This is a structure called a Sukkah, which is put up for about a week during the Jewish holiday festival called Sukkot. It celebrates the lives of the Israelites as they walked the desert for 40 years after Egypt.
Usually, these things are pretty much basic boxes. The rules on these are:
- Has to be natural materials on the roof (s’chach) that provide over 50% shade.
- S’chach cannot be fastened to the roof.
- Has to be enclosed on 3 sides.
- Walls have to come down far enough so that yer farm animals won’t wander in.
- It has to be temporary – it’s only up for the festival.
The additional rules – for me – is that it has be able to be put together by a group of people without tools or building experience
Here you have proof that I really don’t know what I’m doing.
Everything goes together with 3/8″ bolts and wingnuts. Easy for young and old hands.
OK, can you guess what it will look like yet?
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I don’t feel it’s healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Edited 10/16/2008 3:34 pm by xxPaulCPxx
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There is some concern among the crew about what they've gotten themselves into.
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The hinges here ensure this long piece can be folded to fit around the corner to where it will be stored when not in use.
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Really, part of the joy of doing these community builds is watching someone develop the ability to simply use tools. It's easy to forget that simply turning a nut and bolt is a learned ability, as is even using a pair of pliers.
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It's so easy it practically puts itself together!
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
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Here you can see how the wires attach to the beams. This was the easiest and lightest way to keep the center rafters from collapsing one way or the other, while still letting them be folded up for storage later.
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These are 4x8 sections of simple redwood lattice, cut into 2.5', 3', 2.5' sections with a 1x1 frame glued with PL Premium. They are actually hinged together with 4" long sections of 1/8" cable with a ferrule stop at both ends.
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With each section of 2x2 offset, those cable hinges allowed each section the flexibility to match the offset.
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While religiously acceptable, the "Biblical Jewish Roof" might not be the traditional choice on your home. Here you can see a father son subcontracting team attaching the 1/8" lath sheathing to the 2x2 rafters using zip ties every 3' O.C. You might want to check with local building codes to see if this construction technique is acceptable in your climate.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Edited 10/16/2008 3:35 pm by xxPaulCPxx
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Applying some of the s'chach to this section, while we can still reach it.
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This was by far the hardest part to figure out. Every board crosses another on one of three different planes.
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Lifting this beast up. Basically it's constructed like a kneeling animal. When raised, those "T" sections rotate into position. The people setting it up are only lifting for about 12" of travel, the rest they are pushing forward as the whole thing pivots up. When fully rotated, the 2x6 beams are resting on the shoulder of the 4x4. Gravity locks it into position then, so there is no danger of it falling back down on you after you put it up.
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This is what that hard section looks like completed. As the Magen David (Star of David) is two overlapping triangles, I used this to create a functional structural element. This piece keeps the beams from rolling off vertical, and keeps them from racking.
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Now that the center section is up, we can put up the wings.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Edited 10/16/2008 3:36 pm by xxPaulCPxx
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Each of these side sections is a piece of 1/4" plastic lattice with an 8' 2x4 attached on the long ends with screws. Using some newer composite screws kept me from having to countersink the holes.
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Apparently I'm supervisoring here. The plastic lattice panels will fold over easily, but do provide an impressive amount of shear resistance. Because this is laid out on a lawn, some of the corners had to be shimmed up with wood blocks before the bolt holes would line up.
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The rafters are attached to those same metal L channels.
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Jewish day laborers can be a little cranky.
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These are full 4x8 sheets of lattice with 1x1 framing glued with PL Premium. Each section it zip tied to the next section and to the rafter. I've found this to be both light and strong enough for the task at hand.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
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This is the group that put it together, the Brotherhood Committee. I put this thing together for them, and for the congregation here at Temple Beth David of Orange County in Westminster. The yellow fruit the kid is holding is called an Etrog (it's like a lemon) and the greens being held up are called the Lulav, these are ritual objects that are shaken in 6 directions after a prayer is said. The gold cans contain Beer, a ritual object that is hoisted after reciting a "toast".
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Oh yeah, I am SO making beer part of the Sukkah building process.
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So this is the last shot before my camera ran out of battery. At this point we are waiting for the Sunday School to let out. They, along with the preschoolers during the week, are charged with decorating the inside. I'll post up pics of that when I get them.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Edited 10/16/2008 3:37 pm by xxPaulCPxx
Nice work Paul.
There is an Orthodox Jewish community among the next town over from me that I spent several years working within.
Built a fare share of Sukkahs during that time. Lost the blueprint I made up for a model that was very popular when my old computer died.
Still have the hard drive up in my attic. Paying to retrieve those prints is one of the reasons I haven't dumped it by now.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Jeeez, I forgot the "great work" part.Seriously. Thank you for sharing this.=0)
Is this it? I don't know that much about Judaism.
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Forrest - it was pretty funny, though
Edited 10/16/2008 4:42 pm ET by McDesign
<<The gold cans contain Beer, a ritual object that is hoisted after reciting a "toast".>><snork> All i can think of is, "What a Christ-ening..." sorry! I like the frondery...
Thank you! We lived in Cleveland Heights for years and the Sukkahs were always a joy to see as we would walk in the neighborhood. Some were quite unique! Yours is...
