building a shelter

Dad has been spending free time working on a side project at Amherst: building a shelter using the roof trusses he salvaged.

I'm not sure quite what it will end up being like - eg: whether it will have any sides enclosed - but it's already starting to look nice, and huge!



Dad is planning to put the small caravan under it for protection, as well as setting up a woodheater for warmth. That'll be where Dave stays during the 2 weeks he's there in early August. Positioning a tank on one edge he'll be able to use the roof to collect water, which will then be used to rig up a rudimentary outdoor shower.

These photos give you an indication of not only what it will look like, but also how amazingly improvisational my Dad is. He's managed to build this entire thing with huge heavy trusses 10ft in the air single-handedly.



In Dad's words:

(via email 30th May):
I am pleased to have succeeded in getting the 8 stirrups into the concrete in the right places so the next fortnight weekend that I go up I can erect the pine poles atop these, and put the long beams in place. I will need to make braces for the pole walls which at either end support the trusses. Then I will need batten materials for the iron roof. I have some up there, and will use all my own stuff first, stuff which I took there long ago for the hobbithouse. I have enough scavenged western red cedar weatherboards to box in the two ends of the truss roof. And I have enough secondhand iron to complete the roof, I think.

(via email 22nd June):
I have plans to go up for another working day next weekend, and spent today loading tressles, planks, and extra pipes with more ladders. I could not proceed last weekend because of being too short of ladders to work safely at any height. I must totally anchor the first truss before I can move the towers to the next set of posts. I then erect the two posts and connect them temporarily to the first truss with battens. I then move to the third set of posts, and so on until all four trusses are erect on their posts and then connnect all with battens both beneath the ends of the trusses and above. I then put on braces and ensure all is square so when I put on the sheets it works well. I am lucky I have the extra truss that is hanging upside down as a stablizer and connector for the two posts so they can be held in a plumb status. I then put bolts through the connecting points and it will withstand high winds and be safe.