Has anyone ever tried to make Roof shingles from tin cans.
i got a art background and i am good with my hands.
If you used the cans cut of the bottoms and flattened them.
After flatten them pop rivot them together like a shingle.
make the direction of lenght going up with the lines in the can.
Lightly sand the tins and caulk some areas. Primary them and paint them the color you want and then clear coat them to.
It free and its allot work and allot cans
its a idea i just gone try make few of them.
Yes i know i cheep ahah
Aslos found out wallmart Caulk is made by liquid nail i looked it up.
So i pay a buck something compare pay allot more on the others.
I got this idea off Skips other site
09/15/2008 - 02:11
Comments
09/15/2008 - 02:52
Chad, my mother lived in a
Chad, my mother lived in a house during the Depression that had tin can shingles. She and my grandparents had to scrounge far and wide to find the cans, flatten them and then find nails to patch the roof with. I hope that we and our children never have to go through these kinds of things.
09/15/2008 - 04:11
I thought it was a cool idea
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
I thought it be a interesting cool way to make roof tiles.
I found one way do it out of soda cans.
I would do the same flatten them and then pop rivot them as same as a tar shingle size.
Caulk them together under the bottom part sand them prime them and paint it Green ore Red.
Yes it take allot cans and allot work but i thought i give it a try make them see what they look like.
I went on free cycle and posted a want for the tins.
Its a way to keep stuff out the dump and frugal way to make a roof.
I am into building cheep but correct.
If things dont change we could relive the same way as the past
My dad used to tell me some his storys to about collecting stuff.
He said they used to collect gum wrapers.
The airforce used to drop them from the air during the war they looked like many planes on radar.
Thanks for the story Mark i love history.
09/15/2008 - 09:37
Hey Chad, that's an
Hey Chad, that's an interesting idea. I think it might take you a while to roof a house, but less time than it takes to pay off a 30 year mortgage ; )
I did a little searching and found this video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3648487789039251335
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Shingles-and-Siding-Out-of-Aluminum-Cans-Bee/
Be sure to read the comments- you could use aluminum press plates from a printer.
Another link:
http://www.eco-artware.com/newsletter/newsletter_05_04.php
09/15/2008 - 14:25
Thanks Greenthumb
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
Seen them on my web searching allready kinda crazy looking house.
I heard and seen those site there kinda interesting. I got do a different web search and see if i can find more.
My friend got me when i was very poor to use them to repair holes in the tail pipes of cars.
i hose clamp over the hole it worked to pass inspection.
But being so thin the soda cans would not last long with the heat.
I am listing on free cycle to people in my area to save for me.
It would take me forever if i had to save for my self.
i make two of them as i get the cans and paint one and one green to see what they look like.
The gas to drive to the people home will not be free and the work will be allot.
i think they look interesting when i put them together.
I got all the free time the word to do this.
If i do this and other like the idea and look my be i set off a trend.
I got to make something to press the cans flat after cutting the bottoms off.
the can will have to be sanded ore a use a wire drill screwdriver to rought them up alittle to hold paint.
but before i get to much cans. i got make a few to see if they hold the paint and not rust after prim them paint them and seal with clear coat
i thing it look interesting and work becuse they seal in freshness ahhahah
You want try this with me its a experment.
09/15/2008 - 14:36
Hey Chad, looks like you've
Hey Chad, looks like you've put a lot of thought into this. As for paint, I've found that rustoleum hammer texture paint tends to bond with rusty metal real well- but most importantly it reflects heat real well so it should help keep a house or shed cooler. I don't think the standard paint works on aluminum or galvanized, but I think they have a primer for those surfaces.
I'll leave the 'coke' can experiment in your hands for now at least though I do like the idea.
Also, have you thought about using old car tags for shingles? They're thicker and a lot less work.
09/15/2008 - 14:52
Thats a interesting idea
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
Hey the car tags is kinda interesting.
Have you seen pictures of someone doing this.
I think soda cans are way to thin to use and i think Tins would hold up better.
i have to look in to the ideas on car plates.
But where would get all them at a junk yards and you have pay for them.
