Theatre Hipparchus

Existing Pool House

Plans and considerations

The model for the Observatory and most of the design considerations came from this structure that we erected in 2003. We built it to house the pool pumps and equipment closer to the pool. It was a matter of adding two feet to the pull off section but other than that the footprint, colour, windows and doors would be the same. We need a lightweight roof so metal will likely be used. The observatory would be a mirror image of this pool house.

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Countering the Grade

I really enjoyed this part of the process. I think it has to do with moving earth. In order to bring the floor to level with the pool platform we used 6"X 6" pressure treated lumber and 2 yards of gravel. The sono tube is 4 feet below surface with 6' rebar forming a circle inside the pier. There was some fill left over from the previous summer so that came in handy to fortify the outside of the frame. It is pretty decent soil so the garden should do well around the observatory.

As for pier height - my thinking was that we would be 4 feet into the ground and through 6 more inches of cement (protected by a metal collar during pouring) and and 5 inches above the floor at the joint for the metal pier. That's pretty much how it came out.

So far so good!

Ready to Pour!

Just prior to concrete:

Looking back at this picture I really have to laugh at myself. Here we see a nicely positioned 10.5" sonotube and two yards of gravel. However in order to sink the tube 5' down I marked out the location and started digging. Anyone who has dug a post hole will know that even a fist sized stone can cause issues especially if you are down past arms length. I pulled three boulders out of this hole that were larger than basketballs. Needless to say I just about had to excavate the entire working area to do it.

Really pleased to get it to this point though. We will use the boulders as part of the landscaping.

Friday

We were ready. A couple of rented deep wheelbarrows and our friend Josh who took the day off to help - thanks a lot guy! It was about 50 yards to the site from the driveway. I estimated about 40 trips though Josh's loads were full and I was taking the 3/4 variety. Sheila did the manipulation and fine tuning at the site.

Base

The cement has been poured and we are ready to start on the walls.

Metal collar

To keep vibrations to a minimum we wrapped a metal collar filled with playground sand around the tube prior to pouring the floor. In this picture the sonotube is still about 10" above the finishing pour. Both will be cut away when the pier is poured. We plan to do that by hand using Sancrete - a quick drying cement perfect for Ontario conditions. At that time I will sink four 8" lag bolts in position to join to the bottom of the pier.

What was nice is that I could still use the scope on tripod to get used to the new location. It afforded me about 30% more sky than I had the previous summer.

Roll off in place!

Lifting the roof into place.

The inset shows the assembly on the pool deck prior to the adding the 1/2 inch plywood sheeting. Guessing that it weighs about 200 pounds. The next door neighbour was instrumental helping me lift it into position.

We are into early December 2004 and the work will have to stop until Spring.

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Rails and Wheels

I went with a better quality rubber wheel (10$ each) that a local bearing suppy store was carrying. These are hard rubber but do have a bit of pliabilty to them.  My thinking was that it would be a difficult job to replace them. Rated for Ontario winters.  

Roll off

Here we are closing in on completion. There is some trim and painting to do. Currently I am running an extension cord from the poolhouse so we need to get the electrical work done.

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General setting

This picture just reminds me of how much trim work there is left to do. New door and windows that match the poolhouse (to the left) and electrical. We will run an underground cable behind that facing fence for the power. Evestroughs should be pretty straightforward, same colour as the poolhouse.

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From 2nd Floor

This depicts the structure from the second story of the house. I would like to panel the inside and hang a few of my charts.  Thinking about an interior wall to corden off a warm room.