The Build begins..part 1, The Pier.

[Gina]

Looks great Tony

Haven't really thought of using vapour barrier on my build... or of knotting...

[Freff]

Looking good Tony...

Thanks Malcolm, moving along slowly.

I bet you have some sun burned shoulders after today don't you Tony?

Made sure I was covered up, but came close to heatstroke.

[Freff]

Looks great Tony

Haven't really thought of using vapour barrier on my build... or of knotting...

Thanks Gina. We get driving rain up the valley where I live and quite exposed, so taking no chances.

The shiplap I got is untreated and as it is being painted, knotting was a must. I will give it two coats of oil based primer on Sunday morning, and be happy with leaving it to the elements until the build is finished.

If yours is treated and you are using a wood treatment finish, there is no need for knotting.

[yesyes]

excuse the ignorance, but what is knotting?

[JamesF]

excuse the ignorance, but what is knotting?

It's a cheap alternative to nails. His entire obsy is tied together with string.

James

[Freff]

It's a cheap alternative to nails. His entire obsy is tied together with string.

James

James thanks, a mouthful of tea just went everywhere. I'm still chuckling 20mins later.

Anyway, yesyes it's a solution that's painted over knots in wood to prevent the resin in the knots weeping out after being painted and spoiling the finish..

[yesyes]

And I thought I did see lots of string on those pictures and was wondering what it's for....

Thanks for explaining Tony. ;-)

[pritc]

Coming along great,Tony

What finish paint are you using on the shiplap??

Wayne

[Freff]

Coming along great,Tony

What finish paint are you using on the shiplap??

Wayne

Thanks Wayne.

The paint is a just an exterior oil based system with a eggshell type finish. I'll use two coats of primer, two undercoats and hopefully a single finish coat.

[Freff]

I put the remaining shiplap up yesterday except for a few pieces around the door. I was getting late and I couldn't see what I was doing.

Gave it all a coat of primer this morning. That's me done until Wednesday. I have my 30yr wedding anniversary tomorrow, so my wife and I are away for a few days.

I am happy that all the wood is protected until I get back.

The next thing to do is get the belt sander on all the corners and sand everything flush. Finish off around the door and open up the window size by cutting out the upper shiplap.

The steel roof should be going on sometime this week with a bit of luck.

[Gina]

Looking very nice indeed Tony

Oh and Happy Anniversary and Congratulations ! :)

[Freff]

Many thanks on both accounts Gina.

I was glad to get to this stage of the build (and anniversary ) before the weather changes.

I could have done with your very swish looking bonnet today, the sun was a killer at lunch time.

Your build is making great progress, before you know it you'll be putting the roof on.

[spaceboy]

Congratulations to you both on the Pearl anniversary. You have made massive amounts of progress on the obsy Tony and it sure dose look the part.

[malc-c]

Congratulations from me and the misses too... So different to see a painted observatory, and it looks good in white, should reflect the daytime heat too... on a side note, my warm room was 6c cooler than the observatory when I opened up this morning at 11:00 to do some solar observing...so the insulation seems to be paying off

[spaceboy]

:D Sorry Malcolm that tickled me..... 6c cooler in the warm room LOL

[malc-c]

Yeah.... strange that

[Gina]

The benefits of insulation - warmer in winter and cooler in summer

[Gina]

I could have done with your very swish looking bonnet today, the sun was a killer at lunch time.

What! That old thing Actually it is old and coming apart at the front. It's held together with staples (well... it makes a change from baling twine )

Your build is making great progress, before you know it you'll be putting the roof on.

I'm doing the roof now - well not at this actual moment, I'm indoors cooling down! I'm having to work out how to do it with just one person - handling gert big pieces of timber 7 foot up in the air is not easy! I've been doing bits on the ground and then lifting them up. But it seems the cross pieces need to be assembled with the ends up in position.

