I see that you're in Texas - near the OK border, right? How cold does it get there during the Winter? If you get some freezing or below freezing temps, you may want to consider using the EMT (conduit) for the durability it provides. If your Winter temps are more moderate, you can probably get away with PVC.
I used EMT myself, but I'm up here in the chilly Northeast. If I lived where the Winters are milder, I would go with PVC and save myself some money as the conduit was not cheap.
"In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock." - Thomas Jefferson
I have been reading in another forum that it is not a good idea for pvc because over time the pvc gets brittle, so I will be using conduit. Costly considering I will have one very large (8' x 8') roof opening and two 4' x 8' side windows. But I would rather the expense now and not the lesson later.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
well here it isn't too cold... i'll have to remember bamboo... but we have like some pieces of pvc in the backyard (given to us by the people who built our housing tract) to be our future sprinkler system... it has set outside day and night for about 8 or 9 years, and it hasn't cracked, and it's still just as flexible as the day it was left in our backyard
Yea I am still thinking about pvc. If I need to I can always slide out pvc and insert conduit later. I am going to call around to electricle contractors about used conduit.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
Yesterday I cut 23 bars of EMT for the 2 windows that I am putting in the eagles chamber. The window opening is 38 inches so I cut the bars 40 inches long to fit into the header boards that I drilled. I personally wouldn't use PVC just because you never know. The EMT bars are 1.97 each at Home depot for the 1/2 {ID} x 10 feet long. I used my friends cutoff saw and it only took about 20 minutes to cut them all. I will be posting some pictures in the weathering section of before and after pic's of the windows.
It's not about how easy or quick it is, I laid tin on the roof this weekend with 20 mph winds. So I not looking for easy. I am looking for cost effective. I am shying away from pvc any way. I just hope I can get some used for a good discount. If not I will get new. Thanks for the heads up about home depot. Lowes was $2.25.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
I go for PVC coated chain link fencing. I think all you people will be all
"What? but the bird will hang and hurt its-self.....naff idea.... doesn't have a monkeys what he's talking about"
Well here's the thing. If the bird flies into chain link he's gonna bounce right back off, and not hurt himself in the slightest. Ever tried running into trees? it hurts. He's gonna do himself some damage if he flies smack bang into solid bars like bamboo or something. And bamboo rots, don't use bamboo. The PVC mainly just protects the feathers, stops em getting caught on the wire, and the birds really cant hurt themselves on it.
When through the woods and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze
The probelm is not getting hurt by hitting the chainlink fence. It is the fact that the bird will hang and destroy its primaries and tail. With verticle bars the feathers will just go to eather side of the bar. With the chainlink the feathers will bend and break. Not to big of a deal with birds that have been in the mews for some time but a new bird will quickly break all its primary and tail in a chaninlink mews.
:obenj I agree with jay, thanks for the idea, but any kind of chain link, coated or not is a bad idea for the exact reason jay mentioned, feather damage. The hawk will not fly into the fence and bounce off, it will fly to it and grab and hang there flapping wings and damaging feathers.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne
Use conduit. Even if the bird runs into it, it wont do but 2 or 3 times before the lightbulb goes off in its head that it really hurts. Morgan, thats pvc on stroids dude. First mews, pvc was cracking after first year! I would just use conduit, much more secure and longer lasting. JMO.
I use PVC bars on my mews. They have lasted me for over 4 years now without any problems. I also helped build Darryl Perkins new breeding mews 5 or 6 years ago and he has not had problems with the PVC bars we used.
Well I lucked out today. The electrician that is working on a new building where I work gave me a whole truck load of 3/4" conduit. It sat in his yard to long and got rusty on the inside but the outside is fine. It is still bundled and in 10' lengths and straight.
"Life is hard; it's harder if you're stupid." -John Wayne