Roselea

Category: Build Progress

  • Ten Sheets Of Plywood Is Up On Roof!

    Today, we started in earnest in putting up the roof boards all over the roof! We started on the “A” section and proceeded to do ten sheets of plywood (12mm thick structural grade) boards. We had four posh quality ones (with hardly any surface faults and also made from a harder timber plus having six layers instead of four!) went on first along the front edge of the roof, connecting to the Fascia board and hence being visible from underneath. The other six “ordinary” boards filled in the next three rows, going up towards the Skylight.

    Ten Sheets Of Plywood Is Up On Roof!

    Roof-boarding-Day-1-10-Done


    Some of the rafters needed a little bit of work with the planer to get rid of a protruding plywood edge so the surface of the rafter is smooth and lots of area for the glue to spread over and provide a strong joint.
    We also made a heap of seven foot ‘foot rails’ that we have screwed down to each board so we can clamber up and down the roof safely with the other boards and tools etc.

    Tomorrow, we will move the mobile platform right into the corner of the roof between “A” and “B” and start measuring and fitting appropriate pieces to do the valley and finish off the “A” section of roof and go around onto “B” and continue around the roof.

  • Preparation and Designing Work Flow Procedures to Start Covering the Roof with Plywood Boards

    This afternoon, we prepared the tools and equipment, like rolling the mobile scaffolding platform back to the beginning of the “A” section of the roof. Plus also get the compressed air buffer tank installed under the platform on its own little shelf so we can have several air-lines going up to the platform and have just one main feed from the compressor in our workshop. We brought out our planer, various cutting tools and also brought around a half a dozen of the “smart” plywood boards so we are ready to start covering the roof with lots and lots of sheets of plywood.
    First, we made sure that the rafters were not proud of the Fascia (by trimming any excess off using the planer), then cut a little notch just behind the Fascia board, on the end of each rafter timber itself to allow for the installation of a conduit or a watering system (to be done later on). And then planed off a thin layer of the weathered surfaces to maximise a good glue bond between the plywood and the rafters.
    That pretty much concluded today’s work, we have got a plan and know what steps to take to do the job and tomorrow, we will start in Ernest to cover up the roof – At Last!

  • Last Three Downpipe Channels Permanently Installed

    Today, we finished off doing the last three Downpipe Channels and permanently fitted into place with glue and screws. These were along the back of the building, on IJ, LM and MN corners.

    Last Three Downpipe Channels Permanently Installed

    MN-Downpipe-installed

    Last Three Downpipe Channels Permanently Installed

    LM-Downpipe-installed



    This concludes the six modules that are fully integrated into our building construction, fitting into the roof structure and the Fascia. The only other two Downpipe Channels are temporary and won’t be installed until we are ready to put on the roof boards around on the “P” and where the Conservatory would be constructed later on and hence why these two are temporary to provide an end cap to the guttering system in the meantime.

  • Final Fascia Boards Done With Slot Plus Two More Downpipe Channels Fully Installed

    We resumed the task of cutting the slot into the Fascia boards, the final stretch going from “E” to “H” sections to complete the full circuit.
    We also fully installed two more Downpipe Channels, one for the DE corner and the other one at the GH intersection.

    Final Fascia Boards Done With Slot Plus Two More Downpipe Channels Fully Installed

    Slot-in-E-and-DE-downpipe-installed

    Final Fascia Boards Done With Slot Plus Two More Downpipe Channels Fully Installed

    Slot-in-F

    Final Fascia Boards Done With Slot Plus Two More Downpipe Channels Fully Installed

    Slots-in-G-and-H-with-Downpipe



    Tomorrow, we will conclude doing the final three Downpipe Channels around the back of the building, on IJ, LM and MN corners and that will be that at last! We could be doing the roof boards and start covering up the roof next – yippee!!

  • Working Along the Front ..

    For the last day of June, we had a long day of work, continuing the task of cutting the slot into the Fascia boards, this time, along the front. We did section “A” and section “B” then fitting very carefully, gluing and screwing the Downpipe Channel module, making sure the sloping bottom base layer is exactly at the correct height in relation to the two incoming gutter base boards (to be fitted later on) and going downhill towards to the plastic downpipe itself.

    Working Along the Front ..

    Slot-in-fasica-A

    Working Along the Front ..

    Slot-in-fasica-B

    Working Along the Front ..

