Garage, house slab and curtains

We now have started building our second building, namely the garage / workshop. We had the steel posts delivered about 10 days ago and the first job was to drill all the holes where the perimeter beams had to be bolted onto the steel posts. In order to do this we had to buy a drill press which was temporary installed on the floor in the container in order to have a dry place to work during a couple of rainy days. Using the drill press, it took between 2.5 and 3 minutes to drill each hole, and with some poles requiring up to 12 holes, it did take some time. But after a couple of days, the posts were all ready to be put up.

Initially the idea was to use a template to drill all the holes in the concrete in order to fasten the poles down. The dynabolts used were 16 mm in diametre so quite big and after trying a few holes that were marked with the templete, we found that it was very hard indeed to ensure that all the holes were exact. The solution was then to put the post up first and place it in the right position, then to drill one whole, put in a dynabolt, drill the next hole and put in the second dynabolt, and so on. This actually made the job quite easy, which is good to know considering that we have another 34 posts to put up for the main house, with only 13 for the garage.

Having put up all the posts, we then had to build the internal wall that will separate the garage from the workshop. This is built with a double door in the middle in case we need to work on long items in the workshop which needs to be kept dry. This stud wall also holds up to of the perimeter beams, as well as the two middle roof beams. It is built using 90 x 35 mm seasoned hardwood (Tasmanian Oak), has a 90 x 35 mm bottom plate and a 90 x 45 top plate. The studs are all placed 450 mm apart and we have used double studs on either side of the lintel over the door. This as the lintel will transfer the weight of the roof down to the studs and down to the floor.

The perimeter beams were then cut to size to be fitted onto the poles. We first put blocks in place underneath were the beams would be, lifted the beams up in place and then drilled marking holes in the wood for the bolts. The beams were then taken down again and the holes were completed. The only reason we could not complete the holes whilst the beams were up, was that the steel posts are 100mm wide, the perimeter beams were all 45 mm wide and the wood drill we had was just not long enough. So, after completing the holes on the ground, we then lifted the beams up again, and then fastened them to the posts using 16mm bolts that were 170mm long.

We are now waiting for some laminated beams to finsish the perimeter beams and the mid roof beams, before we can put on the rafters, the battens and then the roof. These will hopefully come Tuesday or Wednesday next week. In the meantime, this is how far we have managed to get so far:

Looking East	Looking West

So, whilst waiting for materials for the garate, we have started doing more work on the house slab. We have been so lucky that we have been able to borrow a lot of box work from a friend of the guy we will use to finsish the concrete work. All we have to do is to take it apart at the end of it. This saves a huge amout of money and also a lot of work, as this boxwork was already make up using metal bracing at the back, in lenghts of 3.6 meters. There are some gaps that we will have to fill in, in that the 3.6 meter lengths will not always be suitable, so we had to buy two sheets of 17 mm plywood and a few lengths of pine in order to make up the back bracing.

Once we have finished the box work, we will ask the concreter to come out and help us find the right level for the sand at the bottom, then the plastic will be put down, then the void formers and all the steel work. We have ordered all these materials now, and will hopefully get them by the end of next week.

This is how far we have manged to get before the rains started yesterday:

Box works started with bracing at the back	The big pile in the middle is the sand covered up so it won't blow away

After the rains started we did some inside work and oiled the doors in the bathroom, using the same type of oil we used for the boat. The Tas Oak really comes up in nice colours with the oil, though it is a bit hard to see in the picture.

We have also made curtain rods, using rods of oak and making the brackets out by gluing and nailing two pieces of wood together. The rods can be moved to the side, so that the curtains can be taken down when we need to.

Finished result in the bedroom	Detail of curtain rod holder

Well, that is about it since last time. We are still enjoying our indoor warm showers, especially now that it is getting a bit colder outside. The shower was most certainly finished just in time.

Any problems, please email webmaster. This page was last updated 24/07/2008