1930s Semi Refurb - Part 11 of ... (Summer House)

Day 2 (half day):

Got my days wrong so ended up digging in the wet. Thank god it was easy going and clay is only 500mm down. 10 middle holes knocked out in a couple of hours.

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The ballast and cement comes tomorrow. I think I will be a bit short but I am hoping to get the lot concreted, so I can start the base by Wednesday. I imagine base and joist hangers will take a full day (92 of the things...).

Annoyingly Tool Station is worse than their 3rd party suppliers. So the order I placed Saturday has been fulfilled for the bits they don't flog but not the main stuff I need (twist nails, splice plates etc...).


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Day 3:


Start the clock:
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10:39

Stop the clock:
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17:04.

Dead.

Almost had a life changing incident with the mixer too. It actually became unbalanced and fell over. Thank god I got the kill switch before it took my arm off. Deadly things

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Day 4:

Slow day today. I barely slept - my carpal tunnel is kicking my ass. I need the operation on both hands but just don't fancy it enough :cry:

Lost a chunk of the day "hiding" some of my rubble before covering it with the weed membrane. Then lost an equal part of the day levelling off the nut/rod system. It is very satisfying to be fair.

Also had to put a billion twist nails in the splice plates to make some 6m lengths...
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(I don't think you need all nails but I was waiting for help to arrive as it isn't a one man lift :cry:)

Got 3 in as the fourth requires the offcut of the 3.5m splicing into the 4.8m and I ran out of brain cells so called it at this point...
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My perfect engineering luck saw the rod system fall perfectly though. I don't even need to cut this, as it leaves just enough for a nut.
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Tomorrow is going to be tough as my wife is at work and despite her being super pregnant she was critical to the lifting of the 6m+ lengths. I am hoping I can YOLO the last one and the sides are easy (3.5m each).

I can then chill out and spend the day doing joist hangers...


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Day 5 -
Super slow progress today. I had to single lift the 3.5m spans and then the 6m big boy. Everything is bolted down now. Then started to tackle the joist hangers which have become another one of my top-least-favourite-things-ever.

My hands are FUBAR so it is tough going now. The roof arrived as a bit of a tease tho :cry:

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Day 6:

Hand balled all the materials into the workshop today, will have to stop progress from tomorrow as I need to recover (my hands are FUBAR). Decent shift today but not as far ahead as I wanted unfortunately.

Joist hangers are a new least favourite job. 14 nails per joist hanger, x84

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Got the PIR down... debating what to do now. I can put the 22mm down easily enough but the weather is going to turn next week. I don't own a tarp big enough!

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Day 7 (half day):

Had a super slow casual day today. I guaranteed myself tomorrow "off" so I can be at least partially productive on Monday.

In a cruel twist of events I am short by about 1.5feet of 22mm (the build pack is off by 1 board for the floor [need 16 boards not 15]). Ironically I listed about 30 offcuts of 22mm from the living/dining/kitchen/hall job on Marketplace just 5 days ago and some lad took the lot away :cry:

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^ having my 3/yo mark out joist centres may have been an error in judgement. She was doing a great job then got distracted and just started drawing lines everywhere lol.

All pause now until May 25th(ish).
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Any recommendations on internal floor? I may go Desert Oak from Floor Street again. I also underestimated the cost of front cladding. And I also need soffits/fascias!

Thanks
 
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Wow that's really impressive work.

Was it easy to level the floor working off all those rods? Do they feel sturdy?

As its raised off the floor due to those rods, what will your finished building height be?
 
Looks good. What's your thoughts on the rod system?

I'm wondering wether it will be good enough around the back in my garden which has some big trees (and big tree routes)
 
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danlightbulb said:
Wow that's really impressive work.

Was it easy to level the floor working off all those rods? Do they feel sturdy?

As its raised off the floor due to those rods, what will your finished building height be?
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People have hot tubs, gyms etc. on the rod system. With the main bearers having 4 rods on the 3.5m span, and between 5 or 6 on the 6m span, and then the nut "kinked" up, it feels absolutely solid. I was a bit dubious of joist hangers but they seem to be working well too. I've placed them so no span is larger than 110cm, and the joists are at 400 centers. So the 22mm chipboard is very well supported - more than my actual house :cry:

Levelling took much longer than expected but only because there were so many. Each nut gets locked off against each other, so you are millimeter perfect.

If you are 1M or more from the boundary, the rule is 2.5m from the highest adjacent land the building "touches", which is the front left corner. The compromise here is that doors are 1950mm, but that's because I opted for a proper steal lintel which cost me 160mm. Roof joists are 125mm. Effectively sum up roof construction height and floor construction height gives you max wall height. Then subtract 75mm and that is your rear wall height (gives you your drop).

