louise200
Alpha Buck
I love an excuse to buy a DIY item! Still working on 'soldering iron'... ;-)
Have a great trip. Sounds wonderful.
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Secondhand wendy house conversion FINISHED internally
- Thread starter keletkezes
- Start date
I love an excuse to buy a DIY item! Still working on 'soldering iron'... ;-)
Have a great trip. Sounds wonderful.
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
Mmm, should be! It's my first time in 10 years and the OH's first time fullstop! I'm going because there's a power metal opera I want to see being staged; thought I might just make a weekend of it!Have a great trip. Sounds wonderful.
louise200
Alpha Buck
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
So, having got back from Russia safe&sound (and having had an AWESOME but tiring time!), I've been doing some sterling work and I'm now at the stage where I need a second person because I can't do any more to the main structure without actually erecting it.
Over my birthday weekend my parents supplied me with a jigsaw and my mate supplied me with some labour, a decent saw and an electric screwdriver. We sawed out the pipe hole, sawed plywood to the right sizes and he screwed a load of screws into the front frame (the one with the door and window) as it was really loose, as well as putting one bit of plywood over some insulation and screwing in the shiplap properly. We made decent progress for an hour!
On Saturday, it was supposed to be nice weather in the morning with a possibility of showers later. It was actually nice all day, and warm. I dug out a better saw than the ones I had been using and, hey presto! I could suddenly cut more than 2" in 30mins! So I did it all by hand.
Then it was on to fixing things on: I dug out the new screwdriver bits I'd bought for my drill aeons ago: I'd asked my Dad about using it as a screwdriver and he wasn't sure but said I should give it a go! Turns out I got results like this (my first ever go!):
Not bad, eh?! I was dead impressed: my practical skills are often poor (at school I was useless at wood- and metalwork, textiles/sewing, playing instruments and things like that but great at the theory!) so I'm always surprised when DIY-y things work. Anyway, I finished putting the piping panel on (this picture also shows my trusty tools!):
Then tackled the one above:
I had to use the hammer to 'fit' the panel above the other one on the left: seemed to work!
Then I went to the eaves: here's my insulation, lovingly carved from scraps of polystyrene!
Then I fitted some triangles of plywood over the top: I discovered that I could use a box full of newspapers to stop the plywood bouncing around on the workmate! Still managed to saw a bit off the workmate though
Some of the screws are a bit proud (this is a sideways shot): I did hand-screw them in bit I'm only weedy so they didn't go far! Tamsin reminded me I should probably drill a pilot hole if it happens again
As you can see, it's a bit gappy but we'll see the results of my questions about that later
So, I've finished all the insulation and panelling I can before I have to erect it! So I decided, as I had an hour or so left, to have a shot at the door. I took the beading off so I could 'pop' the panes out:
Ah, bum, wasn't expecting the panes to be glued in! Oh well... Pushed a bit hard on this one:
Managed two complete, one with a crack and one broken (the above): should be able to fix them with poly cement, albeit not a great fix. Then I got as much sealant off as possible:
That's one door, ready for meshing! I don't know what to do about shutters: while I've got 3 mostly-OK polycarbonate panels, I'm not sure how I'd fit them, or how long they'll last! I'm not even sure I need them yet as the overhand on the roof is quite large. Something to mull over once I've done the necessaries, I reckon!
I've also been mulling over the 'how to get in without escapees' problem: I'm thinking 2' high mesh at the door will do. While Lopsy can jump 2', he's never done so because he knows the food always arrives inside the run! Besides, I can always tempt them outside with yummy treats (and just keep their feeding area in the run!) so I can at least nip in without immediate escape risk.
Over my birthday weekend my parents supplied me with a jigsaw and my mate supplied me with some labour, a decent saw and an electric screwdriver. We sawed out the pipe hole, sawed plywood to the right sizes and he screwed a load of screws into the front frame (the one with the door and window) as it was really loose, as well as putting one bit of plywood over some insulation and screwing in the shiplap properly. We made decent progress for an hour!
On Saturday, it was supposed to be nice weather in the morning with a possibility of showers later. It was actually nice all day, and warm. I dug out a better saw than the ones I had been using and, hey presto! I could suddenly cut more than 2" in 30mins! So I did it all by hand.
Then it was on to fixing things on: I dug out the new screwdriver bits I'd bought for my drill aeons ago: I'd asked my Dad about using it as a screwdriver and he wasn't sure but said I should give it a go! Turns out I got results like this (my first ever go!):
Not bad, eh?! I was dead impressed: my practical skills are often poor (at school I was useless at wood- and metalwork, textiles/sewing, playing instruments and things like that but great at the theory!) so I'm always surprised when DIY-y things work. Anyway, I finished putting the piping panel on (this picture also shows my trusty tools!):
Then tackled the one above:
I had to use the hammer to 'fit' the panel above the other one on the left: seemed to work!
