Year: 2011

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,…

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 much…

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 that…

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, Build…

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 a…

Update on building progress during July 2011…

Looks like the out-break of PV panels scaling up the roofs of my neighbours houses may be facing a hurdle to further progress. As reported late last week in the Guardian ‘the [subsidy] rate will be reduced from 43.3p per kilowatt hour of solar electricity to just 21p’. This information was contained in a PDF…

I’ve posted before and after pictures for the second bedroom previously, but I’m considering the boxing-in of the water tank and building of a cabin bed as a second phase of development in its own right. From Barn Conversion 2011 From Barn Conversion 2011 I’m afraid that it’s pretty messy in there as it’s still…

With the consultation period for the draft proposal now closed, I had the following email from The National Trust a day or two ago. On Monday, the last day of the Government’s consultation on proposed reforms to our planning system, we went to Downing Street to give the Government our recommendations, backed by an astonishing…

…and Rigsby is not in sight… I was watching an episode of QI the other night when the ‘myth’ of rising damp – or rather, the lack of evidence for the existence of rising damp as a ‘real’ issue, was mentioned. This wasn’t something I’d ever heard of and some further web-based research makes for…

After my post about lots of befores made up of pictures of locations before I started work on them here’s another after… This photograph is a bit of a cheat… I’m really pleased with the second bedroom now that it’s been painted and had an oak floor and a radiator cover fitted, BUT it’s virtually…

Update on building progress during July 2011…