All I can say is it is a good thing those Israelites had all that hardware.What whould they have done without hinges, bolts, nuts, wingnuts, eyebolts, steel cable, cable clamps, nylon wire ties, and perforated angle iron, etc.;o)
Not to mention the truck to haul it from one site to another!
Thanks for the kudos, you and everyone else!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Have you seen Ushpizin? It's an Israeli film centered around Sukkot. I highly recommend it... and you don't even have to be Jewish.
Ushpizin
Isn't that what one drunk said to the other when they were standing at the urinal?"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
i don't know . . . that structure looks a little shaky for your seismic zone.
And i question if that beer's kosher. i'll need to run some tests.
reminds me of some of the shelters students have to build in arch school . . . looks like fun <g>
Way cool thread. What's the correct pronunctication of sukkah?
I love the captions and some of the pictures ... it certainly wasn't a formal event.
Couple of questions about the rules: you said the schach could not be fastened. Did that only apply to the palm fronds? Did you weave them into the lattice? Same for the natural materials ... I assume that didn't apply to the plastic lattice. It looked like that lattice was less than 50% coverage. Did the palm fronds make up the difference? Any restriction on the shade percentage of the sides?
I don't see what the cable does to strengthen the roof trusses.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Correct pronounciation: Look up a few posts to the movie title. They are pronounced pretty much the same, but Sukkah has a little more Soo at the begining of the word.
As for the rules - this year I did bend them a little. The fronds on the sides of the top center section are attached with zip ties, but only for this year. Next year there will be some wood dowel "teeth" that will help catch stuff on that steep slope. Everything else is just laying on it. We were also a little short on the fronds. The landscapers that had dropped them off the week before proceeded to pick them up again and throw them away! This was a second batch, but we obviously needed more.
The sides don't have any rules to materials, you just have to keep the farm animals out. There is an actual measurement someone decided on, but I don't have that at my fingertips.
What the cables do is make the 4 point trusses into two three point triangles, with tension on the cable segment. One side or the other will be pulling on the cable, this tension keeps the shape intact during side loading.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
nice work....
finding a mechanicly inclined jew around here would be the hard part.... all the old guys could do anything with nothing... guess thats why they all seemed to like me... a jew who could weld, race motocross and build the bike to do it... i still have a few jewish cousins who are farmers in arkansas... there is one old jewish guy down in mississippi who commercial fishes the mississippi river... but be'n a southern redneck jew... well there just ain't alot of us :) when you have to ask if it's a turnip or a mazzo ball in the soup... then you know....:)
the first time i saw the bumper sticker "my boss is a jewish carpenter" i looked to see if the guy worked for me :)
i think we have in memphis the largest reformed temple in the country... lots of sukkahs in my area...
just a shout out for keep up traditions...
thanks for the post
p
Modern Jewish DIY
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He dialed the number for the contracter himself.
;)
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
paul.... i looked real close.... didn't see any nails.....
what's up with that?Mike Hussein Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Is this a temporary instalation? Looks like it.
Chuck S
live, work, build, ...better with wood
Yep! It comes down in a week. I still have to build the mobil storage rack.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Nice thread Paul! Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
New Pics!
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Here is what happened after my camera died - the children invaded and decorated! We helped, we pre drilled 4 cases of gourds so the kids could zip tie them to the walls and ceiling. Didn't get the pic of the guy who is a safety engineer holding the gourd in his hand as he drills through it - me, I drill it into the dirt... but I'm not "Safety Trained" :) I also set up the table in the back. Every sukkah needs a bar, as far as I'm concerned.
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I also added lights. People wanted the star highlighted - they were thinking about wrapping it in lights. Yuk. I thought some blue back lighting would work out better. Not sure yet if I like it or not, but it does add some distinction at night. Those floods are 14 watt CFL in reflector bulbs, much less likely to toast the dried foliage.
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And here it is in use. My wife is in the red dress, leading the two men in shaking the Lulave and Etrog.
My goal was to create a warm inviting space that people would want to walk into, I think I succeeded. Yipee!
Now... to finish that darned bathroom... it's only been a year... or two...
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Edited 10/18/2008 3:01 am by xxPaulCPxx
Turned out nice. Just curious... how compact are you expecting it to store?jt8
Thanks!
I just made up a pair of rolling units that hold 4'x8' x 20" on an angle, vertically. I'm hoping I can pack it all onto those two units, or even another one if I have to build it. After it's placed on the rolling racks, it will have tarps tied around to keep sun, dust, and the very occasional rain off it.
It still has a date with some copper napthalate before I'm done.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Edited 10/20/2008 7:49 pm by xxPaulCPxx
Funny you should mention that... I actually did buy 4 boxes of nails to use to mechanicly connect the lath to the 1x... then I went DUUUHH and got out my 18ga. Bostich an tacked it together. It's all about the PL, not the screw or nail in this case!
Of course those Simpson H4's are attached with screws. Don't want to mess around with those! Of couse the rafter is just resting in them, only bolted at one end. Like I said, put together by the Finest Jewish Roofers!Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
I don't feel it's healthy to keep your faults bottled up inside me.
Jewish day laborers can be a little cranky.
Yeah, that's what a certain Pharoah said, too.View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com