Then I went to the eaves: here's my insulation, lovingly carved from scraps of polystyrene!
Then I fitted some triangles of plywood over the top: I discovered that I could use a box full of newspapers to stop the plywood bouncing around on the workmate! Still managed to saw a bit off the workmate though
Some of the screws are a bit proud (this is a sideways shot): I did hand-screw them in bit I'm only weedy so they didn't go far! Tamsin reminded me I should probably drill a pilot hole if it happens again
As you can see, it's a bit gappy but we'll see the results of my questions about that later
So, I've finished all the insulation and panelling I can before I have to erect it! So I decided, as I had an hour or so left, to have a shot at the door. I took the beading off so I could 'pop' the panes out:
Ah, bum, wasn't expecting the panes to be glued in! Oh well...
Pushed a bit hard on this one:
Managed two complete, one with a crack and one broken (the above): should be able to fix them with poly cement, albeit not a great fix. Then I got as much sealant off as possible:
That's one door, ready for meshing! I don't know what to do about shutters: while I've got 3 mostly-OK polycarbonate panels, I'm not sure how I'd fit them, or how long they'll last! I'm not even sure I need them yet as the overhand on the roof is quite large. Something to mull over once I've done the necessaries, I reckon!
I've also been mulling over the 'how to get in without escapees' problem: I'm thinking 2' high mesh at the door will do. While Lopsy can jump 2', he's never done so because he knows the food always arrives inside the run! Besides, I can always tempt them outside with yummy treats (and just keep their feeding area in the run!) so I can at least nip in without immediate escape risk.
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o-Chloe-o
Mama Doe
Oooh great work! you are being much more thorough than I have been Its going to be great!!! Have you got any solid metal run panels? (the really sturdy ones not the evil flexible ones) I plan to use one of those inside the door on a hinge as my way of getting in without escapes? Will save building another mesh door anyway... xx
Its going to be great!!! Have you got any solid metal run panels? (the really sturdy ones not the evil flexible ones) I plan to use one of those inside the door on a hinge as my way of getting in without escapes? Will save building another mesh door anyway... xx
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
Yes, currently in use as Lopsy's run, but soon to be surplus to requirements. I suppose that would work! But the one I've got might not have small enough panels to fit between the door and the pipe... Still, worth looking at.
As for being more thorough, I am one of those people who doesn't believe in doing a job twice if I can help it!
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
Didn't do much this weekend: was wet for large chunks of Saturday so just did some food experiments with Lopsy, and then Sunday we didn't really have time to do much more than decide where we want it and do a bit of sorting. We put some bricks out and set the base up, making sure it was stable on them:
Then we moved it to the fence where it will need to be. It will be in full sun (facing south-south-west) for a large part of the day, but wherever we put it, it will be! At least here it will be easiest to get on to the lawn with a pipe, and not so in the way for the rest of the garden.
We'll push it back once it's assembled and painted so it's about a foot from the fence: we need access to the back and sides to paint and potentially re-roof it. But you get the idea! Behind the fence is a car repair place: the big green thing is the outer housing for a paint spraying booth (which is all highly filtered etc. so it's a bit noisy but no fumes or anything). Next to the playhouse would be a euonymous (or 'anonymous' as Matt calls it) as seen on the right, and we'll try and shelter the house as much as possible with tall plants in the border along the right there (currently roses, a tayberry and a box, hopefully soon some taller plants!). There are only windows on the front and a vent on the back (which won't be above the fence height) so if worst came to worst we could shift it through 90° so the side was sunwards, but then we wouldn't be able to see the buns.
I thought I'd post a picture of the inside of Lopsy's current hutch, with him in it, just so everyone could see how small it is:
As you can see, he pretty much half-fills it (remember he's a normal-sized bun!). I do feel awfully guilty about it, but I am trying my best to get something decent in place (I don't want to spend £100 on a quick-fix good-sized but poor-quality hutch!). With its permanent attachment to the run (it's a hutch over a mini-run with run attached) he gets 8-9' of running space at least :S But while he's never known any better, that doesn't make ME feel any better about it
Then we moved it to the fence where it will need to be. It will be in full sun (facing south-south-west) for a large part of the day, but wherever we put it, it will be! At least here it will be easiest to get on to the lawn with a pipe, and not so in the way for the rest of the garden.
