[ArthurWayne]

Wood frame shed is 10'W and 12' long. The roof has been engineered to be able to slide off, onto a 5" x 5" post built frame with metal rails. It slides the 12' length. The owner uses it for his amateur astronomy observatory.

I don't know if it slides electronically, or manually.

Pictures attached.

My question: How much would it cost to have this done to a shed, including labor?

Thank you for any assistance in this quest for information!

Arthur

 

[Bondo]

My question: How much would it cost to have this done to a shed, including labor?

Ayuh,..... This is a Diy site, not a job estimate site,...

We can help ya build it, but pricin' is a local thing, call 'round yer area,....

That said,.... I'd think startin' from scratch would be cheaper than modifyin' an existin' shed,...

 

[craig11152]

If the purpose is an "amateur astronomy observatory" would it be possible to build a platform on wheels that you pull in and out of the shed? That would be easy to do. But I realize I have no clue the nature of the viewing equipment.

 

[ArthurWayne]

Thank you Craig11152, for trying to be helpful.

Sorry if I am asking the wrong type of question in this forum. It just stood to reason someone in the Building and Construction area would have an idea- since cost is associated with construction. Thank you anyway Bondo.

 

[Oso954]

If the purpose is an "amateur astronomy observatory" would it be possible to build a platform on wheels that you pull in and out of the shed? That would be easy to do.

Might be easy, but would be next to useless. Telescopes are very sensitive to vibration. Even a person walking around one on the ground can jiggle it.

The more solid your base for the scope, the better it works. That is why that shed has a concrete floor, not wood. Keeping it inside the building and out of the wind, also keeps the scope from vibrating in the wind or breeze.

This is like seeing your heartbeat or breathing in a higher power rifle scope, but the telescope is a lot more powerful so you can see even smaller disruptions.

 

[ront02769]

Your current shed is constructed so that the roof stays in place whatever the wind. To turn it into a slide-off you would have to detach that thing and make it basically self-supporting that could slide. I would be down with starting no from scratch. Ron

 

[ZTMAN]

I build all of my observatories using this system

 

[AndyGump]

Cost to alter a small shed roof

One million dollars.

Your welcome.

Andy.

 

[Mingledtrash]

It will cost this much.
http://www.diychatroom.com/f19/how-much-will-cost-asking-price-estimates-here-141109/

 

[Mingledtrash]

here are a couple places to go i guarantee these guys can do it cheaper than anyone.

just check all the vendors and see what fits your needs best. One of them builds exactly what you are asking for.
http://obs.nineplanets.org/obs/obslist.html

Model Description
Installed CJE 9'6" x 9'6" roll-off roof observatory Deck option $4,990.00
Slab option $3,820.00
CJE1 11'6" x 11'6" roll-off roof observatory Deck option $6,060.00 Slab option $4,510.00


Amazing what a quick google search can turn up.

 

[Msradell]

There must be a lot more demand for them than I thought. I'm really surprised by the number of companies on that list!

 

[craig11152]

There must be a lot more demand for them than I thought. I'm really surprised by the number of companies on that list!

No kidding, I never would have imagined.

 

[craig11152]

Might be easy, but would be next to useless. Telescopes are very sensitive to vibration. Even a person walking around one on the ground can jiggle it.

The more solid your base for the scope, the better it works. That is why that shed has a concrete floor, not wood. Keeping it inside the building and out of the wind, also keeps the scope from vibrating in the wind or breeze.

This is like seeing your heartbeat or breathing in a higher power rifle scope, but the telescope is a lot more powerful so you can see even smaller disruptions.

Thanks for the clarification. Like I said in my post, the part you somehow left out when you quoted me "But I realize I have no clue the nature of the viewing equipment"
Somehow I was picturing how people making movies put cameras on tracks but I was not aware of how sensitive an amateur telescope could be.

 

[lugnutt73]

While ridiculously expensive and probably not worth the time and effort to do, a shed/observatory with a gambrel roof that allows the upper plane to slide down over the lower plane would be a neat trick. I reckon if you wanted to get really crazy you could then have both planes come down parallel with the long walls…

 

[craig11152]

While ridiculously expensive and probably not worth the time and effort to do, a shed/observatory with a gambrel roof that allows the upper plane to slide down over the lower plane would be a neat trick. I reckon if you wanted to get really crazy you could then have both planes come down parallel with the long walls…

That would be impressive indeed.

 

[Oso954]

I think you would also have to design a way to lower the upper part of the gable walls. They are fairly high on gambrel roofs. They would be liable to block a lot of the viewing area.

Even with more standard roof designs, there is a trade off in the height of the walls vs the line of sight for the telescope. So some sheds, particularly smaller ones, incorporate fold down walls. Some smaller sheds are also made as roll a way designs. The entire shed is rolled back away from the scope.

 

[lugnutt73]

I think you would also have to design a way to lower the upper part of the gable walls. They are fairly high on gambrel roofs. They would be liable to block a lot of the viewing area.

Even with more standard roof designs, there is a trade off in the height of the walls vs the line of sight for the telescope. So some sheds, particularly smaller ones, incorporate fold down walls. Some smaller sheds are also made as roll a way designs. The entire shed is rolled back away from the scope.

Good point, although since we're dreaming... I expect one could engineer the roof ends to pop out a bit and slide out and down to the ground. However, you'd need to have the door to the shed itself open to the inside (right or left) then there'd need to be another door, like a door to the hay loft but a walkthrough, and it would need to open to the outside of the building in the opposite right or left. Like screen doors and front doors...ish? Or am I just nutty?