Gina's Observatory - The Build

[fwm891]

Be lovely to see you all and put faces to names :) You know what I look like (poor you ) but I don't know what you look like.

In my case that's probably best:eek:

Looking forward to the tea and biscuits!

YesYes:

Good idea...

[Gina]

Looking forward to the tea and biscuits!

I'll see if I can provide the preferred biscuits Chocolate Hobnobs and Bourbon have been mentioned so far...

[Gina]

Progress today... absolutely none! A day of rest Just have to see what tomorrow brings.

Photos today... also none.

I've changed the webcam upload schedule to stop at 6pm - it's now dark at 7pm.

[malc-c]

Gina, I went round with a bag of 40mm galvanised round nails to secure the shiplap as the nails from the tackwise tool just didn't hold the boards in tight enough, especially with the flexing in hot weather.

[Anweniel]

Somebody mentioned biscuits?

[Gina]

Gina, I went round with a bag of 40mm galvanised round nails to secure the shiplap as the nails from the tackwise tool just didn't hold the boards in tight enough, especially with the flexing in hot weather.

Ah right, I did wonder. I've found the Tacwise nailer brads great for temporary fastening - I used brads for my pier base shuttering and for several other jobs to hold the wood together while I nailed or screwed it together. It was also good for lightweight jobs like window trims on my porch windows. The brads work best where the loading is sideways, otherwise they may pull through.

[Freff]

Gina, I went round with a bag of 40mm galvanised round nails to secure the shiplap as the nails from the tackwise tool just didn't hold the boards in tight enough, especially with the flexing in hot weather.

Agreed brads will not hold, but 40mm staples will. I would only consider using round head nails if used with a gun.

The amount of hammer rash and splitting I've seen when people hit them in is unforgivable. Unless of course you are prepared to finish of with a punch.

[Glen]

Good to see the call to the roofing company helped out, who knows what would of happened to it if if not for the question..

, dread to think, but just getting the covering off to reseal would be a nightmare

Have a rest Gina and gather some thoughts, you don't want to be 'to-pooped-to-view' when the obs is finished eh:confused:

great to see a few peeps willing to help out, lovely to see that:icon_salut:

All the best

Glen

[Gina]

Thank you Glen If I had applied preserver it would just have slowed the drying of the adhesive. Just better without.

Another day of almost zero progress - not a rest though, we had to get the VET in and just when the weather improved for an hour or so we were waiting for the VET. But after that I did get the last warm room noggin measured up and cut to length.

The forecast looks a bit better for tomorrow - I hope so!

[Gina]

Sun's just popped out now. We had a very short spell of sunshine earlier but mostly it's been cloudy. Fog earlier this morning which took a long time to clear and everywhere was running in water (though no actual rain overnight). Now up to 17C with a light breeze. Better than it has been of late!

Able to get on a bit today with the improved weather. Been doing more floorboards with wood preserver and screwed in and finished the last warm room joist noggin. Also been doing several other little jobs. Full report later...

[Gina]

As mentioned above, the weather was better today so i did manage to get some more done

So... progress today :-

1. Wood preserver applied to more floorboards.

2. Last warm room joist noggin screwed in place and painted with preserver.

3. Floor beams fastened to concrete blocks with screws through the SS ties set into the concrete.

4. Cable conduit pipe put in place.

5. Two pieces of polystyrene insulation cut and fitted between joists under warm room floor.

Today's photos :-

[Astrokev]

Looking really good Gina. The green preservative blends beautifully with the scenery!

[Gina]

Thanks Kevin Yes, I chose green to make it blend in.

[Gina]

Weather alright today (at least, so far). Sun's about about to break through the clouds. So I'm getting on with it. Just laid another insulation panel. Two more to go under the floor.

See me on the webcam (except when I'm taking a rest or doing other things)

[fwm891]

...See me on the webcam (except when I'm taking a rest or doing other things)...

09:57:15 Must be doing other things. (More tea)

Obsy lookin good

[Gina]

09:57:15 Must be doing other things. (More tea)

Obsy lookin good

Thank you Yes, there are other things I have to do but I do find I need to take quite frequent breaks these days. Less stamina than I use to have.

[Gina]

Some good weather today with some sunshine even, so got quite a nice bit done

Progress today :-

1. Finished cutting and fitting the warm room under floor insulation.

2. Applied wood preserver to the rest of the floorboards.

3. Threaded some rope through the cable conduit pipe - no problem, pushed through easily.

4. Cut pieces of wood for the warm room roof edges and discovered a problem - the end roll off member wouldn't quite clear the top warm room roof edge piece..

5. Corrected problem above by lowering the warm room roof by 18mm at the top edge and adjusting the warm room south wall frame to suit.

6. Put rest of floorboards in their places.

Today's photos :-

[fwm891]

Bravo

[Aoraki]

Geez Gina, what are you going to pull through the conduit with that rope, the Queen Mary?

[Gina]

Bravo

Thank you

Must say, it's nice to have the floor back

[Gina]

Geez Gina, what are you going to pull through the conduit with that rope, the Queen Mary?

Rather big isn't it? I'll attach a thinner line to it and pull that through. The rope had the advantage of being stiff enough to push through and round the bends. And it was to hand

[Gina]

Good weather to start the day - a beautiful sunrise So I'm hopeful of more good progress today. Earlier there was a totally clear sky with all the stars out plus Jupiter and a bright moon, just a few days past full.

[Gina]

Cold this morning, just 11C, but made an early start. Have thinned down one end of the window top batten to allow for the reduced height and screwed it back in place.

[Gina]

Put other OSB warm room roof panel in place and screwed it down. Took rubber roofing and put that up onto the roof - wasn't heavy Unfolded it and laid it flat on roof but found it was the wrong way round (longer one way than other) so had to turn it round on the roof. That was the most difficult part of the job.

[carastro]

I take a peak at this on the webcam every few days and am amazed at the progress recently.

Today some sort of creature decided to obscure the view. I think it has wings by the fuzziness beyond the body.