We'll push it back once it's assembled and painted so it's about a foot from the fence: we need access to the back and sides to paint and potentially re-roof it. But you get the idea! Behind the fence is a car repair place: the big green thing is the outer housing for a paint spraying booth (which is all highly filtered etc. so it's a bit noisy but no fumes or anything). Next to the playhouse would be a euonymous (or 'anonymous' as Matt calls it) as seen on the right, and we'll try and shelter the house as much as possible with tall plants in the border along the right there (currently roses, a tayberry and a box, hopefully soon some taller plants!). There are only windows on the front and a vent on the back (which won't be above the fence height) so if worst came to worst we could shift it through 90° so the side was sunwards, but then we wouldn't be able to see the buns.
I thought I'd post a picture of the inside of Lopsy's current hutch, with him in it, just so everyone could see how small it is:
As you can see, he pretty much half-fills it (remember he's a normal-sized bun!). I do feel awfully guilty about it, but I am trying my best to get something decent in place (I don't want to spend £100 on a quick-fix good-sized but poor-quality hutch!). With its permanent attachment to the run (it's a hutch over a mini-run with run attached) he gets 8-9' of running space at least :S But while he's never known any better, that doesn't make ME feel any better about it
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louise200
Alpha Buck
I thought I'd post a picture of the inside of Lopsy's current hutch, with him in it, just so everyone could see how small it is:
As you can see, he pretty much half-fills it (remember he's a normal-sized bun!). I do feel awfully guilty about it, but I am trying my best to get something decent in place (I don't want to spend £100 on a quick-fix good-sized but poor-quality hutch!). With its permanent attachment to the run (it's a hutch over a mini-run with run attached) he gets 8-9' of running space at least :S But while he's never known any better, that doesn't make ME feel any better about it
Don't feel bad, it seems to me Lopsy already gets more than a lot of buns in housing, diet, love and attention and soon he'll be even happier in his awesome new wendy house home
I know what you mean though, I want to mesh/secure the whole garden and even then i'd want to attach a whole field to extend it even more ;-) Fingers crossed for no rain this weekend x
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
Unfortunately this weekend is out: Martinmas Fair in Lenton, possibility of showers anyway, and we're playing a celebratory Comet Landing game of High Frontier on Sunday (High Frontier is possibly the most realistic boardgame-interpretation of rocket science!), so maybe just a bit of window-pushing here or there!
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
We're putting it up! Weather is damp but bearable: just had lunch, now back out for part two! Will try and update soon.
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
Well, it's up! Here's how it looks today:
It's not finished, obviously ;P Here's yesterday's and the rest of this week's sterling work...:
Wednesday I had a work event at the hospital 10mins walk from my house (rather than 50mins away where I normally work) which finished early so I got another tube from the tram people and cracked on with getting the perspex out of the actual window-windows. It was much easier than the door! Even the slightly-cracked one came out no trouble, no further cracking. I also worked out what I need to do to have 'shutters' on the windows: I'm thinking if I put little triangles at the bottom corners, I can slot the existing perspex (or replacement for the two that are broken) in and then hold it in at the top, either with a twist-lock (right of below picture) or using a handle attached to the perspex and a knob attached to the frame and attached a rubber band or string between the two (left):
Yesterday we spent 5.5hrs out in the garden doing the massive two-person put-together job. Matt and I spent a while working out the best way to do things: being secondhand, we had to work out where to put things, how to do it, turning things round, dry-fitting, arguing ;P He's a good sport is Matt: he also sneakily fed Lopsy some roses because 'he looked hungry'... XD Here he is screwing in the screws I couldn't get in
As you can see, it's some distance away from the fence so I can get round it to paint it. We're hoping that we can get enough people round it to lift it back into place closer to the fence: here's a plan of our garden so you can see where it'll be, with the pipe coming out into a run on the lawn.
Anyway, here's how we insulated it: I'll probably do a summary post somewhere with all the useful steps ;P I got the guy at B&Q to cut the piece in half the wrong way, but it turned out as we put it together it that it was the right way round:
The sides fit on to the frame, so there's nowhere to attach the plywood to the sides, so we just screwed it in top, bottom and middle. Here's a shot of the completed back and side:
And one of the inside upper and the newly-covered tops of the front piece (you might be able to see Matt looking pensive: he can see over the roof ;P):
And now the bottom of the front: this is where the pipe sticks through (I can see over the sides at least!)
I'll probably put a shelf or table by the window so the buns can see out.
And here's what it looks like without the roof on:
We've put another bit of plywood over the front with a hole in for the pipe so there are two layers down there. The roof is also on, but not fitted: we need to strip and re-felt it as well as fix it but it seems OK for now. We put the leaky tarp over it anyway as a bit of protection, and also to stop too much rain getting in through the door portal and the open window.
Priorities now: affix roof and refelt, refix door and windows, clean existing lino and put down. Will get around to rubbing down, weatherproofing and painting at some point!
