My DREAM OBSERVATORY has a FLOOR!

[@KumarChalla]

Very nice job so far! One suggestion regarding the outlets near the pier. I would suggest mounting them vertically to wood rather than horizontally on the floor. The reaason for this is to prevent any water from falling into the outlet if some makes it way in. Mounting the outlets on a post or something similar will also raise them up and away from any flooding as well prevent water from falling into the outlet when using an outdoor in-use cover.

[@commander-tomalak]

Very good remark! Even just spilling some tea by accident could cause a nasty short if these outlets were installed horizontally on the floor.

[@briankotak403]

@@commander-tomalakor worse, wine. Bad for outlets and a waste of wine too! Nice job Nico! Dr B from Manitoba, Canada 🇨🇦

[@weegieb]

I am not sure but I believe there are some restrictions in the electrical code when installing a face up outlet. Basically for the problems noted. it becomes a water hazard and other items can fall into the outlet. Horizontal, is best IMHO. Also, i now an open roof in the rain is a no no, but if it were to rain with the roof open, this becomes an electrical hazard. I might consider gfci and outdoor outlet covers for this.

[@barbaraharris6102]

When my observatory was built my husband built a wooden enclosure around the concrete pier and put outlets on that. It looks really nice and is probably safer than outlets on the floor

[@BR0THERR0SS]

Definitely do GFCIs too

[@robertgrenader858]

#construction. Helpful hint: Stuff the ends of your underfloor conduit with steel wool and tale in place. It prevents critters from crawling in an making nests. Mice and rats love to chew on electrical cable.

[@willrothfuss8470]

Your vibration testing was worth the price of admission. 😆 I can see that your perfectionism in AP carries over into your construction.

[@dantyler6907]

Lumber crowns also want to be aligned "up" to allow for gravity to pull them down, as apposed to crowns beinstalled "down", allowing gravity to further deflect them.

[@jasonpatterson8091]

Glad to see you taking safety seriously. Hope you're protecting your hearing as well. I've lost a substantial amount in the recent past and it's shocking how much of a difference it has made in my life.

[@3f34f2f4]

I think I'm more invested in this project because I'm also from NH and I have always wanted an observatory.

[@chriscooper1978]

Same here!

[@StephenByersJ]

Thanks for posting even with all the mistakes. It’s actually a breath of fresh air to see stuff from non-professionals and seeing how you come up with creative solutions fix the mistakes.

[@junktrunk909]

My back hurts just thinking about all that shoveling. Way to go in putting in all this effort! Looks fantastic and you'll be so glad once you're imaging that first night. Agreed with the person above that you probably don't want the outlets horizonal like that given that you'll not be completely sealing the environment out near the piers. I wonder if there's actually a better way to add a proper environment barrier though, something like a donut that surrounds the pier and attaches to the floor, with a rubber gasket layer on the inside of the donut to press lightly against the peer. May be helpful and necessary to keep critters out. One other thing: you may want to use screws at least on corners and every so often on the floor boards since part of the reason floors squeak is when nails pull up a bit (screws can't pull up). In any case, minor points, best of luck!!

[@Astropaesan]

the site looks good. I just finished mine, so I feel your pain. When you build your door, find a good plan on line that shows 45 degree supports for top and bottom half of the door. These work together to ensure your door cannot sag. Any linear door will sag over time!

[@OriaXu]

To fill your gap around the telescope beams, use expanding foam to fill it up. On the inside you can use silicone to give it a clean look. Both will not let in humidity or bugs, while also not carry vibrations! And one tip: apply a sealer on the concrete beams, all of them. It will keep humidity out, thus preventing damage and mold in the long term.

[@joseribeiro9564]

Congratulations with the floor! a lot of attention to detail! What im used to see in small construction sites for levelling purposes is a simple transparent hose filled with water, the water level at each end of the hose are always leveled, pretty ingenious!

[@KingLoopie1]

That's a trick I was going to mention also, but you beat me to it! 😎 (it gives you absolute perfect level over whatever distance you want to cover or until you run out of hose length... Unless someone turns off the gravity)

[@pharaohjb]

How did I not know you were a Minnesotan? Greetings from St. Paul! Looking forward to seeing the rest of this build!

