I suppose you have to remember that the roof will be moveable so it needs to be a bit on the over-engineered side. If the roof was permanently fixed to the walls then three would be enough, just need heavier battens, but as it is going to be under some level of stress when it moves and not really attached a bit of extra weight/strength would be good.
Any reason stopping the roof from being constructed on top of the rails and rollers ?
None at all
He built his roof in situ "whilst thinking how he was going to move it",
then, once he decided on the method, and found the bits he wanted,
he just lifted it to sit on the longitudinals holding the rollers.
I dont see why the longitudinals couldnt be fitted first, then correctly packed whilst the roof was made.
None at all
He built his roof in situ "whilst thinking how he was going to move it",
then, once he decided on the method, and found the bits he wanted,
he just lifted it to sit on the longitudinals holding the rollers.
I dont see why the longitudinals couldnt be fitted first, then correctly packed whilst the roof was made.
Andrew
We made our roof on the ground without the iron and lifted it up. It probably weighed about 80kg. The iron was put on after it was up there.
Ian reckons hes doing it by himself, hence building "in situ"
will be the easiest and safest method, if he chooses to go this way.
With the longitudinals carrying the wheels properly chocked,
it will make a very stable base for setting the rafters during assy.
None at all
He built his roof in situ "whilst thinking how he was going to move it",
then, once he decided on the method, and found the bits he wanted,
he just lifted it to sit on the longitudinals holding the rollers.
I dont see why the longitudinals couldnt be fitted first, then correctly packed whilst the roof was made.
Andrew
That's what I was thinking of. (pretty easy to slip some packing in the gap to take the extra load of a fatty like me on the roof while screwing steel sheets in place.
I must admit my brother is a builder and we did it between us.
That was lucky .... wish I had a builder in the family or my circle of acquaintances , best I can do is my brother in law who used to a carpender but he lives too far away to be much help in this , except maybe if I get stuck and give him call on the dog n bone.
We made our roof on the ground without the iron and lifted it up. It probably weighed about 80kg. The iron was put on after it was up there.
That is something I am considering as an option too , but it would be a 4 man job lifting a roof of the size I want I think , unless it could be lifted on one end onto the two rails , then slid and lifted from the other end. which would make it a 2 or 3 man job.
The shed bloke said about $180 for his crew to assemble one of their complete sheds pnce a slab had been layed (about 3 or 4 hours he reckoned) , maybe I might assemble the roof on the ground , unclad , and then call that guy and ask him to come and lift and clad it .... that'll save my back .... and would probably be money well spent.
YOU dont ever get onto the roof, its too dangerous ( for the roof )
You fit the sheets one at a time and screw them down as you go
"standing on a ladder/table inside the shed"
Just roll the roof and fit the sheets as you go
easy peasy, and you do the ridge capping at the same time.
No need to ever get on the roof.
That is something I am considering as an option too , but it would be a 4 man job lifting a roof of the size I want I think , unless it could be lifted on one end onto the two rails , then slid and lifted from the other end. which would make it a 2 or 3 man job.
This is exactly how we did it. Tipped up and 1 set of wheels put on the rail and then lifted by the 2 of us and slid along. See the pic.
As with anything I do, they only make a start and often are varied with material availability.
- Dave
That looks pretty good. I like the way the rollers are enclosed in the channel section.
The welding needed to make the steel frame and to attach the channel rails to the rail supports (all steel is an obstacle for me unless I can get someone to the welding ).
We made our roof on the ground without the iron and lifted it up. It probably weighed about 80kg. The iron was put on after it was up there.
I did the same with mine, my father-in-law and I lifted it up (somehow) and put the iron on the next weekend - I think we both nearly popped hernias doing it.... it was bloody heavy. We over-engineered the roofing section to cope with the strains of rolling back and forth....
Got a machinist lined up to make an Atlux pier leveling adapter plate to go ontop of my concrete pier , just need to measure it up and give him some drawings .
Will do that tomorrow and hope to have a quote in next few days.
I have a spare CG5 tripod head , I'll use that for the CG5's pier and attach it to a suitable sized steel blank frange, might be some welding needed (6 bits of steel angle). It wont be pretty but I'm pretty sure it'll work a treat.
Once I've have the leveling adapter plates in hand , I'll settle on where to set up the two peirs , dig my two holes and will "pour" them (fine gravel quick set cement with some rebar maybe). After New Year I think.
Then it's either a slab or a off ground deck ???? 5m x 3.2m I think now (to give two piers and two scopes , and one fat astronomer plenty of elbow space). Not decided on that yet.
If I do a timber deck for the ROR shed , I'll do two the same size - we have always wanted a timber deck on the back of the house for entertaining , hanging out and bbqs, two BIYO decks at once at will work out cheaper than doing them at separate times (if I have to hire any tools).
If I go timber deck(s) route - for a deck about 1.7m off the ground what's the best option ?
- Treated pine poles concreted into the ground ? One of my neighbours did a similar deck , still finishing it off , a little worried about giving a easy path for termites to get to into the house if I use timber piers.
or
- piers made from galvanised steel hollow square sections of suitable size - welding needed maybe - bolted to concrete footings in the ground ? (I'll have to dig out my old Steel Designers Handbook to size the steelwork up - very rusty on those calcs).
or
- reinforced concrete support piers (formatube style) with suitable sized in ground concrete footings ?
Last edited by Ian Robinson; 09-12-2008 at 08:06 PM.
Hi Ian,
Just a thought. Don't know if anyone has mentioned these. If you are thinking of not going with the concete slab and want the floor raised then have a look at these ground screws. A friend of mine has just about completed his observatory using these with saddles. Handy if you ever move as the whole lot can come out of the ground. http://www.krinner.com.au/
PeterM
Hi Ian,
Just a thought. Don't know if anyone has mentioned these. If you are thinking of not going with the concete slab and want the floor raised then have a look at these ground screws. A friend of mine has just about completed his observatory using these with saddles. Handy if you ever move as the whole lot can come out of the ground. http://www.krinner.com.au/
PeterM
Those things look brilliant as a substitute for concrete platform pier footings , my ground is hard as concrete when dry wonder how hard they are to drive into the ground (by hand) ?
Future proofing is also something I am considering - I might get that perfect job and have to move one day (not holding my breath though).
Those things look brilliant as a substitute for concrete platform pier footings , my ground is hard as concrete when dry wonder how hard they are to drive into the ground (by hand) ?
Future proofing is also something I am considering - I might get that perfect job and have to move one day (not holding my breath though).
Hi Ian,
These were used at our Leyburn site, the ground is hard only a few inches down. What we did first was hammer a long steel tent peg (about 10mm thick) into the ground as a guide for the ground screw, poured in a little water. We then bolted a longish piece of 3x4 in between the bracket and with one of us on each end we simply walked around rotating the screw into the ground. They do bite a bit as they get deeper but they are stong as and hold a lot of weight.
PeterM
Those things look brilliant as a substitute for concrete platform pier footings , my ground is hard as concrete when dry wonder how hard they are to drive into the ground (by hand) ?
Future proofing is also something I am considering - I might get that perfect job and have to move one day (not holding my breath though).
You might also look at "Mega Anchors" http://mega-anchor.com/and the "Surefoot" http://www.surefootfootings.com/ system which work on similar principles. I'm about to put up a workshop and house using these and already have the frame from my observatory ready to go on mega anchors. I am also contemplating a "surefoot" as an alternative to burying a cube of concrete.
, 
