Month: February 2010

  • Step 7 = high level design

    Your design ethos will be the very highest level of your design. Beneath that the next level of your design is to define the major systems, materials and design elements that you want to incorporate into your project. No need to be too specific initially … start vague and define… Here’s a checklist to get…

  • Stoneworks

    One thing I realised from my recent post on the downstairs travertine floor was that I haven’t recommended Stoneworks who are the company I bought the travertine flooring from and I’ve subsequently ordered mosiac tiles from for the splashbacks. I’ve always received great service from them and wouldn’t hesitate to use them again. It’s also…

  • Downstairs tiled floor

    The tiled floor that runs through the whole of the downstairs of the barn took a considerable investment in terms of both time and money in planning, sourcing and then fitting. It’s been completed for a while now (since August 2009), but I thought that a post summing things up would still be worthwhile and…

  • Coppicing ash trees

    The process of coppicing is pretty straight-forward, this post shows you how…

  • Tree Planting – Winter 2010

    I planted hazel and silver birch trees just after new year 2010…

  • The four new English “eco-towns”

    The building of four new towns in England (housing being one of those aspects of policy devolved to the Welsh assembly government who are probably concocting some more crazy schemes like sprinklers in residential properties instead of schemes like this) at or near Whitehill-Bordon in Hampshire, St Austell in Cornwall, Rackheath in Norfolk and North…

  • Building Progress ~ January 2010

    (Very) belated Happy New Year, so what has 2010 brought so far… My formerly lost at sea oak flooring is spending January acclimatising and I plan to fit it, at least along the landing floor in February. I’ve taken delivery and started fitting some mixed ‘brick’ shaped and mosaic travertine tiles that will be used…

  • Future Fuel

    I have plans to start managing my half and acre of woodland…

  • Tiling again

    I’ve been meaning to mention, I’ve been tiling again… From Barn Conversion 2010 Hope that doesn’t mean I’ll be grouting again… Joy!

  • Feed-in tariffs … coming soon to a roof near you!?

    The feed-in tariffs scheme certainly looks to be of great interest. For the unitiated, feed-in tariffs are the governments new scheme to encourage the takeup of renewable technologies through financial benefits. These financial benefits are two-fold, firstly in the form of savings made to on-going energy costs and secondly through a payment made through the…