In summary though, 2.5m.

Buffman said:
Looks good. What's your thoughts on the rod system?

I'm wondering wether it will be good enough around the back in my garden which has some big trees (and big tree routes)
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Really great - it was far simpler and less muck shifting than a pad. I actually chose it specifically because of the roots (two big trees back right). You are only digging a 200 cir hole and it is very forgiving to move it around to suit - hit a root, either sawzall it and carry on, or dig the hole a bit bigger and "miss it".
 
mickyflinn said:
Not interested in the project now ;)

When's the baby's due date ?

Boy or girl, names picked ?
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Haha - September. A boy to join the girl.

danlightbulb said:
What size are the rods and nuts? Is there a nut on the bottom below the steel plate too or is the plate threaded?
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M24. The construction of the rod involves 5 nuts and 2 plates - there is a plate concreted in 200mm from the bottom of the rod, secured by a nut either side. This stops the rods "pushing through" the concrete. And then two nuts up the rod give you the height. The plate then sits on the nuts and gives you the platform. You then put a single nut (not really required) to hold the joists straight.

Edit: my "jig" and tool to thread the nuts.

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So I'm out on Friday for Big Weekend and then depending on how I am feeling, the plan is to restart on Saturday 25th. I will be tackling the 6M wall and if I can lift it, the side walls. I have a pair of hands in my brother/nephew arriving Tuesday 28th and this is also when the doors come --- so success would look like roof on, rubber on, doors in. I think this may be too ambitious :cry:

Just debating interior designs now, as I have realised how little "shed" stuff I own (and intend to own), I may be better off constructing some small storage type cupboards at the rear (as I have almost 2 meters to the fence).

Keen to hear any thoughts or if you guys have seen something that looks cool!

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n.b. I have zero money so this is more about plug socket locations than actually executing it in the short term :cry:
 
Day 8 cross-post:

Had a decent push today. The doors randomly arrived too (scheduled for Tuesday; he said he was delivering in London and had them on the van just in case).

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3m x 2m with integrated blinds.

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Walls up - just need to build 2 smaller walls to take the RSJ.

Unfortunately I ran out of steam and time; the nail gun was way too loud to keep going.

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This certainly isn't water tight; I just hope it doesn't fly off :cry: .

I am hoping to get a major push on Tuesday which'll see it fully water tight and doors sealed, but the weather is utter garbage again :(
 
dlockers said:
Day 8 cross-post:

Had a decent push today. The doors randomly arrived too (scheduled for Tuesday; he said he was delivering in London and had them on the van just in case).

VnEGos5.jpg
3m x 2m with integrated blinds.

JTYKDGd.jpg


Walls up - just need to build 2 smaller walls to take the RSJ.

Unfortunately I ran out of steam and time; the nail gun was way too loud to keep going.

tPP1mVZ.jpg

This certainly isn't water tight; I just hope it doesn't fly off :cry: .

I am hoping to get a major push on Tuesday which'll see it fully water tight and doors sealed, but the weather is utter garbage again :(
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Brand new uPVC windows & doors? If so how much did you pay?

Looks great. Are all the walls treated 2x4's?
 
danlightbulb said:
Brand new uPVC windows & doors? If so how much did you pay?

Looks great. Are all the walls treated 2x4's?
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I went big on the doors - probably a bit silly - I hadn't realised soffits/fascias would be £350, and then cladding almost £600 (front only!) lol. So £3000 aluminium 3 leaf bifolds with integrated blinds.

The walls are not treated - they are regular C16. They are clad in OSB3 and then wrapped in breather, so they are "inside" wood. If they get wet I have a larger problem than the wood not being treated!

Edit: the front is C24 treated but that is because it is larger 5x3 stuff. I need to build the "dwarf" wall to hold the RSJ tomorrow AM hence went slightly bigger versus the other walls. Hoping to get the roof mostly on tomorrow!
 
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Day 9:

12 hours today

One man lift of the beam --- I went with the caber toss method to get it down the garden as my pregnant wife was totally useless at lifting it and her BF was playing on my PC :rolleyes:

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Roof joists in. Slight bow has annoyed me on left hand trimmer - will probably need to sawzall it off and start again - it has a slight curve in it due to a bow in the timber.
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Secured for the next few days as the weather is just all over the place. Note the different membrane right hand side - £80 saved! The neighbor had a tiny offcut and I was only that much short!
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danlightbulb said:
That's very good, half the price of a DIY store. Is it a local timber merchant?

And what about a 2x4?
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Unfinished 2x4 is £7.15 for 3.6m. I ended up getting untreated and finished 2x4 from Materials Market. There is quite a size difference... worth bearing in mind (2x4 isn't actually any of the measurements lol).
 
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