[@NautilusGuitars]

Man, I wish I was closer so I could offer help with this. You're up against a real challenge not having much experience with construction or woodworking, which makes it even cooler that you're tackling this alone. You're doing a great job, considering! But there are so many tricks that could/would cut your labor time in half or less and sure up a lot of the minor issues you're having. There are also some things I think you'd do differently if you had the experience, or somebody experienced there to help. This is no fault of your own and you'll get no judgement from me. I deeply admire what you're doing and I plan on doing the same. Seeing this motivates me. Your videos have been so informative and motivating for me and my astronomy. If I was at all able to, I would be thrilled to donate a good bit of my time to help you. Unfortunately though, NH is a couple days drive. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

[@lciummo1]

Definitely seal that gap around the piers ' mice seem to love telescopes and wires. Looks good so far.

[@guyjordan8201]

Nice work and thanks for the update. What construction project EVER goes to plan 🤣😂🎭 You'll get there.

[@LearnToStargaze]

Following your build closely! I'm about to start building my observatory(s), and this makes me feel lucky that I don't need to dig, there are giant 30x30ft natural slabs of nearly level granite on our property. Our biggest challenge may be the wind and cold! Wish I could drive down an help! I just built the outhouse as practice for building the observatory :-)

[@lomicwind]

Don't forget to set up a playlist for this build. Can't wait for next episode :)

[@landspide]

All you have to show?!? You did an awesome job, the thing you should rememeber, if you are savvy (which seems you are) there are only two differences between DIY and professional install; one is that it will take you longer, but you will do a better job, and second is to try ignore the mistakes. Pros do the same, they just know how to hide and work around it quicker :) looking awesome though!!!! I loved seeing how you worked around the issues... Also the plenum heights can be increased with fixtures, you have a super stable foundation to fall back on there.

[@nelsondavid88]

I looove your videos. The astrophotografy is my life

[@aw7425]

It’s looking great and yes electrical boxes vertical not horizontal. Here that’s our code with gfi breakers. Have fun and don’t over do it, clear skies

[@richardsmith5700]

Hi Nico, just watched your update, looking good so far. I have a suggestion to help tidy up the timber work around your piers. Measure the area to be infilled (the complete square), then find the position of the pier's centre; Mark this as accurately as possible on the square of ply that you've cut. Use Google to help you build a "trammel" for the router (it's real easy) and then cut your circles. Now the one piece of ply will easily slip over your pier and into place.... it will look super slick and at the same time close down that gap that you have. Also you would be best mounting the outlets to your pier about 2.5 inch from the floor (if you have space). Great build so far, I'll keep checking back.. All the best from the UK.

[@albert5224]

I agree with adding the square of plywood but would also add strips of hardwood around the pier for the plywood square piece to sit in, thus you can lift the plywood out of the way if needing to get under it. Also, if a kid's pool noodle would fit in below and seal tight against the pier, you can put cinnamon and/or other repellant in the hollow of the noodle to repel insects and rodents, plus it can be refilled if needed. Might be able to fit the noodle to the bottom on the plywood piece also.

[@jml_53]

Nice update. I'm following your project with interest. I certainly sympathize with your learning curve since I recently built a tree house/ deck and needed to learn a lot of the same skills. One tip for dealing with all the nailing for the joist hangars, etc... I bought a palm hammer for my pancake air compressor. It was a god send. The tool is a bit smaller than a palm sander. In the base, she the sanding disk would be, there is a cylinder, about an inch long and a quarter inch wide. You set a nail in place with a tap or two of a regular hammer and then slide this cylinder over the head of the nail. The compressor kicks in, and with no recoil, it hammers the nail right in. It's great for jobs like this where you can't use a regular nail gun, and it's especially useful in tight places where there isn't enough room to swing a hammer, like perpendicular to joists. Looking forward to future holidays updates.

[@manunited5263]

Very impressive!!! .....and good choice of tools.... ryobi has never let me down...

[@oldguysrule5895]

I love it - gotta wonder how many youtube videos that show this as an easy process are just edited to leave all this out - thanks for sharing

[@alexandreastronomy8022]

Very nice job Nico!!! Only thing i could tell to you is to not put outlets directly horizontally on the floor. It should be best to fix them on the concrete tower, avoiding some issues with dirt and whater. Wish you succes for the rest of your build! From Québec!

[@jeffreysokal7264]

Very nice. Do consider metal conduit (EMT) for electrical as rodents can gnaw through plastic but not through metal.

[@kevinsmith-tt3po]

Dont mount electrical outlets flat on the floor.....run some conduit up from the floor and mount on column

[@PascalFortin]

And use GFCI outlets with weatherproof covers.

[@stevenlitkey9354]

Very cool so far Nico. That’s a LOT of work to get done by yourself. It’s looking great and going to be soooo worth it when you’re out there imagining the night sky !!!

