Gina's Observatory - The Build

[malc-c]

That's a good price for shiplap, I paid £350 for 51 lengths of 5.3m, about 18p a length more. The forecast for the next week is supposed to be dry all week, so you should be OK

[Gina]

Hi Gina, things are looking good. Glad you could get something done today.

Thank you Forecast OK for tomorrow too so hoping to get a nice bit done then too

I ordered my Shiplap today, quite a shock at the price. It was £370 for 60 x 5.1m lengths. (306 mts)

Yes, it's not cheap I estimate mine at £360.

If the weather stays fine the obsy should be water tight by next weekend.

That'll be good Fingers crossed

[Gina]

Been good weather today so have made more progress. Not a full day as I had to go out for grocery shopping this morning.

Today's progress :-

1. Cut notch out of warm room floorboard to miss corner post.

2. Framework for warm room south wall.

3. Started framework for warm room end wall (west).

[Gina]

Weather forecast is useless!!!! Fine night and fine with sunny spells today was forecast - well... it's raining! Quite windy too, though fairly mild. Because fine weather was forecast, I didn't go to the trouble of covering up with the tarp!

[Gina]

Rain's stopped and the sun's come out so might get something done this afternoon if we don't get any more rain. Very breezy though.

Been sorting out computers this morning. My main desktop was running its fans rather fast so presumed it wanted a spring clean. It sure did - well clogged up with dust. So I cleaned it out, put the lid back and connected it all back up. BUT it now doesn't work so I've got that to sort out now Symptoms are no display. Seems to boot up OK and it plays the OS welcome ditty through it's internal speaker. Tried another monitor and it's monitor on another PC and proved it's not the monitor.

OTOH I tried the Windows XP desktop I was using for the webcams before it stopped working and it booted up perfectly into Linux Mint (the primary OS). Next I'll try connecting keyboard and mouse and see if I can boot into XP. I think if I'm using it with XP, I'll set it to boot into XP as the primary OS. Also, I can set Yawcam to run at startup, so if it self-reboots the webcams will be started automatically.

[Freff]

Hi Gina, I feel your pain. If its not one thing it's the other.

When I was at a similar stage in the build as you, I managed the erect two end supports and a cross beam above the build and throw over the tarp in a tent fashion.

This has allowed me to get on and do some of the jobs the weather would otherwise prevent me doing.

[Beulah]

Gina,

I have been following this thread and have got to say that you are an inspiration.

[Freff]

It was drizzling a bit this morning but managed to keep going with all the cutting being done in my new found workshop.

I don't mind working in the wet, it's using the power tools that scares me.

Hope to get the shiplap tomorrow and get it knotted and a coat of primer on.

[Gina]

Gina,

I have been following this thread and have got to say that you are an inspiration.

Thank you

[Gina]

It was drizzling a bit this morning but managed to keep going with all the cutting being done in my new found workshop.

Good idea I have my mitre saw in our big shed so can cut the timber in the dry But I like to do the assembly on site if possible. I prefer to work out in the open if I can - more light and people can see what I'm doing.

I don't mind working in the wet, it's using the power tools that scares me.

Agreed - NOT a good idea!

Hope to get the shiplap tomorrow and get it knotted and a coat of primer on.

Good The beginning of the end

[Gina]

Had to go out this morning so a late start. Also have my main computer to sort out before I can import photos. I'll be doing that today. More rain forecast for tonight so may not totally unwrap the building. I'll see how I feel Wednesday onwards is reckoned to be fine and warm

[Gina]

Main computer now working I found I had LAN access but no display but that's fixed now. When using LAN access I found I'd forgot to set my WINE folders for sharing so couldn't then get to my SketchUp folder but now I have access to my design in SketchUp.

I managed a couple of things to the build this morning

[Gina]

The rain returned this afternoon and I covered it up again. Did a little bit inside but felt like a rest so gave up on it for today. After some drizzle in the morning tomorrow, the forecast predicts fine weather, continuing well into next week. Particularly warm from Wednesday onwards. I hope they're right!

[Gina]

Still overcast and dull - no sign of brightening up - quite the opposite! The atmosphere is decidedly damp and there's a bank of fog heading this way A cold breeze has sprung up and it's quite unpleasant outdoors. The tarp is staying on for now. I'm not going to "catch my death of cold" when it's supposed to be an enjoyable hobby!

[Gina]

Yesterday stayed pretty nasty all day and fog came in in the evening.

Today it's quite different. The fog has gone, just leaving a bit of mist in the valley. A lovely clear sky with all the stars out and a very bright Jupiter when I went out to feed the livestock and let the ducks out. A lovely dawn too Looks good for today Almost flat calm ATM, quite chilly as expected at this time of day near the end of September.

[malc-c]

Should have it finished by night fall then

[Gina]

Should have it finished by night fall then :eek:

Har har har But I do hope to get quite a reasonable amount done

[Gina]

Went out to take the tarp off but we've has such a heavy dew that it's very wet, in fact it had collected some water. So I pushed the water out and I'm leaving it to dry off before taking it off.

[swag72]

Blimey Gina - A wooden build looks very complicated compared to my simple and quick looking bricks!! Ace thread, and very inspirational and informative - Thank you.

[Gina]

Blimey Gina - A wooden build looks very complicated compared to my simple and quick looking bricks!! Ace thread, and very inspirational and informative - Thank you.

And thank you for your nice comments

Yes, a wooden construction is certainly more complicated but has the advantage here of not needing planning permission where it is. A permanent brick or concrete building would, I believe.

[Gina]

Good weather today - fine and sunny with a light breeze - enabled me to make some more progress. As usual, not quite as much as I had hoped but it's coming along quite nicely.

With a very heavy dew this morning, I left the tarp on until it had dried off. Meanwhile, inside the "tent", I screwed some frameworks together ready to be erected later.

So here is a list of progress today :-

1. Finished screwing the warm room south wall frame together - well the bottom part - still have the window frame to do. The side pieces also provide extra support to the top rail which supports the roof.

2. Main structure of the warm room west (end) wall frame prepared and screwed together.

3. Most of the warm roof roof frame cut to size and screwed in place.

4. One 8x4 OSB sheet placed in position to check supporting framework.

5. Various odds and ends including bottom of middle wall, and drilling and bolting sections together with 10mm coach bolts, nuts and washers.

Finally, a section taken from the webcam which provides a different angle of view, difficult to take from ground level.

[Gina]

Had to go out this morning so fewer hours available for obsy building today. Did a bit before going out. This afternoon was very warm (I'd call it hot!) and I didn't manage much in the heat of the day either. So rather less progress than I'd hoped but did get some more done.

Today's progress :-

1. Finished off the dividing wall frame (except for the struts and noggins).

2. Almost completed the warm room roof framework.

3. Finished off the warm room south wall frame.

No photos today - I'll probably take some tomorrow.

[Astrokev]

Looking really great Gina.

[Gina]

Thank you Kevin

[Gina]

Showing every sign of being another fine sunny and warm day again here But a bit more breeze. Completely clear sky with all the stars and planets shining brightly earlier when I saw to the livestock. Now there's a lovely red glow to the east. Another beautiful dawn

Looking good for making progress today