Week Nineteen – Part Two

We’re up and it’s dry even though there was a deluge through the night. We need to take advantage when it’s dry to do the outside tasks so Pete is getting on with cutting off the ends of the trusses on the shed once he has finished measuring and marking where the cuts are to go. He had done the west trusses the other day and was unhappy because he got covered in sawdust so he is getting well covered this time.

With that done we are starting to build a wall that will block half the shed entrance. Originally we had planned to build the shed first, on site, then build the kit for the house in the shed. Hence the massive entrance but now a smaller one will do.

We need to attach a timber to the underside of the steel beam that spans the entrance and supports the structure above. This will be the timber we attach the frame to

We use clamps to hold the timber in place so Pete can drill pilot holes through and onto the steel beam. We are marking up where the new timber meets the existing vertical studs so that we can reposition it after the holes through the steel have been drilled.

Drilling through the steel isn’t too difficult or laborious if you first drill a small pilot hole, then use the proper sized bit to drill the final hole (first a 3.5 then a 6.5 bit). This was a trick Scott passed onto us.

With the holes drilled we can reposition and clamp the timber in place and screw through the timber and the steel into the timber above.

While Pete was drilling through the steel Molly was making the timber frame to go in the entrance.

With the timber under the steel screwed in place and the timbers for the frame measured and cut we can nail the frame together and see how it fits.

We force the frame into position with some heavy bashes with a mash hammer. We now notice that the stud (vertical timber) at the door opening is bowed so we decide to put in another straight one beside it.

With the frame in place it is obvious that if we make it a solid wall then the shed is going to need artificial light even during the day. We don’t like this thought much so Molly is suggesting putting glass blocks/bricks between the studs.

She’s back with her research and it is obvious that this would be a complicated option that probably wouldn’t give us what we want. So it’s time to find another solution.

Pete is suggesting Polycarbonate sheets that are often used in green houses and as a roofing material but he still has to research the practicalities.

We are calling it a day and we are feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

Pete has had a sleepless night but the upside is that he has had a good think about how to do the shed entrance wall but first we need to take down the wall we put up yesterday. Luckily we didn’t nail it in place so taking it down is easy.

Pete contacts Andrew to check that it is a reasonable idea and that our plan for executing it is feasible, he also sends a sketch of our idea.

Andrew thinks it can work so we are going ahead with this plan. Pete is cutting extra studs and trimming the existing studs as they are a bit long. That’s why it took so much brute force to get the frame in place yesterday.

Pete is working on the frame and Molly is working on wee cubbyholes in the attic.

This week we have noticed some new visitors, three little rabbits who seem to like the grass we have seeded. It’d not a surprise that they like the grass since we chose agricultural grass for feeding cattle and sheep.