Well finally I have begun work on the north facing wall of the shed. I must say that i got a lot done but I could have got more done if I wasn't so sore and tired. I got a bit sick of hurting myself, nothing drastic just scrapes and scratches but enough to upset a tired man.
Day 1: The kids got into the spirit of building so I had to help them first. They helped design and build them...
It begins....
Step 1: Prop wall up
Step 2: Repoint and reset sandstone foundations... If anyone has sandstone foundations make sure you do plenty of reading about lime mortars.... I found this website the best:
http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/2-repoint-mortar-joints.htm
Some may find fault with the addition of cement in the mortar mix but I prefer it, especially since mine will be covered by a lovely big verandah...
My bottom plate of my wall was set on a bedding of mortar, I also painted the sandstone tops with a water proofer and covered the mortar joints with a water proof membrane reinforces with fibre glass tape. I then poured some self levelling cement between the bedding and the infill slab.
The wall is built now to remove the old one...
It is a bit nerve racking seeing a big hole in your wall! It is 7.5m x 3.2m.
Now to raise the wall, I had 4 helpers on the day to raise it, many hands made very light work of it and I really appreciated the help The ply board centre is where my fireplace will eventually go (sorry Heather, yes your third winter without a fireplace) and the spaces either side are for big triple stacker glass doors (if the budget can stretch that far).
It's a bit hidden but the Lintel went up. It was a laminated hardwood beam 240mm x 85mm x 7.5m. It took 4 blokes and 4 ladders to get it up.
This is one of them!... Shaun Flakemore.
Now time to start it all over again on the other side.
But first I wanted to clean the slab inside with 4000psi, paint water proofing epoxy and then a bit of self level on top to give it a nice stiff crust over some of the more sandy places. Now to tackle the foundations again...
Ohhhh the verandah posts went in also. Lots of cement (thanks Andrew for the cement mixer) ... but it is going to be very very nice. I have decided, almost, on going for a mixed roof on the verandah, first 750mm will be tin and the rest (3m) laser light. Heather is also insisting on a timber deck out the front...
My existing verandah is now completely full of timber ready to be installed... the only thing is I don't have any time left : ( Back to working weekends and after school if time. I am glad school is starting tomorrow as I need to recover and so does my bank account!