It's not finished, obviously ;P Here's yesterday's and the rest of this week's sterling work...:
Wednesday I had a work event at the hospital 10mins walk from my house (rather than 50mins away where I normally work) which finished early so I got another tube from the tram people and cracked on with getting the perspex out of the actual window-windows. It was much easier than the door! Even the slightly-cracked one came out no trouble, no further cracking. I also worked out what I need to do to have 'shutters' on the windows: I'm thinking if I put little triangles at the bottom corners, I can slot the existing perspex (or replacement for the two that are broken) in and then hold it in at the top, either with a twist-lock (right of below picture) or using a handle attached to the perspex and a knob attached to the frame and attached a rubber band or string between the two (left):
Yesterday we spent 5.5hrs out in the garden doing the massive two-person put-together job. Matt and I spent a while working out the best way to do things: being secondhand, we had to work out where to put things, how to do it, turning things round, dry-fitting, arguing ;P He's a good sport is Matt: he also sneakily fed Lopsy some roses because 'he looked hungry'... XD Here he is screwing in the screws I couldn't get in
As you can see, it's some distance away from the fence so I can get round it to paint it. We're hoping that we can get enough people round it to lift it back into place closer to the fence: here's a plan of our garden so you can see where it'll be, with the pipe coming out into a run on the lawn.
Anyway, here's how we insulated it: I'll probably do a summary post somewhere with all the useful steps ;P I got the guy at B&Q to cut the piece in half the wrong way, but it turned out as we put it together it that it was the right way round:
The sides fit on to the frame, so there's nowhere to attach the plywood to the sides, so we just screwed it in top, bottom and middle. Here's a shot of the completed back and side:
And one of the inside upper and the newly-covered tops of the front piece (you might be able to see Matt looking pensive: he can see over the roof ;P):
And now the bottom of the front: this is where the pipe sticks through (I can see over the sides at least!)
I'll probably put a shelf or table by the window so the buns can see out.
And here's what it looks like without the roof on:
We've put another bit of plywood over the front with a hole in for the pipe so there are two layers down there. The roof is also on, but not fitted: we need to strip and re-felt it as well as fix it but it seems OK for now. We put the leaky tarp over it anyway as a bit of protection, and also to stop too much rain getting in through the door portal and the open window.
Priorities now: affix roof and refelt, refix door and windows, clean existing lino and put down. Will get around to rubbing down, weatherproofing and painting at some point!
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*Funny*Bunny*
Warren Veteran
Looks really good can't wait to see it finished, sounds like it's going to be amazing!
can't wait to see it finished, sounds like it's going to be amazing!
keletkezes
Wise Old Thumper
No further progress: ground needs to be dry (like this week) to add in the lino and roof insulation. I can bring the door inside to mesh it, and make the covers (as all the window holes are the same size) but the lino needs to be down for me to bum about inside the house and do the window, as I don't want to make the 'under' floor any dirtier than it already is!
I'm also unavailable for the next 4 weeks until after Christmas so no REAL progress will be made, realistically. No point in putting Lopsy in an unfinished house with no functioning door or window! I've got him a snugglesafe for now! Once we get back from Christmas at the OH's parents, I've got time off (University shuts over Christmas) so can crack on with getting it finished and hopefully new bun-friend and new home before the end of January, as Dad might have finished the new run! Feel really bad that it's taking AGES but it's always the same: money and time are the 'same' thing, and you have to have one or the other to get things done!
Have worked out the pipe connector issue and can make that myself, so don't have to spend too much AND it won't cost too much time. Will also make a 'door' attachment too so I can take the pipe in and out.
Here's hoping we get good weather over Christmas and New Year and I can nip off to Ikea for seconds/returns of small tables etc. XD
I'm also unavailable for the next 4 weeks until after Christmas so no REAL progress will be made, realistically. No point in putting Lopsy in an unfinished house with no functioning door or window! I've got him a snugglesafe for now! Once we get back from Christmas at the OH's parents, I've got time off (University shuts over Christmas) so can crack on with getting it finished and hopefully new bun-friend and new home before the end of January, as Dad might have finished the new run! Feel really bad that it's taking AGES but it's always the same: money and time are the 'same' thing, and you have to have one or the other to get things done!
Have worked out the pipe connector issue and can make that myself, so don't have to spend too much AND it won't cost too much time. Will also make a 'door' attachment too so I can take the pipe in and out.
Here's hoping we get good weather over Christmas and New Year and I can nip off to Ikea for seconds/returns of small tables etc. XD
Bunny Magics
Alpha Buck
Awww... it's fab!
I reckon we can all relate to the 'money and time' thing.
It's exciting, and great progress... great job too! :thumb:
I reckon we can all relate to the 'money and time' thing.
It's exciting, and great progress... great job too! :thumb:
