Astrokev

No pictures today, but I did manage to get a bit more of the jigsaw roof fixed down, leaving just a few more pieces either side of the ridge to complete. I'll hopefully get these done tomorrow, so long as another follow-up vets appointment with doggie McDogface goes to plan and doesn't bring any unwanted surprises!

I need to think about how best to fix these pieces, since I've noticed that the OSB flexes slightly where they meet at the ridge, due to them not being supported directly under the edges (small flaw in the design there). I may need to add profiled batons between the rafters to reduce the flexure. This is probably not a problem, but if I need to go clambering over the roof once the EPDM is down, there's a small risk the flexure may delaminate the rubber slightly and just niggles my OCD and perfectionist streak ?.

4 hours ago, Davey-T said:

It's worth getting small people trained early as they can be useful accessing places we're too big to reach, I found my son good for that sort of thing before he grew up 

Dave

This week he learned how to use a spoon (more yoghurt ended up on his face than in his mouth though). 

Next week I'm going to train him to shimmy down the tube of my 10" Newt to clean the mirror ?

As usual, I didn't get as much done today as I hoped. Never mind - I'm getting there!

Due to an oversight on my part (who else's part could it be since I'm building the thing on my own!) a long length of left-over OSB from the warm room roof turned out to be not so long after all. Hmm. This required a bit of rethinking of which pieces of remaining OSB I could use to fill the remaining gaps in the roof. The finished coverage was more jigsaw-like than I planned, but managed to fill the gaps with no holes, so that has to be a good thing.

As can be clearly seen, there is some finishing-off to do - trimming the edges and ends to make them fit, and screwing down, but nearly there. Doing my regular Wednesday grandson-sitting stint tomorrow, but may have an hour at the end of the afternoon when I can do a bit more. So, not quite time to get the EPDM out, but getting very close ? 

10 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I really must work that out.  Or maybe I daren't

From a quick trawl through my invoices from the builders' merchant so far, I'd estimate that I've spent around £1,500 to get this far (including all the EPDM for the roof which is probably about 25% of that, and the roof rails etc.), though that won't include stuff like screws, welding wire and so on that I had anyhow.  The only other major expenses still remaining that spring to mind immediately are the cladding, and the armoured cable to get power to the building.

There are a lot of decisions to be made yet, but if it all comes in at less than £2,500 I shall be happy enough.  I knew making it big enough for three piers would increase the cost quite a bit, as would making it sufficiently tall that I didn't need to park scopes to close the roof.

James

Interesting James. I'm just at the £2,500 point, but that includes absolutely everything. Surprisingly (to me at any rate) is that the ironmongery - screws, nails, brackets and the like - is currently 11% of the total. The cladding came in at 16%.

House-chores soaked up most of this morning and then some enjoyable time with my daughter and lovely little grandson, who popped over to see us. So, only managed some time on the observatory in the afternoon, but was pleased to have finally started work on the roof covering.

A few pictures of todays progress. Tomorrow is weekly shop day, but I'll hopefully finish off the gaps in the roof ready to start doing battle with the EPDM ? 

13 hours ago, Dave said:

Looking fab Kev. Let me know when would be a good time for you for me to pop over and admire it.

 

Thanks mate. Feel free to pop over anytime - apart from Wednesdays (when I'm on grandad duty ? ) and this Thursday morning - otherwise I'll be out the back playing in the shed.

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Ain't that the truth?

I think once the space is watertight, the work becomes much easier to do in small pieces if that's all time allows.  It's possible to do half an hour and then leave things unfinished until the next time.  At the moment (for me at least) there seem to be more jobs that are "If I start this now, I really need to finish it today", or "If I start this now, I need to spend a good hour or two on it otherwise it's not worth the time it takes to uncover everything and get all the tools out at the start and then re-cover it all and put things away again afterwards".

James

Yeh, know that feeling. Once my roof is on I'll be happy. I have a make-shift board to cover the outer door, so life should get easier once the roof is watertight.

…. and I've just taken the dog out in the garden, and guess what ?. The ground is soaking wet so we've obviously had a shower this evening. My BBC weather app forecasts a 13% chance up until 11, dropping to 1% at midnight. I knew I should've left the tarp on. Grrrr!

2 minutes ago, JamesF said:

And as it happens, the roof is being "christened" as I write.  The forecast claims a 10% chance of rain and that 10% chance has come through in the form of a heavy drizzle.  I just had to nip out in the dark and cover over the ply for the flooring.  Fortunately I had some plastic sheeting to cover it already organised.  It just slipped my mind when I tidied up at the end of the day.

James

Good ol' weather forecast strikes again! It always amazes me that the 10% chances around these parts seem to happen on >50% of the occasions they're predicted! Perhaps I should start  to do the lottery... 

