Obs is Finished

[martin_h]

From the start this was going to be more like a 'Ground Force' garden makeover, building the observatory was the easy part! The amount of prep-work, measuring, leveling etc was huge(more like civil engineering) The back of our garden is about 2-1/2 foot higer than the front and its also higher than all the neighbours, it also slopes down right to left and there was a pond in the way.

So ..... I decided to deck the whole of the back of the garden and incorporate the obs base into the deck. All the base framework is 6"x2" treated construction grade timber and where it is raised off the ground 4"x4" posts were used, stood in MetPost feet and bolted to concrete pads ( the only bit that is resting on ground is the back right corner - the highest point)

The deck boards were layed first to give me a flat area to build the obs walls - this was done in 4 complete panels all from treated 4"x2" timber, all joints screwd using 4" screws - infact the whole thing is screwd together - no nails anywhere, I used about 700 assorted screws for the project.

The walls were duly stood up and clad on the outside using log lap cladding, the warm room is insulated with fibreglass mat and 1/2" ply cladding on internal walls. The roof is standard OSB and felt.

The decking handrails and spindles were fitted ( planning states that if a deck is more than 300mm above ground hand rails should be used) And the steps were made and fitted.

All i need to do now is have a massive tidy up and plant up the garden !