The ups and downs of owning a W123.130 (non turbo 300D) - Conversion to petrol / gas! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Stretch · #1 05-17-2019, 11:21 AM

Hash tag still coking about piling it high!

Stretch · #2 12-28-2019, 10:12 AM

It has been one heck of a year. Loads of delays for all of my automotive projects because the new house ain't got no workshop - yet...

...so far I've cut down a bit of Northern European jungle =>

Removed (by hand) a few tree stumps =>

Built a tray of gravel and laid a structure of oak railway sleepers onto which I'm welding a steel structure...

...I've gone for a low impact no concrete design partly because I don't think concrete is great at end of life when you want to get rid of it but also because where I'm living now I'm on the edge of a gas field where there's been a bit of earth quake trouble. So I want to be able to jack things back straight is they decide to wander off down into the back of the garden (!)

vwnate1 · #3 12-28-2019, 12:28 PM

Don't you have to lay out some sort of vapor barrier sheet under the gravel ? .

Stretch · #4 12-28-2019, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Don't you have to lay out some sort of vapor barrier sheet under the gravel ? .

"Have to" - as in building regulations have to?

If so that's not applicable for garages / places where people are not expected to live in (here in Holland)

If you mean have to in terms of stopping damp from getting in then I don't think that will be a problem. The ground is raised - most of it on some pretty snazzy stuff called "woudzand". This is more like granulated clay than sand and sticks together really well. Whilst it does retain moisture it doesn't really stay all that wet - surface water runs off (most of the time). I've put in two layers of anti-root growing membrane under and on top of the woudzand and the gravel ballast has a depth of at least 20cm. The metal frame sits on top of the railway sleepers which are only slightly set into the gravel. A wooden floor will be fitted on top of the metal frame...

...if I have the funds left over to insulate under the floor only then will I be considering a damp proof membrane for under the floor. Not quite that far yet.

vwnate1 · #5 12-28-2019, 11:19 PM

Thank you .

Yes, I was talking about a plastic / nylon barrier sheet because moisture comes up eventually if you don't have one and the vehicle will rust away over time .

I wasn't asking about regulations .

That weed barrier mesh crap is just that : crap .

My son tried it after I told him to line mt grand daughter's sand pit with vapor barrier, of course the weeds don't give a care about any mesh no matter how tight it is and it wasn't tight .

Stretch · #6 12-29-2019, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vwnate1

Thank you .

Yes, I was talking about a plastic / nylon barrier sheet because moisture comes up eventually if you don't have one and the vehicle will rust away over time .

I wasn't asking about regulations .

That weed barrier mesh crap is just that : crap .

My son tried it after I told him to line mt grand daughter's sand pit with vapor barrier, of course the weeds don't give a care about any mesh no matter how tight it is and it wasn't tight .

The anti-root membrane I got was commercial / agricultural grade stuff. I think it has a weight of about 200 grams per square meter and can even be used above ground as it has a UV resistance of something like 10 years. Mine's firmly underground so I expect it will be there for centuries.

I saw some cheaper anti-root membranes available but they didn't seem to me to be a worthwhile investment.

I hope it works. The clay like sand on top of it isn't exactly ideal growing "soil" so I'm fairly confident I won't get too much root related trouble (cos I also spent a 'ucking long time pulling roots out too).

#####

I'm not sure about "rising damp". This place has a shoddy extension between the (brick) house and a brick shed that has a concrete tiled floor set on sand. (Quite a common thing here in the Netherlands). So far it hasn't been damp at all. There is an ant problem in the summer but this year they helpfully swarmed and flew away outside and not in the building (!)

The water table here is about 2 meters under the (raised) ground level so foundations / feet elements of this workshop I'm building are way above the ground water source.

I'm pretty sure the gravel ballast doesn't have enough contact area for capillary action. Whilst I've not got extensive work experience of railways most of the wooden railway sleepers I've seen seem to rot from the top down not the bottom up.

I will certainly have to keep the base well ventilated once I get the roof and sides of the building built to get rid of the moisture that has accumulated during the prolonged building period...

...all in all I reckon it'll come good - but - thanks for the advice.

vwnate1 · #7 12-29-2019, 11:49 AM

DO keep us posted ! .

I wish I had the skills to rebuild my garage....