Christmas At The Lab

Ah, nothing beats Christmas. Snow on the ground... wait? Snow? For once there actually was large amount of snow here in the UK, not just slush rain! This was a rarity so I was sure to capture it on camera so you can see how nice the lab looks in winter. I also set up a small Christmas tree and lights to celebrate the occasion whilst working in the lab.

These photos were taken in December, when I returned home from University for a month to outfit the lab. In the next post, you will see how I made the shelving and how I transformed the lab for a storage room to a fully functioning workshop!

Moving In

Can you believe it? The lab is finally built!

The time I had been waiting for for so long was finally upon me. It was time to move into the new lab. Unfortunately, I was at University until the Christmas break, which meant could I only work during the odd weekends I came back home.

Never the less, I spent every spare minute I was home perilously lugging my things from the house down to the lab, ready to be put in there proper places once the shelving was in. This included, tech, raw materials, experiments, projects, tools, equipment, components, tables/furniture, utilities and basically everything else that had been in storage in my house for; no joke, years, until I had a lab and said lab was at a point where I could start putting things in there.

It should be noted that the lab was finished structurally (meaning it had a functional roof and door) many months ago, however, since the floor wasn't painted, moving anything in there would be a futile effort that would have just hindered the progress of the lab.

Ah, the food corner, with all the utilities require to live, including: a microwave, min fridge, kettle, toaster and even a mini freezer!

Lab Build: Work Surfaces & Water Phase 2 - 23/09/17

After giving my specifications to the builders, at long last they returned to fit the work surfaces, possibly the most functionally important part of the lab. For two days, they cut up the wooden work surface I picked out and attached them to the wall as I desired. But where was I during all of this? Not at the lab if that's what you were thinking.

Whilst this was taking place, I was starting University so couldn not witness the installation, let alone use it until at least a few months. Here are some photos I took when I returned for a weekend.

Not only that, but the plumber returned for phase 2, the final phase of the water installation. During this, the sink was fitted along with its corresponding work surface and all the necessary connections with pipes were made. Not only that, but the bottom of the sink area was covered with panels to hide the pipes but also to provide a cupboard for addition storage!

And in all honesty, the sink was much more than I bargained for. At first we had no plans for running water at the lab, then we said a small round sink. From the pictures however, you can see we have a proper full size kitchen sink with 2 actual basins, plugs and even a draining board.

And with that, all infrastructure work was complete, which means no more builders, no more electricians, no more plumbers, no one. The only exception to this is when the slabbing is put down, but that wont take place until summer next year.

Lab Build: Painting The Floor - ?/09/17

Once again, the paint rollers had to be pulled out, the paint towels had to be put down and I had to gear up for another messy painting session. At least this time it was the floor instead of the ceiling which really was a laborious task.

To tackle the floor, we decided a heavy duty industrial floor paint was the past way to go. So we purchased a large vat of it and I gave it two coats. At first it appeared navy blue, but once it dried out the industrial grey shone through. It probably would have been a good idea to keep the doors and windows open whilst painting, the fumes really did start to make me feel lightheaded at the end. Lets just hope there are no long term consequences...

Water Phase 1: ?/09/17

Unfortunately, August was a slow month. No progress on the lab was made as we waited for a time the plumber was free. During this period, I undertook no lab related projects, which did serve as a nice change of tone and act as a mini break.

In early September, the plumber finally became free and engaged in phase 1 of the water supply, this involved running a flexible blue water pipe from the house to the lab, again using the ditch/canal we dug 2 months prior.

The plumber connected the house end to the kitchen sink through a valve that can be used to cut off water supply to the lab if need be. The other end run through the conduit underground shared with the power and Ethernet SWA cables and was then fixed to the wall. A valve was also placed on this end to allow the water supply to be disconnected if maintenance on the sink needs to take place.

A hole was then drilled through the wall and the pipe was also fed through it back outside, this connected to an exterior tape so hoses can be attached if required.

Finally, now that all 3 cables/pipes were in place, the ditch could at long last be filled in and the garden could return to being flat and looking at least half decent. Luckily this job was must easier and faster then digging it out.

Late Posts

Ok so its been a while...

Although there hasn't been many lab videos posted to the YouTube channel, I have taken many pictures during the August-September period of the lab build but just never got round to posting them (due to having a busy summer and starting University). In the following couple of posts, I will upload all of these images and continue to explain how the lab was built. After these are posted, this blog, the YouTube channel and you will be all up to date with the status of the lab!

In just a few weeks time I will have a long break from university meaning that projects inside the lab can properly begin! The weather will be warming up which also means the slabbing/front exterior of the lab can commence. That will be the official last piece of the lab to be done, then we can finally call the entire lab build year long project finished.

There is so much waiting in the wings, stuff you wont want to miss. So bookmark this page and check again in a few weeks time.