Barn Conversion to workshop

[Tonytygwyn]

Its been a busy week and a bit.... the very expensive boiler turned up last Thursday which was a bit of a shock as was under the impression it was due this week. the weather was good but we had a rush to get the breather membrane on the roof to protect the boiler as you can never guaranty the weather, especially in Wales.

I decided in a belt and braces approach to fitting the battens I used stainless steel screws... I know overkill but I wanted the roof to out live me. well I'm regretting this now as, in my rush to get the roof water tight I miss calculated the batten gauge I worked out the gauge was 19cm but when cutting the spacer blocks forgot to remove a batten width so the battens would be at centres. So the battens were placed at 19cm apart not 14cm...Balls ... and guess what due to the stainless screws being rubbish a lot of the heads were stripped on screwing them in.

Long story short... to get the correct head lap on the tiles of 100mm I've had to buy another load of battens and fit them in where required.

You can see all the extra battens and the partially tiled roof below. I'm very pleased with it so far but its taking time.

All the rush to protect this beast.

In between spells on the roof and when it starts raining started building the biggest box I'll probably ever build 2m x 4m x 2.2m this will become the pellet storage silo.

 

[Charlie Woody]

Looking good. Now that's what you call a boiler & hot water tank!!! How many houses will that supply?

 

[Tonytygwyn]

The boiler will heat a 5 bed house, 2 bed holiday let, my workshop and the wife's indoor swimming pool.

 

[Charlie Woody]

That explains why it's huge!

 

[Paul200]

Great stuff! Keep it coming.

 

[SVB]

This is a really interesting build / conversion - It's like a Woody soap. Happiness, problems, escapism of lovely location, frustrations overcome, family tension etc etc!!! All we need now is an unexplained pregnancy and you'll be a hit.

Looking forward to next week's update!

Simon

 

[Tonytygwyn]

Just a quick update work is continuing on the roof tiling I've nearly finished one side, its been slow going in between rain showers.

The pellet silo is nearly complete, just the roof to fit.

More woody soap opera updates to follow.

 

[devonwoody]

Pleased to watch this post.

 

[Tonytygwyn]

Another quick update... This weather is allowing me to crack on with the roof
I've finished the back side of the barn. Apart from some tiles that need to be cut in along the ridge.

And I've started on the front side.. which is looking a lot nicer got the tile spacing correct and the tiles are spaced more even up to the ridge and they finish with a nice half tile rather than a 3/4 tile on the back side. There is nothing like learning on the job :wink:

 

[Charlie Woody]

Looking good, hopefully the weather stays fine.

 

[Tonytygwyn]

It been nearly a month since my last update and nothing much seems to have changed.

The pellet silo is complete
boiler installed and working (but we missed the 1st October dealine for the 5% drop in RHI payments through no fault of myself :evil: )

Half finished the roof on the yard side. Awaiting solar panels to be installed on the other half of the roof before slating around.
Dug the trench for the new electric supply to be connected tomorrow.

Installed new meter box but spayed it grey to make it blend in a little more.

Spent some time in the veg garden with the digger making piles of soil it seems. Footings going in for a retaining wall across the width to level the back area. I promise I will get round to some wood working soon. Chicken coup and run to build here soon.

 

[griggs]

That is a fantastic looking space you have there. I'm hoping to get my workshop space sorted next year.

 

[Tonytygwyn]

This may seem extravagant for a workshop but I needed to heat the workshop to qualify for the commercial RHI feed in tariffs for the biomass boiler. So in goes underfloor heating, I could have used radiators but didn't want to take up any wall space.

Liquid screed is poured today.

 

[griggs]

Nice and warm feet

 

[Droogs]

Things are going well Tony, looks like you'll have a cracking workshop at the end of it. That underfloor heating will certainly make acclimatising stock for anything you intend to make for the house as stable as possible for the future.

 

[Tonytygwyn]

shiny new floor

 

[Tonytygwyn]

Can anyone help with some advice on lighting for my workshop?
I'm struggling choosing between standard fluorescent tube fittings, 1 on each purlin between each truss giving me a total of 8 fittings.
Or 4 high bay light fittings again fitted centrally between each truss.
I have looked at track lighting with directional spots as well but this seems a more expensive option.

If I do choose fluorescent tubes should I use LED bulbs? And should I use twin or single bulbs in each fitting? should I fit the dust proof covered exterior grade fittings or are standard interior fittings fine I'm a little little worried I'll bash the interior bulbs with a timber.

If I go for LED warm white or cool white?

Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'd be inclined to put a few tubes in for general lighting, and use small LEDs over benches, saws, etc. - it's nice to have the whole place lit up like a xmas tree, but it's expensive to install and more expensive than necessary to run. Small single bulb LED adjustable fittings are about £4, possibly less - put them where you need them. They are so cheap if you bash one once in a while, what the hell. The lamps are coming down quickly in price, Screwfix had them on offer a few weeks ago for £17.99 iirc for ten. Warm light is fine for general purposes, but the occasional blue white is good where you are trying to do things accurately (especially if you're getting older and your sight is worsening). Where I used to sit and read I had one warm and one cold/blue, which worked quite well.

 

[sploo]

Given the lack of light in my workshop I'd be tempted to go for more rather than less (perhaps on separate switches to control the level).

Be aware that if you mix light colour and want to take photos you'll give yourself problems.

I use CFL bulbs, but would go with LED strips if I did it again (and do a better job of not shadowing my working areas with my body). E.g. http://woodgears.ca/misc/led.html

Any issues with fluorescent lighting and machinery? I'm thinking of 50Hz strobing, and possibly putting them on a different phase? Not something I know much about, but I have heard of such problems with some types of lighting.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I have LEDs over my lathe that strobe.