Bizibilder's (New) Roll off roof Observatory build

[spaceboy]

Great build Roger!!

[Gina]

Very good I used 6mm plywood for my ROR but with more bracing.

[Bizibilder]

Todays work was mainly on the "front" wall - fixing the door, its lintel and the planking above it. Lots of cutting and fitting. Also trimmed the roof rubber - looks quite neat now! And spent an hour with the paintpot and brush goin round finishing all the cut ends and making sure everything has had two coats. Last job was to run a bead of silicone round the indide base of the walls - mainly to keep the creepy-crawlies out.

(By the way - if anybody is considering using a rubber roof and would like a small sample of the stuff I used drop me a PM and I will send you a piece from the offcuts.)

Todays pics:

[BlueAstra]

That's a very impressive build! The effort will be well rewarded now the observing season is creeping up on us. Very professional!

[dmahon]

Now it's putty much finished, how much do you think it cost (so others can compare self build to ready bought)?

[tony]

looking great roger, you must be ready to move in soon.

regarding the roof rubber, it sure is a fair bit of weight, mine was 23.5kg.

[Astrokev]

Hi Roger. Have you fitted any kind of seal between the roof and the top of the "front" wall? I notice the roof overhangs slightly when closed, which I presume keeps direct rain from entering, but have you put anything on the inside, or have you simply left a gap?

Thanks

Kevin

[Bizibilder]

Thanks for your kind comments folks!

Dmahon - I have kept the bills so I will be able to cost the project (scary!!).

Kevin - Yes the front (door) end does overhang and will have a "step" or "sill" attached. There will also be a porch (Bizibilder's speciality!) so the theory is the water will run off the sill and hit the porch about 3" from the lower wall, this should be enough to keep the water out. As for a proper "seal" - I'm still thinking about that one. Maybe some brush seals or the simpler rubber strip garage door seals - but there is still quite a bit to do before I get to them.

Just had a clear out and sweep up in the garage - now time to sort and cut the next batch of bits before another "build" session.

[Tinker1947]

These people do seals mainly they deal with Sash Widows but there are some you might be interested in,,,,,,,

http://www.mightonproducts.com/products/sash-window-hardware/brushpile

[Bizibilder]

Thanks for that Tinker - I'll have a look.

Spent the rest of today pre-cutting all the bits that I could think of - porch, partition wall for the "warm space", sill, spacers within the roof for the "hold down bolts", floor joists etc

Only one pic today - it shows the cross section of the "sill" mentioned above that will go above the join in the front wall. The top slopes and underneath there is a groove to prevent run-back of any water,

[Scott]

That really is a tidy, professional looking finish. No doubt your very pleased with it.

I was going to suggest a veggie patch underneath it but you probably don't want bean/choko vines growing all over your nice new obs .

[Bizibilder]

Its just rained hard for about 10 mins and I'm glad to report not a single drop inside the building - and that's before I have fitted all the rainproofing around all the nooks and corners where it may get in .

[Astrokev]

[Bizibilder]

Todays efforts - mainly the Porch. Designed to keep the rain away from the door. This had to be "fitted" to the original posts that were about 1/2" out of square (one nearer the shed front than the other) so it was a day of cut and try. Seems to have gone OK. I have also put the "sill" over the door end. The forecast is for rain all day tomorrow so it should be a good test of watertightness. (Luckily I had remembered to order enough rubber sheet to complete this job! )

A few pics:

[MikeP]

Very nice Roger. That should keep all but the very worst weather away from the door.

It has been a great thread to follow.

Mike

[Gina]

Todays efforts - mainly the Porch. Designed to keep the rain away from the door. This had to be "fitted" to the original posts that were about 1/2" out of square (one nearer the shed front than the other) so it was a day of cut and try. Seems to have gone OK. I have also put the "sill" over the door end. The forecast is for rain all day tomorrow so it should be a good test of watertightness. (Luckily I had remembered to order enough rubber sheet to complete this job! )

My obsy is a bit out of square too but it works and few would actually notice Anyway, yours looks very nice

[malc-c]

Love the porch - have enjoyed this thread a lot

[Bizibilder]

Weather report:

It has been raining for a few hours overnight, some of it very heavy, and the observatory is apparently bone dry inside. Even the porch has done its job with its step only "half wet". I will have a close inspection later, including all the nooks and corners where water may try to get in (eg along the runners etc) and make sure there are no hidden surprises!

EDIT:

There were a couple of hidden surprises!! It had stopped raining so I was able to take a very close look round with a good torch and the camera. The Observatory is 99% bone dry, the roof and runners are 100% dry and all is fine with them. There is, however, a problem with the corners where the "back" wall joins the side walls (non-door end) - both of these joins show the ingress of water.

I'm not too worried as neither of these joints had the outside covering that I intend to fit - two pieces of batten glued together to make a 90° strip that will cover the vertical joins on all the corners of the building. These should overlap each wall by about 40-50mm and should keep the water out. The "fence side" seems to be spattered with muddy splashback from the rain - again the build is not complete as I intend to remove the offending soil and put pavers around the building on all four sides. lowering the surrounding surface by around 2". This should be enough to stop this problem.

A few pics to show the problems:

A wet observatory:

The step and porch - doing its job!

General inside views to each corner:

The lawn side problem - inside and out:

The fence side problem - Inside and out:

[Astrokev]

Your suggested tweaks will I'm sure cure the problem. I like the porch Roger, though I think I may have considered doing the roof to mirror the main obsy roof, if there was enough room to do this (which there may not have been of course!). This isn't a criticism - you've done a great job and I agree with Malc; this has been a good thread to follow. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the fit out.

[Bizibilder]

Thank you Kevin - the porch roof has to slope that way as it forms part of the "door end" run off by taking any rainwater from the roof section and helping it find its way downhill away from the roof gap.

I'm glad I did my "water inspection" so soon after it had stopped raining as, two hours later, all the wet bits had dried out and were invisible!

[Gina]

That's looking good Roger I had minor leaks in my obsy at first - easily cured though. That was with the horizontal rain we get here at times

[Bizibilder]

Been playing with the metalwork gear today as its been raining. I've made the pins that will lock the roof down when closed. Just got to make the "holes" for them to go into and the roof should be secure from blowing away in the wind .

[Bizibilder]

Spent most of today finishing off and installing the roof pins - two in each end that "make" when the roof closes. I also made a start on the corner "protection". Not sure whether to put a bead of sealant under these when I install them? It will make the corners waterproof but may allow water to be "held" inside the corner pieces which may lead to problems - one to think about.

Pics for todays efforts:

Finishing off the pins:

Installation (The last pic shows how they "block" a fully open roof):

Corner piece:

[Gina]

Looks good Roger

[Bizibilder]

A lovely sunny Bank Holiday so I pottered about with a few jobs that needed doing before the plywood lining can go in. Basically putting some battens in the corners to give me something to screw the plywood to.