Some of you may have gathered from some of my other posts that I am moving to a new workshop. Again. Fourth time now... it's getting a bit tedious, so I'm hoping to be in this new one for a good few years. Tried to move out of my current one a couple of years back, but had to abort & come back due to the new place being constantly flooded - including a gigantic hole right over the electric board, so everything shorted out every time it rained. Which it does a lot, up here in t'frozen North...
So, anyhoo, here's the new spread (all pictures can be embiggened by clicking):
3600 sq/ft of leaky roof and pigeon shít. Nice.
I'm sharing this with a couple of other lads, so I get 3/4 of the place (about 2700sq/ft, or 250sq/m for those who calculate in French). 100sq/m of that space is upstairs on the mezzanine.
One of the many water features... This one has now been fixed, and new OSB laid across (most of) the old floor. That was the only real weak spot upstairs, it's been leaking so long most of the glue/bonding/whatever it is in the OSB had been washed away, the water was dripping straight through!
That grey stuff is not insulation. It is, genuinely, pigeon shít. There were about 1/2 dozen pigeons in there when we moved in, all since shot & fed to the cats/foxes. The place has been empty for many years, mainly due to the leaking roof, dangerous electrics, and inch-deep coating of pigeon poo. Oh, and the fact that the council wanted to charge rates on the place! Well, since that nice Mr Osborne (former UK finance minister, for those scratching their heads) changed the rates rules, the place will be zero rated as of next year & for the foreseeable future. Which is nice.
Aaaanyway, fast forward 5 months, and this is what it looks like now:
The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice there's not many machine tools in evidence.... they're still at the old place, should have them in by/just after Christmas (I hope!)
Meantime, I've spent the last 2 weekends buying wood, then screwing it all together:
This will be the new office (byebye Portacabin, you've served me well, but I can't lift you onto the mezzanine you're just too damn heavy & fragile). Got 1 more main wall to build, but I can't do that until I've got the window(s) and door(s). Maybe next weekend... Note the shiny new OSB. And the black rubber mat where it still leaks a bit
One of the old welding bays (visible in the 1st pic, on the RHS about 1/2 way down) currently full of "clutter" (Mr Wilson might recognise some of it
)
The roof isn't quite there yet either:
Yes, all 5 buckets are needed... there's a 6th just out of shot too! New plan is to fit some internal under-roofing which will catch the water & channel it away.
Anyway... I'll have a smashing big workshop when I'm finished - over 1000sq/ft for the lathes/mills and other sundry machine tools, and all tucked away under the mezzanine where it should be possible to keep them reasonably warm even in the middle of winter (I plan a giant sliding door in front of the mezzanine, so access is still easy, but any warmth stays in there), approx 400sq/ft office space up on the mezzanine (the dimensions are 100% driven by the requirements of the pool table!!) with the rest given over to storage, and around another 800sq/ft ish for cars/race car stuff.
All in all, I'm aching from head to foot but rather pleased with myself just now
