50/50 Roll off build

[Gina]

Oh dear, I seem to have hi-jacked your thread Yawning Angel - sorry about that ?

[Astrokev]

1 hour ago, Gina said:

Oh dear, I seem to have hi-jacked your thread Yawning Angel - sorry about that ?

You ought to start a new project thread Gina ?..... see how many threads you can keep in the air at the same time ?

[Yawning Angel]

1 hour ago, Gina said:

Oh dear, I seem to have hi-jacked your thread Yawning Angel - sorry about that ?

It's all good ?

[Gina]

I shall start a new thread when I get to doing repairs.  Meanwhile, the rain stopped this afternoon and the sun popped out for a while, gone in again now though.  Probably getting ready for the next batch of rain...  I was able to pop out to the observatory and have another look.  The plywood has pretty much disintegrated in a small area and the rubber is wet underneath - I was able to pull down an area several inches wide and a couple of feet long.  Looking on top I can't yet see where the wet is getting in but it's more than wicking - there was wet on the floor in that corner, though not much, so it's not a big leak considering all the rain we've had lately.  I could see that the rubber is no longer glued to the plywood all over.  I shall have to have the barge board off that quarter and the batten off the end of the roof above the guttering so that I can fold the rubber back and see what I can see.  That will need reasonable weather but at least the forecast is better for next week.

[Yawning Angel]

Good luck with it Gina!

[Gina]

Thank you Alex ?  I've decided to start a new thread about it now and let you have your thread back.

[Astrokev]

Hi Alex. Just looking back through your thread. What have you done to cover or seal the sides of the roof, and the overlap between the rolling and fixed roof (when the roof is closed) to help keep wind and rain out? This isn't very easy to see in the pictures and I can't find any description of how you've done this. Cheers

[Yawning Angel]

Hiya, it’s a good question:

There is a GRP drip trim along the main beam of the rolling roof (the black bit), under it is essentially an EPDM strip, attached with clout nails. This strip covers the rails and gap

Hopefull the picture shows it, but I can dive out later and take a better one

 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Yawning Angel

[Yawning Angel]

I finally made a path, after destroying the lawn ?

Skimmed the mud / grass off, which was heavier work than anticipated due to being waterlogged.

Once it was cleared I laid ground matting with anchor loops to hold it down. Still loads of it left from the initial groundwork. 

Edged it with Everedge (love the stuff, but not the price!) then covered with plum slate to match elsewhere - but realised I had no where near enough. Luckily a mate is heading to the builders merchant tomorrow and can pick up a few more bags for me. 

[Astrokev]

7 hours ago, Yawning Angel said:

Hiya, it’s a good question:

There is a GRP drip trim along the main beam of the rolling roof (the black bit), under it is essentially an EPDM strip, attached with clout nails. This strip covers the rails and gap

Hopefull the picture shows it, but I can dive out later and take a better one

 

 

Got it, thanks. How have you dealt with the gap at the front, and at the overlap with the fixed roof? 

Edited February 10, 2019 by Astrokev

[Yawning Angel]

Let me see if I can explain - I don't have picture showing it so here goes...

The warm room wall top beam lines up with the support rail for the front edge of the rolling roof, so when closed there is very little gap.

Along with this, the rolling roof overhangs the warm by about 25cm and slopes down with a drip trim on the leading edge. The War roof has a 25mm high lip where it meets the rolling roof all of which seems to keep it bone dry - however, if it shows signs in the future, another rubber trim or some brushes will sort it. I'm hoping to leave it and let the air move a bit

I'm still seeing a little rain along the rails under the rolling roof, but I know it's source and will staunch it once the weather improves and I can get the final top coating on the roof (the rolling roof its dropping some of it's rain onto the rails)

I'll see if I can show it in sketchup, if that'd help?

[JamesF]

Looks like the weather in Lancashire was rather more pleasant than it's been here this weekend :)

James

[Yawning Angel]

Friday night / Saturday morning we had gales, and I did worry about the obs! All was good, and Saturday was ok to get stuff done - I think the photo caught the only 5 minutes of sunshine all day ?

[Astrokev]

Thanks Alex for the good explanation. Just thought it'd be helpful to hear your approach as we've all seen issues of one sort or another with water ingress during our builds, and anything we can glean from each other has to be good ?

[JamesF]

Indeed so.  I still have to sort mine so the rain can't run back along the rails and drip into the scope room.

James

[Yawning Angel]

If I can't be sure I've stopped it, I'm thinking of running a small bead around the scope rooms rim, to dissuade anything that hits the rails. Just a few mm should do it

[Gina]

Regarding weatherproofing where the roll-off-roof and warm room roofs meat when ROR closed, these photos from my build may be useful.

[Yawning Angel]

Floored it!

Started early today with the goal of getting the flooring done. A second pair of hands handling the 18mm ply really helped, and it was done by 3pm

So, the floor buildup is simply 75mm polystyrene insulation between the joists, vapour barrier over that and ply on top

Some details to finish in ply, around the pier and cable ducts, but that’s for later

Finishing in daylight was nice, and meant there could be photos:

Scope room from the warm room

Warm room from the scope room

Warm room / supply dump

The view N-E-S

Hoping to make a rough align later to set the pier head. Fingers crossed ?

[Astrokev]

Great stuff. 

I like the pano !

[JamesF]

Well done on getting the floor down.  A big step forward

James

[Yawning Angel]

First time the roof has been open under a clear sky!

Polemaster rough alignment ready to fix the pier head in the next few days. Not quite first light, but getting closer and closer!

and...stars!

[Gina]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee............  ?

[JamesF]

Woo!

James

[Yawning Angel]

Sort of proper first light :

so happy ? 

[JamesF]

Fantastic :)

James