Home Automation

obviously a critical feature in any decent shed is the ability to turn on and off the lights from the comfort of your armchair (inside the house). enter… lightwaverf launched by a British firm (JSTS) in 2011 they produce a range of remote controlled devices (including switches and sockets) that can be controlled with a...

obviously a critical feature in any decent shed is the ability to turn on and off the lights from the comfort of your armchair (inside...

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• Nick

28-Apr-2014 workshop electrics

Electricity - rules and regulations

Is DIY electrical work illegal in the UK? I had a vague idea that work done to the mains or to equipment directly attached to it had to be done by a qualified electrician, or at least signed off by one, and that to do otherwise was against the law. It turns out that this...

Is DIY electrical work illegal in the UK? I had a vague idea that work done to the mains or to equipment directly attached to...

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• Nick

27-Apr-2014 workshop electrics

LED lighting

After a lot of hunting around I have decided to go for these – ecoled zep2. Made in the UK and definitely not cheap (60 quid each) but top quality so far as I have read. details: 1. 800 lumens1, which is about the same as a 60 watt incandescent bulb 2. Coloring Rendering Index (CRI2)...

After a lot of hunting around I have decided to go for these – ecoled zep2. Made in the UK and definitely not cheap (60 quid...

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• Nick

26-Apr-2014 workshop electrics

Preparing for First-fit Electrics

Battens attached – a very tedious job that took pretty much the whole day. They are spaced at 400mm centres and I used counter battens on the ceiling to make room for the light fitting (the recess will be 75mm which is just about deep enough for the led lights I have picked). Anyhow, it is...

Battens attached – a very tedious job that took pretty much the whole day. They are spaced at 400mm centres and I used counter battens on...

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• Nick

19-Apr-2014 workshop electrics

Exterior finished

I have completed version II of the pillar cladding and I am reasonably happy with it. This means the outside building work is now all finally done, bar a couple of coatings of clear coat for the cladding and a bit of silicon sealant between the pillar and the doors. I used paint from Bedec...

I have completed version II of the pillar cladding and I am reasonably happy with it. This means the outside building work is now all...

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• Nick

14-Apr-2014 workshop cladding

Cedar Maintenance

It is a much put about myth that cedar is maintenance free – it is true that you don’t have to treat it, but it can’t be guaranteed to fade to a consistent grey colour and frequently ends up as a blotchy mess. So what clear coat to use? Well what I have discovered...

It is a much put about myth that cedar is maintenance free – it is true that you don’t have to treat it, but it...

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• Nick

11-Apr-2014 workshop cladding

Exterior vs Marine Plywood

Having spent hours preparing and priming my improvised plywood column cladding to the point where I was happy with it, there was a bit of rain and the ply started to de-laminate. grr. Lessons learned: exterior ply is not the same as marine ply. Seal the cut ends. Back to the drawing board on that...

Having spent hours preparing and priming my improvised plywood column cladding to the point where I was happy with it, there was a bit of...

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• Nick

09-Apr-2014 workshop cladding

Heating and Ventilation

I toyed briefly with the idea of electric underfloor heating, but soon concluded that being too hot was likely to be as much of a problem as being too cold (large windows that don’t open and in the sun all day). So… mini-split air-con …or as I think they are more properly known ‘air...

I toyed briefly with the idea of electric underfloor heating, but soon concluded that being too hot was likely to be as much of a...

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• Nick

04-Apr-2014 workshop electrics

Gutters

gutter and downpipe installed...

gutter and downpipe installed...

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• Nick

01-Apr-2014 workshop EPDM roof

Fermacell Exterior Cladding

I put up the boards to the rear and right hand side this weekend. I am using the same boards internally and externally, and the trademark name is Fermacell. The boards are made of recycled gypsum and paper. The addition of cellulose fibres to the gypsum plaster makes the boards very strong (they can be...

I put up the boards to the rear and right hand side this weekend. I am using the same boards internally and externally, and the...

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• Nick

31-Mar-2014 workshop cladding

Corner Post Cladding

in the end I decided to use plywood, rather than cedar, to cover the corner post – mainly because I had a piece of marine plywood to hand and if it ends up looking terrible I will have only wasted £10 on materials. Besides I am getting impatient to be done with the exterior and start...

in the end I decided to use plywood, rather than cedar, to cover the corner post – mainly because I had a piece of marine plywood...

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• Nick

25-Mar-2014 workshop cladding

Cedar Cladding - done!

Completely cleared out Chiltern Timber of their small remaining stock of cedar and finished the wood cladding today – feel like I am at last on the home straight for the outside of the building. In a future installment What treatment to use on your wood cladding....

Completely cleared out Chiltern Timber of their small remaining stock of cedar and finished the wood cladding today – feel like I am at last on...

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• Nick

22-Mar-2014 workshop cladding

Cedar Cladding - (almost) finished

got as far as I could with the cladding – I also found the error in my spreadsheet that caused me to have under-ordered to the tune of 35m linear meters (about 20% of the total needed so I was not even close) … Will try and get over to Chiltern Timbers next Saturday so I can...

got as far as I could with the cladding – I also found the error in my spreadsheet that caused me to have under-ordered to the...

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• Nick

16-Mar-2014 workshop cladding

Cedar Cladding continued

I’ve got the knack with cladding now and managed to get a lot more up in a couple of hours this afternoon. cladding top tips 1. It is impossible to keep the corner pieces together when you nail the boards up unless you brace them first. I found this out the hard way. In...

I’ve got the knack with cladding now and managed to get a lot more up in a couple of hours this afternoon. cladding top...

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• Nick

15-Mar-2014 workshop cladding

Cedar Cladding - Rainscreen Method

I am in the process of putting up the cedar cladding on the front and left-hand-side of the building. The cladding will be installed vertically. Now I’ve got the hang of it, I probably need a day to finish it. It actually goes up quite quickly, but there is a fair bit of fiddly...

I am in the process of putting up the cedar cladding on the front and left-hand-side of the building. The cladding will be installed vertically....

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• Nick

09-Mar-2014 workshop cladding

Barge Boards

I’m not sure if ‘barge board’ is the correct term, but I don’t know what else to call them – they are the black plastic bits at the bottom. Not much to say, other than the fact that my plunge saw got a bit more use. While fitting them around the metal plates the...

I’m not sure if ‘barge board’ is the correct term, but I don’t know what else to call them – they are the black...

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• Nick

05-Mar-2014 workshop cladding