Orderly Room for Hangar 33...!

[flash]

After hemming and hawing for a year I finally decided to go for broke and install a log cabin in our garden at Hangar 33 for my war gaming needs - I found a good one measuring 5m x 3m for a good price and ordered it...
Just in time for the Pandemic to hit... Bugger !

Finally there is progress.
Whilst we were away in early July enjoying our holiday in Kernow a local chap installed a concrete base to park it on and we're all set to go.





All things being even the cabin will arrive on Friday 31st July and construction will commence, power and lights will come later.
I tried this as a blog but it's not flexible enough for my needs.
I will add to this story so you may see our final efforts in all their glory.

Friday the 31st July 2020 was a long day. In the morning we set things up and waited patiently for our delivery...


...tracking the truck as it made it's way around the county. We were, of course, the last delivery of the day !
At last it arrived.. and here it is on the back of the truck:


and now on the verge beside our house.. That's a lot of wood !


It's now about 3pm - time to get it in the garden and sorted out ready for the build.


My daughter and her fella arrived shortly after the unload and helped get everything into the garden. I cracked on with clamping, drilling & screwing bearers together..


Then with some assistance we managed to get them spaced and placed correctly


About 6pm when we stopped for scoff we'd got it to what we called the 'pig pen' stage, or, the bottom of the windows.


We resumed after our feed and pressed on, windows (came pre-made) and door frame-in place, walls built up around...


Moment of contemplation..


Then before you know it - the apexes (pre-made) are on, the purlins fitted and the doors are going on...


Ta da! stage one complete - we called it a night about 8pm


This is how it looked when we went upstairs. Friday was done.



Saturday 1st August:
The roof boards go on..


And on !


And on !!


After the kids left about 3pm me and the missus managed to get the roof membrane on and tacked into place - we put some blocks on the roof just in case.
We called it a day about 8pm - I was quite scorched and dehydrated at this point


Sunday 2nd August:
First painting day ! We managed to get the first coat of paint on. The missus was a champ - she did most of it while I back tracked and fixed an error I'd made which took a little time (RTFI...!). This is how it looked after the first coat:


Monday 3rd August:
Looked much better after the next couple of coats the next day (4 hours between re-coats)


Tuesday 4th August:
Trims painted, drilled, screwed and fitted, windows painted, white surrounds started




Wednesday 5th August:
A roofing day ! My daughter worked from our home and her fella gave me and the missus a hand getting the shingles fitted. He had to go to work about midday but by the end of the afternoon we'd got most of it done before the rain came.. delayed only by the electrician who gave it the once over and is preparing an excruciating estimate !


Thursday 6th August:
In spite of the claggy weather we cracked on and finished the roof - again my missus was a star cutting tiles for the ridge... and supplying light refreshment !


Rain stopped play about lunchtime but soon cleared up and this was the end result of the roofing endeavours.
Storm braces are in, final window fittings fitted; the fascias were prepared and will be fitted tomorrow & if it's not too hot (heatwave on the way) we'll get the floor done too.


Friday 7th August:
Got some painting & tidying done first thing and started flooring but got beat by the heat..
Whilst I was flooring got this pic of what an early visitor left us:




Fascias built & undercoated the other day up for final paint & fix today. Just waiting for it to cool off some.


Saturday 8th August:
We fitted the fascias at last - Heat is a killer - got most of the floor in before I caved to the heat... hitting 30 degrees

Sunday 9th August:
Painted the window/door surrounds second coat; finished the putting the floor boards / trim in and got the doors hanging correctly before heat stopped play.. that or it was gonna kill me !

Monday 10th August:
Final coats of contrasting paint on the window & door surrounds... and fixed up a temporary table top... I hope to get a final pic later...

Well here's the final build bar a couple of door hooks, some plates over the windows & door and internal door bolts..
The Orderly Room (or, the 'King Cabin as it became known), a little blood, a lot of sweat but no tears.. just bloody hard graft !


And here is the detail (courtesy of Brighton Det 163 Pro Coy RMP(v)):



I will update with some interior shots as I get it fitted out over the next few weeks but we're done for now.

A few days after the last picture was taken I got on with varnishing the floor - yet another hot day but three coats later it was done


Once that had fully cooked off I was able to put some furniture in it - starting with chairs and some storage shelves


Tuesday 15th September - 80th Battle of Britain Day !
So, here we are a few weeks on.... and finally the power went in !
In preparation for this we had to dig a trench between the garage and the cabin - we also had to move the compost bin !


The electrician cracked on and soon we had heat and light - the clear oblong in the top is the IR heater, LED strips flanking. The holey thing is the beginnings of my table sat on a protective cloth.


By scoff time that evening the hole had been back filled and things returned to normal -


I forgot to mention we'd surrounded the place with shingle after the build.


Wednesday 16th September

Time came to transfer my kit from the garage - some of the men and tanks on the move:


Getting things in place - table up, storage underneath..


All the bits and pieces I've been collecting to decorate this is found a home.. posters paper & metal, postcards...


Glass display case


RAF sector clock facsimile and some odds and sods - warning sign..


And my favourite picture out of direct sunlight


Still more pics to be found homes for but it's more or less there now. I'm very pleased with it, as is SWMBO, who now has me lined up for a number of new tasks on Hangar 33, though I did get brownie points for getting the electrician to fit the ceiling fans in the bedrooms.

The finished article:




Next OTT mission will be coming out of the 'Orderly Room' !

Friday 2nd October
Game on !


Note we laid some slabs in front of the doors - whilst cutting the turf I came across this fella as I turned the cutting over.. Talk about being well dug in !


The stools, one of which is seen in above images stripped back ready for work to commence, ended up looking like this:

Numerous coats of (Crown Twisted Olive) paint & varnish, new foam, wadding and the backs out of a couple of British Army shirts constitute the makeover of stools we've had for 30+ years that spent most of that time in the garage.

There are now three steps to heaven..


And a year later we managed to pick up the new house sign for Hangar 33


Grand it looks in position too.