Oct 24

Enclosed Verandah

STATUS: COMPLETE

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Finally it has started. After being on my to-do list for about 5-6 years I have officially started the build.
This project will be done is about 3 stages.
Stage 1: The main Framework.
Stage 2: The roofing.
Stage 3: Enclosing with fly-screen, blinds and a rear door.

Stage 1 started on October 24th 2017 with the arrival of the wood that was purchased 2.5 weeks prior.

These are the designs, by myself, done in Sketch-up.
Treated wood framework with alternating sheets of Colorbond steel and UV blocking Transparent sheets at 2 to 1 ratio.

Day # 1:

The area at the start of Day 1.

The area at the end of day 1. Most of this day was moving all the wood from the drop off in the front driveway to the rear.

Then waiting for the power to come back on (Planned outage for the electric crews to connect new properties being built around the corner).

Progress: main ledger bolted to house with first post bolted to the concrete and the ledger. Also drilled and dyna-bolted the other 4 post holders into the concrete. And removed part of the downpipe for modification after the framework is done (need to change from round to rectangle fittings to get past the ledger):

Day # 2:

Day 2 had some delays from rain. Achieved was the bolting down of all 4 posts along the outer side, bolting to the top of those the outer ledger and the outer two beams. Some prep work for the rest of the beams.

Day # 3:

Day 3 saw all the beams cut and put up in place, some adjustment of their cut to square up the structure. Then 2 rows of 10 crossbeams cut and screwed into place ready for the roofing to go on the following day.    Stage 1 Completed.

 

Day # 4:

Day 4 I managed just over half the roofing. Changing the plans slightly I opted for re-positioning of the transparent sheets (these are UV block poly-carbonate). I found that the light was already low nearer the house so I moved the poly closer. This order of sheets became: 1 Iron, 2 Poly, 2 Iron, 2 Poly then 3 Iron. The last 3 Iron sheets had to be done the next day.

After the first sheet went up I put some flashing to seal the slight gap due to the drop in the roof angle. Sheets were tucked snug under the guttering from the house and angled away for the rain to run off.

Day # 5:

A mostly short day to finish off the last 3 sheets of Iron and some general tidy up and pressure cleaning of the concrete slab. Stage 2 Completed.

STAGE # 3:

Although stage 3 did not start until mid December we had spent almost every afternoon and a few days enjoying the shelter just this much offered us, warm sunny days and a few stormy and rainy ones too. It was very rewarding to be outside under this achievement both physically and mentally for me. 

The enclosing mesh was simply made from shade cloth cut and stapled to wood frames and rolled in the same way one assembles a canvas for painting. these frames then screwed onto the posts and beams to fill the gaps, the smaller gaps on the edges we opted for some clear patterned plastic, which we later discovered fractalises light at night like a kaleidoscope.

For access to the Shed and the chooks I made two large panels on hinges with slide bolts to lock then in place. Final touches saw a small shelf and some new wiring and lights along with a couple of colored LED string lights for ambiance at night.

We also added several hanging crystals, beads, wind chimes and some hanging plants. Also in the far corner I made a new planting box for our poor ferns that were becoming pot-bound.

Project: COMPLETED!

Totally satisfied with the outcome of this project.

Jun 06

The Shed

Man Cave

Man Cave

The Shed Project: To turn a basic 2-car garage into a work-shed for all my electronic projects and gear.

Status: Complete!

The shed itself is a 2-car garage, separated from the house itself, with a veranda on the side to cover the side door and a sink (the previous owner-builder had a boat and cleaned fish there) The veranda had a single tube fluro light over the sink. The inside was plain brick with peaked roof with corrugated sheets and basic insulation between the sheets and the framework. Electrical wiring was pretty woeful with things that should not have been allowed to be done.

20150808_150312_800x450

The Shed

The first major step was to fix the electrical wiring: There was a single feed on from the main meter-box on the house to the shed via an underground conduit, only a few cm under the surface! (electrical no-no # 1) where it went from one side of the shed to the other and then into the main inside light switch. It was here that all the rest of the wires were joined together feeding two power points and the outside light (electrical no-no #2). Since the conduit all these wires travelled in was only a 20mm one they all had their secondary insulation stripped off in order to fit (electrical no-no #3). Also none of this wiring had any RCD protection! (electrical no-no #4). Luckily I never had any electrical accidents previously…

I have now had the entire shed re-wired: the main feed now goes into a new switchbox containing a main circuit breaker. This feeds the power to 3 separate circuits each with their own RCBO (a combined circuit breaker and RCD safety switch). One is for the lights: here I now have two single fluro lights outside under the veranda, the one over the sink and another over the side door. Inside I had installed 6 points for main lighting around a centre point for a ceiling fan, plus a single light point over the main workbench on a separate switch. For Power: I have two separate circuits, one for each side of the shed, each having two sets of power points.

The second major step was installing a proper ceiling, as one of my main issues working out there was dust and crap blowing in and settling on everything in there, also the was an issue with rats that had made a nest or two in between the iron sheets and the insulation, when working outside at night I could hear the buggers scurrying around and could see the silver insulation lining moving. This also meant rat droppings and tufts of fibreglass insulation they’d dig out would drop down on things… As far as the rats go, after employing an electronic rodent deterrent that plugs into a power point and a large rat-trap or three, combined with a few week-long periods of heavy rains and flooding of the back yard that meant the only food available was in the traps… I think that issue is solved for now…

The ceiling has now been installed with the help of a good friend, who also shares the workshed for projects, on one Saturday afternoon. In all 15 sheets of 2400x1200x10mm Gyprock have been put up and I’ve been slowly going around and sealing the gaps in between the sheets and the brickwork. With the ceiling up I’ve also installed the ceiling fan and all the lights. Now its much more comfortable and clean out there!

I now have 3 workbenches in (all made out of house doors! – cheap, solid and good size) one on the right side is the main workbench for soldering etc, two more on the left side end-to-end to hold the CNC machinery (3d-Printer, Laser-Cutter and soon the Pick and Place assembler machine) and also the end next to a planned server-rack for a computer screen and keyboard workstation for working on the servers and any computer related projects out there.

Thanks!

— Radan.

Inspiration Corner

Inspiration Corner