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Outdoor Problems of the Householder: Fasten
Fasten the wires to the building by galvanized iron staples about 1 inch long. It is not necessary to insulate them in any way.
Or tack a row of small wooden blocks 1½ inches thick, 2½ inches wide and 4 inches long down the slope of the roof and side of the building at intervals of 10 feet or less, insert in each a stout screweye and pass the wire through these.
The length of wire required will depend upon the size of the building and the number of side wires employed. The rule is to space the side wires about 25 or 30 feet apart. Thus a barn 50 or 60 feet long should have at least two vertical conductors on each of its opposite sides. The simplest way to measure the length of wire required is to toss a ball of stout cotton twine over the ridge pole. Hold one end and let it unravel as it goes. Fasten the end of the cord you hold to the sill, go around to the other side of the building, and draw it taut directly opposite. But take care not to stretch it more than is necessary. Cut it off, pull it down and measure it with a tape, yardstick or any similar device. It is well to order a few yards extra to cover any possible stretching of the cord. Allow also for the ridge pole wire and the necessary terminals.
Terminals. - At every chimney, cupola or other obstruction of the roof, erect a "terminal" or vertical rod of wire about 20 inches long.
Also erect terminals at each end of the ridge pole by making a right angle bend in the wire which runs along the ridge at intervals of 20 inches from the respective ends.
Also erect similar terminals at each junction of a side wire with the ridge wire and elsewhere, so that there will be a terminal about every 18 or 20 feet along the ridge of the roof. Fasten each of these to the ridge wire by a tee connector.
Two types of tee connections. (Alfred J. Henry.) or no resistance to the wind. Do not leave the ends of the terminals blunt. File them to a cone shape.
Eyeboll Gakanized Tee Showing method of running horizontal conductor around a chimney or cupola. (Alfred J. Henry.) And as this removes the galvanizing, coat the tips heavily with aluminum paint to prevent rusting.
Earth Connections. - The ends of the side wires must be sunk in the ground deep enough to reach permanently moist earth at the shortest ☑ possible distance. Coil the end of the wire in a spiral about 1 foot in diameter and bury this in moist earth at whatever depth it may be found.
To put up the wires first slip the necessary tees on to the horizontal ridge wire and erect them at the points of junction with the downward direct wires and at other points where required. Fasten the horizontal wire with staples. Now insert the side wires and terminals in the tee conductors. Slip the side wires through the screweyes or fasten them by means of staples, and ground them as hereafter directed. The terminals are short and will offer little Or drive a 11 inch galvanized iron pipe into the ground at the foot of the main conductors deep enough to encounter permanently moist soil.
Thrust the wire into this and fill the interstices with powdered charcoal.
But before inserting the wire, provide a cap for the top of the pipe, with a hole through it big enough to admit the wire and also to allow water to drip down the wire into the inside of the pipe. Pass the wire through the cap, insert the charcoal and finally screw the cap firmly in position.
It is a good plan to bring the rain. spouts down from the eaves to a OUTDOOR PROBLEMS OF THE HOUSEHOLDER 301 point near these earth connections to keep the ground moist. Or if there are no down rain spouts bore holes, or insert a short spout over these points, in the eaves so that the ground connections will catch the drip from the roof.
To Wire a Building Having a Metallic Roof. Simply connect each corner of the roof with a side wire running to the ground and grounded as above described. Or provide metallic rain spouts and connect them with the ground in the same manner.
But observe that to afford protection, there must be an unbroken metallic path from the ridge of the roof to permanent moist earth within the ground. Hence observe that there must be a good metallic joint between the rain spout or wire and the metal of the roof. Also provide a similar joint between the metal rain spout and the wire connection to the ground. To make such a joint hammer the end of the wire into a flat tape and both bolt and solder it to the roof and also to the rain spout. Since this process destroys the galvanizing, keep the joint well coated with aluminum paint.
In putting up lightning conductors avoid bending the wire at sharp angles when passing chimneys and cupolas and also in passing around the eaves. A gooseneck bend is always to be preferred to a sharp one. Or preferably bore a hole through the overhang of the roof so as to let the wire pass the eaves close to the wall of the building.
Cautions. Keep the lightning conductors as far as possible from gas pipes in the building, if any, but preferably connect them with water pipes, provided the latter are in good connection with the ground. See that the joints are mechanically perfect.
Examine them frequently, especially after thunder storms, to make sure that they are not broken. Give the whole system two coats of aluminum paint when installed and repaint every two or three years.
To Mend Leaky Roofs. A correspondent furnishes the following recipe for mending leaks in old tin or other metal roofs, or about chimneys, eaves or gutter spouts where the flashing has given out. He states that this formula alone has earned for him more than $200:
Mix equal parts, by bulk, of fine sifted coal ashes and whiting with boiled linseed oil to the consistency of thin mortar. Apply liberally to the holes and leaks with a trowel.