Food cans are some what free.
And if i get people in on it it will not be long i have more then i keep up with.
I was just seeing if anyone was up to being as crazy as me.
09/17/2008 - 01:58
I just thought of the
I just thought of the license plate thing from the guys house being coated in cans, it reminded me of old barns covered with plates. I'm not too sure about the tin cans, the ones I've seen tend to rust pretty quickly.
Not to change the subject but your line of thinking on this and other topics makes me wonder if you've ever looked into building other types of alternative housing- strawbale, rammed earth, cob, etc?
09/17/2008 - 02:09
i looked in to allot different types
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
i was looking at core wood also becuse you can make any shape.
My friend want to do the rock home
i told his wife he cant even hang a fan in the house with out me.
He better stay away from tools.
Straw bale i skimmed the books on it. Cob never looked into that i might have do a search on it.
The tins to thin and very sharp i got a idea on mount it to thin wood. And i not geting help collect the cans.
I still going try do a few tiles from it. If it works out i try save them over 100 years ahha
i am all about the log home i love them.
There some history musiem i think it was the amercain indian in dc with small cabins log feel it felt so nice inside the
What interest you greenthumb on the other homes?
09/17/2008 - 02:24
I didn't know if your
I didn't know if your interest was more in having a cheap place to live than a love for log homes in particular- but you seem to have a handle on affordable housing, haha. If you haven't already read it, look for Thomas Elpels 'Living Homes'. I got it through the local library interlibrary loan but will probably buy it since its a pretty good book. I like the idea of strawbale or slip form masonry for my shop some time in the future since I have a lot of stone, and strawbale seems pretty cheap to work with. I've had a lifelong love for real log homes and would have a hard time settling for a kit. I grew up in a log home my parents built when they first got married- Dad cut the trees down and notched them with an axe- he was too broke to afford a chainsaw at the time. The saddle notch system he used at the time presented a few challenges that the BnP method alleviates. Your stories about getting things moving with the log home kinda remind me of the stories my dad has told of his experiences- though he didn't have the zoning challenges in those days.
The further I get along with things and the more I learn about other alternative methods, the more I'm considering giving them a go some time down the road. I'll probably end up with every type of building imaginable at some point... LOL.
09/17/2008 - 02:40
Do you have any black white pictures of the old cabin
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
You could build one of each just buy a big lot.
how big was the home you lived in. How many rooms did it have one big one
Did you do the outhouse thing then.
Did you have running water ore have a pump outside.
I relay get sad when i see a cabin falling down part history rot away there a few i want take picture before there gone.
I never lived in one but i love the feeling inside.
The tin can thing was a idea but i think i can get tin sheet cheep also.
09/17/2008 - 09:29
My NY neighbor's house
You know what this thread reminds me of? Yeah, my neighbor's house up in Oppenheim. It's an old Colonial (or Federal, I'm not sure I know the difference) built with timber beams and has solid pegs all the way to the roof. It also has a field stone foundation with a full basement. The rock walls of the basement go all the way to the floor and it's all original from 1830. On the outside you can see where someone, some time in the past 180 years, attempted to patch a crumbling area of the rock foundation. They mixed up a small batch of concrete and threw in a bunch of other stuff to stretch it (I guess that's what they were trying to do) so what they ended up with is a rock wall interrupted by a patch of concrete that has blue and green glass bottles, horseshoes, tin cans (and who knows what else) embedded in the wall. It looks pretty funky but it's on the back and side of the house so it really isn't too visible.
I looked at this house before my neighbors bought it because the broker had offered to sell it and its lot AND MY LOT TOO for 175K. That would have given me 47 acres and an 180 YO money pit. I declined the offer. (YOU should have seen the basement....)
Frances
09/18/2008 - 12:40
log house I grew up in
chadfortman wrote:
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!You could build one of each just buy a big lot.
how big was the home you lived in. How many rooms did it have one big one
Did you do the outhouse thing then.
Did you have running water ore have a pump outside.
I relay get sad when i see a cabin falling down part history rot away there a few i want take picture before there gone.
I never lived in one but i love the feeling inside.
