of the roots were pulled up and exposed, and the tree was a little bit wobbly when I pushed on it.
So out came the ladder and Sawzall, and I got to work. Once it was time to get the higher sections, I ended up wrapping my recovery strap as high up as I could get, then applied tension on the upper branches by ratchet strapping the end of the recovery strap to my AC unit. Cut a notch in the trunk so the top toppled over between the houses, and then cut it down to size.
Left a few healthy branches at the top, so I'll see if the tree re-roots itself, and sprouts some new branches skyward. If not, and it kicks the bucket, then I'll cut it down. One less obstacle when mowing the yard or going through the gate which is right behind it.
Strolled through the back yard to check if anything needed to be addressed, or fixed up. Found a small bundle of a short tree that had been bent over. The thin trunks are pretty flexible, so I'll tie them to the fence post, and call em good.
The big surprise, is some of the overgrown brush in the back. Don't have any before pics, but you normally can't see the big retention pond from the house, because the brush is so high. Usually have to walk deep into the back yard. But the winds knocked a lot of it down, so it's at like half height now. At least I have a better visual of what it will look like when I finally get around to trimming it myself.
Mooseman
Moderator
Glad to hear you made it almost unscathed. Really minor compared to a lot of other people.
jsheahawk
Member
RTTBLT1
Member
Im glad you are safe and doing well.
Matt
Member
- Dec 2, 2011
- 4,022
You're the last of the people I know that hadn't checked in. Happy to hear that everything was cool.
Our place in Fort Myers came through unscathed as well. Reports are that water and electricity are both on. It's been a rough 2 or 3 days waiting to hear about our place, but at least we had no worries about our safety.
Blckshdw
Moderator
I would have posted earlier, but because power was out at my friend's house (he didn't have a battery backup on his router which was installed in a wall enclosure) there was no wi-fi, and I guess one of the cell towers for AT&T was down, so all I could do was send texts (which took forever to go through, if they went through at all) until I got home.
Much of the neighborhood looks like this on the left, sections of fence laying over. The fence on the right side of the street is all mine. I checked it before heading out and made sure any loose pieces, sections were nailed down.
This morning folks who didn't have to go in to work (myself included) were outside cleaning up debris and sharing their experiences. Talked to a few of my neighbors, and they are concerned about a really large tree in one house's front yard. Depending on which direction, if it fell, it could take out any of about 5 houses, so they are going to chip in and get it removed.
That tall pine tree in the first pic, behind the one I cut down, I'm probably gonna have taken out too. It's already up against the roof of the shed to the point it's growing around it.
- Nov 20, 2011
- 1,982
glad to hear all are ok !
check airline website on Monday. they extended to Nov. 15th w/ no change charges, as long as you book same departure and destination airports, and added: "for wholly resched. travel departing after Nov. 15th, or for a change in departure and destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a diff. in fare may apply. resched. travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued."
I can live and work with that.
check airline website on Monday. they extended to Nov. 15th w/ no change charges, as long as you book same departure and destination airports, and added: "for wholly resched. travel departing after Nov. 15th, or for a change in departure and destination city, the change fee will be waived, but a diff. in fare may apply. resched. travel must be completed within one year from the date when the ticket was issued."
I can live and work with that.
It has been several weeks now that those of us occupying the outer peninsula of the Tampa Bay Area of Pinellas County, Florida ; essentially bordered by Tampa Bay on the eastern shoreline and the Gulf of Mexico on the other… have not had to either prepare for or recover from the damages left in the wake of hurricanes. In the week leading up to deciding whether or not to dig out my pre-fab windows covers that were last used during Hurricane Charlie’s mad dash up the middle of the State of Florida . The work I put in back then in their careful construction (and marking with Magic Markers so I would know which end was up on each one) left me wondering back then after the hurricane had passed why I went though so much effort when the storm had only dealt a glancing blow to my house and property.
But this year, for the first time in well over a decade… I was really worried because in spite of having these barriers built and ready for installation… I had so many things stacked up in front of them that it would have taken a half-dozen strong men all day to clear a path sufficient to access them and perform their installation within enough time to be in place before Hurricane Irma came knocking. With my son having moved to north central Florida and dealing with his own issues… I abandoned the notion of doing all of this work and prep alone and left it to the fates, just hoped that nothing of a projectile nature would hound me afterwards by smashing out windows and drenching the inside of the house with 100+ MPH winds and driving rains. I felt a bit naked and exposed as I observed many of my neighbors boarding up their adjacent homes and while getting ready for its arrival down at Naples… we hunkered down while I covered my post-op eyes with gauze patches and wore wrap around plastic protective lenses …. and waited.
