Tried burying my shelter entrance under a fake garden shed roof but the weight caved it in after three days of rain

I figured pine straw and plywood would hold up fine in Georgia clay but now I'm digging out two tons of wet mulch by hand and wondering if anybody else has found a lightweight cover that actually works for a hidden hatch.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wade23d agoMost Upvoted

Ha! Well that's one way to find out you built a big expensive trap for yourself. I gotta ask though, what made you think pine straw was gonna be a load bearing material? That stuff is basically just nature's confetti. At least you learned a valuable lesson about water weight and cheap materials. Next time maybe try a sheet of corrugated plastic or fiberglass panel, they're light and won't turn into a mud pancake after a storm.

emeryj6623d ago

Honestly never even thought about how heavy pine straw gets when it's wet.

the_thomas17d ago

Bet though pine straw is way cheaper than those panels and if you layer it thick enough and pack it down right it actually sheds water better than people give it credit for. Sounds like dude just didn't build enough slope or put enough layers on it.