a cornish obsy build

[tony]

well the time has come at last, starting the base for the obsy this weekend , going to be a bit damp and cold tomorrow

going to be a long build though, i work alternate nightshift / dayshift, which leaves the weekends, of which on one i work saturday mornings and the other i start at 8pm on the sunday evening, and my o/h works permanent nights and it includes every other weekend, so sods law says you know which weekend is going to be dry and which one is going to be wet, and i still have work indoors to finish too, so a bit of a juggling act between the two.

so long as i can get the concrete in over the weekend i'm hoping to get the blockwork done next weekend.

got a few shrubs/bushes to clear away first, heres the spot its going, deceiving that with them gone its nearly 5 feet to the wall behind.

please excuse my rubbish drawing lol, but you get the idea

will add some more pics as i slowly move on

[Gina]

All the best with your build Hard work but oh so worth it

[dmahon]

What size? Are you building from scratch or converting a shed? What are you doing for a pier?

Good luck - I really ought to get on with mine.

[andyboy1970]

So you are going for 3 domes

Good luck its worth it.

[dtr42]

i thought that was easter eggs [they looked kinda big ] good luck with your build .

[r3i]

Hi Tony,

Good to see you're getting started and I'm looking forward to seeing how the build progresses. What size & design are you going for?

Although I'm sure you're keen to get it finished I'd wouldn't get concerned if it takes a long time - I thoroughly enjoyed my build and in some respects it's a shame that it's finished.

Very best of luck with the build and please keep us updated with your progress.

[tony]

perhaps i should have mentioned

12 x 6 with it being 50/50 scope/warmroom, and somewhere to keep my tools..

building from scratch, blockwork where the purple lines are, well not exactly where they are sort of u-shape off the existing wall with a block pier/pillar in the centre along the back, got some airbricks to slot in there too. got a 1.5 m length of 200mm spiral ducting for the pier with a 200 - 160mm reducer as my adapter plates are 170mm, wont be digging the whole just yet, i'd rather get the base sorted first so that i know i'll get the pier in exactly the right spot, i can lift off the timber floor frame to dig it out.

floor will be 6x2, topped with 12mm ply, and that'll be that until i'm finally decided which way to go with the main shed roof whether it be half or whole sliding, got a few different ideas but not made a final decision yet, other than the frame will be 3 x 2 cls clad with shiplap.

will be juggling this with half a bathroom to tile aswell as work and overtime so as stated before will be a slow build for a while.

will pop a few updated picces up later.

Edited March 29, 2013 by tony

[tony]

shrubs removed aswell as some bigger than expected roots

nice view now they're gone

as far as i got before the rain came

and tomorrows forecast is good, got some work to do inside then got the whole afternoon to finish digging out and get it ready for the concrete, was thinking of doing that aswell but tomorrow nights forecast is supposed to be clear, so we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Edited March 29, 2013 by tony

[The Sailor]

Good luck Tony, looking forward to seeing your progress

Jim

[Gina]

Nice progress

[r3i]

Solid work there - it's amazing how much resistance a root structure presents.

Just out of interest what direction does the garden face?

[Gina]

12 x 6 ft seems a bit on the small side to me but I don't know all your restrictions. Mine is about 14 x 8 ft with 8x8 scope room (external - 7'6" square internal) and 6x6 warm room.

[tony]

Just out of interest what direction does the garden face?

north east, and its pretty cold when the wind blows

[tony]

12 x 6 ft seems a bit on the small side to me but I don't know all your restrictions. Mine is about 14 x 8 ft with 8x8 scope room (external - 7'6" square internal) and 6x6 warm room.

well i say 12 x 6 but its more like 12.5, 2m width, by the time i allow for the frame it'll be about 1850 so inside it'll be just over 6 feet.

[tony]

a bit more yesterday afternoon, finished digging out but having to rethink the base layout.

it doesnt look it in the pic but for the blockwork to clear the ground to the right, the left hand side will be near enough 500mm high, add the that the 2m height of the shed

concrete in the lefthand side, course of block going on that this afternoon thenwill follow on from that with the rest of the concrete and complete the blockwork tomorrow.

[Seafury]

Hi Tony whereabouts in Cornwall are you ?

Gordon

[tony]

Hi Tony whereabouts in Cornwall are you ?

Gordon

camborne

[Seafury]

• Thought I recognised the electricity pylon lol
  

Gordon

[Astrokev]

well i say 12 x 6 but its more like 12.5, 2m width, by the time i allow for the frame it'll be about 1850 so inside it'll be just over 6 feet.

As they say, it's not the size that matters - it's what you do with it that counts! 12 x 6 sounds fine to me Tony, and I'm sure will give you a great observatory. Good luck with your build and look forward to seeing plenty of pics.

Edited March 31, 2013 by Astrokev

[tony]

concrete finished but my back is feeling it today, theres about 14 " of concrete in there

turning my attention away from this now for a bit, i have an old broken and thin path that needs replacing so i am ripping up one side, putting in a new wall against the old stone wall and all the topsoil from the obsy base and pier hole when its dug out will be used for backfill, and finish the path at a later date.

wife works alternate weekends on nights and next weekend she works so it'll leave only saturday afternoon/evening, weather permitting of course, and i'm working sunday night so probably wont do a lot on sunday.

i said this would be slow, but i got plenty of time

Edited April 1, 2013 by tony

[r3i]

Back breaking work I'm sure but hopefully worth it in the end.

Will you be running a power cable to the observatory underground?

[tony]

Back breaking work I'm sure but hopefully worth it in the end.

Will you be running a power cable to the observatory underground?

two ways of getting power to the shed, either 26 metres of armoured to get from consumer unit or i just use an extension lead like i do now.

[midnight_sky_watcher]

Looking good Tony. St Austell here. I wish Id decided to build my own observatory now. I ordered a roll off roof and 2 peds from alexanders observatories last August........and Im still waiting. The footings have been in since last September.

Grant..

[tony]

Looking good Tony. St Austell here. I wish Id decided to build my own observatory now. I ordered a roll off roof and 2 peds from alexanders observatories last August........and Im still waiting. The footings have been in since last September.

Grant..

thats fast then have you not phoned them to ask where it is?

[tony]

well a nice warm and sunny afternoon yesterday so managed some of the blockwork

you can see the slope i have there now, so this is where i need to decide which of 3 routes to take,

go up another course, bearing in mind i still have 145mm joist and 12mm ply to go.

leave it as it is and dig out around the right hand side and put a path around that end below block level,

or a split level floor with the warmroom floor being higher than the scope half, the roof will be the same height all round though.

if i go one more course at least i can put the airbrick in, the other 2 puts paid to that.

hmmmm, cant do anything now till next weekend.

Edited April 7, 2013 by tony