7 minutes ago, JamesF said:

I think that makes a great deal of sense.  Belt and braces, as it were.  On my warm room roof the sides are caught under the roof rails, but my plan is to trap the top edge and "sides of the sides" under the wall covering on the internal wall and to catch the bottom edge with a barge board or something similar on the ends of the warm room roof rafters.  I'll try to do the same sort of thing with the rolling roof.

James

Sounds good. I will definitely be putting barge boards on the west and east sloping ends of the ROR. I haven't decided how to finish the south and north ends yet - options are to wrap the EPDM right round the edge of the roof and secure with a batten underneath, secure it along the edge with a batten or roof tacks - or maybe just leave it if it looks secure enough with just the adhesive, but I suspect I'll need something. Need  to think that bit through some more - probably on the fly.

17 minutes ago, LeeRich said:

I must say Kev, that's some lovely workmanship ?

Thanks - yours ain't so bad either ? . I just wish I was a quicker worker! I'm in no great rush, but I have to say I'll be really pleased when it's finished now, so I can use the thing. There's lots of other jobs around the house mounting up!

55 minutes ago, JamesF said:

Yes, I used the water-based stuff (it reminds me of Copydex for the centre and the contact adhesive around the edges (at least, the edges I actually got time to do).  I'll use the contact stuff for the remaining top and bottom parts too, and any little bits I have to fill in with offcuts to keep it water-tight.  I don't like the waste, but I'm tempted to get half a dozen rollers/brushes for the adhesives that I can just bin after each use because they're horrible to clean.

James

Ah that's good!

Yes, the contact adhesive is 'orrid. I've just thrown the brushes away at the end of each stage. Not looking forward to using it on the main roof but it does a pretty good job of fixing the edges. That said, I may still use battens, or similar, around some of the edges where I think there's a risk of it coming loose with time.

We decided to go and see First Man at the local Vue cinema this afternoon (highly recommended if you haven't already seen it!), so I only had a few hours this morning to plod-on with the shed.

De-tarped the roof, and got soaked in the process due to some hidden pools of water lurking between the roof joists. Then put up the south end ROR cladding and the fiddly-bits around the corners of the roof. In so doing I discovered that the two north-end corner pieces catch slightly on the ROR rail support posts ? . I guess when I made the corner pieces I obviously didn't fully open the roof to check that they didn't catch. So, off they came, trimmed them back, re-painted and re-erected.

Not really enough time to start cutting OSB so I decided to add another cladding strip to the north end beam of the roof. Not really needed, it just gives all four sides of the ROR a more even finish.

In the pics, you can see the final gap between the ROR and the south wall, which is about 3-4mm. When fully closed, the ROR overhangs the south wall slightly, so I'm happy that no rain can enter through the gap. However, I'll probably still seal the gap on the inside once the ROR is finished.

Reading @JamesF post in @LeeRich thread also prompted me to ponder on how much I've still got to do on the build to get it finished -

OSB and EPDM the ROR (hopefully this week). Install flooring. Put up internal wall boards to make it look pretty! Insulate and board out the warm room. Make the outer door and inner door to the scope room. Install anti-vermin netting around the edge of the foundations to keep inquisitive mice/rats at bay. Install guttering. Install electrics - although I'll probably run my kit from an extension cable in the first instance (I want to run a ring around the whole garden, to include my son's shed, my tool shed, and the garden cabin. A bigger job that can wait till the observatory is operational). Plenty to be getting on with then!

EDIT - You may also notice that the paint on the south wall has bubbled up in places. I think this is where I applied knotting solution before painting. So, either this wasn't fully dry before I painted, or the solution has reacted with the paint in the heat of the sun. Later in the build I will sand off the affected areas and repaint. A faff but hopefully quite simple job to put right.

Looking great James. 

I know what you mean being nervous about measuring and cutting the EPDM! I did the same and bought 1 piece to cover both rooms. 

Did you use contact adhesive round the edges, as they recommend, or just the water based adhesive? 

Lovely out in the sun today. I finished dipping the ends of the cladding boards and then gave them a couple of coats of preserver. Most of the day was therefore spent waiting for the timber to dry off sufficiently to allow me to put them up. So, late afternoon I eventually managed to get both sides of cladding complete and installed. A few days extra effort from the last photos I posted, and the boards look exactly the same, but it's given me comfort knowing that all exposed timber has been well treated with preserver (it satisfies the OCD in me).

The small triangle of missing cladding at the apex of the roof is intentional. I've decided to leave this as is, since this part of the gable-end will be covered by the beams which support the edges of the OSB on the overhanging eaves, and won't therefore be exposed or visible.

