Off-Topic
After a busy 2 days, I thought I would have an easy day on Saturday and build the stairs. Now, this is not something I have done before so I spent a few hours browsing the web looking at numerous stair calculators - these actually made me more confused so I decided just to start taking some measurements and some angles and play it by ear as I went along. By the end of the day I only had the two stringers cut :eek and one marked out for the steps. Trying to work out the rise and run and angle and.......... was almost enough to make me put a match to the whole lot.
To join the treads to the stringers I basically had 3 options: butt them up together and screw; cut a rebate right across the stringer with the saw and screw; or house out a rebate to fit the tread. Basically, these are listed in order of complexity but the last one is stronger and looks better.
I chose the third option :rolleyes I will tell you shortly if this was the smart option.
I started Sunday morning by making a template for the router
My test cut looked OK
And the step fitted nicely
I soon had all the housings cut in one of the stringers
And shortly thereafter had all the pieces of the jigsaw ready to put together (with my two 'helpers')
All good so far........
But, for anyone that has done something like this before, you will realise how difficult it is to put something like this together - especially with fairly tight fitting housings and wood which is not exactly 'A' grade i.e. slightly different sizes, slight bends etc.
I would get a few pieces together and then one would fall out, I would put it back in and another one would fall out ............ I am a fairly calm person in most situations but I do not need my kids laughing and telling me that another piece has fallen out :mad:. I desperately needed to swear loudly and so the kids got sent inside. Did I mention that it was about 32 degrees !! which didn't help.
After about 2 hours I still had 12 pieces of wood laying on the ground :eek - it was time for lunch and a break.
At the second attempt I revised my methods slightly and after about 1 hour I managed to get it all screwed together. After another hour I had it fixed in place and it was time for a beer.
Pretty happy with the final result but I hope I don't have to do it again in a hurry.
Cheers
To join the treads to the stringers I basically had 3 options: butt them up together and screw; cut a rebate right across the stringer with the saw and screw; or house out a rebate to fit the tread. Basically, these are listed in order of complexity but the last one is stronger and looks better.
I chose the third option :rolleyes I will tell you shortly if this was the smart option.
I started Sunday morning by making a template for the router
My test cut looked OK
And the step fitted nicely
I soon had all the housings cut in one of the stringers
And shortly thereafter had all the pieces of the jigsaw ready to put together (with my two 'helpers')
All good so far........
But, for anyone that has done something like this before, you will realise how difficult it is to put something like this together - especially with fairly tight fitting housings and wood which is not exactly 'A' grade i.e. slightly different sizes, slight bends etc.
I would get a few pieces together and then one would fall out, I would put it back in and another one would fall out ............ I am a fairly calm person in most situations but I do not need my kids laughing and telling me that another piece has fallen out :mad:. I desperately needed to swear loudly and so the kids got sent inside. Did I mention that it was about 32 degrees !! which didn't help.
After about 2 hours I still had 12 pieces of wood laying on the ground :eek - it was time for lunch and a break.
At the second attempt I revised my methods slightly and after about 1 hour I managed to get it all screwed together. After another hour I had it fixed in place and it was time for a beer.
Pretty happy with the final result but I hope I don't have to do it again in a hurry.
Cheers
Well done, it looks awesome! The kids must be so excited. It will be fun decking it out with toys, I had a little kitchen in mine as a kid. I've been trying to remember my father building ours but unfortunately I can't remember a thing. They make good chicken coops 20 years later ;)
Another busy weekend - roofing iron on just before a big storm hit Hobart this evening :)
Saturday - battens on and a sheet sitting in place to make sure everything fits OK (more on this shortly).
Later that day I got most of one side finished - again, it is not easy doing this by yourself.
Sunday, with rain threatening for most of the day, I got all the roofing iron in place.
I ordered the roofing iron, flashings etc last Tuesday - they said it would be ready on Thursday but, as I was going to be in Launceston, I told them that Friday afternoon would be fine.
I arrived as arranged only to find that some of the flashings had not been made - was told that it would only take 15 minutes to make them up - OK, but why can't people do what they say they are going to do?? They proceeded to put the roofing iron into the trailer. Now, I had done a rough measurement at 1.8m but ordered 1.85m to give myself a margin for error. They seemed to fit in the trailer a bit too easy so I questioned the length - they had made a mistake and only ordered 1.8m :mad:
At this stage I was fairly confident that 1.8m would be OK but I didn't show the same level of confidence to the guy ;) After talking it over for a few minutes I agreed to take the sheets on the proviso that they could be returned if they didn't fit and that he should give me a good price given the error - he knocked almost 30% off the price and gave me half a box of screws:)
And, the good news is that the sheets fitted fine - I would have preferred the extra 50mm but I liked the reduced price better :p
Saturday - battens on and a sheet sitting in place to make sure everything fits OK (more on this shortly).
Later that day I got most of one side finished - again, it is not easy doing this by yourself.
Sunday, with rain threatening for most of the day, I got all the roofing iron in place.
I ordered the roofing iron, flashings etc last Tuesday - they said it would be ready on Thursday but, as I was going to be in Launceston, I told them that Friday afternoon would be fine.
I arrived as arranged only to find that some of the flashings had not been made - was told that it would only take 15 minutes to make them up - OK, but why can't people do what they say they are going to do?? They proceeded to put the roofing iron into the trailer. Now, I had done a rough measurement at 1.8m but ordered 1.85m to give myself a margin for error. They seemed to fit in the trailer a bit too easy so I questioned the length - they had made a mistake and only ordered 1.8m :mad:
At this stage I was fairly confident that 1.8m would be OK but I didn't show the same level of confidence to the guy ;) After talking it over for a few minutes I agreed to take the sheets on the proviso that they could be returned if they didn't fit and that he should give me a good price given the error - he knocked almost 30% off the price and gave me half a box of screws:)
And, the good news is that the sheets fitted fine - I would have preferred the extra 50mm but I liked the reduced price better :p
Mate this really is a house extension lol. Huge effort & a great job. Wish I had one as a kid :D
rockerpeller idea of kitset is brilliant! Once you have finished the first one, the rest will be easy ;)
rockerpeller idea of kitset is brilliant! Once you have finished the first one, the rest will be easy ;)
sweet project bud.
yup, stairs are a bitch, let alone doing it uno
yup, stairs are a bitch, let alone doing it uno
I don't want to add it up yet - I will give you an idea when I have finished :rolleyes
As usual, another busy weekend.
On Saturday I started working out how the flashings were going to go on, and how I was going to actually get them up without falling 5m to the ground :eek I think I spent more time over the two days in trying to work out a way to do things rather than actually doing them.
By Saturday night I had completed the front facia and had the flashing in place.
By Sunday night I had the back flashing and the roof cap in place - the roof is just about finished with just a few extra screws to go.
Didn't do a great deal today - started painting the walls and made up two of the window frames.
Getting there, slowly :rolleyes
I reckon Jen & I have worked it out. MagicJ has told the wife & tin lids this is a playhouse, but once the novelty wears off with the kids, this will be the new home for the Tassie Reefuge meetings! :D
Tis an epic build mate. :)
Tis an epic build mate. :)
Members online
No members online now.