    AB-Downpipe-Screwed-and-Glued



    After lunch, we had to level the sandy soil along the front of the Front Door Porch (section “C”) so we could get our mobile platform moved along there. we managed to move the platform sideways (at a 90degrees right angle) before resuming along the front. We did the “C” section alright, apart from having to remove some of the stainless screws that were right where the slot is going (we put them back afterwards!) but the fun started when we needed to “turn” the corner to do the “D” and “E” sections.
    We were running out of room to move the bottom half (the actual metal scaffolding part and its wheels), we needed to avoid the fence and the last fence post. It was tricky because the wheels are hard nylon 6inch castors so the plywood strips were needed to support them from digging into the soft sandy soil. We managed to do it .. eventually – phew!

    We concluded the day in doing section “D” (a nice short one!) and then the outer corner patch.
    Working Along the Front ..

    Slots-in-fasicas-C-D-


    So we now have done, almost, all three sides of the house and have only the last four sections (“E” to “H”) to go and put in the final downpipe Channels in and that will conclude the work on the Fascia board and the first stage of the guttering. We will be tackling the job of putting on the roof boards next – Hurrah!

  • Corner Template Created and Tried & Tested plus Started Cutting Slot in Remaining Fascia Boards

    This afternoon, we created another template to help us with the task of cutting slots into the Fascia boards, this time, for the outside corners. These 45 degrees corners are only 150mm (6inches) wide so the template is quite small. Our first version was to have the flat plywood plate with the guide rail and slot in it, plus with two arms sticking out at the 45degrees angle so we can clamp the template into place.

    Corner Template Created and Tried & Tested plus Started Cutting Slot in Remaining Fascia Boards

    Corner-Template

    But we found that there are slight variations at each of these corners so we decided that the simplest approach is to just simply screw the flat plywood plate straight to the fascia section with two screws . the little holes will be covered up later on so we don’t mind this “kludge” to solve this problem!!

    We have used it on the back three corners we had waiting and all went well.

    Corner Template Created and Tried & Tested plus Started Cutting Slot in Remaining Fascia Boards

    Corner-slot-cut


    Now we can do the remaining corners as when we get to them as we cut the slot in the other Fascia board.

    We then got our mobile platform around the corner (coming from the “A” section to the “P” section – the long side of the Great Room) and got it positioned right down the far end to continue with where we left off from yesterday’s morning work. We proceeded doing the two “P” sections plus also the corner connected to the “O”. We managed to get the tower back around the PA corner (back on the front of the house) before stopping for the day. the tower wasn’t too bad to move with all its heavy concrete blocks loaded on, we just took it easy and used lots of plywood strips on the ground to help support the wheels.

    Corner Template Created and Tried & Tested plus Started Cutting Slot in Remaining Fascia Boards

    The-mobile-scaffold-ready-to-use

    Corner Template Created and Tried & Tested plus Started Cutting Slot in Remaining Fascia Boards

    Slot-cut-in-both-parts-of-fascia-P


    We will continue with the slot cutting on Saturday, going along the front (“A” through to “E”) and down the right side to finish off (“F” to “H”).

  • Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    This morning we resumed our task of cutting a slot into the Fascia boards. Using our new V2.0 template guide, we continued with the “J” section, then “K” and so on until we reached and completed the “O” Fascia board.

    We found that we could slice the full 10mm deep slot in one go if both of us were holding and helping the heavy router machine along. All went very well and we feel confident to tackle the rest of the Fascia boards on our mobile platform later on tomorrow.

    Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    Slot-in-Fascia-J

    Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    Slot-in-Fascia-K

    Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    Slot-in-Fascia-L



    Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    Slot-in-Fascia-M

    Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    Slot-in-Fascia-N

    Slot Cut in All Fascia Board Along the Back of Building

    Slot-in-Fascia-O



    This is as far as we can get today as our mobile platform needs modifying to improve its wheels so no more slot cutting.

  • Slot Cutting Template Created

    We finished off making the Slot Cutting template with the additions of height adjustment screws and then was rudely interrupted by the bad driving antics of the courier delivering our steel order (see Fence Broken by Delivery Driver).

    Slot Cutting Template Created

    Completed-slot-cutting-template-1

    Slot Cutting Template Created

    Completed-slot-cutting-template-2


    After that little episode, we went outside and using the new calculated absolute positions of where the slot will be on each section of the Fascia boards, we drove in small panel nails at the starts and ends, ready for the chalk line to be snapped on later.

    Slot Cutting Template Created

    Nails-inserted-at-correctheights-to-snap-chalk-lines-too

    After lunch, we took out all the equipment to have a go at cutting a slot into the “I” section of the Fascia (this being on the new raised wooden platform) using our new template guide ..

    We first use the red chalk string to snap a straight line ..

