Up and over observatory - any experience of?

[A40farinagolf]

I'm designing my observatory and still at the ideas stage, and I'm a bit limited for space.

One idea I've had is to build a roofless shed which is suitably braced internally, I would then buy a 2nd hand up and over garage door (either steel or probably GRP) and frame to become a removeable roof- there are loads on fleabay to choose from.

The frame, tracks and springs would be mounted to the outside of the shed. When closed over the observatory the door would be pointing slightly downwards for drainage (say 10 degrees below horizontal) In effect it would be a pent roof shed with a garage door instead of a roof.

To open up the roof I'd go inside the observatory and in effect pivot the garage door by 90 degrees to behind the shed. (This action would be the same as closing the garage door if it was being as it was originally intended. 

The locking mechanism would still work by engaging the pushrods into the side frame and locking the mechanism from the inside. 

I haven't thought about the geometry of weather sealing yet but I'm keen to hear if anyone else has used this method.

I'd even thought of designing it such that another small shed could be linked to it to create a warm room.

[nightvision]

Sounds like a great idea, don't go for the steel or you may have problems with condensation. 

[A40farinagolf]

Second hand GRP doors seem to be rarer and more expensive so might end up with insulated steel (kingspan type stuff) - Hopefully that would prevent condensation - What do you think?

[mwayne]

Do you have to worry about snow or ice accumulation? If so will the roof come off with the extra weight?

[A40farinagolf]

Do you have to worry about snow or ice accumulation? If so will the roof come off with the extra weight?

Snow and ice is not an issue for me as winters tend to be very mild, the gulf stream protects us from most of the cold, we get occasional snowfall but tends to thaw quickly.

What do you think of my concept to reuse a 2nd hand garage door?

Constructive feedback would be gratefully received.

[Pan Euro]

Most up and over doors fit within a frame which going to make sealing it water tight a real problem. unless I'm missing something, which is quite likely, I cannot see how you are going to keep the inside watertight. A drawing of what you hope to achieve would really help.

Ed

[A40farinagolf]

Most up and over doors fit within a frame which going to make sealing it water tight a real problem. unless I'm missing something, which is quite likely, I cannot see how you are going to keep the inside watertight. A drawing of what you hope to achieve would really help.

Ed

I agree sealing might be an issue and I haven't really thought about that aspect in any great detail - one thought would be to make the door overhang on all 4 sides of the shed frame when it's in the closed position (forming a roof.)

I'll give some more thought to it and may add a simple diagram tomorrow.

My main question is whether there is anyone out there who has already tried this method - so far I don't think anyone has. If it works I should copyright / patent it.

[Stargazer33]

I can see a sectional up and over door working quite well. If you allowed for a reasonable overhang on all sides. The single section doors tend to overhang the frame when open (I believe this will be the closed position in your design?), so you end up loosing a foot or so of 'roof'. Of more concern is the fact that they don't pivot from the top but from the middle and then run fully up in the tracks. This would mean that you could only have a half wall on the side that the door would be fixed. When you 'closed' the roof (in effect opened the garage door), there would be a large gap in one wall, unless you had a drop down wall on that side which you could then close. Doable, but a lot more work/effort.

[A40farinagolf]

Hi,

Good point - I'd thought of that and looking at the geometry of the garage door on my house the bottom edge of the door swings out initially and then moves upwards prior to traversing horizontally along the rails.

If I left a gap between the door and the side of the shed this clearance would allow the door to start moving / closing over the edge of the shed without hitting it.

I'd also thought of a sectional door but I'm unsure whether the joins would be weatherproof when almost horizontal as they are designed to be waterproof when the door is vertical.

[A40farinagolf]

Lots of view but not many responses so I'll presume that no one else has tried my suggestion.

If I go for the up and over design I'll let you know.

[yesyes]

Hmmm, it might be doable but I'm not sure it's worth the effort.

Also, the more you keep a distance between door down position and the obsy wall, the less the door will reach over the obsy when it's horizontal. this and the width of the door would limit the size of your scope room.

Have you considered having the roof roll over the warm room? This method has been tried and tested by many, mostly the ones who don't have enough space for external track for the roof (including myself).

[nytecam]

Could you do a sketch of your garage roof design - can't visualise the description :-)

Nyte