DIY with function over finesse!!

[mickthemaverick]

I had the same idea Paul and have settled on a pair of 9inch step ups I have from caravanning days! Sorted!!

[CitroJim]

Frankly I wouldn't mess around with any of that and keep it as it is with all it's discomfort. I just wouldn't want to take the chance of the roof collapsing!

Yes, I fully agree. Those trusses are carefully designed... You would likely invalidate your home insurance with any DIY modifications.

If you do want to make it more comfy up there Mick, call the professional loft conversion specialists in.

[PaulC5]

I had the same idea Paul and have settled on a pair of 9inch step ups I have from caravanning days! Sorted!!

Good plan to protect the family jewels

[mickthemaverick]

You may remember that prior to the Garden Gate and Elstree build I was dealing with the water leak from the boiler. There were some suggestions made how to deal with the lost water and over the next few days from the original post the leak gradually increased and I worked my way through different sized drip trays ending with a casserole dish! :

The trays as they got larger

Unfortunately the replacement flow group for the boiler has still not turned up and the leak flow rate has steadily increased until the casserole dish was within 10mm of overflowing this morning having been emptied at 21.30 last night!! The actual leak is coming from a crack in the DHW outlet port of the flow group as shown, not very well, here:

The flow group still in situ.

So this morning it was time to install a more permanent leak collector and I did follow my idea from the garage leak issue last year. Fortunately there is an air vent at the bottom of the boiler cupboard so a little modification with an 18mm SDS drill bit allowed me to feed the drain hose through to the water gully outside. Installation, well 'bodging up' might be a better term, of a funnel routing system to the top of the hose completed the job. Now all the leaked water is taken straight outside to find its way to the rainwater drain!!

Mr Heath and Mr Robinson both involved here!

As yet I have no idea when the new part will be here as I fear I may have picked a duff supplier, it has now been 12 days since I ordered it and they told me it was dispatched last Friday and should have been with me by Wednesday. I feel a refund and new order elsewhere coming on, but at least we can stop worrying about the waste overflowing while we sleep!!

[Skull]

.... but at least we can stop worrying about the waste overflowing while we sleep!!

Hhhmmhh .....now winter is approaching I'm thinking of a similar system next to my bed Is there a patent pending yet

[mickthemaverick]

Having sorted the leak drainage system I was able to finish the washer problem on the car by refitting the bonnet insulation and then back to the loft to complete the boarding. Having used all the new boards I completed the light storage area using the old wardrobe parts which had been up there but not fixed for years!!
Before starting that work I installed the step over as per the discussion re my loft beams and that gets the problem out of the way altogether with no alterations!!:

The new step over

The light storage area

The tank end

The centre to be a workspace once the current contents are moved into the storage area!!

[CitroJim]

Good work on the loft Mick

I can imagine there's a lot of demand for boiler spares at this time of the year. Hope your soon turns up. That's a good workaround for now

[mickthemaverick]

Another day on construction works saw us get the roof shingles on the roof, this picture taken during afternoon loo break!!

Click on the picture to be able to zoom in and see them properly:

MTMO - finishing the roof

[mickthemaverick]

Too cold to do my intended diff oil changes today so I set to and managed to finish the loft ladder modification to cope with the upward opening hatch and then lay the last boards at the other end so now I have a decent space to use!!

Wheeled legs for the ladder

Ladder stowed

All storage boxed or crated

Central work area

The new end completed today to give me a decent space to play with!!

So now I just need to decide what sort of 'play' to go for!

[mickthemaverick]

Laying in bed last night a thought occurred to me while trying to figure out the best way to make use of my garage space. You may remember I made a bulk purchase of carpet tiles for the garage floor after the sewage flooding incident and, having laid them, I have a chunky pile left over taking up workshop storage space:

Pile circled in yellow

So I saw an opportunity for a two birds.............:

Spoiler: show

More comfortable for working in now!!

There are a few gaps and overlaps because I simply don't want to cut the tiles as they are still the spares for the garage floor. Mind you, even after laying those I still have a significant pile of spares, now stored in the loft, so I may cut some in when it's not quite so cold!!

[CitroJim]

That's a great use for them! I keep a stock in the garage loft to replace damaged/oil stained ones... Never needed to yet...