Giant vertical ruler on a house (picture)

There is a house-size vertical ruler on the side of a home in my area. Here is a picture taken as I drive by:

Not the best picture, my apologies. The “ruler” is marked from 1 to 19, I assume these to be feet. None of my friends have come up with an explanation, although guesses abound (getting ready for the big flood, etc). For the record, there is no water nearby so a “flood ruler” is unlikely.

The house sits on a the end of a narrow, long, flat piece of land. There is a garage with a tattered windsock aloft at the opposite end of the property. I always figured they flew an ultralight at one time. Could the ruler be related to that?

One more picture:

So, any ideas? Thanks!

They have really tall children? It’s all I got.

<nevermind>

A donation thermometer for the siding and roof?

It is interesting that the ruler is important enough that there is a notch in the roof for it.

The brace is also intersting. why would it be needed?

Maybe its an antenna and local ordinances limit them to 20ft?

Brian

I’ve seen tall rulers in Michigan where they get a lot of snow. It is used to record record snow falls(OK that looks really weird, but it was meant to say “ree CHORD REK ord”. )

Do you get much snow in Western Pennslyvania?

Was the house recently sided?

It’s a tower used by siding companies to side a house. Two adjoining towers are put up and ladders/scaffolding is put between them. They’re simple to put up and take down and easier to work with while siding; unlike ladders which always need repositioning and are dangerous, or scaffolding which is cumbersome and time consuming.

I’m guessing they’re siding towers.

Perhaps the house is growing and they want to keep a chart.
Or maybe they’re expecting a flood!

Struggling to reconcile your description with the picture. Did you look at the picture?

What it looks like to me is the support for some kind of manometer - perhaps indicating the pressure of the water in the local mains?

a giraffe farm?

It looks like, in the interest of fighting ignorance, you are just going to have to get out of the car, go up to the door, and ask. Please report back soon. Thanks!

If only it were that easy. The house is on the market and the owners are seldom around. I will stop by over the next few days and check.

A foot or two. Never twenty. :smiley:

If the house is for sale, maybe the real estate company knows. It is worth a call IMHO.

Brian

Nah, Giraffe-o-meters aren’t graduated in feet - they have fewer markings; one near the top that says ‘giraffe’, and several nearer the bottom that say ‘probably not a giraffe’

bwahahaha

Looks like something to do with a chimney to me…

Is there a large orchard on that side of the house that is not visible in the picture? Could there have been one in the past?

I don’t know all that much about orchards, but the math geek in me tells me that having a huge vertical ruler like that would allow one to measure the height of pretty much anything (like a tree) that is within visible range. In fact, given a property big enough you can use a range finder to determine your distance/angle to the metering stick and a tree, and you can compare relative heights. Seems elaborate, but… it’s a giant ruler on the side of the house!

A brilliant friend of mine just offered a very plausible explanation:

What if there’s a translucent tube down the length of the ruler? Measures rainfall!

I love her!

You mention the house is on the market. Is there by any chance a section near the top that says “FREE! 15% more house” ?