Correcting a design flaw.

Okay, okay, so this is just the no no! No! This is ah i'm gon na it's gon na tear the grommets out, so you go around. I'm gon na go up there and see what's going wrong and you can fill me up from up top okay. So the idea is you pull these? Sometimes we like the light. Sometimes we need shade the current method.

Get the motorcycle jackets set up the ladder climb, the roof cover the skylight descend. The ladder then reverse that one solution is cardboard shades closed from the inside, but then you got ta store the cardboard shade somewhere or make a precise little track for them to slide open and close. Also, you got ta climb up on a chair or make some kind of pulley system that will never work all the time in the end, probably tougher, to make and less elegant than the sliding tarp system. Two waxed cotton tarps on strings to close the shades, pull the strings hanging from the east side of the studio roof to open the shades, pull the strings hanging from the west side of the studio roof.

No ladders, no motorcycle jackets, no cardboard! It's too much! Friction! Okay, so this is the pull to open. Let me just see if this one yeah see this one's it's gon na work, so i'm gon na figure out some kind of strategy to get it like user friendly. I think it's the friction of dragging this over the very grippy roof and then this over the very grippy roof. Although this reduces pretty quickly as it comes up the dome and then it could be that the way i've routed the cords through here, coupled with the way that the cord goes over, the roof here acts as sort of a break.

So i'm gon na come up with some kind of solution that addresses the lack of slide on the apex of the roof, the lack of slide down there and then the friction of the rope sliding through the guides and over the edge of the roof. I have some ideas so so you.

15 thoughts on “Shading my skylights without a ladder”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Kelly X says:

    The brothers being so artistic and wonderful makes me think their genius came from their mom…. But in hearing their stories from childhood makes me think the above isn’t true ….

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars fasfan says:

    I'm going to go out on a limb and say the indoor on track idea would have been a more reliable and longer lasting idea.

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mr. Splat! says:

    Nice solution, but wondering what would happen on a windy day…you surely have some of those in California!

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MickJaggerr1 says:

    my Dad (who passed away 2 and a bit years ago), had a mind like this. HIs best ideas came in the shower, one day he decided to build a hydraulic staircase that comes out the ceiling, It still stands today, is such a cool thing. Press button, and this full on wooden staircase comes down form above. Thanks Van for your vids, bringing good memories back to me

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dan Jones says:

    Makes for an entertaining video. At least he doesn't seem to be superstitious walking under the ladder.👍 Hopefully a significant afternoon breeze will not be a problem..

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Thom York says:

    I love how you've found your aesthetic and have incorporated it into every aspect of your life. It's truly amazing to witness.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Omega says:

    might just be me but i thought the cardboard canvas idea with the pulley was a much better idea

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Nathan Home says:

    Man, I just got some $50 solar blinds from aliexpress that close my skylights with the click of a button… but your solution won’t run out of batteries in the remote and made for a cool short vid!

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars # says:

    I would have bought motorized skylight shades, some come with a small solar panel and a remote so no wiring required

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Maynk says:

    There was a show called "Backyard Science", they used to build stuff and do cool science experiments.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars The_Creigh says:

    Please teach me how to have motivation lol Jokes aside it would help. I'm coming down off an adverse reaction to Bupropion

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Paul Stafford says:

    I glued 4 magnets to the corners of a piece of cardboard, then 4 matching magnets around the frame of a window. It takes 2 seconds to put it up or take it down.

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Paul Stafford says:

    No wind there? Snow? How are the tarps going to hold up under UV exposure? I think an indoor sliding cover would be the better solution.

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars TheCanadianBubba says:

    Why label them open and close when there is likely zero chance anybody else will ever operate them ?

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Gambhir Nepali says:

    Why did I feel like I have committed a sin for not watching Van’s video within a couple of hours of upload?

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