Workshop & Garage Project

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
20,759
You need some of those scaffolding boards, super strong and it oyu put two together once you have them aligned for each car you will feel when the car is correctly positioned. Also would stop the cars weight sinking into the grass if parked for anytime.
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
You need some of those scaffolding boards, super strong and it oyu put two together once you have them aligned for each car you will feel when the car is correctly positioned. Also would stop the cars weight sinking into the grass if parked for anytime.

Was just thinking scaffold boards could be a cost effective and good solution. Most are standard 13ft sizes so would be perfect for the 3m width cut down a smidge but with a bit of overhang. Maybe just router'd or notched out a smidge to locate the frame on the underside. They could overlap each other in the middle sections so it extends on to the middle of the next pollytunnel so they were interlinked. Can't see anything moving then.

You can buy 13ft used scaffold boards for £1 each so a nice solution me thinks.
 

rockits

Member
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9,167
Indeed. Maybe a better solution still would be two scaffold boards length ways to drive on/along that sit on top of the cross boards themselves sitting on the bottom framework. Seems like a plan to me. Shame you can't get 5m long scaffold boards. I might go with 2 x 3m each length with 3 cross boards with one at each end and the 3rd at the joint in the middle. A total of 7 boards and £7 ;)
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
One thing I do need to get is some little rubber bungs or something to stick on the end of the sharp little chuffing bolts. Caught my noggin' on one at the weekend and gees it smarted! One of the same bolts that remodelled the paintwork on the Alfa Spider!!
 

Navcorr

Member
Messages
3,839
One thing I do need to get is some little rubber bungs or something to stick on the end of the sharp little chuffing bolts. Caught my noggin' on one at the weekend and gees it smarted! One of the same bolts that remodelled the paintwork on the Alfa Spider!!
Cut a golf ball in half - not elegant but it works and big enough to "see" and avoid. Particularly if you play "yelly" ones. :)

My dad is a plasterer by trade and had a building business for many years so has lots of knowledge and experience.
Good plasterwork is more an art than a trade - tried it once .... never again. The one DIY task I know I can't do!
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
I might not need all the polytunnels when I've done the garage. Also planning on extending the garage at ground level to one side so will give me 4 spaces in the garage then 2 in the stable/workshop with 3 outside the garage on the drive. I could always use one polytunnnel I guess if a 10th space was needed.
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
Last lot:

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2b1ask1

Special case
Messages
20,220
I got the kids, father-in-law and all the lads out of the cafe to help lift mine into place last year, mind. Oh it had to be fed in through the roof as the only way it was going in. Surprised you have not needed to punch a hole in the roof yet!
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
Didn't do anything on the garage as no time today but will be doing more tomorrow. The 4th & 5th purlins are going in tomorrow. Then the vertical supports for these purlins to the main steel.

Then need to add horizontal 4x2 ties to rafters above purlins 2 & 3. Then finish all fixing ties and and some low level ties plates. Then pretty much done and can cut out all the trusses I'm removing.

Then will need to replace the garage doors for roller doors. Going to look at some lifts next week. Saw some nice Cascos lifts from Spain that look spot on.

Then need to board & insulate all walls and ceilings. Should be done be Xmas!
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
I got the kids, father-in-law and all the lads out of the cafe to help lift mine into place last year, mind. Oh it had to be fed in through the roof as the only way it was going in. Surprised you have not needed to punch a hole in the roof yet!
Just managed to squeeze it in at an angle without taking any ties out which was nice. We would have struggled without the lift....it was awesome to have it & worked really well. Makes it so much easier maneuvering a 230kg 7m long steel.
 

Navcorr

Member
Messages
3,839
We would have struggled without the lift.... Makes it so much easier maneuvering a 230kg 7m long steel.

