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Design
Hello Martin
Good luck on your build, like most who have an observatory say when they have one, it just makes it so easy to use the hardware I should have done it years ago.
No offense meant ( or taken ) I'm coming from a building background ( 40+ years licensed builder ) all the things you mentioned can be addressed using good design, the biggest problem I see in any on-line forum with observatories is the slab often extends OUT past the line of the building, the dome / warm room cladding should extend down the side of the slab, not a lot, 20mm is enough 50mm is better. The other issue is lack of plastic membrane under the slab, contrary to popular opinion, this does NOT need to come up the outside edge of the slab and then under the wall bottom plate but it should be under the slab.
Get those two right ( and don't have the finished ground level higher than the finished floor level of he slab ) and you won't have problems with dampness.
Of course, if you don't get it right you will have damp issues, still to me it is better than a timber deck 400mm above the ground where water can run under the deck, rot the timber, harbour termites ( BTW, if the slab is vibrated it forms part of the termite barrier, unfortunately, few in the building industry vibrate slabs hence they do not form part of the barrier ) and worst of all have moisture rise into the observatory - where all the expensive hardware is.
Ed
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