More progress on the office. On Tuesday, I cut the hole in the lid of the 'thunderbox' and fitted the platform for the bucket. That done, test-fitting the seat and then giving the whole shooting match a flit over with the belt sander pretty much finished the construction. I'd used 5x60mm screws which were a little over-length, so I removed the screws, glued the panels and then reassembled the loo using 5x40mm screws. A nice neater finish and I'm very pleased with the final result.
I removed the 1200x2400mm OSB panel from the studwork and fitted it into place on the 5' side of the facilities. This left a 300mm gap which needs to be cut from another sheet. With that done, the general look of the thing is coming across much better,
Today, I cut a strip 300mm wide from another board and fitted it into place on the 5' wall so the entire side of the loo is now boxed in. Having set up my jig for circular sawing strips from board, I then turned my attention to the 4' door end of the loo. The original plan was to cut a door out of a single sheet, and then perhaps use the cutout and a pair of hinges to make the door itself, but OSB on its own is likely to warp and go out of shape over time if not reinforced. There is also the issue of cutting a perfectly rectangular hole/door. With that in mind, I decided to cut two strips to go either side of the doorway, full length, and then to fit some studwork around the opening to take a standard door lining, from which I will hang a conventional interior door. This will give a much more robust wall assembly, plus a much better door that can be fitted with conventional handles and a proper latch mechanism. More expensive, but a much more pleasing finish and the trimming around the door can be completed with some architrave after painting the frame. There is also something more reassuring about a proper door you can shut while taking a 'man moment' rather than just an insubstantial hinged flap...
On the subject of the loo, I also took down my huge bag of sawdust and wood chippings and a loo roll and gave it it's first maiden flight. Ok, just a wee for starters, but I'm sure a No2. will be forthcoming in the very near future. Straight away, this highlighted an immediate problem, With the loo boxed in and just an open doorway, it was pretty dark in there. It will be pitch black once the door is on, so my next priority after the door lining and door is to fit a light. All part of the master plan, but this needs to happen sooner rather than later. I also need to turn my attention to the matter of the water supply. Although the kitchenette can wait for a couple of weeks until I find a gap in my work calendar, I need to think about getting a bit of gutter on the van body and start getting some rainwater filling up the slow sand filter. As it will take at least 24 hours for any significant amount of water to percolate through the filter and into the clearwell storage tank in order to build up enough pressure for the inline cartridge filter, then the sooner I can get some inflow happening, the sooner I have available water for the sink.
So, door lining, door, lighting and guttering are the next significant steps.
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