Exciting news Barry, I hope it all goes as planned.  Reading the various threads here, I don't think there is anything that is truly RTR - there is always something to model and make unique, if only weathering.  And others will say there is a lot more.  But 30 new wagons leaves my fleet of 10 in shame!!
Hoping you stay well and safe

Michael

Barry, that pile of pennies won't take long to vanish once you get into "decorating" your new shed.

Just caught up Barry.... Gobsmacked by the size of your project... looking forward very much to following along with the build.

"One small step at a time"

This has become my motto with this project.  We were supposed to complete the purchase of the house yesterday but unfortunately it now looks like another week will go by before we get the keys.  Not the end of the World as the builders are all busy for a couple of weeks anyway and whilst I don't own the house, I don't have to pay for the upkeep!

In the meantime, I have been to sunny Lancaster today to meet the guy who is building my shed.  This is Mk II of the construction process - the first company seems to have disappeared off the face of the known map.  The new builder, Mark (and his bonkers dog Daisy) have a massive workshop that was a barn on a working livestock farm.  Not so good on the smelly front on a warm day!

Mark has taken my brief and just whistled through the requirements, producing examples from his workshop of the outside finishing, roof shingles, internal bracing, roof trusses etc etc.  In short, he is man who looks and sounds like he knows what he is doing, surrounded by the fruits of his labours - shed panels waiting to be delivered.  It was good to talk about roof truss designs and bracing.  Sounds very nerdy but its actually important to me.  I can't afford to get this wrong.

As a result of our discussions and the passing of a bag of gold, delivery is now booked for the end of July come rain or shine.  Mrs M has given her two pennyworth on cladding colours and finishes and commissioned herself a garage whilst we were there - matching my shed of course!

Fireproofing sorted - Mark will get it done and certificated to satisfy Building Control.  Good man!

To celebrate, I have just put a truck-load of Code 75 track on pre-order at Hattons.

All I need now is the keys to the house, otherwise I will have to find somewhere to put a very large shed in a very small flat……………….   

All sounding very positive Barry - I hope you are going to keep us updated as it all develops.  Although shouldn't it be a shed load of track you have ordered?  ;-)
Regards

Michael

The end of July sounds good Barry that gives you a few weeks to do the various jobs Mrs M will with no doubt will require doing immediately when moving into a new house.
Do you have to prepare a base for the new shed or have you suitable prepared area?
Have you got an electrician yet to power it for you unless you are doing it yourself. LED strip lights are the way to go ive got a lot and they are cheap to run.

Brian

Hi Brian

I have always said that the new layout would start 9 months after the house purchase.  There is a lot to do and I do not want the layout to interfere with the job of getting the house right.  Most of the house work will be done by the building team but as a qualified electrician I will be chipping in to help the sparks we are employing.  I am getting a bit old to crawl around feeding cables so he can do it and I will assist him!

The groundsman in the building team is laying a steel-reinforced pad 100mm thick as recommended by the shed builder and Building Control.  This will include provision for electrics via the required Steel Wired Armoured (SWA) cable and with drainage planned as well - the rain water will be collected and distributed around the garden using a micro-bore system.

I think we have covered all of the bases but, as you can imagine, something will come up that we haven't thought of!!

Barry

[user=2006]Barry Miltenburg[/user] wrote:

….. and with drainage planned as well - the rain water will be collected and distributed around the garden using a micro-bore system…..

Barry

Apologies for meandering OT but finding it hard to imagine the need in Liverpool. I thought immediately of the Beatles "Penny Lane"

And the banker never wears a mac
In the pouring rain, very strange……

which seems doubly relevant here.

The other odd thing to me after 20+ years of experience recycling water for my garden here is using micro-bore. Silting up of pipes and tanks is always an issue without comprehensive filtering, in UK same is true. I went the other way bypassing whole issue with 300L top lid water tubs (original use for shipping of Olives) and plunge filling of my watering cans. Very effective and good exercise (with due care). On a typical hot day I'll need about 12 cans or 100L and rarely run out during summer but that's only the vegetables. 

Collecting rain water to irrigate gardens, other than in very large tanks, has always seemed rather difficult to justify for me.