The storm arrived gradually overnight with its “weaker” side beginning to pound our house and others in the neighborhood with increasing power until finally… having been without power during with that time frame… we sat in a room lit by a single LED single AA battery powered flashlight and heard the howling “freight train’ noises from the 125MPH gusting winds and rain as it begin to beat against the roof and walls and make the sounds of the Flying Monkeys from the Wizard of OZ movie landing upon our roof as if they intended to beat holes open and gain entry. Meanwhile… The only damage occurring to my outer property would announce itself as the sound of a dramatic crack while a large pine tree on my neighbor’s side of the back fence crashed down on top of my recently well built Arrow Shed. The shed would ultimately prove to be the biggest surprise of all as it not only survived this roof-top impact… but it also remained firmly attached to and perfectly in place upon the sturdy platform I built on the raised concrete supports. This proved that my faith in proper engineering and its execution with proper materials and construction (from the ground up) was absolutely correct. However, the pitched roof on our home will soon be getting replaced due to much storm damage.
Finally… we get to the reasons for mentioning all of this in the wake of the storm’s aftermath. Prior to the arrival of the storm… I was able to find a sufficient number of Small Bottles of Water that I carefully placed in and around a freezer filled with recently purchased food stuffs to the tune of 20 or so small bottles that were able to freeze solid in the days leading up to the storm. This is extremely worthwhile in mentioning now… as in the three days that followed without having any electricity… we kept the refrigerator and freezer doors tightly closed. With the presence of multiple bottles of ice water in the lower section… the food stuffs remained cold for the entire duration of having no power!. Even when being raided quite a few times to get cold drinks as the heat of the days and nights over came the usual cool 68 degrees the lil] Woman prefers to becoming unbearably hot without opening the windows… the Freezer contents remained frozen SOLID! It looks like the discreet bottles idea worked out better than just using Ice Cubes. Bagged Ice or anything else that would not contain the water should the melting of the ice water start to occur was completely avoided. So with the exception of either the milk or other left-over perishables… all of the remaining food was saved and edible afterwards. Besides that… if worse comes to worse… you can drink it if you get thirsty.
As for the loss of electrical power… in preparation for the NEXT time we get hammered, I have purchased an Electrical Generator and supporting Power Harness that can handle powering our portable roll-around AC Unit, the Kitchen Refrigerator, an LED TV, the Internet Cable Modem and the ASUS Wireless Router as well in our back bedroom to keep us ‘out of the dark’ for as long as the Propane Fuel holds out… That’s Right… THIS generator will work on both Gasoline OR Propane Fuel… which not only reduces contamination of the Engine Oil… it obviates the need to purge or ‘winterize’ the Carburettor and Fuel System. I intend on having a sufficient supply of 20-30 lb Propane Tanks on hand because when the local electrical grid goes down… The local Gas Stations can no longer pump out any fuel. It also seems a lot easier to store Propane than having to stand in line with my two Gerry Cans while getting eye-balled by any greedy End Times Haters waiting in the same gas line.
Here are the two primary links to what will be necessary... but getting four heavy duty additional extension cords will also be required as well:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J7V5ENG/?tag=gmtnation-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Z17WLE/?tag=gmtnation-20
But this year, for the first time in well over a decade… I was really worried because in spite of having these barriers built and ready for installation… I had so many things stacked up in front of them that it would have taken a half-dozen strong men all day to clear a path sufficient to access them and perform their installation within enough time to be in place before Hurricane Irma came knocking. With my son having moved to north central Florida and dealing with his own issues… I abandoned the notion of doing all of this work and prep alone and left it to the fates, just hoped that nothing of a projectile nature would hound me afterwards by smashing out windows and drenching the inside of the house with 100+ MPH winds and driving rains. I felt a bit naked and exposed as I observed many of my neighbors boarding up their adjacent homes and while getting ready for its arrival down at Naples… we hunkered down while I covered my post-op eyes with gauze patches and wore wrap around plastic protective lenses …. and waited.
The storm arrived gradually overnight with its “weaker” side beginning to pound our house and others in the neighborhood with increasing power until finally… having been without power during with that time frame… we sat in a room lit by a single LED single AA battery powered flashlight and heard the howling “freight train’ noises from the 125MPH gusting winds and rain as it begin to beat against the roof and walls and make the sounds of the Flying Monkeys from the Wizard of OZ movie landing upon our roof as if they intended to beat holes open and gain entry. Meanwhile… The only damage occurring to my outer property would announce itself as the sound of a dramatic crack while a large pine tree on my neighbor’s side of the back fence crashed down on top of my recently well built Arrow Shed. The shed would ultimately prove to be the biggest surprise of all as it not only survived this roof-top impact… but it also remained firmly attached to and perfectly in place upon the sturdy platform I built on the raised concrete supports. This proved that my faith in proper engineering and its execution with proper materials and construction (from the ground up) was absolutely correct. However, the pitched roof on our home will soon be getting replaced due to much storm damage.
