The window sections on all four walls have now been replaced. The corrugated sheet is both stronger and allows through more light.
The scaffold sheet on the window section of the other side wall has now blown through and so has been replaced with corrugated plastic sheet.
The window sections on all four walls have now been replaced. The corrugated sheet is both stronger and allows through more light.
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The scaffold sheet on the side windows has deteriorated so I have replaced it with more of the plastic corrugated sheet.
New timber is added above and below the window to fix the sheets. The end walls of the shed have started to leak during rainfall. The regular movement of the sheet due to the wind has caused the middle of the scaffold sheet cells to blow out.
Just a few more things to complete before I can start on the boat
The next big job is the floor. I need a level floor which is clean, dry and dust free so I had to cover the existing surface with something. I looked at lots of options including rubber, concrete and timber but they were all very expensive. (Well over £1000)
In the end I opted for recycled carpet tiles over a compacted sand base. Why - because they are cheap. I got enough tiles (650) for the whole floor for £120 delivered. They are reclaimed from offices. They aren't pretty but they are good quality and include a layer of underlay so overall they are great to work on. (See suppliers for more information). You will recall that the site wasn't level so now I had to level it out before laying the floor covering. This is a hard physical job involving moving a lot of the road planings around the shed to achieve a level floor. To start with i fitted a beam down the middle of the floor level with the ground beam at the bottom of the walls. I then used a straight beam to give me a level between the two and moved the road stone to get a rough level. This layer was then compacted with a whacker plate. Then a layer of compacted sand followed by a polythene damp proof membrane (DPM) I then laid the carpet tiles using double sided carpet tape to stick them to the DPM. You may think this is a bit dodgy but it does work. Think of a wet beach. Cars can drive on it so, providing everything is well compacted it does provide a solid floor. While I still had the elevated platform and before starting on the floor I installed the lights and power I got a local builder to fix the roof sheets as I am not confident or experienced enough to work on roofs.
There is a layer of 2.5mm foam under the metal sheets. This prevents condensation on the underside of the roof sheets. The walls have now been covered in scaffold sheeting with battens to keep it in place. Finally I am in the dry and out of the wind. After exploring many options I decide to redo the roof in corrugated metal sheeting. This will withstand the wind better and is lighter than covering the roof in plywood.
Rhino Steel Cladding (see suppliers page) have cheap sheets which are ends of rolls. The finish colour may vary but they are galvanized and perfectly usable. I needed to strip the roof and install timber purlins for the sheeting. I borrowed a mobile platform so that this could be done from below. You can also see that the end walls have been partly clad in scaffold sheet secured with battens. The rest will be finished when the walls are clad. In these photos you can see the completed wooden walls. The structure is now very stable.
Before I can get the sheeting on the end and side walls we have some very strong winds (50mph gusts). These get under the roof and rip most of it off. You can also see the water forming pools on the floor. These are from direct rain and from water running off the surrounding area. I installed a land drain around the base of the walls to catch this run off and to carry the roof water away from the shed. Today we are going to lift the entire roof section with a crane and install the legs. This is a tricky operation. The frame has been braced with additional timbers and ropes. The legs are bolted on to the roof and fixed to the ground beam.
If this went wrong I was going to end up with a large pile of firewood. Initially the structure is very unstable and needs the crane to provide support while the braces are added. We were fortunate to have a calm sunny day. Fosdyke is very windy so I had to watch the forecast to get the right day. Fortunately by the end of the day I had the basic structure in place and some of the wall panels installed to provide stability. The ground beam is installed and secured. The roof trusses are then linked together to give the basic structure.
The whole structure is then covered in scaffold sheeting to form the roof. This is only the roof section. Later I am going to add legs to raise the overall height. The area is now cleared and I can begin preparing the site. The ground is a made up of a thick layer of stone and brick rammel covered by a layer of road planings. In other words it is very solid! I marked out the site and set out a series of pads to support the the wooden beams that will form the base of the walls. The pads are set to support the joints in the beam. From the photos you will see that the site is not level. There is a 450mm drop from one corner to the other so some pads are in holes and others are built up. I will dig out a trench between the pads to take the ground beams. Look at the holes and you will also see the layers of stone, brick and road scalpings. Not easy to dig without an SDS chisel. The ground beams are fixed into the ground using spiral ground anchors. While waiting for the site to be cleared I borrowed some space in a nearby warehouse to build the roof frames for the shed. First start with a pile of big bits of wood. Then cut them up into lots of small bits of wood.
The boat will be built at Fosdyke Yacht Haven in Lincolnshire. I have agreed to rent some space to build a temporary boat shed. The space is approx 17m x 9m on which I will build a 16m x 8m shed.
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