Photo: Christmas tree breaks through Seattle home’s roof
Dec 19, 2012, 7:29 AM | Updated: 8:00 am
(Photo by Patrick Kruger)
Sometimes it’s difficult to judge whether a Christmas tree will fit inside your house. When a 14-foot-tree didn’t clear the ceiling of a Seattle home, the owner poked it through the roof.
At least it appears that way.
“I think everybody needs a laugh this year, so I thought I’d give them a little something to smile about,” says homeowner Patrick Kruger.
Kruger, who’s decorated his home for Halloween with elaborate spider webs covering the building, tells me he didn’t want to “do the usual” decorations on his tree.
He created the illusion of a tree crashing through the roof with a 14-foot tree cut into two pieces. The top six-foot section is attached to a piece of plywood that’s bolted to the roof.
Kruger, who is an architect for the Eastside firm Mulvanny G2, studied the physics of an object breaking through a roof then added sheathing and typical roof construction materials to create the effect.
A few concerned people have stopped by the house asking “what happened” but for the most part, neighbors are intrigued by the joke.
“Little kids walk by and they’ll stare and cover their mouths in disbelief,” Kruger says. “We have a four year old and he’s thrilled, and my wife is very supportive. She puts up with this and every other crazy idea that I come up with.”
By LINDA THOMAS