My man cave build - UK edition

[john70t]

Totally in awe here. That looks so warm and cozy even as is.

[daepp]

Ahoy Ahab - did Harry (Harry's Garage ) Metcalf capture a bit of your build in his Miura video??? It's a great video, but the construction project can be seen just after the 13 minute mark.





Perhaps "they all look alike" but dayum....

If not, sorry for the hijack. Carry on!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by daepp

Ahoy Ahab - did Harry (Harry's Garage ) Metcalf capture a bit of your build in his Miura video??? It's a great video, but the construction project can be seen just after the 13 minute mark.





Perhaps "they all look alike" but dayum....

If not, sorry for the hijack. Carry on!

no, sorry not my build project but damn daepp that is top detective work

At 17.40 he is driving through Burford which is a beautiful Cotswold town, well worth visiting if in the area. We are only about 30 mins north

[daepp]

I like that guy's YouTube channel but just stumbled across that site. Seemed like waaaayyyyyy too much of a coincidence, but I had to ask!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Thanks again for the kind words, it really does help to spur us along

This new patio area took an afternoon to do, only a small patio 6.5 ft square, enough for a couple of chairs and table, perfect position to relax, enjoy a Pimm's and admire what we've done (one day, one day)

Shuttering made out of left over joists, used a base of left over walling stone and then wheel barrowed around 12 loads of concrete



Let it a week to set and knocked the shuttering off, now left with a sturdy base to lay stone flagstones on, won't be finished until after the garden stairs as I want to use the best flagstones on this first



I find concreting a total body workout, easily the most physically demanding work I've done on this build, seems to sap my strength/stamina more than any of the other trades



Mrs Ahab has been busy leveling the lawn area and raking out stones, also finished off her garden wall building a mortar cap on top of inner stone wall, she used 'sharp sand' which is much coarser/more durable than the finer sand we used for building the stone walls



As progress this year has slowed considerably due to my work commitments I'm in the process of making changes. Easier, cheaper, quicker would be to just pay tradesmen to finish it off but easy is boring and not satisfying

[astrochex]

Looks great, Captain.

Thank-you so much for the epic virtual tour.

[VincentVega]

Thanks for the update. Keep up the fight, almost there.

[Sooner or later]

Wonderful

[Captain Ahab Jr]

thanks for the kind comments, Paul, VV and Sooner or later

Was hoping for a big win and reveal of the lawn this update, we were all booked and ready to take delivery of 100m2/1000ft2 of turf or as you guys call is 'sod' (a very different meaning in English ) even took an afternoon off for one last session of leveling, but.....

My turf guy called the day before and advised due to the heavy rain we've had he'd recommend leaving it for next weekend as the turf was a bit fragile due to being so wet

You'll have to use your imagination to picture what the lawn will look like or maybe someone can Photoshop all the brown soil to a lush green lawn





After finishing my wall to hide the oil tank part of the old wall was bothering me as it wasn't now as tall as the new section of wall



Only one way to fix it and yep, more wall building to blend new into old or old into new , give it a winter of moss growth and no one will ever know



Finished the wall off with a cement cap to weather proof it, job done and a minor win to me.

I let my OCD get the better of me on this wall as I'd planned to use concrete blocks on the rear face. No one would ever see it but in the end I just couldn't so did the right thing and used up some more stone

Heating oil tank has a 30 min fire barrier external cladding, required by building regulations as it is closer than the minimum allowed distance to the roof eaves.

[Sooner or later]

So much goodness.

[Sooner or later]

You need to do some work on the out of round wheels in the window.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

You need to do some work on the out of round wheels in the window.

That was a bit of South American street art I helped myself from the dumpster at work

On one wanted it so I took it for the plywood

[Scott Douglas]

This build thread is amazing.
Great work!
The pure physicality of it would kill me.

[911 Rod]

I'm starting to picture your final plan and it will be amazing!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Thanks Scott and Rod

Early this morning the turf fairy left this pile on our drive, 2 pallets or 100 rolls or 100m2 or 1000ft2 of green lushiness



A sprinkle of fertilizer and one last rake the lawn looked like this







Mrs Ahab, myself and Ahab Jr (yep, we used child labour on this job ) all found it a very satisfying and easy job to do, only took 3hrs from start to finish, done and dusted in time for lunch







It really has made the garden look larger and as we are in England we booked in advance heavy rain for late tonight

[astrochex]

Gorgeous.

[billybek]

Instant lawn!

Satisfying part of the job.

Looks great!

[LJ851]

Looks Great!

Glad to see some progress and updates.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Mrs Ahab, myself and Ahab Jr (yep, we used child labour on this job )

I miss my child labor...I was fixing fences this morning and actually had to stoop to get some tools...this after Mrs. Seahawk said, "who am I Seahawk Jr...get them yourself".

Looks great, Captain.

[pete3799]

Amazing work you two have done. Very impressive.


note to self: never arm wrestle with Mr. or Mrs. Ahab.