Although I haven't put them up yet, I also fashioned end pieces out of spare bits of cladding. These will fit more snugly around the roof rails and track - more cosmetic than functional, but should tidy the ends of the roof up a bit. I'll put these up tomorrow. I also cut a length of cladding to run along the south side of the ROR. This will reduce the gap between the south wall and the roof to help keep the wind out. The plan is to seal the remaining gap with a length of EPDM running along the inner face of the south roof beam to keep wind and bugs out. This will become clearer when I fit it!

Since we're promised a few days of dry weather, I'm going to tempt fate and take the tarp off tomorrow (was that distant thunder I just heard...). With luck I hope to start playing with the OSB for the main roof.

Looking great James ? 

No pictures today, but finished the roof cladding on the west side. 

To preserve the boards, I dip the ends of all timbers for at least 5 minutes before putting preserver on the rest of the board with a brush (2 coats).  Dipping the boards takes ages, as the tub I use is fairly small and can only accommodate 3 boards at a time - using a tub big enough for more boards would need gallons of preserver to fill!

The end result is that I've dipped about half the roof cladding boards. I'll finish the rest in the morning and then screw them into position on the roof. 

Well, after another trip to the vet for a routine post-op check-up, and a welcome visit from my in-laws, I wonder where the day went!

However, I did manage to do a bit on the build, and just about completed the cladding on the east side of the roof. Tomorrow I'll do the west side and treat it all with preserver, with a few coats of paint on Saturday.

Getting close to putting the roof sheets on - hooray!

7 hours ago, Dave said:

Hope the dog's OK mate.

Minor op to remove a small abscess on his tail. Back home now feeling a bit sorry for himself, but otherwise OK. Thanks for asking Dave (and @Gina!)

Well the sun finally came out today, but I was too busy, enjoying babysitting my grandson. By the time I got home I was too shattered to think about sawing wood!

Still, tomorrow looks hopeful weather wise......once I've got back from the vet with my poorly dog ?

33 minutes ago, JamesF said:

No problem

I bit the bullet earlier this afternoon and ordered the EPDM and most of the other bits I need to complete both sections of the roof.  Just need to finish off with some hardware from Screwfix, but I can nip into town and get that if necessary.  Or get my wife to pick it up when she does the school run

I also ordered ply for the floor so I have it here to go in as soon as I'm ready, which should make things a little safer when I'm walking around inside.

James

Good progress and planning ahead there.

As regards the floor, I decided to dice with death and am still walking on the joists. Lost count of the number of times I've slipped and twisted my ankle.

5 hours ago, Gina said:

Yes you might need some clips or clothes pegs to hold it up while you apply adhesive in strips.  Or maybe someone to help you.  My roof was 4ft x 8ft each side - one sheet of marine ply each side on top of the framework.  Sometimes I've used broomsticks and G clamps to advantage.  Or in this case I had lots of odd lengths of timber.

Yes, lots of timber on hand to hold back the avalanche of rubber may be the answer!

Fortunately, now the weather's cooling off a bit, the adhesive shouldn't dry too quick. I did the warm room in blistering heat and it was drying before I could get it off the roller. (Actually more chance of it being washed off before it dries!)

And apologies James for taking over your thread a bit. I should really continue this discussion on my own thread!

3 hours ago, Gina said:

What I did with the apex was to lay the sheet over the whole roof and make sure there was enough extra all the way round to tuck up underneath, then fold back one side and apply adhesive from the ridge down a foot or so.  Laid the rubber over the adhesive and rolled down carefully avoiding causing any bubbles.  After that I worked my way down that side to the edge.  Then did the same for the other side.  I used a wallpaper roller to roll down the EPDM to ensure good adhesion.  To spread the adhesive I use a paint roller on a long arm - the sort used behind radiators.  Being water based, the adhesive was washed out of the roller with water immediately after use.  It wasn't allowed to dry during application either.

Thanks Gina. That's the method I used for the warm room and it worked well. I'm just conscious that each side of the ROR is quite a bit bigger and trying to manhandle that much EPDM while not letting the adhesive dry-off too much will be more challenging!

Wrestling with an octopus is an image that springs to mind!

+1 for EPDM.

Had no trouble with my warm room. Hoping to get the scope room roof on in the next few weeks, weather permitting. Hopefully that'll go OK also, although it's a much bigger area, and there's the apex to negotiate!

Thought I'd give some thought to the next steps of the build while the rain whips around the observatory, and am suddenly struck with a little anxiety.

The roof sheets I'm using are OSB3. My design has overhanging eaves to try and give a little more protection to the gap between the roll off roof and the walls. 

This means the underside of the eaves, and the OSB3, will be exposed to the outside air. Rain cannot fall directly on the OSB, but should I be concerned with the OSB being exposed to the outside, or should I cover or paint it?

For the inside of the scope room the plan is to leave the OSB au naturel. 

Thanks