(no subject)

[rhu]

I'm thinking ahead to chol hamoed Sukkot and hoping to build a portable sukkah. I'm thinking 4' square and 5' tall; I have a bamboo mat for the schach (roof) but I'm trying to brainstorm what to do for a frame. I want something light enough to carry from my office to the park down the street, and easy to set up and tear down in a minute or two. And I see no reason to spend more than $50.

Should I go with PVC pipe? If so, where would I find suitable connectors? And would it be strong enough?

Should I go with some sort of rigid structure for each of three walls, attached with hinges? How heavy would that get? If I put a wheel on one corner would that be enough to make it schlepable?

Comments

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

Bamboo poles? They're reasonably strong if you lash them together well enough. If it's not too windy, anyway.

Could one cook up an arrangement on the ends of the poles with something - nails, brackets, something like that - such that one could then use rubber bands to hook around them and hold them together? One might be able to make flexible squares, using rubber band connectors, such that one could collapse the square to move it about, and pop it back into square shape when needed - two squares and four poles or four squares, and connect them with velcro as one might for a chuppah. After all, a lunch succah doesn't have to stay up for long.

[cellio]

Pipe frame and cloth/plastic walls would be light and easy to set up, but depends on your ability to fabricate the right pieces (particularly connectors). PVC would be ok; if you can get those light aluminum tubes they use for dining shades, that might be even lighter.

If you go with hinged solid walls instead of a frame, it shouldn't be too heavy if you choose the right materials. I use that thin lattice stuff for my sukkah walls (with a metal frame, so they're not structural); I can easily carry two sheets of 4x8 and have lifted three or four. (The limit is more on what I can wrap my hands around than the weight.) If you're ok with carrying a 4x5' flat object, three hinged sections of lattice (with finishing strips on the outside edges), hinged together, maybe along with a rod to run at the top on the open side, should do the trick. I would think; I haven't actually tried this. If you need a support beam down the center for the s'chach, the lattice gives you easy options for holding it up. I wouldn't use un-reinforced lattice structurally for something I was going to leave up all week, but for a portable structure it seems ideal.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

PVC was going to be my first suggestion, since it's cheap, lightweight, and can be modular. But somehow it makes my aesthetic sensibilities reel -- shouldn't a sukkah by definition be made of wood?

[violetcheetah.livejournal.com]

i was thinking of conduit tubing for the frame. it's light in weight, and you can get various connectors for the pieces, right angles and such. i used it for fence posts in brighton when someone was stealing my flowers, and it was strong enough to pound into the ground without bending.

PVC is tricky, but doable

[jikamens.livejournal.com]

Andrea and I tried the PVC Sukkah trick before we built our wooden one, and it fell down. To make it work, you absolutely need to find 3-way, 3-axis PVC connectors for the corners, a la the "3 Way Connector" shown at http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accessory/pvc.shtml.

I imagine that if your Sukkah is really only five feet tall, PVC should be able to support the bamboo mat, as long as you cut it to fit.

I think it's going to be difficult to find something you can erect in a minute or two.

I believe your building has a flat roof. Why don't you ask the landlord for permission to put a sukkah up on the roof for a week? Alternatively, work from home for the three weekday mornings of the Hag, and go into work after an early lunch in your own Sukkah?

If you're driving to work, wouldn't it be faster and easier to drive over to the MIT sukkah than to carry your own to a park and erect it there every day?

Have you checked with the city (if the park is public) or the owner (if it's private) about whether it would be OK to put up a sukkah in the park? Without permission, the validity of the sukkah might be in question. This is a question for a competent halachic authority.

Re: PVC is tricky, but doable

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

I think it's going to be difficult to find something you can erect in a minute or two.

That's going to be the tricky part, certainly, especially if I go with PVC or conduit. The folding walls are starting to look like a better bet. Or maybe something with a ceiling frame and then legs like a folding table's.

I believe your building has a flat roof.

Nope. And even if it did, I'd be worried about the wind and leaving a sukkah atop an 18-story building.

If you're driving to work, wouldn't it be faster and easier to drive over to the MIT sukkah

Parking by Kresge oval? It's faster to walk. (Which is what I've done the past few years.)

Without permission, the validity of the sukkah might be in question. This is a question for a competent halachic authority.

Already checked with my rabbi, who says that since it's designated as a public eating area I'd be fine.

Re: PVC is tricky, but doable

[jikamens.livejournal.com]

And even if it did, I'd be worried about the wind and leaving a sukkah atop an 18-story building.

And are you worried about looking a bit silly carrying your contraption down the street or sitting on the ground eating your lunch inside a 4x4x5 box? :-)

Re: PVC is tricky, but doable

[530nm330hz.livejournal.com]

And are you worried about looking a bit silly

Nope. I never worry about looking silly. (And no one will be injured by a silly look falling 18 stories to the ground in windy weather.)