# question about clock on Insane Asylum.. please help. :)



## CreeepyCathy (Mar 28, 2009)

During my research on Insane Asylums, I noticed that alot of them have these clocks on them:










Well, I really, really love it and I really, really want to somehow put one on my roof. 
What I'm thinking of doing is a down- sized version of this:










lol. Okay. very down-sized. lol

My house looks like this:









(eek... all those flowers are scary!lol)

I'll have bent bars with an Escapee coming out of the left dormer window.

But, I am not sure where to put the clock. Maybe a clock facade on the right dormer window? idk.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Unless you have me climbing to the peak of the roof. Remember please... I am old & frail. lol

Thank you very much.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

I know it would look best above one of your main gables, but I'd put it up top between the two dormers. That way you could build it to match the slope of the main roof, and have it supported by the two windows for strength.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

How about making a facade that covers the front of both dormers?
That would keep it centered, and also keep the potentially visible dormer from visually diminishing the visual impact of your clock tower. It also gives you a broader range of support for your clock tower because you will have both windows and or the dormers themselves, for support too.
It looks like it's a little more than four feet between the gables, so trying to cover both fronts might be tough.
How about making a facade that gets mounted/strapped, or tied to the chimney? That gives your clock some height and something stable to mount to.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Sawtooth Jack said:


> I know it would look best above one of your main gables, but I'd put it up top between the two dormers. That way you could build it to match the slope of the main roof, and have it supported by the two windows for strength.


Forget my PM, I got the photos to show up! Anyway, this is a bit ornate, a bit tallish and it's just a quick retouch, but this is what I was thinking, lol:


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

Between your windows is prob good, but can you not get up inside I'm guessing a small crawl space is there..where you have that circle vent and insert one there? you can always us a spot light from outside to light it up. and maybe if you could put on in the other side to only a backwards/upside down ?? one.


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

that would look great if the town will let you do that ? Its pretty high. good luck


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## kauldron (Oct 17, 2011)

I think the biggest obstacle you are going to have is the wind. Usually the winds are stronger 15' above the ground which puts a roof display in that range. I would suggest building a clock tower that maybe fits over the chimney, or to the front of it, just be sure to leave the top open for obvious reasons. Maybe use 2x2s with a sheet of Luan plywood as a frame and then glue and screw foam board to that to get the facade of the tower. Also, use sandbags and some heavy black cord to help tie it down from the top.


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## CreeepyCathy (Mar 28, 2009)

thank you for all your wonderful ideas, everyone.  

love what you did to my house, Sawtooth Jack.  Thanx for that.


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:CC, I love your house! And I love what Sawtooth did to it! WOW! He is a genius! I like that idea the best....but I guess there are so many factors to consider such as wind and support. Sorry I am not more helpful....


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Photoshoping a clock tower on to the house is one thing, actually building one that will work for you and actually stand up on your roof is something else entirely. How strong is your roof? How fragile are the shingles?
Trying to anchor that down to your roof would be a real challenge, especially without doing some major damage to your roof.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Font, I doubt Jack meant for Cathy to build anything so elaborate He was just trying to give her an idea of how the placement between the two dormers would look.

No suggestions myself, but I think font's idea of a facade between the dormers and Lilly's idea of putting something over the circle vent might be your two best options to consider.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

I think a facade or shell mounted to the chimney may be the easiest and most stable, though in the end I think that lighting the clock, and the windows where the "bars" are bent away, and all the rest will be a challenge. Trying to keep all of those areas dramatically lit without just flooding the whole front of the house with light will be tough. If the clock is important to the story then maybe having it cover the circular vent over the window is the way to go. You can put an LED spotlight mounted to the backside of the trim/face boards above and in front of the vent/clock that will hide the source of the light and the power running to it, you can also stash a speaker or two in the same area to have a bell or sound for either the clock striking the hour, or an escape alarm (both of which I'm sure would "charm" the neighbors).


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

CC, this can be done. To what extent are you willing to go to build this as far as cost and time?


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks Roxy, I think folks will understand it was for inspiration and not meant as a final solution!


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Don't underestimate yourself Sawtooth... we can build that vision! I've got ideas in mind


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Thanks! SOMETHING like it can be done, but as I stated in my post, the one I used for inspiration was overly large, overly ornate and too tall. I'm sure a simpler, lighter, shorter version could be successfully built and safely and securely installed. Whether it ended up in that particular form or not would be left to on-site specifics we don't have. High winds, slope of the roof, securings points all would come into factor on the final solution. Thanks for sharing the vision, lol! I look forward to seeing any construction ideas you might have.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

It's easy to plan out in google sketchup first. You would have to match the house's architecture which would make the tower not quite as big.

I would help out but I don't know these dimensions (they will help to get an idea how tall the tower shown is):


dormer face height: bottom of dormer to top of dormer pitch
roof pitch: rise over run to find slope (with some geometry)
Cost and time are the most important factors.
Next are materials then shear value and anchorage.

**** This is off the top of my head right now without really thinking about it ****
Style:
The roofing and siding of the tower should match the house to make it look right. This should make the height a little lower than what's shown in the concept... Like I said, this can be done.

*Material:* should be light enough overall to build on the ground the lift on to the roof.

Tower Envelope: Foam board can be used to create the basic skin around the structure.

Tower Structure:
PVC pipe cross braced with pipe of metal straps.

If you give me a couple of days and possibly the dimensions (at least from the sidewalk to the roof eave), I can try to design something in google sketch up


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

I saw your note on your post about it just being there for the general idea, my comments were aimed more at the height needed to make it stand out enough, and it being big enough to not be visibly overshadowed by the two dormer windows.
Depending upon how windy the area would be, this could be done with a simple tubing or PVC frame and a cloth skin airbrushed to give it the desired texture and decoration. Anchoring it down would still be an issue, regardless of whether the tower was made of wood, foamboard, or cloth and PVC.
Building this out of the pipe and cloth would allow you to illuminate it from the interior, and you could place speakers inside it to project the sounds needed for your haunt.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

fontgeek said:


> Anchoring it down would still be an issue, regardless of whether the tower was made of wood, foamboard, or cloth and PVC.


Please don't assume by anchorage I was insinuating roof penetration...

Anchorage could be as simple as eye hooks into backing within the structure, cable tied to the eyes and ran down to a plate that is weighted down with gravel bags.

Not to mention the tower will have a foot to stabilize. If the foot is turned inward, just weight the bottom with bags like a bobo doll.

CC, help me, help you. Send me dimensions.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Lord Homicide, I wasn't referring to your structure or comments at all, it was referring to any structure setup on the roof, and how you hold it in a safe and stable position without damaging the roof or structure of the house.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

The weighted foot is a great idea and kind of what I imagined for ballast.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Whoops, duplicate post. With a light enough structure it could work. I really do think we are all on the same page here.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

fontgeek said:


> Lord Homicide, I wasn't referring to your structure or comments at all, it was referring to any structure setup on the roof, and how you hold it in a safe and stable position without damaging the roof or structure of the house.


Oh ok. Just making sure you didn't think I was dumb enough to suggest that.

Another way to have added anchorage is to put clips on it that would slide underneath the dormer eave for upward lift


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