After a 2 week break from the farm, I headed off for an overnight stay to do some more work on the shed. This weekend's jobs included more work on the shed walls (straightening the panels) and concreting the shed's foundations. I would also try to do some work on the floor. I have the feeling that this project will take a long time to complete.
The weather was forecasted to be HOT on Saturday and even HOTTER on Sunday! A high of 34 degrees was forecast on Sat (with a low of 9) and an "extreme" UV index. Sunday was set to be even hotter with a high of 37 (low of 13).
I've been keeping an eye on the weather since installing the water tank and 0.0mm of rainfall has been recorded in the last fortnight. Still, I'm curious to see if any local showers have added to the water level in the tank. If there's some water in the tank, it will save me lots of time because I won't have to drive to the dam for water to mix the concrete.
I arrived at about 11 am on Saturday - just as the sun was high in the sky. I was not happy to find that the wind had shifted the tank to the side and this had caused the "T" piece in the plumbing to come undone. In short, the guttering wasn't attached to the tank - so even if it rained, no water would have been collected! An easy fix, but I have to make sure it doesn't happen again.
As expected, there was no water in the tank - except for a few litres I had added to test the plumbing.
With my water bottle by my side, I started the task of installing the concrete channels around the shed. Here's the back wall of the shed all straightened out. This panel was the worst of all the panels.
Here's the formwork set up for the foundation along the front door.
This is the view of the formwork from inside, which should stop the concrete from spilling out. It should also seal the sides and stop nasty bugs (and snakes) from getting in.
Here are a couple of walls with the formwork finished. It looks like a straight forward job (and is was uneventful) but the weather was so hot! I wasn't helped by the fact that I mixed 16 bags of concrete to complete the job. It got up to 40 degrees in the shed at about 1:30pm, but it was still cooler in the shed than outside. The walls of the shed got so hot that I nearly burnt my hand when I touched it.
While mixing and pouring the concrete, I was taking breaks every 20 minutes to drink water and cool down. Kath bought me an esky as a surprise present and it turned out to be the best present. I just kept the water bottle on ice and filled it up as needed. I ended up drinking about 7 litres of water on Saturday alone!
I finishing the foundations by about 5:30pm, just as the sun was getting cooler and heading towards the horizon - although it was still about 33 degrees. In no mood for a late night and with every muscle in my body aching, I headed off to bed early. Here's the bunk for the night - no luxury, but a step up from a tarpaulin on the ground. This is a sneak peak of how the flooring will be laid - although there is a bit of work to do on that front.
Fortunately, I had a good night's sleep and slept into 7:30am. Initially, the plan was to get up at dawn and start work early - but hey, this is my day off. The job I wanted to complete today was to permanently install the door to the shed. The door is designed to slide rather than swing on a hinge, as the guttering would get in the way. This is where the door track will be installed.
Here's the design of the sliding mechanism. I actually prepared the door and track back in Sydney and transported it to the farm. Sometimes its easier to do things in Sydney where I can use my power tools.
While working in the shed, I discovered an unwelcome guest.... a redback spider. There were actually 2 of them in the shed. I'll have to be more careful leaving stuff around in the shed.
Here's the bottom track of the door. It should be strong enough to resist the heavy winds on the farm.
After more blood, sweat and swearing (no tears!), here's the door completed. The next job down the track will be to put a lock on it.
With a bit of time up my sleeve and a tiny bit of energy left, I installed the last fence post for the boundary fence. Now there is no excuse for me not finishing off the fence.
After a productive weekend, it was time to head back to civilization. I'm already planning my next trip to finish off the shed floor in preparation of spending a few days during the Xmas holidays.
I've been keeping an eye on the weather since installing the water tank and 0.0mm of rainfall has been recorded in the last fortnight. Still, I'm curious to see if any local showers have added to the water level in the tank. If there's some water in the tank, it will save me lots of time because I won't have to drive to the dam for water to mix the concrete.
I arrived at about 11 am on Saturday - just as the sun was high in the sky. I was not happy to find that the wind had shifted the tank to the side and this had caused the "T" piece in the plumbing to come undone. In short, the guttering wasn't attached to the tank - so even if it rained, no water would have been collected! An easy fix, but I have to make sure it doesn't happen again.
As expected, there was no water in the tank - except for a few litres I had added to test the plumbing.
With my water bottle by my side, I started the task of installing the concrete channels around the shed. Here's the back wall of the shed all straightened out. This panel was the worst of all the panels.
Here's the formwork set up for the foundation along the front door.
This is the view of the formwork from inside, which should stop the concrete from spilling out. It should also seal the sides and stop nasty bugs (and snakes) from getting in.
Here are a couple of walls with the formwork finished. It looks like a straight forward job (and is was uneventful) but the weather was so hot! I wasn't helped by the fact that I mixed 16 bags of concrete to complete the job. It got up to 40 degrees in the shed at about 1:30pm, but it was still cooler in the shed than outside. The walls of the shed got so hot that I nearly burnt my hand when I touched it.
While mixing and pouring the concrete, I was taking breaks every 20 minutes to drink water and cool down. Kath bought me an esky as a surprise present and it turned out to be the best present. I just kept the water bottle on ice and filled it up as needed. I ended up drinking about 7 litres of water on Saturday alone!I finishing the foundations by about 5:30pm, just as the sun was getting cooler and heading towards the horizon - although it was still about 33 degrees. In no mood for a late night and with every muscle in my body aching, I headed off to bed early. Here's the bunk for the night - no luxury, but a step up from a tarpaulin on the ground. This is a sneak peak of how the flooring will be laid - although there is a bit of work to do on that front.
Fortunately, I had a good night's sleep and slept into 7:30am. Initially, the plan was to get up at dawn and start work early - but hey, this is my day off. The job I wanted to complete today was to permanently install the door to the shed. The door is designed to slide rather than swing on a hinge, as the guttering would get in the way. This is where the door track will be installed.
Here's the design of the sliding mechanism. I actually prepared the door and track back in Sydney and transported it to the farm. Sometimes its easier to do things in Sydney where I can use my power tools.
While working in the shed, I discovered an unwelcome guest.... a redback spider. There were actually 2 of them in the shed. I'll have to be more careful leaving stuff around in the shed.Here's the bottom track of the door. It should be strong enough to resist the heavy winds on the farm.
After more blood, sweat and swearing (no tears!), here's the door completed. The next job down the track will be to put a lock on it.
With a bit of time up my sleeve and a tiny bit of energy left, I installed the last fence post for the boundary fence. Now there is no excuse for me not finishing off the fence.
After a productive weekend, it was time to head back to civilization. I'm already planning my next trip to finish off the shed floor in preparation of spending a few days during the Xmas holidays.
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