My Barn Conversion

So with the ability to build shelves firmly under my wing (or rather under my stairs) I started on my second carpentry challenge, to – Box in the thermal store and build a cabin bed in the second bedroom. Basically, to enclose everything on the other side of the internal door shown on this photograph…Continue reading Cabin bed – plans

I thought I’d make my own fireworks this year… From Barn Conversion 2011

I’ve been dabbling with Google Sketchup recently. Sketchup is according to the blurb “3D sketching software for the conceptual phases of design” or as rather more grandly proclaimed by McCall & Associates “SketchUp is the finest (and most innovative) tool available for anyone designing anything from coffee pots to skyscrapers.” I’ve wanted to produce aContinue reading Sketchup

My first proper foray into DIY carpentry at the barn has been constructing a shelving unit to sit under the stairs. The shelves are required to provide storage, box in the under-stairs area and muffle the sound from the under-floor heating pumps. The timber I chose was basic off-the-shelf stuff from B&Q – planed smoothedContinue reading Building shelves to fit under the stairs

This blog has taken a bit of a kicking recently from big brother Google who came along with his ‘Panda’ and gave us right going over. (For the uninitiated, Panda is a rolling update to the algorithm Google uses to produce search results that has been creating uproar across the web for most of 2011).Continue reading Smile

Laying bare the basics of my roof structure through an annotated diagram that a layman like me can better understand, the aim of this post is to answer the question…what are the component parts of a roof? Based on the roof of my barn, a pretty simple A-frame / truss structure as (badly) pictured below,Continue reading The anatomy of a roof

I took this picture a few weeks ago at a favourite spot… From bochgoch The picture is taken up through the centre of the keep at Dinefwr Castle, one of the seats of the kings of Deheubarth. Beautifully circular, striking when you consider it’s over 800 years old (although I’m not sure exactly how muchContinue reading Can you tell what it is yet…?

Anyone who has ever experienced my struggling for a correct structural term, name of a tool or other fine point of building terminology will understand why I thought writing an ‘anatomy of…’ series was a good idea. This series of posts will be about laying bare the basics of building through annotated diagrams so thatContinue reading The anatomy of…

Over the last couple of years I’ve kept on returning to the question of carpentry. Not in a general sense, but specifically in relation to my ability to turn my hand to the following projects: Build shelves under the stairs, Box in the thermal store and build a cabin bed in the second bedroom, BuildContinue reading Carpentry

As I’ve posted previously: A direct gain system is one where the main means of thermal gain is through direct heating of the thermal mass by solar radiation entering the building through windows and being absorbed by the thermal mass. An indirect gain system is one where solar radiation is captured and stored in aContinue reading Passive Solar Heating Systems – ideas