New project

The free sunshine that we are given everyday causes
us a wee bit of a problem. It causes the rv to heat
up very quickly…and stay that way from mid April thru
September. The poor little rv air conditioner starts
panting and foaming at the mouth around the 1st of June.

So, we have decided the rv needs a cover. What to use?
chop down some trees or do something unique. We chose
unique. Even tho we live in a rural area, on a dirt road, deep in
east Texas, we do NOT like the rustic look!

We decided on a curved top with round pvc pipes. Instead of the
typical ‘A’ frame top with the typical 4×4 square post. The top
will be 26 gauge steel 3′ x 17′ with a natural curve that works
to our advantage. Total overall length will be 40′.

Have you ever heard of a RV cover using pvc pipe for poles and
making trusses out of pvc? Well, apparently NOBODY else has either.
Because when we were first mulling over this idea, we approached
construction / carpenter types about this concept. Once the
convulsive laughter dies down and the “have you lost your
cotton-pickin’ minds?”, “can’t wait to see a 40 ft. kite!”,
or “it’s all gonna fall down and kill ya’ll!” comments
started flying, we shut up.

But, decided to do it anyway.

Having no guidelines to go by, the initial plans we drew have
changed during the build. For instance, with a pole height of 16 ft we
originally called for 8ft. of 3″ into 8 ft of 1 1\2″ pvc (thick wall).
But for the past 3 weeks we have had sustained winds of 20 – 25+ mph.
All that free energy, gone with the wind – pardon the pun.
So now, the vertical poles are 13′ of 3″ into 3′ of 1 1/2″ pvc.

We are painting the pipes for uv protection and the appeal. It’s
advisable to get some pvc cleaner to remove the lettering on the
pipes as it does tend to bleed through.

We researched long and hard for the cheapest and best paint for pvc.
All that research resulted in only one, Krylon Fusion. It’s not cheap,
and it only comes in spray cans but, it’s good.

Let’s end it here for today so I can gather some of my comparison data
between pvc and wood for yall.

Later

Being forced into early retirement cause your job went to India along
with elderly parents needing your caring presence not to mention coming back
to a rural area where they live which is so out of touch with technology
(set your watches back 100 years).

So, here we sit with an RV, one clear acre with no amenities (i.e. electric,
water or sewer) and the opportunity to implement all those neat green
ideas that you don’t get in a city setting.

With this in mind along with monetary restraints we now have installed a
septic system, a water line (no water well, yes!) and electrical path.

We started with the septic system so we would not have to travel 23 miles
to an rv park to dump every week. Check for County restrictions and permits.

We rented a small backhoe (fun! fun! fun!) and dug a hole for the tank and
then went 4 feet down for the 2 field lines that went 100 feet long. While
you are at it, go ahead and dig the lines for the water and electric if
you know where they are going to save time.

You’ll need gravel, 4 inch pvc sched 40 pipe, 4 inch field pipe (holes in it)
and a roll of felt used for roofing. Once the hole is dug, place the tank in
it and line up the openings to the trenches. Hook solid pipe to the
tank and then hook up the field pipe. Then put gravel in the trenches
at least 1/2 foot deep. Lay the field pipe with a downgrade. Put the roofing
felt over the top of the pipes and put more gravel on top of that. Before
we covered, we had county come out and inspect.

Saved over $5,000 by doing this ourselves. Oh by the way, we fixed
mom and dad’s cheap septic system at the same time cause dad ran over it atleast
400 times with his tractor. Another $5000 saved! ChaChing!