Outbuildings and why they're great. (Vanport)

[Joeboy]

Away tomorrow so didn't want to risk my back on the slabs today. Not bored though, prepped 10 M8 rods for the ledger plate. Will be 160mm depth into 200mm blocks. Second mark out towards nyloc is 5mm outside the face of the 6x2. Or it should be. We shall see!

Having 10 in place gives a minimum shear value of 5T so im ok with deep snow. 160mm deep I guess means it won't be falling over anytime soon.



Also took my time marking out and drilling the ledger and end plates. Managed to happily pass five hours doing all that.



I'll have to be careful to measure this all out properly. I want to keep it at the 3mtr height limit so there's not going to be much drop. Maybe 1.5 degree. Not a lot. Once I'm back I'll see what I can cheat out putting it together on test.

[Richard77]

Looking good mate.... What timescale are you giving yourself to complete it all by?

[Joeboy]

Looking good mate.... What timescale are you giving yourself to complete it all by?

Thank you, i'd like to use it as an outdoor covered workshop this Winter. Whether it has extra solar on it then or into next spring I'm not sure.

[AGT]

Covered external workshop sounds good,
I’m doing my van up in the drive and it’s a pain having to move stuff about when finishing up at night.

[Joeboy]

Covered external workshop sounds good,
I’m doing my van up in the drive and it’s a pain having to move stuff about when finishing up at night.

Oh there's all sorts going to be going on here.

No1 son can overnight his vehicle there in Winter. Easier start to the day.
Bigger log store, wood splitting area.
Joinery, furniture projects.
Van can live there as can I for a night or two at a time. I'm only really 12.
Van works will be easy.
Store for swmbo furniture projects
Plus the roof can carry a bit of solar, just a rumour I heard.

It's gonna be one of those 'shoulda done it years ago' things i hope.

Second time in 2 months I've ordered a power tool and some bas**rd has used it, broke it, returned it. In this case an Einhell sds battery drill.



The chuck was knackered and covered in grease. Sunnyside up I've ordered an impact drill instead. Only 10 holes to drill so probably a better solution for me. Such a low rent thing to do though eh?

The project is entirely on hand tools or solar charged battery tools. Even my laser level (just arrived) is running on a Varta aaa rechargeable.

I am getting a wee bit excited as we can both see the potential here

. Hell, might even get the compressor sited. Power and water are a dead cert, so why not air too? All off solar of course as far as we can go.

[Fueltheburn]

Should have given me a shout Joe.
Got a Titan 1500W SDS drill sat waiting in the wings for such an occasion. Diamond cores as well if required.

[Joeboy]

Should have given me a shout Joe.
Got a Titan 1500W SDS drill sat waiting in the wings for such an occasion. Diamond cores as well if required.

That's really decent of ye, thank you. I'll see how I get on with the impact/hammer drill and masonry bits.

[Joeboy]

1/2 mtr long, beautiful, well crafted serious hinges. Ex stock out the basement. £60 for two pairs down from £72 before the dust settled on them back in the day.

Edinburgh treats us well! Going back to the shop for the other ironmongery to finish the courtyard. Eventually..

A proper old skool ironmongery source. Well worth a visit and worth a long trip. We are both loving this place.

[Joeboy]

Arrived at midnight last night. A bit chilly due to the Winter season barely over. Both a2a's fired up in heat mode and left to run at 22 degs. Nice to see the green light flashing on the Hoymiles and outputting this morning.



A bit of water ingress the other month from a flooded balcony but minimal damage. A new chest of drawers needed and a little low level painting.

Great to see it all working away getting it done.

Classic fm is on and big (relatively) battery packs charging off folding solar. Great to see the first power up working back home from our 2 hour ahead spot here.

It will be interesting to see how the house performs while we are away. ASHP is already down to 6.1kWh consumption in 24hrs since the hot water monster is here with me!