The Orange Room Starts

[Clockwork_Orange]

Got a fair bit done. Warm room insulation in place and got a few plaster boards screwed on.

Ive got part of the electrics done, also put a usb cable through ready for the hub on the scope room side.

I was a little bit out with the knife cut at the top, bit of filler should sort that

View from the scope room towards the warm room.

made a bit of a start in the scope room as well, managed to get on of the side walls boarded. found these nice chunky hook plates in Wickes for the anchor points for the roof tie down straps.

[Clockwork_Orange]

Evening all

Finished fixing the plasterboards today and got all the joints filled with any luck I'll finish the electrics off tomorrow and fit the skirting boards, I over ordered on the skirting when doing the hall doh!!!! 

Cutting These in fill pieces was a little awkward but the filler hides a multitude of sins. I've filled the roof void with a good 200mm layer of insulation 

Regards

John

[Clockwork_Orange]

Another days production closer to finishing, got the filler sanded, skirting boards fixed and the electrics connected.

power comes in via this fused spur switch

then feeds round to the sockets, decided to rig the lights off 3 pin plugs this plug feeds the bulb next to the fused spur

Scope room with skirting boards fitted, I had this left over from another project and thought it would help to seal up an insect entry gaps.

The warm room has a nice rosie glow to it, fitted skirting in here as well

I have a worktop and cupboards on order should be here on Wednesday, then a coat of paint, sort out the floor covering and should be good to go. I've picked up some garage door brushes to fit to the underside of the sliding roof, still have to fit them.

Regards

John

[dmahon]

Why not rig the lights off another switched FCU with a 5A fuse, then you can get rid of that short cable?

(if you have multiple bulbs you could use an unswitched 5A FCU and a traditional lighting circuit, or multiple switched 5A FCUs)

[Gina]

If you do run lighting off a 13A plug remember to use a 3A or 5A fuse in it.  Alternatively you can use a fused spur.  But I would recommend a garage comsumer unit with RCD and 16A power abnd 6A lighting breakers.  Be safe

[Clockwork_Orange]

Evening all

Thanks for the input Damhon and Gina, The garage does have its own RCD. I wanted to keep the electrics as simple as possible with just a ring main extension, I could run another ring for the lights if required and if you think it would be safer i'll alter it. i have swapped out the 13 amp fuses as Gina suggested and fitted 3 amps when wiring the plugs up, The fuse spur is on the inside of the obs by the entry door, my thinking being that i can turn it all on or off when entering or leaving.

regards

John

[dmahon]

I agree with just using the mains ring and then taking the lighting off there - there's little point wiring a separate consumer unit if you don't need to, especially if you only have the one light.

I'd just swap this (with exposed wiring and a 5A plug)

for this (with hidden wiring and a 5A fuse):

I'd say the latter is even simpler.

[Steve 1962]

..or, if you can't / don't want to do away with the exposed flex; one of these:

It's called a Fused Spur Flex Outlet - you can get them with and without the neon light.

[red dwalf]

looks like he has already fitted a switched fused spur further up the cable near the light so wouldn`t need another one, but you could have just a fused spur without switch, fitted with a 5 amp fuse then the cable coming out to the light can have a switch in it anywhere you want to fit it further up the cable.

great build by the way, very posh with skirting boards and everything, keep up the good work.

[Clockwork_Orange]

Seasons Greets All

I have got the first coat of paint on the walls and a bit of undercoating done, I've noticed a few drips of water on the floor this morning its tracking back along the aluminium channel that guides the wheel fitted to the apex. The fix I'll try is a few drainage holes drilled in the actual channeling with a bit of silicone sealant acting as a dam.

Here is where the water has found its way in. Guess it was always going to with hindsight.

Main Scope room with the first coat of paint

And the Warm room

Regards

John

[Stargazer33]

What a great build John! I've been following your progress for a little while now.

In light of recent events with some members roofs I was wondering about your roof securing system. Does your roof actually lock in place when closed? I ask because with the two webbing straps parallel with each other and at the same hight it looks like it could rock backwards and forwards given a strong gusty wind in the right direction. Webbing straps are strong but they can stretch and they could pivot around those anchor points.

[Clockwork_Orange]

Hi Bryan

Thanks for the compliments with regard to the build  . 

I was going to use toggle clamps originally, I actually purchased 4 of them with the intention of fitting one in each corner to lock the roof in place, but I didn't like them once fitted they didn't line up quite as well due to my roof cross bracing design and seemed to spring open slightly if the roof panel was vibrated. Now as the roof is extremely light, the whole thing I recon is under 100 kilo's. I was worried that the wind would fetch it off if not held down well, so I opted for the cargo straps instead.

These were the clamps originally purchased  ( anyone want to make me an offer I have 4. send me a PM)

I picked up a pack of 4 Cargo straps for just over a tenner from a company called James Lister who have a branch local to me, they are 5 mtrs long. I've attached a couple of the hook plates used on the walls to the trusses, this is so that I can use a pole with a hook to pull the roof open.

These are they

Once the straps are ratcheted down the roof is locked in place, I've pulled on those hooks with all I've got, and the roof is held firmly does not move even 1mm, The only worry I have is whether the actual straps pull the screws out of the timber cross braces fitted behind the plaster boards, and i may switch the hooks from the side walls down onto the concrete floor instead, once I've fitted the floor covering. The only weak point then would be the fixing points on the roof itself which I could change to a bolt going through the polycarbonate sheet and timber with a spreader plate then fitted on the outside. In view of the weather we have been having of late and the damage that Mark suffered in another thread on here, which I'm sure you must have seen, I will definitely air on the side of caution.

Thanks for raising this issue Bryan

Regards

John 

[Gina]

Over engineering can be a very good idea

[Clockwork_Orange]

Thanks Gina

You cant go far wrong with a belt and braces approach to these things, anything else would be crackers, talking of which I'm just having a bit of Wensleydale and crackers for my supper, washed down with a bit of Bombay Sapphire, very nice.

Regards

John 

[Clockwork_Orange]

Have completed a bit more over the last 2 days here are the photo's

Finished fitting the plastic trims to the outside of the roof frame, I had to get up there to drill the drainage holes in the Aluminium channel so whilst up finished the trims.

Also whilst up there, Santa had wrapped me up a nice little weather station, so that got fitted as well 

Then moved back inside and assembled the storage cupboards and fitted them in the Scope Room. Got these from Wickes budget range not to flash and pretty cheap they have a depth of 300mm so they dont pinch to much off the room. I had the worktop given to me happy days 

I also picked up a tube heater from Argos to, not fitted it yet though

Had enough worktop left over to fit across the Warm Room. I ripped the one fitted above the scope room cupboards down as the full depth at 600 was way to much, I'll use the left over to put a couple of shelves in the warm room later today

I've also made a start on the fitting of the draught / insect barrier brushes to the under side of the roof opening. I'll see if I can get the rest fitted later today.

I got 4 of these from tool station they are 2.5 mtrs long with 25mm bristle length and cost about £8 each. They are easy enough to cut, and the bristles can be trimmed as required with a pair of scissors.

As said providing I dont fall asleep after lunch I'll finish off fitting the draught excluders  and I've also got a bit of paint work to finish providing the temp is high enough.

Regards all

John