One of the problems is that the trolley rolls so easily that it keeps getting away from me!! Even with one cross member the whole lot rolls when one side is pushed gently. I think I'm going to undo the coach bolts holding it together and work on the sides separately. Then I can lift them up, one at a time, and then put the cross members in. I had to do a bit up high to make sure the roof is the same height both sides.

[spaceboy]

The benefits of insulation - warmer in winter and cooler in summer

Sorry to go off topic Tony but this may help with your build all the same.

Please bear with me on this as building isn't my strong point. If the warm room is say 8c and the outside temperature is -04 will there be any thermals radiating from the warm room ? I take it the insulation has a rating to what it can contain but will there still be some heat rising through the roof and anywhere that was missed when applying the insulation ??? I know it's not on the same scale as a centrally heated house but when snow falls roofs seem to be the first place the snow thaws despite most lofts these days being insulated. As I said it's not on the same scale but telescopes seem to pick up every thing in the atmosphere.

[malc-c]

There could well be some thermal issues, which is why my warm room has every surface including the roof, dividing wall and sliding door insulated to reduce the affect. Mind you I think it also depends if you do a lot of observing over the warm room too. I guess if you were pedantic about it, a warm person standing next to a Newtonian could create a thermal issue ??

[spaceboy]

I guess if you were pedantic about it, a warm person standing next to a Newtonian could create a thermal issue ??

Good point Malcolm. I know when I have been wrapped up in my thermals I can get a bit of a sweat on

[Freff]

Thank you all for your kind words.

Congratulations from me and the misses too... So different to see a painted observatory, and it looks good in white, should reflect the daytime heat too... on a side note, my warm room was 6c cooler than the observatory when I opened up this morning at 11:00 to do some solar observing...so the insulation seems to be paying off

Malcom the observatory will be finished in a Cream/Beige colour to match my workshop its next to. That was one of my wife's preconditions if I built an obsy. (who was I to quibble over the colour. )

As for the warm room, I haven't given it much thought at the moment.

Just getting inside out of the direct cold will be a huge bonus. I don't see myself installing to much insulation. The roof is doubled skinned with an air space.

The walls have a vapour barrier so there want be many draughts, and a small 500w oil heater to take the chill off in really cold spells.

Most of my imaging will be over the warm room so I don't want to create any problems there.

I'll see how I get on this winter. If it gets unbearable then perhaps next year I can add some insulation.

[pritc]

Most of my imaging will be over the warm room so I don't want to create any problems there.

Tony

I would seriously think about insulating your warm room.

Especially if you are imaging over it.

You do not want any thermals ruining your images from the oil filled rad/body temp.

At a minimum, just insulate the dividing wall between the obs/warm room.

Wayne

[Freff]

Tony

I would seriously think about insulating your warm room.

Especially if you are imaging over it.

You do not want any thermals ruining your images from the oil filled rad/body temp.

At a minimum, just insulate the dividing wall between the obs/warm room.

Wayne

Hi Wayne and thanks for your advise.

What I didn't want to do is get the warm room to warm and get a build up of heat. The roof is insulated with a double skin and a ceiling in the warm room which has a tin foil type barrier on the underside.

That I hope would keep any body/laptop heat contained.

What I was concerned about is if the walls, floor and roof are all insulated it would create a micro climate that could potentially escape into the obsy should I need to attend to something on the pier.

I thought that for this year I'd try and keep the warm room at an ambient temperature or just above and see how things go.

[Freff]

I have not been very productive lately, other thing have taken priority.

Over the last few days I have managed to lay the vapour barrier over the floor joists and put down the flooring.

The floor is 8' x 4' x 18mm marine ply, screwed down with 120 screws. It feels very solid.

The next job is to build the door. It will be 4" x 2" frame faced with 4" x 15mm T&G, and backed with 4mm ply.

Still waiting for the steel roofing. Because I wanted a particular colour, I have to wait for a run of it to be produced. (It's all free so I can't moan.)

The pier can also be paint now. It's had a few primers and a black mist coat. I'll give it another tomorrow and finish it before I go to the SSP. That'll give it three days to dry before I use it.