    Slot Cutting Template Created

    Chalk-line-snapped


    Then installed the template at the right hand end of the Fascia (the router needs to work from right to left), got the height adjusted nicely and clamped it down. We had to do the cutting in layers, 5mm at a time as Oak is much harder than pine ..
    Slot Cutting Template Created

    Slot-partially-cut


    And then slid the template along to do the last half up to the corner.
    Slot Cutting Template Created

    Slot-cut-in-I


    We now have our first slot in place!
    But we decided that we will modify our template guide because of two issues, number 1 being the router would be easier to guide on its circle part of its base plate (and not the flat region) so there is more freedom to handle the router without it jumping out of alignment. The second issue was that the lower half of the template was not quite stiff enough to avoid bending very slightly under the weight of the machine. The second version now have a much wider lower section to stiffen it up and the guide now can take the machine on its circular parts of its base plate. We will try it out tomorrow!

  • Mobile Scaffolding Tower Is Now Extended

    This morning, we completed the task of extending our mobile scaffolding tower and it is now has the capacity to provide a 4.8m (16feet) length of work platform by 1.2m (4feet) wide. The edges all has the same safety kick board and we have loaded eight huge concrete blocks (each weighing about 25kg), positioned at the bottom of the metal tower, four at each end near the wheels.

    Mobile Scaffolding Tower Is Now Extended

    Extended-mobile-scaffold-1

    Mobile Scaffolding Tower Is Now Extended

    Extended-mobile-scaffold-2



    It is very stable now and we cannot tipped it over, even with both of us trying hard by hanging our weight off the end of the platform!!!
    But we did hit a snag, we couldn’t roll it along the ground! The ground was too soft and the wheels kept digging in! We then used narrow strips of plywood to aid the wheels to roll smoothly but discovered that we had slightly bent the threaded rod that allows us to adjust the height to compensate for uneven ground levels (which we had done – of course!) and the 20mm diameter rod wasn’t thick enough to cope with the dynamic forces involved in us yanking and pulling the tower along in the dirt and getting it up onto the plywood. Oh Blow, What a Pain! So we ordered another threaded rod but this time it is 30mm thick and twice as strong in tensile strength too. That will come in a day or so.
    In the meantime, after lunch, we started working on designing and building a template to allow us to cut the slots into the Fascia boards to hold the base layer of the guttering channel. We think it will work if it “hooks” over the Fascia, has four evenly spaced out “arms” to hook behind the Fascia board and can be clamped down once the slope angle has been achieved. The slope angle will probably use a long bolt through a block of wood and that will allow us to adjust the height of the template on the Fascia boards at each end and thus achieve the slope we want.
    Mobile Scaffolding Tower Is Now Extended

    Gutter-base-routing-template-started


    We will finish that tomorrow and then we can start trying it out along the back of the building while we wait for the new threaded rod to arrive.

  • Mobile Scaffolding Tower Extended

    Today, we tackled the task of extending our mobile steel scaffolding tower so we can have a platform that is nearly 5 metres (16feet) long to work on our roof and Fascia without having to keep moving the tower along so many times.
    We used our good clean working set of scaffolding wheels that has proper locking mechanisms, which were bolted to two layers of the scaffolding elements and rolled it through the front door (yes it was big enough, being 5 feet wide and 7 feet tall!) and build two extra “lintels” to boost up the level of the final platform height so it misses the metal corner poles. This height being about 2metres up. The lintels were securely bolted to the end railing bars, one above and one below to lock it all together.
    We finished off the day’s work by putting on three 4.8 metres 95 x 45 mm timber planks and used metal joist brackets to nail down these “joists”, at both ends .

    Mobile Scaffolding Tower Extended

    Start-of-making-mobile-scaffold-platform-1

    Mobile Scaffolding Tower Extended

    Start-of-making-mobile-scaffold-platform-2



    Another little job we did this morning was to reinforced some of the joints in our wooden scaffolding structure so the edges will not dip under extra loads like a trolley carrying a large number of slate tiles.
    On Monday, we will go and put on two sheet of 18mm thick OSB boards and put in dozens of coach screws with large washers to make sure we very securely hold down the platform to the joist beams. We will also put on many concrete blocks to the bottom of the tower to improve the centre of gravity to reduce the chance of the sticking out platforms extending out beyond the scaffolding tower and plus we will put on support arms from the platform too, to screw on to the wall every time we stop at a position. This will maximise the stability of the whole 16feet length of the platform so we can just get on with the work while still having a reasonably easy process of moving it along and get safe again quite quickly. Oh Yes – Safety Rules The Day!!