A Lean-To Tale (with pics & maybe vids)

harry21 wrote: »

I dont get it

24 hours later and the mood is up. It's a bright clear day, no rain since morning although it lashed here all night. So much so that it washed away a lot of my wood preservative. I've had to redo a lot of the rafters which is probably unwise. Stuff is expensive!

I love this stage of a job. The stage where key joins or couplings start to make the job look and feel right, rigid, strong etc. After trimming all rafters to length, I have started to add runners along the rafter tops. I had initially planned to notch them and today as I uncovered the 3x2's, I had no doubts. They look awful thick. I will neeed room to get the corrugated sheet in under the gutters so the closer to the top of the rafter I can get these runners, the better. I laid the first runner unnotched along the outside. Once bolted to the L wall plate, it immediately added serious rigidity to the overall job. Then I notched the second one in 2.5cm. (I'll notch the next one in 4cm tapering my way back to the wall.

The notching adds serious strength and looks awesome so I'm delighted I decided to take the trouble and time to do it. It involves running a plumb line along the rafters where the runner will eh.....run. Marking out the profile of the 3x2, then running a circ saw through several times with the blade set to the depth of the notch. Then bash out the leafs with a hammer and clean up with a rasp. Not for the feint hearted - standing on top of a step ladder that itself is standing on unevern ground, all the while holding a running circ saw. Look we all have to die sometime!:D

I have two runners in tonight. Not only that but the uprights and rafters trimmed and levelled in all directions. Even the adddition of just two runners makes the job rock solid. I'm thrilled with todays progress. Out there in the sunshine, match on the radio, cuppa in hand and a big ol black lab lazing about beside you. It's literally why I do this shjt; Therapy!






This is where I keep the job lUmber, miraculously it's remaining dry.



Slapping on the Cuprinol to the L wall plate, much easier to do it on the bench than on the wall.



The L wall plate up. Had a few issues finding good anchoring. Hollow block mostly so I had to use expanding rawl bolts. I have since taken it down to add notches for the runners before remounting it. What'll I do with the yard light? Will it work ok under the leanto roof? Might mess with headroom etc? suggestions?



All rafters trimmed to length and re-covered in preservative



Dont ya just love it when you go back to check and.....




Runners coming off L wall plate. I got these brackets in Woodies for a couple of quid each. They are strong and have a curved profile centre so they cannot bend.



Notching in the runners. Bit of hassle and time but well worth it. I'll look on at these joints with pride for years. Slapping preservative on all joints as I go.



I ordered my 3x2 lumber in 16's and 14's. The 16's almost fit perfectly from L wall plate to third rafter. I join the runners with a flat half lap roughly over a rafter. Looks good, strong and retains a clean profile through the runner length.



Two Runners completed



View from back door

Pete67 wrote: »

Looks fantastic Dnme. Love the view from your garden too!

Re the yard light, you could take it down, and put a weatherproof junction box in it's place. Then clip a cable out to the new work area and put a couple of fluorescent strip lights over the boat. You could fix them to the underside of the runners. You will have light where you need it and (presumably) a switch inside the back door to switch it on and off.

Thats a great idea !!!!

Would light units under that thin pvc corrugated sheet be safe? I'm thinking what if it leaks, dew, condensation etc ?

red sean wrote: »

Hi dnme, regarding the lights that pete mentioned if you want to cost them roughly before you decide, go to Meteor Electrical online. Weatherproof flourescent fittings, pvc PG11 glands for the cable entries and 3x1.5 nymj cable. Their price will be a guideline but I would'nt order off them. Someday you're in Sligo hop in to Derry Taheny beside Hughes Bridge and I'll be shocked if he has'nt a better price.(and service!)

Hi Sean.
I'm seeing IP65 4ft double units on ebay for 24 quid. I don't think Derry Taheny would come close, even factoring in delivery. I went into them last year to source components for a modular 4 gang TV outlet (2 x sat, 1 x DTT, 1 x rj45). All in ...... €50. I told him what I thought about that, walked out of the shop, came home and ordered the lot on ebay for £10 + £5 delivery. As it transpired, the stuff got lost in the post so the ebay vendor re-sent the lot and refunded me in total. Freebie.

I'd love to shop local and shop Irish.....If only it wasn't so expensive and if only they valued me as a customer.

Some questions if anyone can help....

When laying the pvc sheets, where do I start? Will I start at the L over the back door or the other end (outer end)? I have a feeling the house is not square so I will have a taper to cut in opne of the sheets lengthways.

I will have 4 runners. How many fixing screws should I use at each runner per sheet (crossing a 2ft span)?

Should the last fixing screw go through the overlap between the sheet and its previous neighbour?

Many thanks

YouTookMyName wrote: »

3 screws in each sheet and 1 on the joints.

Just to be clear, do you mean 4 screws across the sheet, the last one on the overlap? 4 runners each x 4 screws = 16 screws per sheet. Yes?

Ive strapped it up to the facia and soffet. Looks ugly but its secure.

Got the sheets sorted from Reynolds in Carrick on Shannon. Managed to get a 5% discount too. I'll collect them tomorrow or Wednesday.

Tell me, fitting these, is it much of a reach across their width? I presume I fit them by screwing down their length rather than across as per the images?

#1 #2


The reason I ask, is that at each fixing, I need access to under the pvc sheet to place the stand-off (see image) #3) and I imagine that the sheet will flex up (allowing this access) far easier along its length than across it.

#3

Also, do I need to pre-drill? and do I need to oversize the hole for expansion ?

vicwatson wrote: »

Nice 1

Can you post a pic of the type of sheets you ordered please?

Cheers

10ft pvc corrugated.

Can anyone answer my questions in post #136. Many thanks

Day 10

This day last week was hurricane whatzizname, so that means I would have started the construction part of this project last Tuesday. Well it's up and waiting the pvc sheet. That took exactly one week. That's not bad going I reckon, although I did suffer the consequences by enduring all kinds of weather, the sort of stuff normal decent human beings would down tools for and retire indoors.

I drove down to Carrick this evening to collect the sheets. I have an old Corolla liftback. The boot is massive and the rear seats fold down so I thought I might get away with it. No such luck. They would not comfortably fit without the possibility of doing some damage so I had to ask for the sheets to be delivered. Another 20 dam quid. Hopefully I'll have em tomorrow.

In the mean time I have been slapping on the wood preservative. I started out with what I presume was a water based product, Cuprinol Ultimate. But yesterday in Carrick they had more Cuprinol garden wood preservative on special offer so I took away a tin of that as I had just run out of the first. Second tin is oil based it seems, so I am slapping on oil based over water based. Sod it, I don't care. I'm just drenching the timber and it seems to be adhering well. My god, painting those beams - especially the undersides is a messy job. I have preservative all over the place at this stage.

Anyhow, a picture tells a better story I guess.


When I left you yesterday, I was wondering how to terminate these runners over the door. I went with strapping but it looked awful and there was serious lateral play in the fixing.



So this morning, I undid the strap, put up a ripped down piece of timber with 4 80mm wood screws countersunk 20mm into the wood, with washers.



This allowed me to use strong L brackets. Looks "slightly" better.



The two runners terminated.



Here you can see those same two runners from the other end.



Third small runner installed to the facia amd soffit with L brackets. Not hugely strong, but it has no load to take. It's job is just keep the end of the pvc sheet secure.



Slapping on preservative. Messy messy job, it's as thin as water. It spills and splashes all over the shop. I have basin of hot soapy water and a scrubbing brush ready for when it drips on the walls.



I'll take any help with the ladder I can get.