Tying off a tarp to protect a house from a rainstorm can lead to all kinds of snags. Where’s the rope? What can we tie it to? Should we nail it down with battens? Won’t that ruin the tarp?
During last winter’s frequent rains, I used another method. Instead of relying on ropes to keep the tarp from blowing away, I used weights made from 1-gal paint cans filled with sand.
The tarps I use are standard off-the-shelf woven polypropylene with grommets on 3-ft. centers along the edges I select a tarp big enough to drape 3 ft. or 4 ft. over the edge of the structure.
At about 11 lb., the can weights are light enough not to tear out the grommets. But the weights are heavy enough to hold the tarp down in severe wind gusts I use baling wire to hang the buckets from the grommets. S-hooks would work equally well.
Last winter, we got to where we could tarp a 20-sq. ft. building in less than 10 minutes. And this method also gives me a good excuse to put those paint cans from previous jobs to good use.
John Underwood, Los Alamitos, CA
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