Finally… we get to the reasons for mentioning all of this in the wake of the storm’s aftermath. Prior to the arrival of the storm… I was able to find a sufficient number of Small Bottles of Water that I carefully placed in and around a freezer filled with recently purchased food stuffs to the tune of 20 or so small bottles that were able to freeze solid in the days leading up to the storm. This is extremely worthwhile in mentioning now… as in the three days that followed without having any electricity… we kept the refrigerator and freezer doors tightly closed. With the presence of multiple bottles of ice water in the lower section… the food stuffs remained cold for the entire duration of having no power!. Even when being raided quite a few times to get cold drinks as the heat of the days and nights over came the usual cool 68 degrees the lil] Woman prefers to becoming unbearably hot without opening the windows… the Freezer contents remained frozen SOLID! It looks like the discreet bottles idea worked out better than just using Ice Cubes. Bagged Ice or anything else that would not contain the water should the melting of the ice water start to occur was completely avoided. So with the exception of either the milk or other left-over perishables… all of the remaining food was saved and edible afterwards. Besides that… if worse comes to worse… you can drink it if you get thirsty.
As for the loss of electrical power… in preparation for the NEXT time we get hammered, I have purchased an Electrical Generator and supporting Power Harness that can handle powering our portable roll-around AC Unit, the Kitchen Refrigerator, an LED TV, the Internet Cable Modem and the ASUS Wireless Router as well in our back bedroom to keep us ‘out of the dark’ for as long as the Propane Fuel holds out… That’s Right… THIS generator will work on both Gasoline OR Propane Fuel… which not only reduces contamination of the Engine Oil… it obviates the need to purge or ‘winterize’ the Carburettor and Fuel System. I intend on having a sufficient supply of 20-30 lb Propane Tanks on hand because when the local electrical grid goes down… The local Gas Stations can no longer pump out any fuel. It also seems a lot easier to store Propane than having to stand in line with my two Gerry Cans while getting eye-balled by any greedy End Times Haters waiting in the same gas line.
Here are the two primary links to what will be necessary... but getting four heavy duty additional extension cords will also be required as well:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J7V5ENG/?tag=gmtnation-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005Z17WLE/?tag=gmtnation-20
Have a look at these images first… please:
http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60dgrzbelow0/library/MAGNETICPICKUPTOOLS?sort=3&page=1
This is an important update on the outcome of having to replace the damaged pitched roof on my home over the last few days that many others doing likewise will want to know about as a very serious safety and inconvenience problem we all will surely face when the work is finalized on the roofing repairs.
I anticipated the need to follow up after the roof job was completed as it concerns the hazard of finding Old and New Roofing Fasteners, Metal Cut-Off Shreds and those Special Roofing Tar Paper Nails that have an inch long sharp nail shanks fitted to either Round or Square mild steel pedestals that at best can cause the inconvenience of getting Flat Tires… and at the very worst of outcomes… cause serious penetrating injuries to feet and other body areas (knees) if either stepped or fallen upon accidentally sending the victims to the Emergency Room for help. Diligence in this effort paid off Big Time along with the roughly $80.00 or so these two tools cost!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HGN6P8/?tag=gmtnation-20
… and this thing works well under the brush and tight spaces…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003J3CW1U/?tag=gmtnation-20
I decided to check on line via Amazon for the widest Magnetic Roller Pick Up device I could find and this was the best one available right along with a smaller Hand Held Magnetic Pickup Tool that also incorporated an internal Magnet Relief spring loaded “Handle within a handle” design to reduce the need to hand pick off all of the recovered hardware that I encountered...starting from the foundation of the house with the hand Held one and sweeping the yard at LEAST 5 times in order to collect all of the items shown in the attached product links and over to my photobucket images.
One last thing worth emphasizing here is NOT to use your Bare Hands when handling the business end of where the Magnetic Power is located as there will be a Million Razor Sharp Cast Iron and Steel Needles that will also be attracted to the devices...and will stab deep and dig into your palms and fingers and literally have to rust there way out if your hands and fingers make direct contact as they tend to stand on end… with their extremely pointy barbs waiting like Sharks Teeth. So a nice pair of Working Gloves will be necessary to stop these things in their tracks from getting at you when you pick off the nails...and do so often as the ground and grass will yank them off the tool. As soon as you hear any Klinks-Clanks or Klunks... stop right there and pick them off.
