Continued progress has been somewhat hampered by the horrible weather here - but it has been happening - honest! I haven't been able to post as a result of a problem with my laptop power lead though, and I have had to wait for a replacement to finally be delivered.
Now it is in it is time for a catch-up...
It seems like an age ago that during one of the desperately brief dry spells I managed to get the building firmly screwed down onto the nice new floor joists!
Yeh, yeah, I know that in the above pic there is a gap, and a top course of brick still has to be laid under the sides, but my main concern has been to get the roof permanently in place and waterproof as soon as possible - I couldn't really entertain climbing up and doing that until the wobbly walls were firmly upright and secure!
Tongue and groove boards are a bit of an extravagance, but I really want the visible inner roof to look a bit more appropriate than any of the common and cheaper sheet materials available - especially as I intend to hang light fittings inside and underneath the canopy! The boards are rather slender and terribly lightweight, but with the budget (ha, hah!) limitations I am quite happy with them?!
There was one slightly awkward issue arising from using the lightweight boards in that they could only be locally purchased in multi-packs, and guess what? - I was one plank short of a complete roof! Never mind, for while it will admittedly be a bit on the delicate side, the remainder of the bundle can at least be chopped up and used for a dainty daggerboard valence.
Selecting options for a suitable top cover certainly caused some anxiety: I admit to an almost pathological distrust of that horrid, next to useless tarred felt stuff, and I'm particularly concerned that for this job the rearward pitch of the station roof would make regular visual inspections an absolute pain. so was not prepared to even consider it! I had originally hoped to acquire some nice, long lasting, practically maintenance free wriggly tin, but it seems that not only are there no traders that supply the stuff locally, but they all carry good stocks of the bitumen variety! I have not heard of anything good said about the latter and when I did try lifting a sheet, I found it to be surprisingly heavy, as well as having precious little torsional strength - so not a sensible option there either?! Somebody recommended a rubber based sheeting material that is designed to be glued down, (can't remember what it is called now) but nearly had kittens when noting how much it would cost - which would end up not that shy of a brand-new shed! Coated steel, "box section" sheets seem to be the perfect and preferred solution - but yet again, the price is a bit too silly for me when I looked it up?!
Rescue finally came with an offer of a freebie: A green and white, "cheapo" metal shed from a well-known outlet, had been partly assembled when it was blown down in a gale! Some of the wreckage was sorted and stored, and it turned out that there was sufficient salvageable material left to cover our roof - and even provide a bit extra to hang over the "blind" and slightly more vulnerable rear wall too!
Out came the trusty old scaffold tower...
Nothing is ever that straightforward though, is it?...
It was only after laying it all out that I realised that the sheets had been rolled in three different sizes - with the long ribs spaced to suit the original front, (with doorway) sides and rear, as well as the roof (with overhang)! All sheets had pre-drilled holes top, bottom and across the centres - with none of course lining up with my own purlins! It was a lot of fun finding sheets that would not only align with each other, but after cutting, would lap over and cover the open holes.
I also found that none of the sheets, even when theoretically matching, liked being overlapped twice! It probably didn't help that every sheet was already a bit crinkly as a result of the earlier gale damage.
In the end the only way to ensure a good seal was to use some self-adhesive flashing tape over the long joints. Embarrassingly badly applied, it may not be pretty, but from past experience I am quite confident that it is sufficiently durable.
Besides, it will only be seen by the birdies in them trees - or some poor fool who might find themselves caught in the brambles!!
Pete.
