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It's started! Decision made, choice made, deposit paid & my longed for Smoking Lounge is currently being made in the Netherlands.
We have had several members chart their progress with such projects & they helped inspire me to finally take the plunge myself, so perhaps others might appreciate my simpler approach. Not being a 'good' DIY'er & having a 'glass' back I had to make some practical decisions. I knew I wasn't able to build it myself but I want to minimise costs. I didn't really want a wooden shed or a plastic one, although I can appreciate no painting approach. So having looked around several physical sites & trawling the internet, I came up with a Lugardel 3x3m summer house. https://www.lugarde.com/product/summerhouse-p899/
Once ordered & deposit paid I looked around on metheords to build the base. THe company would do it for £1,900 but that seemed excessive so I found a company on Edinburgh that would deliver a set of ground screws with disks, that support a wooden base & can be adjusted as it settles, with the extra weight of the cabin being placed on top.
https://www.a1sheds.co.uk/product/qu...soil-or-grass/
THis arrived in afew days. In the meantime I took down the wooden fruit cage the prev owners left. Cleared the brambles, this was hard on my back but I cleared as much of the root systems as I could. Next problem was getting someone to help me as building a base is obviously not a one person job. Luckily my best Oppo from the RN agreed to come down for the day & not only add some muscle but bring his tools with him, which included an electric circular saw., In a week which predicted to rain heavily every day bar Fri, it was lucky that Fri was a day we could both make. The weather turned out dry & sunny all day, so using electric drills & saw safe to use,
I bought C24 2x4" x 300cm supposts x 11 from Jewsons, around the corner. I had to bring them home 3/4 at a time in the Jag as they couldn't deliver in time. I also bought Anti Weed matting, which we placed at the end of the job in double thickness as there was plenty to spare. And 4 bags for gravel to hold it in place.
Terry arrived at 10:00 & after a coffee & quick toolbox talk we started making the outer frame. As the cabin is to be situated between two sheds & the fence at the back, space was restricted.
My main concern was how much the frame wold weigh & whether we would be able to lift it as the Quick Jack Company recommended screwing plates & screws on the top of the frame & then flipping it over. We decided to just lean it up against the end of the shed & fix there. Laid the Anti Weed matting & then laid the frame across two work benches to attach the ones we couldn't reach with it vertical.
We needed my wife to assist in removing the benches but then we adjusted to the correct position (enough distance from the fence to be able to reach behind to spray the preservative initially & then annually). Screws on the mat & then 'tap in to ground, using another piece of wood'. Even though I had dug the ground & the rain over the previous 2/52 this took a little more effort than you might imagine, walking along the beams & jumping up & down helped. Not easy when neither of us weigh over 70kg!
Next we fitted cross supposts. Light was fading but I managed to get a small desk lamp plugged in & we carried on until the job was completed @ 17:30. Half an hr to tidied up & a Chinese take away & beer rounded off the day. Gifts of Champagne, vintage Claret & Tubed Cohiba's were given, as a small token of my thanks, Terry will hopefully be at the opening of the lounge to enjoy more vintage smokes & fine Cuba rum. I'll update when the Cabin is delivered, the company is erecting, a job I prefer to leave to the professionals, just to make sure it gets done right first time & I'll post again in Dec when this should happen, hopefully ready before I leave for Chrimbo & NY on the rig. Attach photos shortly
We have had several members chart their progress with such projects & they helped inspire me to finally take the plunge myself, so perhaps others might appreciate my simpler approach. Not being a 'good' DIY'er & having a 'glass' back I had to make some practical decisions. I knew I wasn't able to build it myself but I want to minimise costs. I didn't really want a wooden shed or a plastic one, although I can appreciate no painting approach. So having looked around several physical sites & trawling the internet, I came up with a Lugardel 3x3m summer house. https://www.lugarde.com/product/summerhouse-p899/
Once ordered & deposit paid I looked around on metheords to build the base. THe company would do it for £1,900 but that seemed excessive so I found a company on Edinburgh that would deliver a set of ground screws with disks, that support a wooden base & can be adjusted as it settles, with the extra weight of the cabin being placed on top.
https://www.a1sheds.co.uk/product/qu...soil-or-grass/
THis arrived in afew days. In the meantime I took down the wooden fruit cage the prev owners left. Cleared the brambles, this was hard on my back but I cleared as much of the root systems as I could. Next problem was getting someone to help me as building a base is obviously not a one person job. Luckily my best Oppo from the RN agreed to come down for the day & not only add some muscle but bring his tools with him, which included an electric circular saw., In a week which predicted to rain heavily every day bar Fri, it was lucky that Fri was a day we could both make. The weather turned out dry & sunny all day, so using electric drills & saw safe to use,
I bought C24 2x4" x 300cm supposts x 11 from Jewsons, around the corner. I had to bring them home 3/4 at a time in the Jag as they couldn't deliver in time. I also bought Anti Weed matting, which we placed at the end of the job in double thickness as there was plenty to spare. And 4 bags for gravel to hold it in place.
Terry arrived at 10:00 & after a coffee & quick toolbox talk we started making the outer frame. As the cabin is to be situated between two sheds & the fence at the back, space was restricted.
My main concern was how much the frame wold weigh & whether we would be able to lift it as the Quick Jack Company recommended screwing plates & screws on the top of the frame & then flipping it over. We decided to just lean it up against the end of the shed & fix there. Laid the Anti Weed matting & then laid the frame across two work benches to attach the ones we couldn't reach with it vertical.
We needed my wife to assist in removing the benches but then we adjusted to the correct position (enough distance from the fence to be able to reach behind to spray the preservative initially & then annually). Screws on the mat & then 'tap in to ground, using another piece of wood'. Even though I had dug the ground & the rain over the previous 2/52 this took a little more effort than you might imagine, walking along the beams & jumping up & down helped. Not easy when neither of us weigh over 70kg!
Next we fitted cross supposts. Light was fading but I managed to get a small desk lamp plugged in & we carried on until the job was completed @ 17:30. Half an hr to tidied up & a Chinese take away & beer rounded off the day. Gifts of Champagne, vintage Claret & Tubed Cohiba's were given, as a small token of my thanks, Terry will hopefully be at the opening of the lounge to enjoy more vintage smokes & fine Cuba rum. I'll update when the Cabin is delivered, the company is erecting, a job I prefer to leave to the professionals, just to make sure it gets done right first time & I'll post again in Dec when this should happen, hopefully ready before I leave for Chrimbo & NY on the rig. Attach photos shortly
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