When it rains, we don't need to water so our storage tanks fill up - say a few 300 to 400 litre water butts - or here, more likely 1000 litre plastic tanks.  After around a week of hot dry weather, other than the daily watering of flower boxes etc., we may need to water the garden proper. Our 300 to 400 litres of stored water will very quickly be exhausted and, should the dry weather continue, we're snookered so have to resort to "paid for" water.

My query is what does it cost to install the storage system against the cost of a few hundred litres of "paid for" water ?

Maybe, in UK, one doesn't get long, dry periods so the system is almost in perpetual motion.  Here in France, we have long periods of drought so, when it rains, we don't need it and when it doesn't our tanks are empty !

I also know what you mean about blocked pipes Colin.  Rain water is seldom "clean" and often carries an amazing quantity of solid matter - sand from the Sahara is a regular here for example.  Run that down a dirty roof and along dirty gutters and you usually end up with a decent looking broth ……………

In theory, it sounds ideal but, in practice, I'd think long and hard before parting with my cash Barry.

Hi Peter

The collection of rainwater and what do with it was, originally, an idea we have given the amount of roof-space I was going to have.  It focused itself when the Building Control Officer insisted that the drainage was piped at least 2 metres away from the building.  We realised that we could avoid having to do that by collecting it.  Having done that, the obvious use was to pipe it around the garden.  Mrs M is in charge of that - I just agree!!

The comment about the amount of rain per annum is a good point.  Over last winter it seemed to rain every day!  Since the beginning of February, it has been quite dry.  Apparently, we get a good annual amount here so we are hoping that the winter allocation will get us through the summer.

Mrs M is going to establish a veg plot alongside my shed at the end of the garden so thats where my water collection is going to be used.

My post of April 24th suggesting a completion date of May 29th and showing the dancing chickens turned out to be a total turkey.  The sellers solicitor………..  Don't get me started!!

The seller (poor girl) has had to delay her own house move but is hoping to get things done in the next 2 weeks.  I am not holding my breath, just keeping my fingers crossed.

Barry

Barry,

Not sure if you realise but it's going to be an awful lot of water to distribute if you don't run any to waste!

Your shed is ~8.5m *4.9m (41.7sq m) and every 10mm rainfall will offer up 417Litres. This is on top of the water already falling on your vege patch.  Given Liverpool's average annual rainfall is about 800mm this equates to 33,400L of water p.a. or 2,800L p month. Run that out over your vege patch space in winter and you'll have a swamp.

I reckon you'd be much better off with a decent sized tank and the overflow plumbed back to the rain water system.


https://en.climate-data.org/europe/united-kingdom/england/liverpool-107/  

Indeed Colin.  With the best will in the world, you'll only be able to collect a fraction of what falls Barry and, according to your building controls guy, the extra will have to be piped 2 metres from the building.  Are there any drains at that distance - a house drain for example ?

As I said in my last post, laudible thought it is to think of conserving water for re-use, in UK it just doesn't work in practice.  There's too much coming down from the sky for free !!!

Cheers guys
I have shown Mrs M your calculations and ordered a good pair of waders online!!!

At present, I’d be happy to get the keys. I am going to sit in the garden with a beer even if its chucking it down!!!!!

Barry

Never mind the rain water Barry, I hope you have planned a source close by or even In the shed  ? That kettle wont fill itself you know !  And a tap close by your shed would save her indoors lugging heavy watering cans full to the veg patch if the rain water does give out  :thumbs

Kettle?

I was thinking beer fridge  

Hi all

Apologies for being a bit absent in recent weeks but it has been full on.

After 28 weeks of surveys, solicitors, arguments, legal issues and downright frustration, today, I collected the keys to our new house.

I am now having a quick "get very drunk very quickly" break and tomorrow will start clearing the house and garden ahead of prep for the shed base and shed due at the end of July.

Once the shed is up, it will be used as a store for a few months but hopefully, towards the end of the year I can start thinking about interiors, insulation etc and baseboards.  In the meantime, I am stocking up on wagon kits and looking forward to being re-united with my modelling stuff!!

Barry

Hi Barry,

You have arrived, well done to you and the bride and enjoy some well deserved liquid refreshment!

Now the real work begins, ha, but hopefully much less stress, as you are at last in control.

Best,

Bill

Thanks Bill

I think my inner Control-Freak has taken a real bashing!

 :cheers

Congratulations, Barry!   :cheers  I shall raise a glass with you in honour of the event…..
Michael