Floor sealing back in August 2023...

Well to say I have been distracted is an understatement! Kitchen and laundry renovations, converting an unused void into a second dunny and then moving all the furniture to allow a new floor to be installed in the house and how time slips by. And then a false start, and it was back to the house to do bathroom renovations...

So, this will be the first of a few rapid-fire posts to get back to speed.

Well with the ceiling up and 'flushed', the hermetically sealing completed and the mains power cables run in, it was time to seal the concrete floor. I used a Dulux product 'Avista' and applied four good coats to the super smooth concrete slab. I did not wash the slab or prep it in any special way, just dust mopped it and then rolled the Avista semi-gloss down.

The tin has an exploding lung picture on the can, and it was rather overpowering with the toxic fumes, so it took several mornings to get the entire 100 square metres sealed.

I am very happy with the finish, concrete stains and all. It was by far, thousands of dollars, cheaper than even the cheapest 'budget' concrete polishing.

Okay, whilst the sealer dries and the shed vents the fumes, I'll work on the next post!

Running the mains and the fibre optic into the Shed.

Due to a slight oversight, as the conduits were installed some years prior to the shed actually being built we had a small problem as the conduits were only 32 mm. And running 16mm2 three phase from the house to the shed presented and issue as that cable is not allows in 32 mm conduit as per the good book.

So, to overcome this it involved splitting the orange circular and running the three phases, neutral and earth across two 32 mm conduits and running in a fibre optic for connectivity as data cabling cannot be mixed with power circuits, but fibre can!

The orange circular 16 mm2 exits the house and is split across the two conduits to the shed with the fibre optic as well.

The inside of the shed where the switchboard will end up eventually. Spoiler alert, as I am so far behind here it is already completed! Hahaha.

Okay, sealing the floor should be next...

Hermetically Sealing the Shed.

Well, living in the Pilbara with the humidity and cyclonic rain, sometimes, I had always intended to completely seal the shed to eliminate drafts, vermin, liquid sunshine and of course those pesky little 'dust' particles that have a habit of getting in everywhere up here.

So, to hermetically seal the shed, it was several rolls of Gorilla tape to 'join' all the ThermalBreak insulation, and then Sikaflex to seal the slab to the ThermalBreak all around the bottom of the shed as per the below image of the northeast corner.

Next up, sealing the concrete floor...

New arrivals.

A couple of new arrivals from Trainbuilder. The AF and AX all brass car transport waggons. History and these classes of waggons can be found here: AA / AF - Motor Car Body Transport (pjv101.net) and here AX / VMAX - Motor Car Transport (pjv101.net).

A lot of protype detail can also be found here: AX Automobile Transport (victorianrailways.net). I'll upload some images of them soon...

Ceiling is in, or is that up?

Well, been a little distracted, but in the meantime the gyprock ceiling has been installed, completed with R3.5 insulation. Prior to that I spent a couple of evenings, late, after work throwing in some conduits with cables for the fans, light circuits, a couple of 4mm2 feeds for the air conditioning units and another 4mm2 for a future hot water service.

Just as well I did as a text from the gyprockers informed my they were rocking up on the Monday to start the lining out with the top hat.

A late finish Sunday completed my deal as I didn't fancy doing a third night up there and low and behold when I arrived home Monday evening, the top hat battens were all installed, and the insulation put in place! Talk about timing...

Then by the Tuesday evening the sheets had been put up. Come Thursday and it was completed and flushed ready for painting. Now the ball is back in my court to get the ceiling primed and painted...

I should take a current picture of the place cleaned up a bit!

Time to pull the finger out!

With twelve brand new Auscision C class units arriving during the week, and a further two still in transit I really need to get a wriggle on and get this train room up and barking.

The C class has been coming since 2018, I ordered my first batch of eight units back in January 2018. Then ordered a further four in January 2021. And the final unit in July 2022.

I have also ordered the unannounced C 510 in VR livery, model number C-24, following them being put up on the website.

All are DCC with sound. The preordered units were $395 each and the unannounced unit was $465.

These fourteen units will supplement the two Broad Gauge Models all brass C class units, one in V/Line and one in VR liveries. These brass build units date from 1988 and were sold for $595 each back in those days.

So, I have started prepping the inside of the shed for the lining to be done. Sealing the slab to the air cell to reduce the ingress of dust, water and crawlies. And taping the air cell joins. Once this is done then the internal lining and insulation can be undertaken.

Shed builder says shed is complete!

Well... the builder says he is finished. It looks ok, just a few minor things as usual and I need to start the sealing of the slab to the walls and the outside eave to the wall cladding on the low side of the roof.

View from entry looking towards the north end.

Shed is a custom build size which is 14 metres long by 7.5 metres wide with an angle section at one end with a skillion roof. Ceiling height will be just over 2.1, which was an oversight by the builder by setting the overall height too low on one post...layout space is the full width, once lined, and 10 or 11 metres long.

View from the north end looking south towards the entry.

This leaves three metres for storage and shed space while the carport gets looked into.

The double door is a Latham's steel double door with two leaves, each a metre wide.

Now the real fun stuff is about to start...