Portable shelters

[paine]

I am considering one for my truck but I would hate to have snow load make a mess of it!

Any recommendations on which brand to buy?

 

[K man]

For those who have them how are they for moisture inside on the ceiling. This is a big issue for me if I am to store my tractor, blower, loader when not in use. Winter would be the worst I think for condensation snow on outside of canvas/tarp on warmer days.

 

[IXLR8]

For those who have them how are they for moisture inside on the ceiling. This is a big issue for me if I am to store my tractor, blower, loader when not in use. Winter would be the worst I think for condensation snow on outside of canvas/tarp on warmer days.

I don't have any issues with condensation, but after 8 years I do have a few spots where the cover has worn thru rubbing on a few tubing joints at the top and I am now getting some water coming thru. Where I placed my shelter, I first leveled the area, put down a layer of geotextile road fabric and then 2-3 inches of 1 inch crushed rock.

 

[woodskiff]

I don't have any issues with condensation, but after 8 years I do have a few spots where the cover has worn thru rubbing on a few tubing joints at the top and I am now getting some water coming thru. Where I placed my shelter, I first leveled the area, put down a layer of geotextile road fabric and then 2-3 inches of 1 inch crushed rock.

I have 2. Both Rhino Shelter brand out of CT./USA. The 10'x20' and a 14'x30', both round, 5 & 3 years old respectively. Proper installation is the key, anchor properly and I do keep them both snow raked if we get substantial snowfall. Truly like them and recommend the brand. BTY during installation I wrapped electrical tape over the joints per the instructions to reduce chaffing and premature wear of the top ---no problems to report, both look like new.

 

[jix]

My Shelter has shown zero condensation, probably because it is never heated, and if I run an engine inside, I always have one end open to allow lots of ventilation. A previous post alluded to using duckbill anchors. I heartily agree; my shelter has 12 such anchors, driven down about three feet, plus another 8 for the wind hold down straps. The bottom edge has turn buckle tighteners that tension the walls which are of very heavy guage UV stabilized polymer fabric with a reinforcing weave in between the doubled layers of the cover fabric. I elected to get the turnbuckle tighteners to make the edge tension uniform all the way along the wall. Then I placed four of my own manufactured corner braces made from 12' length of galvinized conduit tubing. the corner braces are anchored at the bottom of the door vertical corners and the inner upper vertical struts with clamp brackets and bolts. These diagonal braces prevent the thrust of the wind from causing the shelter to book fold under heavy snow loads (as my neighbors did) in any longitudinal wind forces. These diagonal longitudinal braces are not specified by the manufacturer, but they cveratinly should be, Because without them the structure would certainly have collapsed from repeated flexing of the welded joints of the skeleton frame (causing metal fatigue) My shelter easily withstands a 4 foot deep snow load, with rain on top of that. The shelter fabric will support three men walking on top without visible deformation. Of course the top is rounded, not flat. If you let hot exhaust to blow on the plastic, it WILL quickly melt, so you have to avoid that. In wind it is best to tightly close the curtain doors since they will scuff on their doubled) lower edges. There is another one of these SHELTER TECH buildings in an unshelterd area next to the St John River nearby. it is much bigger than mine is and has been standing undamaged fot eight years now, Through three hurricanes. THEY ARE THE BEST TEMPORARY SHELTERS THAT MONEY CAN BUY, IMO PRICEY YES, BUT YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR...AND YOU CAN TRUST THEM TO STAY UP. (No, I am not a shill for shelter tech, just a guy that recognizes excellence and likes to have to do things only once)

Yes, you do have to follow the instructions carefully..and place foam tape at the wear points of the shelter where it stretches over the skeleton frame, Yes you do have place it on dead level ground with a decent thickness of fine crusher dust. One foot or more.

I reccommend buying a lot of extra duckbill anchors as well, one for every vertical part of the skeleton, and at least four wind straps also with duckbill anchors.

Duck bill anchors cannot be removed once driven into hard ground for three feet, not even with an FEL. It takes a ten pound sledge and a day of sweat to drive them in...but they STAY PUT in a hurricane, in fact in two hurricanes now. That is why I specified a tubular steel lower edge to mine. the streses are distributed evenly all along the wall, not at eyelet points.

My shelter is over-killed. That is a good idea. If you don't, then it could be a heck of a mess to set to rights, and cost away more than the extras I mentioned.

I never remove snow accummulations, usually it slides off, unless you already have freezing rain stuck to it

 

[skyhook]

I have the shelter logic 12x24x10 feet high, round top.
After about the fifth year, the fabric will start to sweet in some spots,
I purchased another tarp to just cover the "top" portion and that solved the problem.
Should be good for another year or two, I plan on buying another one and doubling the frame inside
(keeping it the same dimensions, but stronger framed) eventually, I will frame it with wood.
Keep the heavy snow loads off and there fine.$500 bucks is well worth it for me.
I did add an addition to mine at the back, making it a total of 30 long. I like it.

 

[doxford jim]

Thought I would comment as I had a 10' x 20' x 10 temporary shelter bought from Canadian Tire.
My one lasted until the first wind storm and then got carried away even though it had concrete blocks and railway ties as anchors. My fault as I did not pay enough attention to anchoring the shelter to the ground. That said, depends on what you want it for and how big do you need to go. Also there are the local municipality rules regarding sheds, shelters etc.
For me, if I needed another temporary shelter I would go the used steel container route providing I didn't need the extra height or width.
Everyone's situation is a little different - as is the time of day you consider these things At least with threads like this, you can get a fairly good cross section of opinions and enough variety to help in your decision making.

 

[bcp]

Not portable, but fabric, up to 300 feet wide.

Fabric Airplane Hangars | Tension Fabric Hangar Designs » Custom Fabric Buildings | Tension Fabric Structures

I keep being surprised that the size of some of these.

How many of you "port" your "portable" shelters, anyway?

Bruce

 

[K man]

Thanks all for posting you experiences with the shelters. I am not a cheap guy and not afraid to pay big bucks for a good quality shelter that will last and endure out harsh winters here in Ontario. Reading from guys who live on the East Coast they know for sure what it is to erect a shelter that will withstand the Hurricane winds coming of the Atlantic Ocean which can be very strong. I have kept track of the company names recommended by you Canucks and will find review etc on those shelter companies.
I may still just go with a Carport 30x30 with a steel roof and then close the sides in over the next couple of years. Still debating on what to do. So again thank you all.
Gilles

 

[Tractor Tom]

Don't buy the cheap ones, they are crap. The fabric has no UV protection and will rot away in 3 to 4 years. The posts are about 4ft apart, they won't handle snow loads
Snow load can be a problem on some. Make sure the uprights are not more than 3ft apart.
Condensation, mine does sweat a fair bit. I just replaced the top with a better quality one with vents this summer, hopefully this will help.
Anchor them well. I used crushed rock on both side and 1 end to secure mine to the ground. I get lots of wind all yr long.
Mine is a Cover Tech shelter from Woodstock NB, They ship to the states all the time. I've had it for 4 years, it's well made, but i should have bought the better quality top from the start. I have the better top now.