[@matthewlee8917]

Great work man. Love seeing people tackle new things. Just one suggestion and others may have said it. You absolutely HAVE to put material between the two decks of plywood. I think it’s called tar paper. Or it’s gonna squeak like crazy. I know from experience.

[@barrytdrake]

I'm happy to support you, Nico! I went to trade school for construction, and I can appreciate a lot of the challenges you described in this video. Kudos to you for not getting so frustrated that you gave up! I loved your jump around test with the balanced speed square.

[@rjrotermund]

Great job and thanks for the update. I love your channel. You really should have rented an auger.

[@jakew9709]

Quick and easy way to check holes is a plumb bob (string with a weight on the end). You can use it to check the wall of the hole and see if youre straight without trying to read a bubble level in a hole.

[@DSOImager]

The PHQ130 looked great on the pier! Coming along nicely. CS!

[@benhelm6212]

I’d love to do this eventually

[@timcorso6337]

A water level like the Romans used is very cheap to make (you just need to clear tube filled with water) and it works achingly well. Pah to laser levels ( at least for your foundations)

[@Astropaesan]

I used rubber interlocking gymnasium flooring to further dampen the floor from vibration. Also, I used a steel pier which mounts to the concrete base. The pier was filled with beach sand.

[@Astropaesan]

I look forward to more episodic stages of your build. This will help lots of people out there who have yet to start building their dream Observatory!

[@greatpix]

I may be wrong here because I'm going off a memory of an episode of TOH from decades ago but I've seen that when they were putting stakes in they would also make sure the lines were level and would add additional stakes and string that would cross at the center of the SonoTube.

[@afd33]

Good progress! For the weather stripping for the piers, what I would probably do is get 1/8" or 1/4" rubber sheet that you can cut a big X in the middle or or a circle that is about the same size of your pier and then slide it over and nail it to the floor. Thanks for showing both the ups and the downs by the way.

[@scottrk4930]

Very nice ! Thanks for sharing in the build , warts and all . LOL .

[@siddhantsingh74]

A very informative video indeed. I just wanted point out the solution of the first and second problem you faced. You should never dig exactly as per the dimensions.(Been there, done that, it never works😅) You should have dug a slightly larger and deeper hole. Then you can use compacted soil or lean concrete to create a level and accurately high base for one of the cylinders to sit on. Once you level and set height of one of the cylinder, you could have used water level (A long transparent tube with water filled in it) to get other cylinders on the exactly same elevation. You don't need to have fancy self levelling laser levels to do simple projects like this.

[@fusyfilm5605]

Hello. My name is fusy. I am Japanese. I always enjoy your videos. I also built an observation hut in my garden last year. The average residential area in Japan has a small garden, so the size of the shed is 2 x 3 meters. You can see how it works in my video. It took me over a year to create it, working alone. I bought the pillar without making it. This is because Japan has many large earthquakes, so I'm worried about it tilting. Something I noticed in the video. Toward the end, I was operating the telescope, but I feel like the pillars aren't high enough. When photographing at lower latitudes, the telescope approaches horizontality, but in its current state I think the wall will be very low. I adjusted the height of the wall to my height. I then aligned the pillars at that height. I'm looking forward to its completion.

[@no_mercy4183]

Wow !! Visited your channel, I'll watch all of the videos one by one

[@clipper99]

You must’ve been reading my mind, just last night I was watching one of your older videos, wondering how the project was going. Thanks for the updates!

[@Javiercav]

For leveling the height of the piers. The best and cheapest solution is a simple transparent hose with water inside. The water will be always at the same height in both ends of the hose no matter how long it is. It's an effective solution used by almost every construction worker here in Argentina.

[@rob19632]

Good job Nico.

[@MrMrduke1975]

Living nearby in VT, the floods this year were terrible. Awesome job on the observatory! Can’t wait to watch the rest of this project!

[@astrodojo1]

Magnificent video, congratulations. Ruben here.

[@dumpydalekobservatory]

Thanks for the update I'm sure your observatory is going to be awesome, I'm glad you mention all the safety gear I were particularly impressed with those crocs you were wearing when shifting those boulders lol. Keep up the great work watch your toes & I do like your SIRIL T shirt to, clear skies

[@steveg4iwr]

It's looking good.

[@rawhead909]

If you could borrow a total station, it would've taken care of a lot of those problems you had, regarding leveling, straight holes, distance measurements, etc. :) Great work still!

