ALMIRA OBSERVATORY
 

     A suburban observatory in Worcestershire, UK based on a metal garden shed

           
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  Construction 4 - The Floor

 

First I  had to set up seven concrete slabs all perfectly level(ish) and bolt together the basic frame of the floor joists.

 

 

Next came putting in all the main joists and noggins.  I was hoping that the weight of the joists would hold the whole structure steady, but I wasn't happy with it.  It slid around on the slabs if you gave it a hefty whack, so I had to put in four short posts embedded in concrete which will bolted onto the inside of the outer frame of the floor to hold it secure. More work!

You will note that there is no noggin behind (to the left in this picture) of the pier. This was deliberate as I had pull the floor frame away from the fence to install the metal panels at the rear of the observatory (the front of the observatory is to the right of this picture). Once this was done, the whole shed was pushed back towards the fence again, and a noggin was put in behind the pier.  Note that the I used double thicknesses of wood on the sides and back of the outermost parts of the frame.  This was so that the metal base frame of the shed could be screwed directly on to the wooden floor frame.

 

     
 

Finally, I re-fitted the 18 mm Sterling Board floor so that I could cut out the section of floor around the pier.  The floor was then removed and was re-fitted one final time once the walls of the shed were up and the electrics installed.  I cut the floor so that there was a 10 - 20 mm gap between the pier and the floor.  This gap was later filled with some foam pipe insulation to prevent insects and mice getting in to the observatory through the gap.

 

 

 

 

 

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Last updated -  2nd September 2006

Copyright© 2006 Michael Morris