The tin can thing was a idea but i think i can get tin sheet cheep also.
I have over 20 acres so I suppose I have a little room to experiment haha.
The house my folks built was around 800 sq ft, with a family of 6. It was laid out in a funny manner so the rooms were really broken up and were less useable, so it functioned like a smaller house. Knowing what I know now on the LHBA methods it could be laid out a little more efficiently, but my folks were working with what they had so I don't fault them. They lived in a small trailer while building the house, lived in the upstairs while finishing off the downstairs. No outhouse that I know of but that was before my time, they did have a well but I think that came while they were already building. I know my mom has said some things about having to go down to the creek to draw up water. There house is still strong and being lived in- it does have a few things in the structure that the LHBA recommends against- saddle notched, different chinking method(lath), not enough overhangs(though more than any kit I've seen). The logs were too small and didn't allow for much insulation so my dad finished the inside with stick framing. I have a picture somewhere from when it was just finished, I'll post it some time in the next few days when I get my hands on it...
09/19/2008 - 19:37
cobwood
09/19/2008 - 19:54
Love the hippe huts kinda cool looking
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
Ponyboy have you been in hiding havent seen you post much.
I checked out the pictures the homes are kinda cool but little small.
It looked like the huts in africia kinda. Did you ever watch one those shows a year ore 2 years ago.
These people went out lived in homes of people living green. It was kinda interesting they burn wood to heat the water.
And the walls were made of mixture of mudd and horse road apples haah and stray.
It was kinda cool looking and the people that never lived off the land and some that didnt use there deoderant.
I liked the show becuse showed you can build a home out of almost everthing free.
I am still save my tin cans and saw a cragslist on coffe tins ahha I going do my tin can roof tiles experment.
I make a little house out side for the stray cat i adoped. I use the tins on that to see what it looks like.
Chad Out
09/19/2008 - 21:11
small huts
I've been off the net this last week visiting some friends. :-)
I've heard of a few shows on PBS that sound like what your talking about. I always seem to miss them. :-(
Some of the cobwood huts are a little small, but I think they use them for something other than living in.
09/21/2008 - 07:34
Another crazy almost free idea
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
i got way to much free time and i like to invent cheep ways.
i was laying in bed and thinking about the wood pier forms.
First pargraph ideas takes to much time and money
Unstead of buying large amout of 2 by 4s.
Ore buying allot of L brackets and spendind allot money on those.
i was thinking how about buying angle Iron then i looked at the price of that.
You could make your L brackets out angel iron and cut them into small brackets and predrill them.
Some times you cant find shelfing with the predrilled holes in them for cheep ore free
Like store they closed down
Then i got one my cheep free ideas
Then i got one of my Tin can ideas.
Couldent you take your free tin can and cut the ends off.
If you have the ends cut off the tin can you have a sheet of tin that can be shaped.
Do alittle bending to with the plyers to start the first part the bend
You could make a wood press out of 2by6s in the shape of Ls.
Have two of them made to sit on top of each other to smash and press your tin cans to shape.
Use c claps ore what ever to press your tin and wood forms together.
You could dobble bend them if you think they would not hold for stength. You might need good plyers for this
Drill your holes for the size of screws your gone to use. Prime them and paint them with wally world paint.
If your corners are sharp you can sand them ore Like RED GREEN use some duck tape on the corner so you dont cut your self ahhaha
No my parents didnt do drugs in the 60s and my be that my problems hahaha.
So unstead of spending allot money on 2 by 4 unless there free.
You could use my idea and make your bracket for a few pennies and copple bucks for paint.
I will post a bracket after i make one anyone like my idea.
Ore just think i am a thing tong thats what the thias call me metal in the head ahah
My idea will save a few hundred bucks unless you get 2 by 4 for free
i think of ways to build cheep becuse the septic gone cost allot
and the price of everthing is going up.
Allot work but free also
You can get free wood from pallets from pet food places ore i found them on craiglist. i havent checked with wallmart yet for free pallets
You can use the wood from the pallets to make your reforcment fram on the pier wood forms for your cement.
