Thread: My Machinery Shed WIP - a bit different!

Yep, working fairly hard. We have another couple come up as well which helps.

I'm heading up on Wednesday for a couple of days. Will need to spend a few hours mowing in the orchard and vineyard and will spend some time preparing for the waterproofing.

Regards

Rickey

Been a bit slack in my updates. This post includes Weds and Thurs of last week as well as this weekend. Had 55mm of rain up there but was working under cover so all good.

Rendered the west wall and 'scratched' it.
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Have now wrapped the shed in 2 layers of black plastic in preparation for back-filling.
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Geofab in place to protect the plastic and have installed the agi pipe along the back wall. Had the fun of bucketing 1.5 cubic metres of aggregate on top of the drain.
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Put another coat of lime render on the inside back wall of the 'cabin'. Using a mix of 1 part lime, 3 parts sieved clay and 9 parts brickies sand. Very good to work worth and doesn't crack too badly.
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Have booked the excavator man for Thursday to do the back-falling. Really looking forward to that as it will transform the look of the shed.

Regards

Rickey

Originally Posted by Rickey Herb

Have booked the excavator man for Thursday to do the back-falling. Really looking forward to that as it will transform the look of the shed.

Could I suggest some before and after photos from a distance. But not the other side of the paddock.

Well the back-filling went very well and as I suspected it has transformed the look of the shed.

Some before and after shots for Christos!

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And some general shots of work in progress.

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Nice shed, a bit different to the usual

I have now rendered both the tyres and mudbrick walls

Going over the render with a sponge and float to fill in cracks (very few). Render is 9 parts sand, 3 parts sieved clay and 1 part lime.
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We had 19mm of rain up there last week so took the opportunity to make some more bricks yesterday whilst the clay was still damp. We made 163 in about 4 hours with Debra filling the 15 litre buckets and carrying them 10 metres to the press. It was over 30C so she was a bit red in the face by the time we finished.
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Wall is a but blotchy as it is still drying out.
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We put the dirt in buckets as the amount of clay put into the press determines the thickness of the brick. The other factor though is the dampness of the clay. The more water in the clay the less it compresses so we do get some variation in the thickness of the brick. Not a problem though. It is a bit counter intuitive but a drier mix compresses more without squeezing out of the press.
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Debra at the dirt heap. Notice how dry the dirt is. We only add a very small amount of water. Just enough so that the dirt is evenly damp and a handful can be squeezed into a ball. It it looks damp there is enough moisture.
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Starting to dry evenly now
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Regards
Rickey

and this is the shed - what will the actual house be like...

Great job - it looks impressive.

I've just read through this again Rickey. Realised I've been watching but not commenting. Most unlike me!!

Great result!! a lot of work but worth the effort. Boet it will be cool in summer.

Congratulations on a job very well done!!

Thanks Artme. It does feel at times that I'm just posting stuff and no-one is interested so it is good to get your comments. I'm guilty of the same thing though - read plenty of threads all the way through without a comment.

Just back from 3 days up there. Pretty hot yesterday but nice and comfy under the shed. I have started rendering the stud wall and will put some photos up later.

Regards
Rickey

I have started rendering the stud wall. The render is 30mm thick and the mix is 9 sand, 3 lime and 1 cement.

2 days work so far which seems a lot but I have used nearly 1/2 metre of brickies sand so far.

Battens stapled to the wall so I can screed off to get a nice flat wall. Used 12mm spacers with 18mm battens so there is a bit of render flow between the panels.
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The 'shiny' panel needs a bit of a top up and the top two need to be finished up the ceiling. Will finish them off tomorrow whilst the render is still 'green'.
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The finished wall will be topped off with a skim coat of lime render.

Very happy with how the other render has dried on the tyre wall and the brick wall. The bit above the back window needs a top up.

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Next job is to barrow in some crusher dust to level off the floor for paving and then do the front wall in compressed earth blocks. Nearly done I reckon (at least that's what I'm trying to convince myself)

Regards and thanks everyone for your interest.

Rickey

Originally Posted by Rickey Herb

Thanks Artme. It does feel at times that I'm just posting stuff and no-one is interested so it is good to get your comments. I'm guilty of the same thing though - read plenty of threads all the way through without a comment.

Just back from 3 days up there. Pretty hot yesterday but nice and comfy under the shed. I have started rendering the stud wall and will put some photos up later.

Regards
Rickey

I've also been following your thread with great interest Ricky. Is great to see an alternative building method to the usual steel framed colourbond shed.Its looking great so far and I appreciate the time you take to document the process.



Bruce T.

Good on you for building something different. This reminds me of the thread some years ago of a stone house built in WA IIRC and is well worth searching for and having a read.

Thanks Chris and Bruce. Good to know that people are interested.

I have now finished rendering the stud wall. A bigger job than I expected but I'm glad I've done a trial run as the house will be done the same way. Basically takes 3 goes to get it done. 1st stage is getting the bulk of render applied - at least 25mm. The second stage is to finish the render to the full depth of 30mm. This could be done on the same day if the previous render is solid enough. I found that even with a relatively stiff mix it was hard to get 30mm on without it slumping. The final stage was to go over it with a wooden float. This will fill any cracks and by rubbing in a circular motion, will flatten the render out. The render needs to have 'gone off' before doing this.

Some photos:

The treated pine pole in the foreground will be boxed in. Maybe mud brick on one side and timber on the other to create built in shelving
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Tidied up the grass on the dam bank. One problem with an 'earthship' type construction is the grass clippings on the roof. I will flush out the gutter next time I'm up there.
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Taken from the other side of the wall. Notice the bulging insulation. I reckon I would have close to 45mm of render in places. This side of the wall was also going to be rendered but I may end up cladding it in recycled pallet material.
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Well, that's it until after Christmas. Next step is some orange plastic on the floor and level off with crusher dust and then do the front wall. Compressed earth blocks laid crossways to give a 300mm thick wall. With a door and a window I should be able to get them laid in a couple of days. Then render the inside of the wall and lay the floor.

Regards

Rickey

Thanks Ricky for a great WIP I'm really interested as I hope to in in a similar position to you soon. Hope you have a restful Christmas as it looks like you will need lots of energy to finish off the shed let alone do the house.

I would be interested in getting the contact details of your architect would you please either post them or PM me.

Regards,

Charles