I considered many things to use as shingles but remembered the massive pile of plastic bags I have (from housemates, friends, freecycle, etc.) and decided to put that amazing material to work for me.
I watched this video tutorial from etsy and decided to give fusing plastic bags a try:
After some trial and error I realized different types of plastic need different heat settings on the iron and different time under the heat as well. I think I finally got it down and now have a pile of about 50 plastic shingles. It's very easy and if you don't have plastic bag recycling around you this is a great way to use up the ones that come in to your hands (though of course I hope you are using reuseable fabric bags as much as possible)
More on the chicken roost when I'm done building. SOON!
Cut and flattened aluminum drink cans make excellent shingles, fan palms are better. My feeling about the plastic bags is they will deteriorate in the sun rapidly. I've had poor luck with all cheap plastics.
ReplyDeleteMy preference is fan palms.
Yes I use reusable bags but you knew that. All plastic bags I happen to get are reused. If there were never another plastic container of any kind it would be a minor inconvenience for a short time.
True about them deteriorating in the sun. The roof of the house will actually be under our deck and mostly out of the sun so hopefully it wont degrade as rapidly. The plastic just happens to be the only thing on hand right now I had enough of to use for this project.
ReplyDeleteUsing cans is a great idea. We don't buy canned drinks so we don't have any of those around, but if I come across some in the future I'll have another great idea for using them, thanks.