09/21/2008 - 17:31
Re: Another crazy almost free idea
Hi Chad,
If I understand you correctly you are suggesting making up a angle iron substitute to fasten the edges of the pier form surfaces together?
My experience of form building is limited to the pouring 3 square piers for my 3 RSPLs. These were 2' square by 3' high. It is easy to underestimate the weight of wet concrete.
One of the key functions of the 2x4s is to to provide rigidity to the sheets of 1/2" ply (or whatever you are using for the form surfaces) as well as joining the 4 sides together.
Without this rigidity your square form is likely to fail or at least deform significantly as the pressure will try and turn it into a cylinder!
The potential risk (cost / time) and hassle of cleaning up a few yard of spilt concrete and doing the whole thing again (calling back the concrete trucks etc) is just not worth a shortcut here IMO.
NOT meant as criticism - keep the ideas coming :-)
Regards - Geoff
09/21/2008 - 21:41
No i like to hear the good and bad
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
Geoff i seen someone allready use on this site the L brackets to hold the forms together.
They used like 3 on each line side. Angle iron strong but its not wide enoght it just a idea.
I can get allot free 2 by 4s from pallets so no money spent.
And i was thinking about still have to put part the forms under dirt.
Becuse like someone else said one there piers lifted up.
When i redo my piers becuse the first bunch i made i used OSB big misstake it soaks water up like a cork.
Yes i would not want a mistake to clean up like cement.
I like to hear sugestions good or bad.
Thanks for you reply Geoff
09/22/2008 - 03:41
udate on my tin
Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!
I was just playing with the tin can after flatning it and try bend oppisite the groves it breaks
So i did another experment with the tin.
Who ever manufactures the can put groves all down the center of the can.
If you bend it in the direction of the groves it works as a L clamp.
It gives you 2 inches on each side of the L. If you line the who side with free Bent tins it will be strong.
Only thing i can think of is buying wood screws with a large head ore with washer to stop a tear in the tin.
Any way you look at you have to put the piers under some weight to hold them down from floating up.
Its cheeper then cut up 2 by 4s unless you get them free.
I bet the free tin would hold just as well as 2 by 4s. ore the cost of buying steal Ls for construction decks
I looking into the strenght of tin cans the weight that can tear it.
Pound per sqware inch to tear a tin can.
Just a crazy idea i plan to test.
11/11/2008 - 02:35
corner brackets tin variety
si vis pacem, para bellum
if you want peace, prepare for war
chad are these to clamp your forms? I would try staple gun down one side first hold tin around corner of form snug staple other side. large volume no way. this system may able you to build form so u can precast your piers 2ba4 whalers are good for bracing up your form it gives you a nailer for brace give the tin a try my latin slogan was supposed to be on the bottom but hey i type with one finger and im old
skinnyacres
11/11/2008 - 02:52
Tin roofs are pretty cheep
Look, listen and learn
A man who works with his hands is a laborer,
A man who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman,
A man who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist.
St Francis of Assisi.
Has anyone painted these 2 feet by 24 or 16 feet sections before.
I just wounder if they can be made to look good.
You have to buy the screwed with the rubber washers and 5 bucks for the sections of plastic hilly grove spots.
I just buy one section and copy the mold and use wood.
Ore if your cheep like me buy it copy the section to make the mold and take it back haahah
It dosent take a rocket scientist to copy a mold and use a jig saw.
I got a air compressor buy some paint and go to town on the tin if it can be painted.
It looks like its treated the sheet. Has anyone ever used these.
Would they need a light sand if i wanted to paint them to make the paint stick ore would this screw the shields up cause them to rust fast.
I figure i need allot the molded forms. another one my hair brain ideas
11/26/2008 - 22:15
Concealed flange joist hanger Project
Look, listen and learn
A man who works with his hands is a laborer,
A man who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman,
A man who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist.
St Francis of Assisi.
I gave up on the tin can clamp it was way to thin.
But my habitat store came threw again. I got for 10 cents each about 48 of them.
It made the same thickness steal and there about 9 and half inches long.
I come up with a killer brackets.
I gone cut off the bottom and then i get two hurrcain brackets out of them.
