Keeping the blogosphere posted on the goings on of the world of submarines since late 2004... and mocking and belittling general foolishness wherever it may be found. Idaho's first and foremost submarine blog. (If you don't like something on this blog, please E-mail me; don't call me at home.)

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Taking Kitsch To A New Level

As I mentioned on Halloween, I was looking for a way to attach an inflatable Christmas lawn "decoration" to my roof. Many of you probably scoffed and chortled, but I teched out most of the problems, as seen in this picture of my house in all its Holiday splendor:

I ended up attaching the motor to the roof with 2" wood screws (the motor's on legs, so I shouldn't have a fire hazard from an electric motor on wooden shakes) and put the inflatable right in front of a false gable, which protects the highest part of the ornament from easterly winds and provides a physical backstop for excess movement from the prevailing westerlies. I attached the tiedown cords to eyebolts I screwed into the gable in back, and to the gutter in front. It made it through the first night without blowing over -- although the reindeer in front did get moved towards the raingutter. (I can probably tie some line around them and attach it to another eyebolt if it becomes a problem.) As long as it doesn't get ripped to shreds while it's deflated during the day, I'll have pulled off a Great Feat in Obnoxious Christmas Decorating that all guys (and my competition) will admire! Because I'm so dang proud of it, here's a closeup of the roof inflatable. (While the elf is sticking up out of the bag now, it cycles about every 30 seconds where the elf drops down and a teddy bear pops up. It totally rules.)

You might notice that, compared to past years, the lights along my roofline aren't as bright and mismatched. I decided to "go green" this year and replace them with LED lights, which aren't nearly as bright. I figure it's a worthwhile trade-off, though; with the two new inflatables I'm probably running right up against the 20A limit of my outdoor circuit breaker.

15 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

So, who's more pissed off at you - your wife, for putting holes in the roof, or your neighbors, for embarrassing the hell out of them because they have to live next door to you?

12/09/2007 10:47 AM

 
Blogger Bubblehead said...

The roof part where I put the holes is over the porch, so there're no leakage concerns; also, I'll be leaving the screws in place when I take the thing down. As far as the neighbors, our whole cul de sac (and actually the whole development) generally goes all out for Christmas, so I'm not that far off of the norm. (My wife was the one who kept on me to get it on the roof; she understands Christmas decorating as well as any guy.)

That being said, I do have the first roof inflatable in the area; I expect others to follow suit next year 'cause it's so darned cool.

12/09/2007 12:42 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Put caulk over the screws during the year.

What I do is build a platform to counter the roof pitch and run two steel leads to the opposite side eve and clamp both far apart and do the same on the front side.

The platform does not move and no holes in the roof.

12/09/2007 7:17 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you are going to use screws use some of those plastic anchors to put the screws into , use stainless screws to hold up under the weather.

Check your dish up on the main roof to see what the installer did to mount that thing.

12/09/2007 7:19 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I send you pictures of my display but I would not want to hurt your feelings.

3 acres in the front yard. Takes a crew of 6 about 3 days to set it up each year and I have to rent a generator from an industrial supply place to get the the trailer in here in advance with a 25kw generator.

12/09/2007 7:26 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

nice decour. You must have decorating in your blood. your display is twice as nice as others. I'm not much of a x-mas decorator but go all out for halloween! Would have gotten more lights on but snow and ice prevented me from accomplishing my goal. X-mas decorating only counts if you freeze your a^* off and lose feeling in your toes and fingers. My dad used to have me set up his monster display that takes days to set up and constant maintance.

12/10/2007 1:36 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Always wondered who was buying all of those huge inflatable toys from Wal-Mart - - Found!!

Looks like a solid attack on the "Happy Holiday" world!

Nice display and an impressive solution! Yep - "Above and Beyond"

12/10/2007 9:22 AM

 
Blogger Myk said...

Clark Griswold would be proud. That's quality!

12/10/2007 4:54 PM

 
Blogger Vigilis said...

BH, when the worst happens, as shown here, your early submarine background will come in handy.

12/10/2007 9:12 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If you want to nuke it some more, you can put temperature and pressure gauges on the object and then set up a watch bill for your family to take readings on the pressure and temperature along with the electrical usage from the electric meter. Then they could do deltas on the whole process to ensure that the set up is running to the maximum efficiency. Maybe you could throw in a couple of “loss of pressure” drills to keep them on their toes.

That Damn Good Looking Aganger From Iowa

12/11/2007 3:39 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great display! Sort of reminds me of the "Skipping Christmas" book where the neighborhood puts a snowman on the roof. Maybe you'll inspire the neighbors to more "on the roof" decorations. Very cool!

12/13/2007 9:15 AM

 
Blogger Cameron said...

I'm sure you've already seen it, but just in case ex-submariners don't get out much, check out youtube for the "Christmas House" light display set to music.

Then start planning for next year.

12/13/2007 9:21 AM

 
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7/25/2012 1:51 PM

 
Anonymous Son Lakhani said...

Way to go for the inflatable decors! I believe they are the safest you can put on your roof. You get into the holiday spirit without damaging your shingles. Plus, I think a roof shouldn’t have to put up with anything other than snow during Christmas season.

1/17/2013 10:53 AM

 

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