Indeed. On my list for the next trip to Bunnings is a filter-respirator with the appropriate filter.

It's those fumes that concern me in regard to collateral corrosion. My mate said from his experience at the dilution recommended and with a fan to blow the fumes out of the room I should be okay.

Well, after 5 half-days of dirty, wet and smelly work I've etched the entire floor surface.

I'm pretty pleased with the result but there are some spots where the concrete was higher than elsewhere and the etch flowed around them like islands so I'll have to re-do those bits separately.

Also, when I did the first strip I was too conservative with the acid dilution so I'll do that strip again to get a deeper etch.

Then comes a good scrub with sugar soap and a lot of wet mopping with clean water. (Really wish I could use my Karcher!) After that I'll let it dry for up to a week with the fans going 24x7. The bits that stay wet longest are the numerous tiny cracks that you don't see until the surface is etched.

Finally, a good vacuuming.

Hopefully, then I'll be ready to start painting.

Floor is now painted with two coats of tinted solvent based acrylic sealer. I chose a light grey, a tad above white, and the place is now very much brighter. Comparison with the untreated concrete outside the door is stark.

Drying time was exacerbated by the high humidity we've had over the last week, so I've spent hours literally watching the stuff dry. The solvent fumes were very strong and permeated the property.

I'm going to leave it for another week or so before using the floor to let the stuff harden fully.

Please share with us any visions of the future of the universe that you had while inhaling the solvent fumes. Did your gleaming workshop floor become a model of Paradise?

As a boy, after mowing my Dad's lawns for an hour with a smoky Victa, I was sometimes inspired to write poetry. The original meaning of "inspiration" is "what you inhaled".

Who knows what the bees are thinking when they have been smoked by their human keepers. They certainly forget to guard their honey.

Maven

I started out using a respirator mask but the high February humidity meant that I was having to wipe away sweat frequently so I eventually stopped using it as it was inconvenient.

One of my neigbours in the business park dropped by to see how things were going and he couldn't believe I wasn't affected by the fumes. I guess you become accustomed after a while.

I did have the roller shutter raised and an oscillating fan blowing until the last small section.

The floor didn't become a model of Paradise, but with the off white colour I did suffer a sort of snow blindness from the reflected lights. More than once I managed to stand in a painted section from inability to discern wet from dry.

Finished making floor to ceiling shelves today (Sunday) to fill a 490mm void between a concrete column and the wall.

The whole shebang stands 3.1 metres tall. The very top shelf will be for stuff that I don't access frequently, such as paint cans, trays and rollers.

A key advantage of the painted floor came into play today. I managed to knock a pack of 400 panel pins from the top of the ladder and they went everywhere. But I could plainly see each one of them and sweeping them up was a breeze. If the floor was still the natural concrete I would have had to go over it with a magnet to find all of them.

Okay, next job is to install the compactus that I got for $100. I would describe the colour as aqua -- not my first choice but it was too cheap to pass up, and the rare ones advertised as free were either too far away or claimed before I called.

A bit more progress today. I've laid down the Compactus track and installed the mobiles that run on it. Was glad to find that the floor in the spot that I chose is perfectly level so I didn't have to fiddle with the leveling bolts.

Next step is to install the carcasses on the mobiles and insert the shelving into them. Juggling the wobbly 2.4 metre high carcasses is a two-man job so I'll be putting the hard word on a mate during the week.

One I have the Compactus finished I can begin emptying my garage and house of a ton of stuff that's been under my feet for far too long. Hallelujah!

Had a frustrating day with the Compactus. This one has 5 bays, 4 that slide and one that doesn't. The one that doesn't is the fixed end of the unit and it has a dummy "mobile" that bolts to the rails.

When I disassembled this thing in the warehouse from which I bought it, I was very careful to put all bolts, nuts, screws and clips in a bucket. This whole operation took place in bad light (not one of the fluoros in the warehouse was operational) and under time pressure to get it out of there quickly.

So, I was scratching my head when I could not find any bolt in said bucket that suited the tapped holes in the rails. In fact I couldn't find any bolt in creation that fitted the holes. It then dawned on me that I recall the end bay being propped up against a Dexion shelving system, so there may not have been any bolts in these holes at the time.

Thus, I decided to drill and tap the holes to accept 3/8" UNC bolts. The tapping task was very awkward because I was working up against a wall on one side and a concrete column at the end and so could not rotate the tap through 360 degrees.

After a lot of effort, and some choice expletives directed at the original "installer", I managed to tap out the 4 holes. Then I placed the dummy mobile onto the rail only to find that the holes did not line up properly -- in fact they never have since whoever installed this thing in the first place drilled them wrongly! Even more expletives.

So, after a very rough reaming out process using (or abusing) my 3/8" drill bit, I finally manged to get 3 of the 4 holes lined up well enough to accept a bolt and spring washer. The fourth hole was so far out of whack as to be impossible to use.

Hopefully, I'll have the Compactus fully installed and operational over the weekend if a mate can spare me an hour or so to help juggle the wobbly carcasses onto the mobiles.

With a mate's help I finally got the Compactus assembled today. However, I cannot for the life of me find where I put the 3 handles. I know I put them in a cardboard carton, but damned if I know which one and where. Ironically, this is exactly the problem I am trying to overcome by getting a new workshop.

Anyway, the long process of transferring tons of stuff from my house and garage can now begin.

I have yet to buy/build workbenches but that can wait until I get on top of the big move.

Shifted two full station wagon loads of stuff into the compactus today. That takes care of the house. Now to begin on the garage ...

Eureka! I found the compactus handles this evening. They were up on the 2.4 metre high shelf in an ice cream container along with concrete trowels. I must have looked at that a dozen times without considering it as a likely place to find compactus handles. Just goes to show if you leave a problem for long enough you usually hit upon the answer.

I've installed a wooden work bench which will be for heavier work than the typical soldering and measuring type tasks associated with repairs and restos. It was a pre-built bench delivered for $160 and is very well made. I think I'll buy another one for the centre of the workshop.

Meanwhile I'm still mulling over what to do about the main equipment workbench(es). That will be at least 4800mm long against one wall with a shelf along it for test equipment. I will probably end up doing it in Dexion.

Have decided what to do about the main workbench and ordered a Dexion double length one which comes out at just under 5.5 metres. Bench height is 930mm and depth is 840mm.

There is a backing board along the entire length and a 400mm deep shelf at about 600mm above bench height (I will fit that once I have decided the best height.)

Bench, shelf and backing board is in 18mm MDF.

This will allow me to place all of my test equipment on it and let me work in sections as I have always wanted to.

Dexion has quoted 2 to 3 weeks for delivery. Once that's in place I can arrange the power wiring to be installed.

Dexion bench "kit" was delivered today. Started to assemble it only to find that 3 critical parts are missing. Essentially I need 9 leg brace parts and they only picked and shipped 6. Damn annoying as getting this stuff right is the essence of their job. If you can't do this right then you're in the wrong job.

So, another delay.

Got the missing parts today and assembled the bench frame. It's as solid as a rock. Glad I opted for the heavy duty stuff for this long span. And it's long! Five metres altogether.

Next task is to screw down the bench tops and backing boards.

Okay, MDF bench tops and backing boards have been installed. Next step is to paint them white.