[@no_mercy4183]

So good to see a man working on his dream project ❤ good luck sir , maybe someday I'll get to visit your home observatory

[@robb7342]

Love that you continue to show the good as well as lessons learned. We are always wiser on the other side. Digging and lining up the support posts is a task on its on, so I can appreciate the work you went through. The foundation is critical though and being level and square will save a lot of headaches down the road.

[@ThePred2009]

looking great so far

[@josgeusens4637]

I admire your effort and of course the fact that you share this with us. In my mind, I can imagine this project to be an ever improving thing. As things go, you will probably specialise it to your specific needs and that's where this gets interesting. From my side, I wish you all the luck with it and that means we will also benefit from your success (lol).

[@ianroseir]

Next time try a water level - cheap to make and probably more accurate than a laser! Looks like a lot of fun and you'll end up with a great observatory.

[@AstroJeff717]

Excellent content! Excuse me the inspiration I needed to do this myself at home

[@TheWonkyAstronomer]

Nice work. I would have made a lot more mistakes. Looking forward to more updates.

[@johnrsims43]

Great idea to use trusses for the roof construction. I’ve been wondering why everyone does not do that. Just knowing that the roof will not collide with the telescope would be worth a lot to me, and not needing a special “park position” for when the roof is closed would be a convenience.

[@kevinmilitello5835]

Keep it up Nico!

[@velvetboy1]

This was awesome to watch and I'm super excited to see this project come to life Nico! Having my own home with a personal observatory is definitely a bucket list item for me in the future and your passion for it all is real contagious. Clear skies and happy building!

[@gwthomas52]

Great lessons learned presentation. To reach a dream, sacrifices and hard work is required. It looks like you're doing both. I'm looking forward to the finale.

[@NiclasOberg-g7q]

Possibly some pipe insulation between floor and concrete pillar? Soft enough to conform to shape, soft enough to not transmit vibrations.

[@Astropaesan]

Add little cleats on the bottom of the floor frame. These will help when it comes to installing siding, by yourself. Just sit the siding on the cleats and push against the wall. 😅 Nico, screw your siding to the walls. Pointer. Nails punch holes in wood, these holes are great for bugs and rot. Screws, thread into the wood. Makes the structure more solid, and they are less destructive to the wood, plus they can be re tightened over time,,,,nails really cannot. Spend what you need to build the structure correctly. Don’t go cheap just to save a hundred dollars,,,,trust me.

[@ZopcsakFeri]

This is an awesome build! But just for some heads up, when building with wood: Screws are designed for lengthwise tension, and they grip very well along their axes, but they very often do not tolerate cross-wise shear forces to any reasonable expectation without snapping. Nails on the other hand can bend under shear forces, but since they are not as brittle, they won't snap, and will probably hold your structure in place better than screws would. I wish you lots of years of enjoyment in this shed - you absolutely deserve it after what you've been giving to the community in the past decade!

[@jonathangroner3931]

agree with below - floor mounted outlets might be a mistake because 1) moisture will get in when the roof is open and 2) I think they need to be covered/capped when not in use to meet code. Also code requires GFI protected circuits in moisture prone areas (kitchen, bathroom, outdoor outlets). Either the first box in the circuit will be a GFI outlet or there can be a GFI breaker in the panel.

[@KingLoopie1]

Jeez! It took you longer than anticipated!? Welcome to the real world... I can add a tip from one of my shed mistakes. DO NOT use osb tongue and groove for flooring! I did in my pandemic woodworking shed. I injured myself (unrelated) and 2 surgeries and a lot of rehab later I am continuing. Even though it was treated and even though I covered the floor, it soaked up water like a sponge and all of that chip - board OSB dissolved the glue making it non-structural stuff... As you did Nico, I bought 3/4" treated plywood and am going on from there but it sucks having to backup, tear up stuff and do it again... 😢

[@JR-dn5cn]

Thank you for sharing those mistakes!! You saved us time and money!!

[@jwdeepsky]

Nice, excited to see the finished product

[@monti9344]

I don't know the English expression, but to level something in the distance there is a very simple thing. A water-filled hose always shows the same water level at its ends. In germany we said "Schlauchwaage" or in physical terms, “communicating tubes”.

[@marcericdavis]

Nice to see your progress.

[@ryh69PL]

Great job Nico! Good luck!

[@NikonJax]

That's quite the project! Nice work Nico, looking forward to the next steps :)

[@Upuauta]

This is highly interesting! Thanks for the videos. :)

[@SmeeUncleJoe]

I'd go with 4Way Deck-Blocks from any building supply, including Home Depot. You end up with a portable building yet very solid... my huge patio is resting on them. You are not depending on that floor for stability as your scope is on the pier. I'd also go to a scrap dealer and get a chrome plated piston rod with threaded end. You can screw it into a threaded base cast in concrete underground. If you ever abandon it, unscrew rod and fill it with dirt. I have never heard of building codes applied to shed like structures no one is living in, provided they are not attached to a house. So even an inch of separation is good and there were some other rules about not exceeding certain heights etc. You are building a shed basically so no building codes apply hardly.

