Background
In late 2015 my mother decided to reduce the amount of driving she did and purchased an electric scooter. It is more like a small electric car as it is fully enclosed,has windscreen wipers ,full road going lights and indicators. It even has it's own registration plate! She intends to use it to get around locally rather than use the car.
The manufacturer of the scooter recommends that it is stored in doors or under cover away from bad weather and direct strong sunlight. It is not possible to get the scooter around the back of the house so we have decided to build a drive in within the garden with a miniature car porch/canopy to protect the scooter. This will make it easy to get in and out and convenient to use. It does mean losing part of the garden but this simply means that we will have to re-think how it is planted and maintained and may even present a few opportunities to innovate!
The manufacturer of the scooter recommends that it is stored in doors or under cover away from bad weather and direct strong sunlight. It is not possible to get the scooter around the back of the house so we have decided to build a drive in within the garden with a miniature car porch/canopy to protect the scooter. This will make it easy to get in and out and convenient to use. It does mean losing part of the garden but this simply means that we will have to re-think how it is planted and maintained and may even present a few opportunities to innovate!
Here the side boards holding the soil back can be seen. Each board was secured to each of the three posts using two countersunk stainless steel M8 x 100 mm hex head coach screws. It was important to allow enough soil to remain between the side boards and the hedge to ensure the soil could hold enough water to maintain a healthy hedge. Great care was taken to avoid damaging the hedge roots during construction and it was regularly watered and fed during this time.
Here the completed roof support structure has been installed at both ends of the scooter port. By this stage the structure was beginning to take shape and the end was coming into sight!
After the roof sheets were installed they were protected overnight with a large sheet of polythene to protect them from the rain. The following day a bituminous based adhesive was applied to the roof surface and a mineral covered roof felt was applied to the roof. The joins were overlapped and sealed with adhesive. The roof felt was held in place with 18mm galvanised clout nails.
The scooter had new batteries fitted, and was brought out of storage to its new home. Here it can be seen in the recently constructed 'Scooter Port'. The gates still have to be fitted but the scooter can now be used and safely stored.
The area of the garden border previously occupied by a Hydrangea bush was levelled and grass planted. A section of grass removed from the lawn was recycled and grass seed was planted. This picture shows the grass seed one week after it was planted and had started to germinate.
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The first step was to measure up, level and install the four posts supporting the canopy and the two gate posts. In this picture the side boards holding back the soil have also been installed.
After the four canopy support posts were installed the horizontal spars between the side posts were attached. A piece of off cut support post 300mm in length was used to create a vertical support at the centre. The sloping roof joists were then cut and test fitted. In this picture the proposed set up is shown held temporarily in place with screws and clamps to check the fit before securing everything in place.
The roof support structure was completed by installing the side bars and apex support bars. The roof panels made from OSB3 board were attached to these using 50 mm decking screws. The front and rear edges of the roof were finished off with 75 mm deep edging pieces which were also secured to the roof side bars. The installation of the roofing sheets(18 mm thick) made an already stiff structure that much stiffer so it should withstand the severe gusts of wind that can occur where my mother lives at the top of a hill.
The scooter port structure is now complete and the roof watertight. As can be seen in the picture the rear base boards have now been installed and the scooter port is not far from being ready for use.
I wanted to minimise the amount of water and damp soil that was against the wood holding back the soil so i recycled the concrete and sand bags to create a water barrier. These were cut open trimmed and fitted behind the wooden boards and pulled down through the bottom. The polythene was nailed in place at the top using galvanised nails. A wooden trim cap was screwed down to the top of the wooden boards to cover the polythene.
To add some degree of shelter for the user and the scooter in bad weather trellis was framed up and added to the back and sides of the scooter port. Note the progress of the grass seed. This picture was taken 2 weeks after the seed was planted.
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