JamesF

Oh, I don't know. Western Power did a load of work on the electrical supply for the area recently and replaced all the poles for the overhead supply. They were kind enough to leave me one. I reckon I could have an obsy a good 8m in the air now

James

I'd agree on the pricing. This is a tree house I built for the children a couple of years back (before it was quite finished):

It's not that different from an obsy build and was in the same sort of ballpark as regards cost.

James

If you're not fixing to every upright perhaps it would make sense to alternate on each piece of shiplap?

James

The only thing to watch in that sort of design is water ingress at the join of the two halves.

I'd worry about that, too. Strong winds have no trouble driving rain up under gaps like that. I think you'd definitely need some sort of lip on the covered side of the ridge to stop that happening unless you were in a very sheltered area.

My favourite rotating roof design is this one:

http://stargazerslounge.com/diy-observatories/106749-rotating-roof-obsy-pics.html

James

It's so frustrating having to wait on others, but the ground is so hard, and I have to watch what I do due to a previous back injury I have little choice but to wait for the digger. I did look at hiring one, but wouldn't know how to drive one and would probably end up destroying the garden !!

Controlling a mini-digger isn't that hard at all, but it does take longer than it would to dig your foundations to get the hang of things and during that time you do tend to wave the bucket about and knock things over, so unless you have a clear space to work in it's often easier to let someone with a bit of practice do it.

James