For the price of 10 cent compare to a buck ore more for one at home depot ore lowes.
This pluse the 2 by 4 wrap arounds will hold the cement from blowing out.
http://www.strongtie.com/graphics/categories/HUC.gif
11/27/2008 - 11:15
shingles
I know this may be off topic with the can idea, but has anyone considered using architectual shingles? They make them now to even look like cedar shakes or even slate and have a very long life span. I don't know the cost of them, but it could give a very traditional skip style look with the durability of modern materials. These would also be easier to install than a tin roof I think.
11/29/2008 - 04:22
Chad, you got a great deal
Chad, you got a great deal on those ties from the habitat store. Ten cents for two ties is way better than the buck a piece I spent. How are you doing with getting those trees out of the way and your leveling out a spot where you want to build?
Hey Rod, is it possible that Kola is actually succumbing to the “Man”? No way! My best guess is that Kola brought it up for the benefit of those considering the use of architectural shingles in certain areas.
12/01/2008 - 21:23
Working on the brackets
Look, listen and learn
A man who works with his hands is a laborer,
A man who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman,
A man who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist.
St Francis of Assisi.
Being thrifty ore cheep can bite you in the butt some times to.
I was working on making my brackets and my nikota cut off saw decided it want to stop working ore take a nap.
it gave me a warning it acted like it was shorting out. I tore the whole thing apart and cleaned it and the brushes were used up fast.
i had another packet of brushes and it works now but the company information is crap and the numbers i used were dead and found another off the web it was dead also. Got one guy that deals with them and hes helping me out i will find out tomarrow.
I think i will get my brackets done with the new brushes for the motor.
But there no way this things gone hold up for rebar cutting unless i get allot brushes for it.
Does anyone know where to buy brushes for small motors for these small tools.
I had 48 brackets and got about 16 more cut then i gone cut them in half and make 96 brackets for about 5 buck after you throw in the metal cut off saw blades. Its allot labor but there nothing like the smell of burning metal yum yum ahahaha
With the money i saved i bought my tong and grove router table to do my flooring.
My next toy will be a planner to cut the wood down to size and smooth it out.
Once my brackets are done i post some pictures of being thrifty
01/28/2009 - 11:06
What about old license
What about old license plates?? I bet if you put a wanted ad on craigslist you could get alot of em.
http://invisible.covblogs.com/archives/100_1439.jpg
09/04/2009 - 01:16
update and found some new information
http://www.greenyour.com/home/home-improvement/roof/tips/choose-recycled-roofing-materials
Found allot this interesting and talked about milk jugs and plastic bottle jugs for roofing materials.
It did Hit the idea of the roofing made used tires also was it Mark that working on this from are meet and greet.
i burn my 2 litter plastic soda bottles And i know not good for nature.
I think i got another expertment on the way i was gone add on a roof to my deck. I think i found what to Do with the used dew bottles ahahahha
I could do a roof out used plastic jugs throws away at the laundry mats i see they trash so much plastic
09/04/2009 - 14:11
Gotta Cover them
Hey Chad, if you plan to try using plain plastic bottles or jugs they are a pain to cover. Paint doesn’t adhere well. It they aren’t covered they will deteriorate in a couple of years due to expose to the sun.
I will be redoing my shed roofs soon as they are beginning to leak. Each of my three sheds has roofs that are around 12’ wide x 10’long so my plan is to take advantage of all the free above ground pools advertised every year. The walls are durable steel with a great coating on them. A single 24 foot round pool will give you a piece of steel sheeting that is about 75 feet long by 4 feet wide. That size pool will give me enough material to do one complete shed roof and one half of the roof on the second shed. I’ll even have enough material to 18-inch wide strip over the ridge to cover the gap.
I am waiting to hear back on a 20’ x 40’ above ground that the owners simply want removed. That will give me at least 140 feet of 4 foot wide material to work with. If I get this one it will be enough to do everything. Even better is that there is a propane heater I can get with it. That will be great backup for hot water in the event I run into a problem with the solar hot water system.
Good luck
Joined: 2005-04-14