Building my new workshop

[ths]

What's all this about radon? Sounds insidious!

Tim, for a number of reasons, over here we'd do the slab first and then put the structure on top,of it, this way we can see the termites getting in. Don't you have them over there?

Hugh.

[Don1966]

What's all this about radon? Sounds insidious!

Tim, for a number of reasons, over here we'd do the slab first and then put the structure on top,of it, this way we can see the termites getting in. Don't you have them over there?

Hugh.

Hugh I am with you, the radon I know about comes from radioactive material. And we do pour our slabs before building here and treat for termites.

By the way nice shed Tim you'll be making Swarf pretty soon.

Don

[ths]

And it is very remiss of me, probably through envy, to have failed to congratulate you on creating a great space. As I type this, I'm actually drawing (?) plans for my shed.

Cheers, Hugh.

[Rayanth]

For those who are confused about the talk about Radon : http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html

Radon is a radioactive gas emitted by the decay of radioactive materials. Virtually all soils have trace amounts of radioactive materials in them, including uranium in infinitesimal amounts. According to the site, Radon is the second leading cause of lung-cancer and deaths from Radon-induced lung-cancer number 20,000+ per year in the US alone. Serious business!

-- Rayanth

[spuddevans]

Tim, for a number of reasons, over here we'd do the slab first and then put the structure on top,of it, this way we can see the termites getting in. Don't you have them over there?

Hi Hugh, thanks for the comments.

That's the way it is normally done here too, but in my case there was already a concrete slab here (evidently laid by a blind man who had never been introduced to a spirit level) where 20yrs ago there stood a garage (long since pulled down before I ever moved in)

So I built the shed 1st and then put a cement screed down to give a nice flat, level, and smooth floor.

Termites?  I think St Patrick drove them out with the snakes, the only problem we suffer with is damp, rot, and woodworm. ( and the buildings get some problems too  )


Tim

[spuddevans]

Little Update:

Got the floor screed down yesterday, it took 1.25 tonnes of cement (all shovelled by yours truly)



Now gotta wait for a week for it to harden enough to walk on. But I might find a couple of things to do around the outside.


Tim

[b.lindsey]

Looks good Tim...after that much shoveling, maybe you should take today off   Did you do the floor in sections or as one continuous block?  Given the depth of the building, just wondering how your worked the concrete to smooth it, etc. once it was in place.

Bill

[ScroungerLee]

You are getting near to the fun part of deciding what goes where, I am jealous

Lee

[steamer]

Looks awesome Tim!

Dave

[spuddevans]

Looks good Tim...after that much shoveling, maybe you should take today off   Did you do the floor in sections or as one continuous block?  Given the depth of the building, just wondering how your worked the concrete to smooth it, etc. once it was in place.

Bill

Actually, I've just realised that I shovelled 2.5tonnes. The mixer we were using did not have a stand, so I shovelled the sand/cement from the trailer into the mixer, then tipped the resulting mixture onto the ground before shovelling it into a wheelbarrow and then wheeling said implement into the workshop and tipping it.

No wonder my back is aching 

It was laid and smoothed in sections about 2ft each along the width of the shed. We 1st of all laid a couple of lengths of 2"x2" timber, positioned about 2ft in from each long wall, and levelled them up with some cement. Then it was just a case of spreading the cement inbetween. Then we could smooth it using another timber riding on the 2"x2"s. Then after smoothing, we troweled it up with a steel float to give it a finished surface.

Then after coming back we prised out the 2"x2"s and filled in the gaps, smoothing it and carefully smoothing over the area's where we had to tread on to fill the gaps, backing out towards the door.

My friend who did all the actual skilled work says the key to putting a floor in like this is to have the cement as dry as possible. I thought I was mixing it really dry, but it was really surprising to see the amount of water that would rise up to the surface as he was troweling it up. Of course it had nowhere else to go, the DPC stops it from going down. (It was coming out of the mixer so dry that it would hardly hold together in my hand, but I guess I could have mixed it drier 

But because it is so dry, it meant that it could be walked on to remove the 2"x2"s and fill in without spoiling the whole area.

When I checked today, the surface is still soft, my friend reckons about a week to harden up enough to be walked on.

The depth of the screed is between 2" at the shallowest and about 4" at the deepest    This surface is such an improvement (although to be fair, you could put a screed down with a jack-hammer and still get a better surface than what was there before )

You are getting near to the fun part of deciding what goes where, I am jealous

Lee

Even before I had built the 1st wall panel I had started planning where everything would go, I'm even planning where the tools that I hope to make and buy will go!!


Thanks for the comments guys   


Tim

[ths]

Thanks for the explanation Tim, it all makes sense. And great work with the concrete, a lot of very hard work, but you now have what you want.

Hugh.

[NickG]

Looks great that Tim, well done, bet you can't wait to use it. Looks cosy!

[spuddevans]

Little update:

For over a week I have ran my dehumidifier and have extracted an estimated 80-100 litres   

Then today I got the lend of my brothers trailer and brought over all the kitchen cabinets stored in my dad's garage. It took only two trips, and now I am faced with the age-old game of "Kitchen-Cabinet" Tetris.



Suddenly I feel the need for a bigger workshop   


Stay tuned for In-Game pictures over the next week !!


Tim

[zeeprogrammer]

Suddenly I feel the need for a bigger workshop

  That's always the way.

Isn't it exciting though? You get to make it however way you want.

[steamer]

That looks awesome Tim!   Once you start hanging stuff on the walls....the floor space will free up..

 

Dave