Category Archives: Projects

Catching up with progress, another late evening saw all of the timbers in to support the floor. Everything that rests on the concrete blocks is wrapped in DPC material to try to prevent it drawing up any damp from the … Continue reading →

A little progress so far this week. On Monday evening I finished wrapping the timbers in DPC, then cut most of the joists to length. My intention is to have them at 400mm spacing, but quite how they’re arranged depends … Continue reading →

During this week I made up all the shuttering for the three pier foundations and put it in place, backfilling around the outside to support it when it was filled with concrete. I also made up jigs to hold the … Continue reading →

Little progress this weekend thanks to having quite a few things to do on Saturday and coaching at a swimming meet on Sunday. I did however manage to drill holes (in both ends) of the lower blocks for each pier: … Continue reading →

Before I can make much more progress with the observatory I need to work out exactly what I’m going to do with the piers. My initial plan had been to get a local steel fabrication company to make up the … Continue reading →

Not a lot of progress on Saturday. I mainly got the shuttering set up for the centre pads for the long sides, but whilst I had the digger there I also excavated the holes for the three pier foundations: On … Continue reading →

What finer way could a blazing hot sunny day be spent than barrowing and shovelling a tonne of concrete? ???? This Sunday I started the day by cutting some of the outer floor timbers to length and digging the previously-mentioned … Continue reading →

Having decided that I can wrap the timber in DPC material to protect it from damp, this Saturday afternoon I lowered the shuttering for the two concrete blocks that I’d already put in place so that the highest one will … Continue reading →

Though I’m not 100% confident in my welding skills, I’m coming round to the idea of making the frame for the rolling roof section from a square section steel tube. I think in the end it will be lighter, less … Continue reading →

Once I’d mowed the grass in the planned area I wasn’t entirely happy about the steepness of the slope. The floor deck will be built off six concrete pads and the pad at the bottom of the slope would have … Continue reading →