Alternate Activities

[thebrookster]

Well, couldn't decide where this would live, as it's not a hobby as such so here will do!

Been a busy few weeks this time back (hence little sideways time). What it boiled down to us that my garage (well, "workshop" by size) is not fit for purpose. So it needs replacing. But it contained quantities of "stuff" that required a new temporary home or a trip to the dump.

So we start of with this:

Which became this:

And finally this:

And then relocation commenced (much to SWMBO chagrin, she was already calculating quantities of tomatoes and cucumbers lol)

All so this could come down:

Still more demo to go, I need a bigger hammer haha.

Then some surroundings to dig, foundations to extend and fingers crossed a new garage, this time a touch bigger, aiming for approx 30'x18', give or take. 

Phil

[rogerguzzi]

Hello Phil 

                Still you will able to grow Strawberries etc in the poly tunnel!!

Roger

[Escadrille Ecosse]

That lot will make a good bonfire!

And I'm sure the polytunnel won't go to waste.

On 4/26/2023 at 6:20 PM, thebrookster said:

Then some surroundings to dig, foundations to extend and fingers crossed a new garage, this time a touch bigger, aiming for approx 30'x18', give or take.

THAT is what you call a garage.

[thebrookster]

On 4/26/2023 at 6:48 PM, rogerguzzi said:

Still you will able to grow Strawberries etc in the poly tunnel!!

 

22 hours ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

And I'm sure the polytunnel won't go to waste.

Well, not so bothered about the strawberries (they do tend to cope quite well outside here), however it appears this year that peas will be a major test of wills!!

I believe we are now on the either the fourth or fifth batch of peas, every time herself plants them out the local mice and voles have a field day, none of the batches have lasted 1 night yet!!

Colin - an excellent bonfire indeed! The dog quite enjoyed it (she loves heat) to the extent she now has a brown patch on the top of her head where she burned herself lying too close.

Edited May 1, 2023 by thebrookster

[thebrookster]

Demolition is almost complete, just got some digging left!

Going............ going............

And gone!!

So I need to dig out maybe 10 feet into the bank on that far side, in order to increase size. Suffice to say, there are plenty of brambles in there, and I look like I had an encounter with a hedgehog, a porcupine and a few rabid cats as a result!

Might have gotten carried away with the clearing.......... (It all has to come out sometime anyway, least that's my excuse)

And to enable alternative brush removal, I bought a new toy. And boy did the dog give it a good barking at, apparently we don't like things wrapped in black plastic!

Anyway, I now have a small excavator and a dump truck arriving tomorrow, so next task is learning how to operate such beasts.

[Nick Jones]

4 minutes ago, thebrookster said:

Anyway, I now have a small excavator and a dump truck arriving tomorrow, so next task is learning how to operate such beasts.

Oh ho….  Big boys toys  though I can’t quite see how that plastic wrapped thing is a digger….?

Should have hung on and scragged the brambles with the digger…. I HATE brambles….

[thebrookster]

6 minutes ago, Nick Jones said:

 though I can’t quite see how that plastic wrapped thing is a digger….?

Mostly because it isn't! As much as I would love to buy a digger etc, since COVID the second market for these has gone daft! So mine is from a local hire company (and believe me, a visit to their shop in Helensburgh is better than most comedy shows!!).

The plastic wrapped thing is a chipper/shredder, to deal with the "not big enough to be firewood, but too big for a compost heap" detritus.

[Escadrille Ecosse]

12 hours ago, thebrookster said:

The plastic wrapped thing is a chipper/shredder, to deal with the "not big enough to be firewood, but too big for a compost heap" detritus.

Handy, but annoying...

Diggers, what fun

[thebrookster]

Well, the big boys toys have arrived, now I just need to work out how to use them 

 

[thebrookster]

Work is progressing, once I sussed out how to operate the digger!

Had a wee setback on the first day, when I managed to tip the dump truck over (it really doesn't like slopes!!) which involved a very fast dismount. An hours work (albeit interrupted with a lifeboat call out) with a jackall and some straps had it back on its wheels. Discussion with some friends afterwards and it was mentioned that I should have gone for the 3 tonne dumper, but that's a lesson for next time.

For future projects, I think I really needed a bigger excavator as well, this job is pushing the limits of this machine (far too much rock and clay in the soil hereabouts). But I'm managing, so not disastrous.

 

[Nick Jones]

15 minutes ago, thebrookster said:

Had a wee setback on the first day, when I managed to tip the dump truck over (it really doesn't like slopes!!) which involved a very fast dismount.

 Wee setback….!

Well done on avoiding being under it. Hopefully now you’ve found the limit you can avoid crossing it again!

[michaeljf]

Hello, Nice work. Did you get a digging bucket as well?  and the two hoses on the side of the arm look like they would attach to a jack hammer. Regards, Michael.

[PaulAA]

11 hours ago, thebrookster said:

Work is progressing, once I sussed out how to operate the digger!

Had a wee setback on the first day, when I managed to tip the dump truck over (it really doesn't like slopes!!) which involved a very fast dismount. An hours work (albeit interrupted with a lifeboat call out) with a jackall and some straps had it back on its wheels. Discussion with some friends afterwards and it was mentioned that I should have gone for the 3 tonne dumper, but that's a lesson for next time.

For future projects, I think I really needed a bigger excavator as well, this job is pushing the limits of this machine (far too much rock and clay in the soil hereabouts). But I'm managing, so not disastrous.