When the job was finally done after a few hours of going back and forth and literally back tracking to get as much of these Mine Fields cleaned out as possible… I had Three Full Zip-Loc bags filled with all of these things! I’m not kidding…. It was at least 5 lbs worth of metal sharps in all those bags! As soon as I finished the job… I rolled the device(s) over to my new neighbors down the street since they JUST had a new roof installed and left the tools and one bag of the nails with a note on how to use these devices to clean up around their property… They have a house full of kids ...all knee-high to a Grasshopper ...that would be devastating if any of them stepped on these damned nails while barefoot out in the yard. In time… I’ll keep checking around and let anybody nearby use the tool(s) if they want to check out their properties as well. Hell… I even ran both of them through my house and recovered some of the fasteners I lost in the carpet when I was repairing a stack of IBM and Lenovo ThinkPads recently, too.
Just so you know… I could not get into my photobucket account this morning and had to re-up to a new plan that bumped my cloud storage from 20 Gigs to 50 Gigs for $59.99 a year… and pulled what is left of my hair in order to figure out that the reason my payment screen kept locking up was because I had my Cookies Ad-Blocked. I turned off the Ad-Blocker and the payment cleared with no problems after that. :>)
http://s557.photobucket.com/user/60dgrzbelow0/library/MAGNETICPICKUPTOOLS?sort=3&page=1
This is an important update on the outcome of having to replace the damaged pitched roof on my home over the last few days that many others doing likewise will want to know about as a very serious safety and inconvenience problem we all will surely face when the work is finalized on the roofing repairs.
I anticipated the need to follow up after the roof job was completed as it concerns the hazard of finding Old and New Roofing Fasteners, Metal Cut-Off Shreds and those Special Roofing Tar Paper Nails that have an inch long sharp nail shanks fitted to either Round or Square mild steel pedestals that at best can cause the inconvenience of getting Flat Tires… and at the very worst of outcomes… cause serious penetrating injuries to feet and other body areas (knees) if either stepped or fallen upon accidentally sending the victims to the Emergency Room for help. Diligence in this effort paid off Big Time along with the roughly $80.00 or so these two tools cost!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HGN6P8/?tag=gmtnation-20
… and this thing works well under the brush and tight spaces…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003J3CW1U/?tag=gmtnation-20
I decided to check on line via Amazon for the widest Magnetic Roller Pick Up device I could find and this was the best one available right along with a smaller Hand Held Magnetic Pickup Tool that also incorporated an internal Magnet Relief spring loaded “Handle within a handle” design to reduce the need to hand pick off all of the recovered hardware that I encountered...starting from the foundation of the house with the hand Held one and sweeping the yard at LEAST 5 times in order to collect all of the items shown in the attached product links and over to my photobucket images.
One last thing worth emphasizing here is NOT to use your Bare Hands when handling the business end of where the Magnetic Power is located as there will be a Million Razor Sharp Cast Iron and Steel Needles that will also be attracted to the devices...and will stab deep and dig into your palms and fingers and literally have to rust there way out if your hands and fingers make direct contact as they tend to stand on end… with their extremely pointy barbs waiting like Sharks Teeth. So a nice pair of Working Gloves will be necessary to stop these things in their tracks from getting at you when you pick off the nails...and do so often as the ground and grass will yank them off the tool. As soon as you hear any Klinks-Clanks or Klunks... stop right there and pick them off.
When the job was finally done after a few hours of going back and forth and literally back tracking to get as much of these Mine Fields cleaned out as possible… I had Three Full Zip-Loc bags filled with all of these things! I’m not kidding…. It was at least 5 lbs worth of metal sharps in all those bags! As soon as I finished the job… I rolled the device(s) over to my new neighbors down the street since they JUST had a new roof installed and left the tools and one bag of the nails with a note on how to use these devices to clean up around their property… They have a house full of kids ...all knee-high to a Grasshopper ...that would be devastating if any of them stepped on these damned nails while barefoot out in the yard. In time… I’ll keep checking around and let anybody nearby use the tool(s) if they want to check out their properties as well. Hell… I even ran both of them through my house and recovered some of the fasteners I lost in the carpet when I was repairing a stack of IBM and Lenovo ThinkPads recently, too.
Just so you know… I could not get into my photobucket account this morning and had to re-up to a new plan that bumped my cloud storage from 20 Gigs to 50 Gigs for $59.99 a year… and pulled what is left of my hair in order to figure out that the reason my payment screen kept locking up was because I had my Cookies Ad-Blocked. I turned off the Ad-Blocker and the payment cleared with no problems after that. :>)
The other thing I have done when roofing is purchasing tarps long enough to cover the entire length of the house. At the end of the day sweeping it off and throwing out any sharps. Cheap insurance to me. And if one takes decent care of the tarps you now have floor covering when you paint.