Anyone see a documentary a few years back investigating how Ironbridge was constructed? For years there'd been competing theories given the known building methods of the day. Then an original painting recently discovered in a Swedish art gallery offered a clue. A pair of Derrick poles were lashed together via a third beam spanning the river. To test the idea a half scale "model" was cast and the replica built by the Royal Engineers. Once they got the hang of the method it was not only proven to work but the flexibility of the system was as quick as using a crane. Just a brilliant concept.

Which, back to the post above, came in handy a while ago. My cousin's neighbour was renovating a 4th floor tenement which required a similar sized girder. The four fu**ing cowboys that rode into town were attempting to carry this beam up a spiral staircase. Couldn't believe my eyes - after a brief but nonetheless informative chat these clowns realised they should have got a crane. Remembering these Derrick poles though the beam was turned on its end, tied-off against the bannisters for a bit of control and between the four of them they managed to lift it, one step at a time, up about 100 feet.

If the documentary is still around it is well worth a watch.
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
I'll have a search see if I can find it...sounds very interesting. Brute force isn't always the best way for sure.

My old man said days before....we'll be alright...Ive lifted stuff like this using brute force/power all my life. I disagreed and bought the lift as knew I would use it later down the line at times anyway. Two men....230kg steel overhead....no chance I said....dangerous, stupid & there is a much easier way. He agreed it was a good idea & was a better way of doing it.

I fought my dad for years when I worked for him during/after school as wanted to take over the family business. I left as he would never listen to my ideas much. Nice to see he is finally listening now....only 30 years later!

I always encourage any younger people that work for us to always feel free to suggest good ideas & better ways of doing things. Unfortunately these days these are not as commonplace or as forthcoming as I would like.
 

D Walker

Member
Messages
9,827
Great work Dean,
Coming together nicely, I know exactly what you mean regarding man handling steels, we had a similar issue when we did out loft conversion, the builder was going to man handle the steels, double sort height through the punched holes in the gable end, we're talking 8m or so high and the steels were 9m. I said no chance and hired this tele lift thing, cost £150 for the day and the steels went in, in about an hour...

Keep the pics coming..I love a good diy job, some people just wont tackle them..

Dave
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
Thanks Dave. I will have a few more pics after tomorrow's exertions hopefully. Goodness know what stuff you have picked out in the carnage that is my garage at the moment!

Certainly you did well to hire that lift. I don't see the point in struggling when you don't have to and I won't compromise on safety at any cost. We took our time and inched it in almost millimetre by millimetre.

The lift was about £125 + VAT from SGS Engineering & I added the load balancer for another 20 quid. Delivered next day for free. It is very well built and great value. Went together well although the instructions were a little less use but easy enough to work out. Praise indeed for SGS Engineering so far. Highly recommended.

I have used my new much more powerful DeWalt cordless drill & impact driver set loads already & they were cracking tools. The power of the impact driver driving screws in to the 2x9's to make 4x9's as requested is immense.....so easy. The old Bosch has been great to have sitting there for driving the smaller screws in. The old cabled drill was ideal for drilling the steels with some nice new Bosch drill bits with plenty of squirts of cutting oil used. All this has made all little tasks so much easier. Having the right tools & kit is so important to do so many jobs both easier & quicker.
 

D Walker

Member
Messages
9,827
Lol - its ok to have some mess when doing big jobs,

Saying that I've been in there twice before, if you manage your house builds as well you'll do well...
 

rockits

Member
Messages
9,167
Well getting nowhere slowly on the development plan. Had specialist planning solicitor work on this last couple of weeks with a specialist planning firm as well. Their initial basic desktop survey didn't make good reading but I expected that.

Now going to push forward with a pre-planning application hopefully to get some steer on what is not possible and what is possible. Also to see on the what is possible what is easiest and what would be more challenging meaning more expensive, more risk, more time consuming and more lengthy.

We shall see what happens. One thing is for almost guaranteed is that it isn't going to be very easy and/or very cheap.

I'm never one to shy away from a challenge or something just because it's hard, difficult, painful or virtually impossible. I've done virtually impossible many times & I'm sure I'll doing it again a few more yet.