[@Jazzinthecountry]

I wish this video was around before I built mine over a decade ago. I just built a 12x12 deck and put a skyshed pod on it without an isolated telescope pier.

[@guyjordan8201]

Good update.

[@gregb5149]

OMG! Congrats on your efforts but now I'm very sure I'm not going to build an observatory!!! ;-)

[@stevewhite9354]

Excellent work, Man! Thanks for sharing.

[@philkidd]

Great work Nico! Looking forward to the next progress video!

[@ronm6585]

It's coming along. Thanks for sharing.

[@robstanley559]

I am very envious, even if it is only floor. Looking at what you have done so far it is going to be amazing

[@muhdiversity7409]

I found a post hole digger with 8 feet long fiberglass handles. For a 6'3" guy it is a life saver. I have a 4 foot post hole digger but that just resulted in a river of tears.

[@chrislarosa3327]

Just a quick thought, maybe use pool noodle or pipe insulation to go around the peers with the pipe insulation has a slot would fit nicely on the wood and seal up that gap

[@Jody_VE5SAR]

A 12+" EPDM roof pipe flashing seal might make a good vibration-isolation seal between your pillars and the floor? Dektite makes one in a 9"-20" pipe diameter which should fit nicely over the piers.

[@XPFTP]

ive watched on n off your channel for heck 4 plus years. youve come a long way .. good job for sure. lucky you tho.. dang i still have yet to build mines... also for anyone else and maybe still you.. depends on how big of diameter the piers are... you can get PVC end caps i think up to 12 or 14 inchs. makes a nice smooth finish top and no create edges at all...... just tossin it out there. crown up is for sage over time. u DONT want the plugs facing up like that. use a piece of pvc conduit to mount them up facing out... they will fill with crap over time and short or stop working so on .. hahah iam in VT north west corner near can boarder top of the big lake

[@wazigeralph]

Good job and thanks for the advices.

[@stefanschneider3681]

👍

[@joekelley9311]

Please fix the pieces around the piers and as far as the weatherproofing you can use Butyl Sealant Tape to fill the gap between the fixed pieces and the piers without worry of transfering vibrations.

[@Mel-127]

An idea. When sinking pillars, you can do it a cheap way. Sink the 1st pillar to required hight. When set, get a length of clear hose pipeing (see through) long enough to reach the furthest pillar including the hight to be measured (ie to use pipe like an upside down staple/ square shape U). Fill the clear (see through) pipe with water till it reaches hight of first pillar. The water at the other end of the pipe will be the same hight. If enough length of pipe is provided. Hence all hights will be equal. Just make sure the vertical is correct. You can always use the clear tube after the job of building as an extension on a sprinkler. (Or a normal hose with a clear tube fastened each end).

[@REXOB9]

Great video, lots of good practical information. You really put your heart and your back into this.

[@skylinevspec000]

needed to collimate your holes :) Also had some pier guiding differential

[@Twobarpsi]

Good update! I can't believe it has been two months since the last one. Having hand dug holes myself, I can relate to the difficulties you experienced!

[@kayasper6081]

About leveling the fundaments: here in Spain they use a simple transparant hose for that. You fill it with water and place either end at the extremes of the construction. The water level indiciates the right height. Simple, cheap and very effective.

[@etx007blue2]

Thank you for walking through the whole process ! Great video !

[@l3d-3dmaker58]

a little south American construction tip: use a clear PVC hose to keep level across many things! get a big length of it, fill it with water while holding both ends up keeping some air on top, put one of the water lines on the height reference and you can walk around with your hose perfectly at the same height wherever you go! just make sure to not spill water or have air bubbles inside, or you'll screw up your measurements

[@weegieb]

nice work. i am very anxious to see how you make the rolling roof. Maybe a bill of materials link to source hardware?

[@zacharyknox3007]

Been waiting for this!

[@fizzbang8156]

I enjoyed this very educational. Thanks Nico and good luck with the build.😉

[@briangriffiths937]

A foolproof and very cheap method of ensuring perfect level between two points, is to use clear plastic tube filled with water. The water level at either end of the tube is always the same. This is an old trick I learned a long time ago.

[@foc2241]

I am really hyped for this project!