I hate to be a tediuos arse-ache, but that appears to be a sizeable slope you're cutting into. Have you been through the geotechnical investigation and engineering analysis to be sure the hill won't migrate onto the new workshop? Apologies if this appeared in a bit of the thread I missed

[Escadrille Ecosse]

1 hour ago, PaulAA said:

I hate to be a tediuos arse-ache, but that appears to be a sizeable slope you're cutting into. Have you been through the geotechnical investigation and engineering analysis to be sure the hill won't migrate onto the new workshop? Apologies if this appeared in a bit of the thread I missed

Don't worry Paul. This part of Scotland is clay. We'll consolidated by being compacted by about a mile of glacial ice for a few million years. It's almost as hard as the big lumps of rock erratics that get mixed in with it .

Good job there Phil. That's a lot of digging for the wee fella.

Glad you managed the short notice dismount without coming to any harm. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Escadrille Ecosse

[Hamish]

For the safe dismount. 
 

[PeteStupps]

1 hour ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Do worry Paul.

I know it's probably superfluous (or 'extra' as my kids would say) to point this out, but I believe this is a typo!

[PeteStupps]

13 hours ago, thebrookster said:

 

Sitting in my inner-city flat, I find it hard to relate to what is going on here but I strongly approve anyway!

[Escadrille Ecosse]

1 minute ago, PeteStupps said:

I know it's probably superfluous (or 'extra' as my kids would say) to point this out, but I believe this is a typo!

 Well spotted Pete

[thebrookster]

11 hours ago, PaulAA said:

I hate to be a tediuos arse-ache, but that appears to be a sizeable slope you're cutting into. Have you been through the geotechnical investigation and engineering analysis to be sure the hill won't migrate onto the new workshop? Apologies if this appeared in a bit of the thread I missed

I have to confess I have neither of the aforementioned documents.

However, as Colin says, the hill is basically clay, and I reckon by the time I'm done will be no more than 4 foot high at the highest point. I'm also the second person to do this, whomever fitted the old shed had already carved into the hillside. Whilst I am going deeper into the hill, the slope at that section is pretty flat, so the immediate hill doesn't get higher than it already is if that makes sense?

To further things, I also plan to build a retaining wall (probably just basic breeze block) around, and leave a sizeable gap around the new shed.

[PaulAA]

On 5/7/2023 at 10:24 PM, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Don't worry Paul. This part of Scotland is clay. We'll consolidated by being compacted by about a mile of glacial ice for a few million years. It's almost as hard as the big lumps of rock erratics that get mixed in with it .

Good job there Phil. That's a lot of digging for the wee fella.

Glad you managed the short notice dismount without coming to any harm. 

Fair comment - I had the sheer quantity of the wet stuff in mind. Rain is devilish mud lubricant.

 

On 5/8/2023 at 10:03 AM, thebrookster said:

I have to confess I have neither of the aforementioned documents.

However, as Colin says, the hill is basically clay, and I reckon by the time I'm done will be no more than 4 foot high at the highest point. I'm also the second person to do this, whomever fitted the old shed had already carved into the hillside. Whilst I am going deeper into the hill, the slope at that section is pretty flat, so the immediate hill doesn't get higher than it already is if that makes sense?

To further things, I also plan to build a retaining wall (probably just basic breeze block) around, and leave a sizeable gap around the new shed.

Understood. It's a bit heath robonson, but you might want to (i) sink a largish diameter plastic french drain into the clay on the uphill side of the wall, to prevent any water build-up in the absorbent bits, (ii) lay some simple steel mesh into the horizontal courses in your wall, and (iii) drive a few long reinforcing bar (the ribbed variety) into the clay, perpendicular to the wall and weld/bolt some spreader plates onto the downfill side of the wall. I'm assuming that you're using solid exterior-grade blocks, yes?

[thebrookster]

Well, given we have movement again (finally) I thought I'd update.

This is where I stopped after a week's solid labour last year:

However, this time around (or part B, if you will allow) I decided to contract a groundworker/builder to finish excavating, and lay the concrete slab. I know I'd originally said it would be 30'x18', however that has crept up ever so slightly and I'm going for 10m x 6m (or 33'x20' give or take in old money).

Guy arrived today (albeit minus his sidekick, who has succumbed for the 4th week in a row to the Monday malady and hence might not be a sidekick for much longer ). I'm on yet another course in Clydebank this week so only get the days completion sights, which was staggeringly efficient! He has completed in a day what took me nearly a week to accomplish 

Old base lifted, and further digging commenced.

The red line in the next pic is roughly where he has to dig to, in order to reach my requirement for 10x6 slab plus 1.2m clearance between slab (garage) and the hill. Once he has dug out the remainder he will landscape the rest in order to allay @PaulAA concerns about the hill falling in.

I'll see tomorrow how it may look once the rest of bank is removed. We were planning for concrete this week, however this cold snap that arrived last night has put paid to that, so hopefully that will happen next week instead where the weather reports reckon warmer temps are on the way back.

[Escadrille Ecosse]

That's a lot of groundworks Phil, but certaily seems to be on a roll.

Soon as I saw this I thought 'timing'. Couldn't make it up weather wise.

[Nick Jones]

5 minutes ago, Escadrille Ecosse said:

Soon as I saw this I thought 'timing'. Couldn't make it up weather wise.

Man plans…… the gods laugh….

[mattius]

Wouldn't fancy doing groundworks this time of year, the ground must be rock hard.

Good progress 

[thebrookster]

Not too bad yet, Matt. It's cold, but mostly ground frost cold rather than frozen earth cold over this side. Escaped the snow as well fortunately!

Further progress was made today, albeit not so much to look at. Dug out the back, just got a large rock to remove and slopes to install.

However, the dump at the bottom of the garden has developed very nicely. The first round I built up last year meant I had space for my two trailers (just). I could buy a third trailer now and have space to park it! Or maybe a second garage....................