Carpet Canopies

In Praise of Carpet Recycled/surplus carpet is one of our construction staples. We use earth-toned, short-loop “commercial” carpet for the gazebo canopies (above right) as well as for beautifying canopies that would otherwise be eyesores (like the drainage pipe canopy at the left). The owls “whitewash” treatment doesn’t exactly make these little structures more photogenic, but it’s definitely authentic. Since we don’t disturb owls to spruce up a burrow, things can get to looking more than a little ratty as the season progresses. Sigh. Nothing’s perfect I guess.  Ratty burrows with BuOws are certainly preferable to “perfect” ones without!
Carpet lifespan varies. Sun-resistance is hard to predict in scrap carpet. In some cases it might be worth it to buy outdoor carpet (mill ends?) as it should last much longer. Modern polypropylene carpet has come a long ways since it’s humble (and ugly) beginnings and is fairly inexpensive. We’ll be testing some in 2011.
Most carpet edges will ravel unless you do something to foil this habit. I’ve been happy with my inexpensive wood-burning tool. I run the tip along exposed edges slowly enough to fuse the fibers so they stay put. Using a glue gun is an option I haven’t tested yet, but the carpet people tell me it works.
As you can see below, we’ve also used carpet to protect knees and delicate tunnels, as a soil-retainer/anchoring strip and we’re testing it in 2011 as an anti-weed treatment. The hits just keep on coming!